Arrival
We traveled from Oslo to Stockholm via train and were greeted by my mom’s first cousin Gerd and her daughter Erika, who were kind enough to shuttle us to our hotel in Ostermalm. Little did we know that this was just the tip of the iceberg of Swedish hospitality.
Once settled into the Best Western Karlaplan we decided to talk a stroll towards Djurgården, home to several historic buildings, museums and an amusement park, among others…more on this later. Funny thing about summer in Sweden…it can get a little damp:
This little storm seemed to take many by surprise as we were passed by numerous park goers, anxiously evacuating the area…most pushing strollers and sporting shorts and tank tops! We waited out the heaviest downpour under a tree, but it wasn’t long before the deluge made its way through the leaves and we were pretty well soaked to the skin. Plan B, we called it a day and slogged our way back to the hotel to get dry.
Our cousin Anna (Gerd’s other daughter) met us at the hotel and escorted us on the short walk to Gerd’s apartment where we were treated to our first home cooked meal in nearly two weeks. And a wonderful dinner it was…smoked salmon, potatoes, salad, and fresh fruit pies for dessert! Yummy!!
Day 1
With a bright sunny morning, we headed back to Djurgården. Djurgården is an island in central Stockholm, established as a royal game park by the Swedish King in 1579. It has since become one of the Stockholm’s favorite recreation areas and tourist destinations, attracting over 10 million visitors per year. Djurgården is home to historical buildings and monuments, museums, galleries, the amusement park Gröna Lund, the open-air museum Skansen, the small residential area Djurgårdsstaden, yacht harbours, and extensive stretches of forest and meadows.
Skansen
Skansen is the first open-air museum and zoo in Sweden. It was founded in 1891 by Artur Hazelius (1833–1901) to show the way of life in the different parts of Sweden before the industrial era. With limited time before lunch we only made it through half the park…mostly the zoo side.
Skansen is also home to a very popular Swedish live television program, Allsång på Skansen (Sing-along at Skansen), every summer on Tuesdays between 8-9pm. The audience is supposed to sing-along with musical guests to well-known Swedish songs. The show started in 1935 on a small scale; about 50 people in the audience. Today about 10,000–25,500 people come to each performance. There were already people scouting out seats by midday rehearsals.
Vasa Museum
After eating at Bla Porten (“Blue Door”), the first of what would be several buffet lunches, Anna took us over to the Vasa Museum, a nearly intact 17th century warship that was salvaged from just outside the Stockholm harbor after 333 years underwater!
The 64-gun vessel was the most powerfully armed ship of her time. Unfortunately, this contributed to her top heavy, unstable design. The Vasa sank on her maiden voyage in 1628, a mere 1400 feet from the dock. You can view the ship from all sides on several levels, as well as a range of artifacts, including some of the remains of the 30 individuals killed in the accident. Not hard to see why the Vasa museum is the most visited in Scandinavia!
We finished our day with a wonderful meal with Gerd, Erika and Anna at Ciao Ciao Grande in Ostermalm.
Day 2
Nordic Museum
We awoke to another gorgeous morning, and after a trip to the breakfast…wait for it…buffet! We headed back to Djurgården for a visit to the Nordic Museum – dedicated to the cultural history of Sweden from about 1520 through modern times.
The museum has over 1.5 million objects in its collections, and the kids were pretty sure we saw each and every one of them!
Next up…paddle boating! Skyler, Conor and Erin took a spin in the canal while Mom, Jules and I enjoyed some food at a water front cafe. See if you can guess who’s in charge of the boat.
We decided to make our way to Gamla Stan (“The Old Town”) for the remainder of the day. Although a fairly easy walk from Djurgården, as we made our way down Stockholm’s most prestigious waterfront boulevard, Strandvägen, we decided it would be fun to hop on one of the tourist ferries to see some of the sites from the water.
We disembarked the ferry near the Stockholm Palace, the official residence and royal palace of the Swedish monarch, used primarily for conducting affairs of state, as the King and Queen reside in another palace.
The Old Town dates back to the 13th century and is packed with restaurants, cafes and touristy shops set among medieval alleyways, cobbled streets and quaint, archaic architecture. The main square at the center of Gamla Stan houses the Stockholm stock exchange building, and was the scene of a Danish massacre of Swedish nobles that ultimately led to a revolt and civil war the resulted in the election of King Gustav I. For those of you paying attention, that’s his statue shown earlier in this post. I’ll wait while you scroll back up…
Day 3
Ocean Bus
G’bye Stockholm…we’ll miss you!!
