Hej! Welcome to Sverige
Ah Sweden, home of Abba, Ikea, Volvo, Vikings, and the Noble prize. This was our first trip to Scandinavia and we didn't really know what to expect. Would we be dining on meatballs, sitting on stylish furniture, with a group of tall blonds listening to Dancing Queen? We spent two days in Stockholm on our way up to the Ice Hotel in the very north of the country. It wasn't really the best time of year to visit this wonderful city, but despite the cold, we took in the sights and got a taste of the real Sweden (and yes, that did include listening to a little Abba here and there). ;)
My favorite thing about Sweden (or Sverige) is that their word for hello is hej (pronounced hey), so every time you walked into a shop or bought a ticket at a museum you were greeted with a friendly hej! It felt like everyone was your close friend, and in fact we found that Sweden was one of the friendliest places we have been.
The food was great too. We actually had the best Italian food we've eaten (outside of Italy) and the local cuisine was delicious. The seafood and meatballs were great, and we discovered some new foods like cloudberries that were simply heavenly. We did get a laugh out of the local candy bars that we bought at a local market on our way out of town. They tasted fine, but with names like "Plopp" and "Japp" we simply had to try them!
Stockholm is built on 14 islands and sits between a beautiful lake (although the parts we saw were frozen over) and the Baltic Sea. It is billed as one of the most beautiful capitals in the world. I totally agree, and we saw it in the coldest month, covered in ice and snow. I can only imagine how amazing it is in summer.
We stayed on the island of Norrmalm where the downtown area is, but we spent quite a bit of time in Gamla Stan, the charming old island core of the city, filled with narrow alleys and stairways and the site of the Royal Palace. We loved the old town, but we also appreciated the more modern sites. Much to our surprise, near our hotel, was a huge mall, half underground. It was great. It was only the 3rd “proper” mall I’ve seen in Europe. One in Lyon, Barcelona, and now here in Stockholm. We didn’t buy anything, but it reminded us a little of home. We even caught a little US television at the hotel. "America's Next Top Model" was on, it was in English, but renamed to "Girlicious". I loved it!
We spent the day on the island of Djurgården, which used to be the King’s hunting ground. Here is where the three top attractions are in Stockholm. The Skansen, Europe’s largest open-air museum, founded in 1891. It is a huge park with more that 150 historic buildings, transplanted from all over Sweden. Nearby are also the Nordic Museum and the Vasa Museum (Vasamuseet), which showcases an ill-fated 17th century warship, dredged from the sea floor. It was really impressive. We also stopped into the Royal Armory back in Gamla Stan with a spectacular collection of medieval royal armory.
Even with all this, we managed to squeeze in a bus tour to really get a feel of the layout of the city. Since it was winter, we skipped the boat tour and missed the famous Changing of the Guard, which only happens May to September. But all in all it was a fantastic visit. We were now on our way to the airport to catch the hour and a half flight north to Kiruna and on to the Ice Hotel in the small village of Jukkkasjärvi.
This is one of the most interesting phone booths I've ever seen!
Every day the birds of Stockholm gather for breakfast. Eight huge sacs of feed were put out and the feeding frenzy began!
"Iron boy" is the smallest statue in Stockholm.
The Vasa warship was salvaged from the bottom of the harbor and is now the centerpiece of the Vasa Museum.
G and the crew of the Vasa.
A traditional Swedish house in Skansen, Europe's largest open air museum.
Traditional Swedish horses.
Lifebuoys, just in case someone decides to take a dip in the frozen lake...
The harbor on the island of Djurgården.
My favorite thing about Sweden (or Sverige) is that their word for hello is hej (pronounced hey), so every time you walked into a shop or bought a ticket at a museum you were greeted with a friendly hej! It felt like everyone was your close friend, and in fact we found that Sweden was one of the friendliest places we have been.
The food was great too. We actually had the best Italian food we've eaten (outside of Italy) and the local cuisine was delicious. The seafood and meatballs were great, and we discovered some new foods like cloudberries that were simply heavenly. We did get a laugh out of the local candy bars that we bought at a local market on our way out of town. They tasted fine, but with names like "Plopp" and "Japp" we simply had to try them!
Stockholm is built on 14 islands and sits between a beautiful lake (although the parts we saw were frozen over) and the Baltic Sea. It is billed as one of the most beautiful capitals in the world. I totally agree, and we saw it in the coldest month, covered in ice and snow. I can only imagine how amazing it is in summer.
We stayed on the island of Norrmalm where the downtown area is, but we spent quite a bit of time in Gamla Stan, the charming old island core of the city, filled with narrow alleys and stairways and the site of the Royal Palace. We loved the old town, but we also appreciated the more modern sites. Much to our surprise, near our hotel, was a huge mall, half underground. It was great. It was only the 3rd “proper” mall I’ve seen in Europe. One in Lyon, Barcelona, and now here in Stockholm. We didn’t buy anything, but it reminded us a little of home. We even caught a little US television at the hotel. "America's Next Top Model" was on, it was in English, but renamed to "Girlicious". I loved it!
We spent the day on the island of Djurgården, which used to be the King’s hunting ground. Here is where the three top attractions are in Stockholm. The Skansen, Europe’s largest open-air museum, founded in 1891. It is a huge park with more that 150 historic buildings, transplanted from all over Sweden. Nearby are also the Nordic Museum and the Vasa Museum (Vasamuseet), which showcases an ill-fated 17th century warship, dredged from the sea floor. It was really impressive. We also stopped into the Royal Armory back in Gamla Stan with a spectacular collection of medieval royal armory.
Even with all this, we managed to squeeze in a bus tour to really get a feel of the layout of the city. Since it was winter, we skipped the boat tour and missed the famous Changing of the Guard, which only happens May to September. But all in all it was a fantastic visit. We were now on our way to the airport to catch the hour and a half flight north to Kiruna and on to the Ice Hotel in the small village of Jukkkasjärvi.
This is one of the most interesting phone booths I've ever seen!
Every day the birds of Stockholm gather for breakfast. Eight huge sacs of feed were put out and the feeding frenzy began!
"Iron boy" is the smallest statue in Stockholm.
The Vasa warship was salvaged from the bottom of the harbor and is now the centerpiece of the Vasa Museum.
G and the crew of the Vasa.
A traditional Swedish house in Skansen, Europe's largest open air museum.
Traditional Swedish horses.
Lifebuoys, just in case someone decides to take a dip in the frozen lake...
The harbor on the island of Djurgården.
posted by Swiss Miss | 11:19
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