Swedish Style in Stockholm
Day 1 - Overnight Ferry to Sweden
We arranged for a late check out from our hotel in Helsinki, as our overnight ferry to Stockholm wouldn’t depart until 6pm. We used this time to complete our Finland blog, get some rest, and do just a bit more exploring around the harbour neighbourhood – we really enjoyed Helsinki!
At around 4pm we started to make our way to the ferry, which we boarded shortly after 5pm. Coincidentally, it was the same vessel that we came over from Tallinn to Helsinki on. Sadly, though, they did not have the jacket which Melissa had left behind, on the earlier trip.
After dropping our luggage in our room, we made our way to the ‘No Name’ restaurant (yes, that was the actual name) where we had reservations for dinner. We enjoyed a nine-course tasting menu (each plate a small bite or two) which was delicious. Afterwards, we wandered the ship and explored everything it had to offer. We could definitely see ourselves as cruise ship-people!
We settled on watching Karaoke at a bar which was unlike any we have seen before. The participants were singing in Swedish, Finnish, Russian, Chinese and even a couple of songs in English. After Karaoke, a singer came on and played a set of cover songs – he even brought up an American singer to join him for a few songs…they apparently met while working on a cruise ship in the Caribbean.
Sunrise from the Cruise Ship
Finally, we arrived back in our cabin at around 1am, sure that we would just fall asleep to the sound of the waves lapping the side of the boat. Nope!!! Apparently, we are maybe not the cruise ship-people that we thought we were…as all we could feel (and hear) was the grumbling of the ship sailing across the Gulf of Finland and into the Baltic Sea, towards Stockholm. On the bright side, the sunrise from our patio at 4:15am was spectacular! Fortunately, we did manage to sleep a few hours before having breakfast at 8am, then enjoyed the amazing approach into Stockholm which took us past the archipelago, which is made up of about 30,000 islands. It’s a beautiful part of the world and definitely worth losing a bit of sleep for!
Day 2 - Stockholm in Style
Riddarholmen Church
Our ferry arrived in to Stockholm at 9:50am and we took a taxi to our hotel in the Old Town. We were very lucky that our room was ready so early! This hotel was called the ‘Victory Hotel’ and was decorated in a historical nautical theme. Each room was decorated according to a different old Swedish ship captain, including a model of the ship he sailed enclosed in a glass case on the wall, and pictures in frames of his relatives on the table. It was adorable!
After resting a bit, we set out to explore the area we were staying in, appreciating the narrow lanes connecting the larger streets together. We found a patio where we had a couple of burgers, some fries and beverages which, although they were delicious, were a bit pricier than some of the cities we’ve recently visited. We had been warned that Scandinavia would be like this!
After arranging for a public transit pass to use the next day, going to the bank and buying some groceries, we headed back to the hotel.
Day 3 - Ghostly Galleon in Stockholm
At this hotel breakfast is included, and it was amazing – it included pancakes, eggs, bacon, beans, cold cuts, cheese, fruit, smoked salmon and even herring, a local delicacy! Since food was expensive in Sweden, we made sure to fill up on this wonderful Smörgåsbord!
The morning started with us taking the Metro (Tube/subway) to do our laundry. It turns out that laundromats in Stockholm are not very common and this was one of the only ones in all of the city. As such, the efficient lady running the store kept on top of everything/everyone and made sure that no one had to wait for a machine longer than they needed to. Whilst Melissa tended to the laundry, Colin went for a walk to try to find decaf coffee to bring back to her. Of the three coffee shops he tried, two did not have decaf and while the third did, it only took credit cards and rather oddly, no cash. Given the exchange rates and fees associated with international transactions, it meant that a coffee while waiting for the laundry to finish just wasn’t meant to be.
After finishing the laundry and dropping it off back at the hotel, we had a sandwich and quiche on the patio at a cafe called Chokladkoppen, which overlooked the Nobel museum in the Old Town Square. We walked around the Royal Palace which, while considered the ‘official’ residence of the King and Queen of Sweden, is now used mostly for ceremonial and official functions, as the Royals actually live in their ‘other’ palace.
Vasa Museum
We then took a short bus ride to the Vasa Museum, which may have been our highlight in Stockholm. Vasa was a Swedish naval ship that sank on its maiden voyage in 1628, about one kilometer from where it first set sail. It was rediscovered in the 1950’s, largely intact, and is now on permanent display. Although the ship is mostly made up of wood, it once was also ornately painted, and the museum did a good job at scientifically recreating portions of the ship, as they once must have looked. This can be seen in the pictures we took of the Vasa family crest.
Afterwards we headed to a quaint English pub with for a pint served by a Swedish woman with a West-London accent. In fact, most of the younger people we have encountered on our trip have an excellent grasp of the English language, if not multiple others! In Sweden, and Helsinki for that matter, these people also tended to be giant size and very blonde!
We had another quiet evening in, heading to the grocery store to buy dinner and having it back at our hotel while watching the France/Belgium World Cup match.
Day 4 - Modern Museum in Stockholm
After breakfast we walked about 45 minutes over bridges and through beautiful scenery along the waterfront to go to the Moderna Museet, the Swedish Modern Art Museum. We spent several hours enjoying this gallery, which included amongst Scandinavian artists, several Picasso’s, Warhol’s and even a Mondrian. We had a fika at the museum, which is the Swedish version of a coffee break. We enjoyed coffee, chokladballer (a small chocolate ball rolled in coconut) and the view from the museum cafeteria. We then continued with the remaining exhibits, including a very interesting piece by Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg. This artwork consisted of odd sculptures, hypnotic sound and moving images – very much a ‘through the looking glass’ experience.
Art by Stuartevant at Moderna Museet
We made our way back along the waterfront to the Old Town and had a late lunch/early dinner of burgers and fries from the same restaurant we visited when we arrived in Stockholm. From our hotel room, we watched the heartbreaking football match where England lost to Croatia. Well England, it was fun until it wasn’t.
Having lived in Europe for a few years, and it being 2018, it’s hard not to be aware that bollards are placed in some streets or pedestrian areas to control traffic flow. Often, these are just ugly concrete slabs, sometimes painted with high-visibility yellow and black paint. We were impressed to see in Stockholm that these bollards were instead large, adorable lion statues, albeit made from concrete so as to still be functional. Well done Stockholm for introducing the whimsy!
Next up: Denmark
