Stockholm, Sweden

I couldn't get these two pictures to upload last night so I'm adding them this morning.  It was a miserable night on the ferry. Hot and cramped and horrible bed.

I had to stand outside the door to our cabin to take this photo, that's how small it is. You can't open the bathroom door if you are standing in front of it. Quite a trick of maneuvering. We knew it was going to be small so we packed our overnight things in our backpacks and left our suitcases in the car. Even so, there wasn't room to put the packs down.

We stood out on the "sun" deck in the wind, rain and cold to say farewell to Finland.

And did the same this morning to greet Stockholm.

Swedish cinnamon bun and cardamom bun for breakfast (sadly, not for me)

I took lots of pictures because the architecture here is just stunning, and their dedication to preserving the history and style of the past is laudable.

We were here too early for the Hop on Hop off bus, so we found a place to park and enjoy the ducks and swans.

and watch the sun rise

and look at the beautiful fall color

and feel the water and pick up some rocks 

We decided to go check out our lodging for the night. This is it! We were able to leave the car here (for a fee) and walk down to the bus stop to tour the city. I almost always like the hop on/hop off bus tours to get a feel for the area and see more than you can by foot, but if you're ever in Stockholm, I don't recommend it. They don't get close enough to the areas of interest and you can't get any good photos from the bus. Almost all of these photos were taken when we walked around.

The Riddarholmen Church is the church of the former medieval Greyfriars Monastery in Stockholm. The church serves as the final resting place of most Swedish monarchs. The congregation was dissolved in 1807 and today the church is used only for burial and commemorative purposes. Sad. It is such an imposing structure. 

You really must zoom in on this picture to see all the detail.

Storkyrkan, also called Stockholm's domkyrka and Sankt Nikolai kyrka (Swedish for church), is the oldest church in Stockholm. It was consecrated to Saint Nicholas in 1306 but construction of the church probably started in the 13th century.

Some signs for you. You should remember what this one says from a few days ago. The one below I'm going to let you figure out. 

The Parliament House is the seat of the parliament of Sweden, the Riksdag. The building is a Neoclassical style, with a centered Baroque Revival style facade section. It was constructed between 1897 and 1905. There were armed guards with a German shepherd dog in front of it this morning so we were wondering if something important was going on. 

The Stockholm Palace or the Royal Palace is the official residence and major royal palace of the Swedish monarch. The offices of the King, the other members of the Swedish royal family, and the Royal Court of Sweden are here. The palace is used for representative purposes by the King while performing his duties as the head of state.

This fountain is at one end of the Palace.

Statue of Gustav II Adolf

The Royal Dramatic Theater is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around 1,000 shows are put on annually on the theatre's five running stages. The theatre has been at its present location in the Art Nouveau building since 1908.

We sure don't have any 7-Elevens in buildings like this in our neck of the woods.

There was something significant about this park, but I can't remember what. 😕

Kungstomen are twin tower skyscrapers, individually named Norra Kungstornet and Sodra Kungstornet. The 16-story Norra is 60 meters tall and was built between 1919 and 1924; and the taller 17-story, 61 meter Sodra was built between 1924 and 1925. Together they are considered the first modern skyscrapers in Europe.

Home to the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, the blue concert hall at Hötorget is one of Stockholm’s most recognizable buildings. The venue hosts over 200 concerts each year, including orchestral and chamber music, jazz and world music, exhibitions and other events, while once a year, the global spotlight falls on Konserthuset Stockholm and the orchestra during the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony.

The Nobel building envisioned by the Nobel Foundation at around the same time Konserthuset emerged was never built, and ever since 1926, the venue has played host to the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony on 10 December each year.

 

Even these columns on the street are carved with such detail.

Stockholm City Hall is the seat of Stockholm Municipality. It houses offices and conference rooms as well as ceremonial halls. It is the venue of the Nobel Prize banquet and is one of Stockholm's major attractions.

These pictures are for you Cathie. I didn't want you to think we were all alone in Sweden.

The photos below were all taken from a river and canal cruise we took.

The Nordic Museum is dedicated to the cultural history and ethnography of Sweden from the early modern period to the contemporary period. The museum was founded in the late 19th century by Arthur Hazelius, who also founded the open-air museum Skansen.

life preserver anyone?

Gröna Lund's roots are in the 1880s, making it Sweden's oldest amusement park. However the area has been used for similar purposes since the early 18th century. In 1883, a German by the name of Jacob Schultheiss rented the area to erect "carousels and other amusements". Until 2001, descendants of Schultheiss ran Gröna Lund. Before the amusement park came into being, Gröna Lund was the name of a small park.

The park's location is unique in the sense that most of the buildings are old residential and commercial structures from the 19th century. The buildings were not built for the park; instead, the park was built around the buildings.

Kim had WE LOVE MEATBALLS! (8 Meatballs) Chef’s choice of 4 meatball types, mashed potatoes, creamy veal gravy, preserved lingonberries and pickled cucumber. The chef's choice was: beef, duck, pork and reindeer.

I had THE SWEDISH CLASSIC (6 pork/beef Meatballs) Mashed potatoes with creamy veal gravy, pickled cucumber and preserved lingonberries. They were truly delicious and fulfilled our Swedish meatball tasting desire.

It was raining quite hard when we walked a couple of blocks to the restaurant. By the time we finished our meal it had stopped so we walked to a few thrift stores in the area. Swedes definitely need some help from Texans in the area of flea markets and thrift stores. The first stop was in this building for Sodermalm Stadsmission Thrift.

I wanted to take some photos from Fotografiska, so we walked a little over a mile on those bumpy cobblestone walks and climbed a gazillion stairs (Jo Anne, you can relate to these), 

took a photo

climbed down some steps

and took lots more photos

And lest you think Stockholm is all beauty, much of it is under construction and not very pretty.

more Swedish sticky buns

I'm tired of all those steps.

I did, I did, I did see a reindeer.

and another one

for you Jo Anne

more waffles than I've seen in my entire life

liquorice ice cream in a liquorice cone, no thank you

This store was all things liquorice.

Kim likes the black stuff, I can't even stand the smell of it.

Intricate pattern in the brickwork, but it kind of made you dizzy to walk on it.

The Grand Hotel

After the Stockholm Exhibition in 1866, when Stockholm and Sweden became widely known in Europe, it was realized that Stockholm had too little hotel capacity to meet the increased influx of international guests and a real large hotel of the highest class was missing. The Frenchman Jean-François Régis Cadier, who had arrived in Stockholm in 1852, was the one who was given the task of thinking about a new exclusive grand hotel in Stockholm. Apparently many of the music, movie and TV stars in America like to stay here when they visit.

The House of Nobility is a corporation and a building that maintains records and acts as an interest group on behalf of the Swedish nobility.

Our room on the yacht

yes, we have portholes

view through the porthole

watching the sun set through the porthole

It's been a day and as Kim said when we were walking back to the yacht, "we probably pack as much into a day as anybody could. Not too bad for 70 years old."

Steps - 17,680

Miles - 8

Floors - 30

"Living in this present broken world is designed by God to produce longing, readiness, and hope in me." PDT