Stockholm
In June 2006 we went off to Stockholm for a few days not really knowing what to expect and what a lovely surprise to find such a pretty city. We were very lucky with the weather - the sun showed off the warm colours of the buildings beautifully. We arrived on a Friday evening, had all day Saturday there and most of Sunday before flying back to Heathrow.
oldtown1
oldtown2
oldtown3
reflections
We spent the first morning wandering about in the old town. It was only a short walk from our hotel (right) as were most other things.
hotel
oldtownlarge
One of the old town buildings we could see clearly from our hotel room was the Norstedts building which has a very strange pointy bit as part of its roof.
nordstedts1
norstedts2
narrowstreet
One of the "tourist" places to visit is Marten Trotzigs Grand, the narrowest street in the old town at just 3 ft across. It's quite steep (36 steps) and shows how the old town used to be with the houses really close together.
The bloodiest square in the city is Stortorget outside the stock exchange. This is where the Stockholm Bloodbath took place in 1520. Many of the buildings are pretty colours and the flowers outside the restaurants/cafes also add to the colour.
stexsquare1
stex2
stex3
stex4
This square is just down from the cathedral which was one of the few places we ventured inside. Oleus Petri, the Swedish reformer, spread his Lutheran message from here (the statue is of him). The tablet tells the history of the cathedral (Storkyrkan). Originally a small village church was on the site in the 13th century. It was replaced in 1306 by a much bigger basilica, St Nicholas. The Gothic character of the interior was revealed in 1908 during restoration work.
cathout
stainedglass
cathcandles

cathshipshadow

There was a ship hanging from the ceiling which looked lovely either in shadow or in the light. Having seen something similar in Copenhagen this time it wasn't such a surprise.
cathboat
The ceiling was very pretty and the fresco interesting - quite a scary chap!
cathceiling
cathfresco
cathpulpit
As with many cathedrals, there was plenty of gold around ...
cathdoor
cathlarge
... but the main attraction was the 1650's silver and ebony altar - very eye-catching.
cathaltar
cathaisle
cathaisle2
cathpulpit2
From there we wandered through the parliament complex (the Riksdagshuset). The photo on the left is the new part of the building and, as you can see, this is joined by a walk through archway to the old part.
parliament1
parliamentarch
parliament2
Not far from here was the Royal Palace (Kungliga Slottet) - the offices of the royal family.
palace 4
palace1
palace2
palace 3
It really glowed with the afternoon sun on it.
palacelarge
Next stop, the House of Nobility (Riddarhuset) - one of Stockholm's most beautiful buildings, built in 1641-7. The words above the door reflect the Dutch heritage and mean art and war.
nobility1
nobility2
Just a little further down that road and we reached Riddarholmskyrkan (the church on island of Riddarholmen). The spire is made of cast iron, was created in 1835 after a serious fire and is quite wonderful to look at.
rid1
rid2
rid3
The round building at the side is a mausoleum. It is quite ornate to look at.
rid4
Out of the old town, our next venue was the town hall (Stadthuset) where there at least 2 (or even 3) weddings going on at the time we visited. One party had brought a picnic with them for the reception - what a great idea!
townhall
The carving in the photo on the left was just at the side of the large front door whereas the lion was to one side of the building. This was another building close to our hotel. The queue was so long for going up the tower that we gave it a miss and stayed on the ground - perhaps next time!
stadth1
stadthdoor
stadth3
stadth2
The two towers - one at each end - have a gold bobble and three crowns on one (this is the Swedish heraldic symbol) and a gold crescent on the other - both pick up the light and glitter really nicely
stadth6
stadth4
stadth5
stadthfount
There were quite a few statues around the city. the boy and girl (left and middle) were outside the town hall.
boy
girl
statue
Later in the afternoon, we wandered over to Skeppsholmen Island. The navy used to be based here and there are quite a few reminders of forces' occupation. Admiralty House stands on the hill near the entrance ...
admiralty
... whilst keeping guard on one side is af Chapman. Believe it or not this is the youth hostel. There are some more bedrooms on land but it must be one of the more interesting youth hostels around.
boat
We were very lucky while we were there as a military band was performing an open air concert so we stood a while and listened.
band1

band2

crane

The loading crane on the left is made of wood and, built in 1751 is the oldest of its type in Sweden.

A quick stroll across the wrought iron bridge back to the mainland, admiring the views on the way and we strolled around the new town.

water1
harbour
water2
To get to the new town we went past the National Museum.
natlmus1
The new town is not nearly as pretty as the old town but they complement each other quite well. One of the gaudiest buildings we saw was Kungshallen ...
kungshallen
... but there was some nice street art around.
metal
Opposite Kungshallen is the Concert Hall and a statue of Orpheus (sculptor - Carl Milles)...
concerth
orpheus
... and some very pretty fountains. The glass obelisik is in Segels Torg and was designed in 1972 by the sculptor Edvin Ohrstrom. It's called Crystal Vertical Accent in Glass and Steel.
fountain1
tower
fountain2
There is also Jacobs Kyrka (Jacob's church). It seemed very red when the sun caught it. It was consecrated for the first time in 1643 and has been restored several times since then.
jacobs1
jacobs2
jacobs3
There was some fancy painting on the pavements and the opera house was quite grand to look at.
floor
opera
balloon
One of the strange things we saw from our hotel was an air balloon floating gently above the city - a beautiful sight to end day 1.

Day 2 and we decided to go to Djurgarden Island on a Hop On/Hop Off boat trip.

We wandered around Skansen - an open air museum in a beautiful park with lots of lovely old buildings - replicas of the types of houses people used to live in.

skansen 2
skansen 3
skansen 4

skansen 1

We then found ourselves in the animal area where various animals found in Scandinavia are kept.
buffalo

There were lots of different species including otters ...

otter 2
otter 1
peacock 1
peacock 2
... and peacocks, not to mention bears.
bear 2
bear 4
bear 3
brown bears 1
brown bears 2

brown bear 3

brown bears 4
brownbears5
One of the main attractions were new born elks. Only a few days old, the 2 calves were called Josefine and Johanna.
elk 1
elk 2
boar

Another baby was a wild boar - a funny coloured little thing, not at all like the grey parents but clearly very hungry.

The seals were flopped out and enjoying their sun bathing session.

seals
Another treat was the 2 lynx kittens - they were so sweet playing with each other and Mum was keeping a close eye on them.
lynx 2
lynx 1
lynx 3
wolverine
The wolverine was romping around like a mad thing whereas the wolf was fast asleep!
wolf

All too soon it was time to go back to the boat. We resisted the opportunity of calling in at the funfair that was near the boat stop but did call in at a little cafe for some homemade cake and a drink - very nice!

We left the boat a stop early and enjoyed one last walk through the old town to have another look at all the lovely warm colours.

old town 01
old town 02
old town 03
Finally, we said "Goodbye" to this beautiful city, hoping that we'll be able to visit again one day soon.

view