Friday 9.17.2010
Our Stockholm Introduction
Our part of the city, Sodermalm, has been described as Stockholm's Brooklyn, probably because it sits across a narrow strip of water from "downtown." When here, it feels a lot more like Manhattan's SOHO or Greenwich Village. It is leafy but bustling, residential and commercial, and quiet while having an energetic vibe.
Our day started with breakfast prepared by our host Elisabeth. She and her husband purchased three adjoining studio apartments on the fourth floor in this building and then added an additional couple rooms in a loft above. When their daughter left home they separated her room from the others and turned it into a rental. They only take couples and only one couple at a time so it is a pretty well managed operation. Breakfast is in their apartment with gorgeous views of the city. We had a small breakfast of eggs, cheese, smoked turkey, Danish rye bread, flat breads, sliced vegetables, melon, grapefruit, kiwi fruit, cereals, juice, coffee and home-canned lingonberries. She had to roll us out.
We started our tour walking about 30 minutes to the "Old Town" of Gamla Stan, one of the principal islands that make up the city of Stockholm. First on our list was a tour of the Vasa Museum and we needed to catch a water ferry to get there. We approached a woman selling tickets and she said our passes only worked with another company and they are over there, pointing over her shoulder. We started walking in that direction and after about 15 minutes we pulled out the map to get our bearings and to see if we "missed the boat." A fellow noticed our confusion and in perfect Swenglish asked if we needed help. We explained our situation and he pointed us back to where we began. After asking again we finally found our ferry docking area about 8 feet from the first person we asked and directly in line with where she pointed. Stupid tourists.
The ferries bounce around Stockholm harbor from island to island and you just need to ride along until they get to your stop and we wanted stop #3. The Vasa Museum has one real exhibit and everything else revolves around that. The Vasa was a warship built in 1628 by Gustavus Adolphus (the King, not the school) and designed to be the most powerful ship in the world. Take that you pesky Poles. As the mighty beast was launched to rule the world, it cruised into Stockholm Harbor and promptly sank within twenty minutes. The King was angry and the Poles delighted. After laying there for 333 years the Vasa was rediscovered in 1961 and gently raised to the surface. Over the ensuing years 14000 separate pieces were reassembled and restored so today the ship looks just as it did when the King was waving goodbye. It is really impressive as a piece of history as well as a masterful restoration. The museum does a 25 minute film in English and has many displays detailing the restoration, the lifestyle of 17th century Sweden, and even the skeletons of a few unfortunate souls who did not get off alive. All of our research suggested that the Vasa was a "don't miss" and they were right.
We caught the ferry again and decided to explore the next island in the harbor even though we had no reason to do so except "why not." We gave ourselves 30 minutes--the time ‘til the next ferry--to wander and we were done in ten. Well, we needed a little break and sat on bench for twenty minutes resting up. The next stop was Djurgarden, an island offering a mix of residential and recreational. It was originally set aside as the King's hunting ground and gradually reverted back to the folks in the form of an amusement park and a huge open-air folk-museum called Skansen. Skansen has a completely restored Swedish village with all the essentials of glass blowing, saddle making, machining, baking and more. All of the exhibits are alive with folks working away at their crafts.
We spent a good two hours wandering around the extensive property. There were restored churches, reconstructed parks, market areas and a full complement of Swedish critters including reindeer, moose and bears. It was a nice touch of living history and a full dose of current people watching.
It’s almost 4:00 and we had not eaten since breakfast so John needed some topping off. We found a Korv (hotdog) stand outside the amusement park and he had an all-world bratwurst that hung about 3 inches out of each end of the bun. The guy behind him had a regular korv that was topped with some pink stuff so that will have to be on the list in the future.
We grabbed the next boat and got off on our island but a long way from home. Where we disembarked there was a steep bluff and a set of intimidating stairs to get to the top. We chugged up all 124 steps, walked the mile to our apartment and then climbed our 92 steps to our fourth floor pad. We stopped along the way for some do-it-yourself breakfast makings for the next two days and were happy to find the Danish Rye, meat and cheese combination we had with Elisabeth. We get her treat again on Monday morning.
We crashed for a couple hours after our 8-hour forced march and headed out for Swedish food. The place we were hoping for was of course packed (Friday night, no reservations) so we saw a nice Italian joint (La Cucina) that had a couple empty seats, albeit at someone else’s table. Apparently that was not a problem, but being Swedish they never made eye contact with us and left a short time after we arrived. Mary had a spaghetti with olive oil, peppers and garlic (the Swedes have definitely discovered spice) and John had a “Calzone” with chicken and cheese that was much more like a Wellington wrapped in puff pastry. We divied up our two dishes and each had half which was perfect. Our waiter/host seemed to think it was a good idea as he lavished Prego-Pregos on us.
Sleeping well tonight.
Weather today: Sunny, breezy, high 60, low 44
Our Stockholm Introduction
Our part of the city, Sodermalm, has been described as Stockholm's Brooklyn, probably because it sits across a narrow strip of water from "downtown." When here, it feels a lot more like Manhattan's SOHO or Greenwich Village. It is leafy but bustling, residential and commercial, and quiet while having an energetic vibe.
Our day started with breakfast prepared by our host Elisabeth. She and her husband purchased three adjoining studio apartments on the fourth floor in this building and then added an additional couple rooms in a loft above. When their daughter left home they separated her room from the others and turned it into a rental. They only take couples and only one couple at a time so it is a pretty well managed operation. Breakfast is in their apartment with gorgeous views of the city. We had a small breakfast of eggs, cheese, smoked turkey, Danish rye bread, flat breads, sliced vegetables, melon, grapefruit, kiwi fruit, cereals, juice, coffee and home-canned lingonberries. She had to roll us out.
We started our tour walking about 30 minutes to the "Old Town" of Gamla Stan, one of the principal islands that make up the city of Stockholm. First on our list was a tour of the Vasa Museum and we needed to catch a water ferry to get there. We approached a woman selling tickets and she said our passes only worked with another company and they are over there, pointing over her shoulder. We started walking in that direction and after about 15 minutes we pulled out the map to get our bearings and to see if we "missed the boat." A fellow noticed our confusion and in perfect Swenglish asked if we needed help. We explained our situation and he pointed us back to where we began. After asking again we finally found our ferry docking area about 8 feet from the first person we asked and directly in line with where she pointed. Stupid tourists.
The ferries bounce around Stockholm harbor from island to island and you just need to ride along until they get to your stop and we wanted stop #3. The Vasa Museum has one real exhibit and everything else revolves around that. The Vasa was a warship built in 1628 by Gustavus Adolphus (the King, not the school) and designed to be the most powerful ship in the world. Take that you pesky Poles. As the mighty beast was launched to rule the world, it cruised into Stockholm Harbor and promptly sank within twenty minutes. The King was angry and the Poles delighted. After laying there for 333 years the Vasa was rediscovered in 1961 and gently raised to the surface. Over the ensuing years 14000 separate pieces were reassembled and restored so today the ship looks just as it did when the King was waving goodbye. It is really impressive as a piece of history as well as a masterful restoration. The museum does a 25 minute film in English and has many displays detailing the restoration, the lifestyle of 17th century Sweden, and even the skeletons of a few unfortunate souls who did not get off alive. All of our research suggested that the Vasa was a "don't miss" and they were right.
We caught the ferry again and decided to explore the next island in the harbor even though we had no reason to do so except "why not." We gave ourselves 30 minutes--the time ‘til the next ferry--to wander and we were done in ten. Well, we needed a little break and sat on bench for twenty minutes resting up. The next stop was Djurgarden, an island offering a mix of residential and recreational. It was originally set aside as the King's hunting ground and gradually reverted back to the folks in the form of an amusement park and a huge open-air folk-museum called Skansen. Skansen has a completely restored Swedish village with all the essentials of glass blowing, saddle making, machining, baking and more. All of the exhibits are alive with folks working away at their crafts.
We spent a good two hours wandering around the extensive property. There were restored churches, reconstructed parks, market areas and a full complement of Swedish critters including reindeer, moose and bears. It was a nice touch of living history and a full dose of current people watching.
It’s almost 4:00 and we had not eaten since breakfast so John needed some topping off. We found a Korv (hotdog) stand outside the amusement park and he had an all-world bratwurst that hung about 3 inches out of each end of the bun. The guy behind him had a regular korv that was topped with some pink stuff so that will have to be on the list in the future.
We grabbed the next boat and got off on our island but a long way from home. Where we disembarked there was a steep bluff and a set of intimidating stairs to get to the top. We chugged up all 124 steps, walked the mile to our apartment and then climbed our 92 steps to our fourth floor pad. We stopped along the way for some do-it-yourself breakfast makings for the next two days and were happy to find the Danish Rye, meat and cheese combination we had with Elisabeth. We get her treat again on Monday morning.
We crashed for a couple hours after our 8-hour forced march and headed out for Swedish food. The place we were hoping for was of course packed (Friday night, no reservations) so we saw a nice Italian joint (La Cucina) that had a couple empty seats, albeit at someone else’s table. Apparently that was not a problem, but being Swedish they never made eye contact with us and left a short time after we arrived. Mary had a spaghetti with olive oil, peppers and garlic (the Swedes have definitely discovered spice) and John had a “Calzone” with chicken and cheese that was much more like a Wellington wrapped in puff pastry. We divied up our two dishes and each had half which was perfect. Our waiter/host seemed to think it was a good idea as he lavished Prego-Pregos on us.
Sleeping well tonight.
Weather today: Sunny, breezy, high 60, low 44
WooHoo! Love hearing about your travels. I checked your apartment online and yes, I believe I've seen it all in the IKEA catalog. Nice little place. Keep it up!!
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