Stockholm, Sweden 2024
Days 1 and 2
I last visited Stockholm just before Christmas in nineteen eighty-something for work. It was dark for about 21 hours every day and very cold. I saw the office I worked in as a software instructor for Digital Equipment Corporation, my hotel, an underground mall, and the Vasa ship. That’s all.
Already today I’ve seen much more than that.
We are still tired, but coming around. We enjoyed a fantastic buffet breakfast here at the Scandic Continental Hotel, directly across the street from the Central Station. It’s 250 meters from the Arlanda Express, the high-speed train from the airport to downtown. It takes 18 minutes by train and about an hour by motorcoach. Note to San Diego, a city that built a trolley that passes half a mile from the airport, but couldn’t imagine how to take the trolley to the airport.
We ate tacos for dinner at a nearby food hall last night and fresh pizza there tonight. There’s a huge department store just down the street and it has a large supermarket on the lower floor. We found our lunch of sandwiches, fruit, and pastries there.
We did some shopping for necessities at a great drugstore called Normal. We visited a few stores and the Ahlen Department Store and walked all around Gamla Stan, which is one of fourteen islands that make up Stockholm.
It might rain tomorrow so we are debating whether to take the hop on hop off bus tomorrow or just visit museums.
Day 3
We bought the hop-on bus ticket and rode around the entire loop from the front seats on the top floor. The weather was nice and sunny. Stockholm is so clean and beautiful.
We picked up our dinner from the pre-made food section of the supermarket in the basement of the Ahlens Department store.
After a rest, we went shopping and then called Jen and Hondo.
Day 4
We enjoyed another hotel breakfast buffet and then made our way to the harbor for the Royal Bridges and Canal tour. It was nice. There is an extraordinary amount of open park space for Stockholmers to enjoy.
After the tour, we got back on the hop-on water taxi and visited the Vasa Warship Museum. It was absolutely amazing.
At the next stop on the water taxi, we stopped on yet another island to visit the Modern Museum of Art. It was… okay. I mean the space was nice and the location was lovely, but the art wasn’t really that great. Maybe I don’t like Modern Art. I think I like Contemporary Art. I think there’s a difference.
We had a burger for dinner and that was our first error in the meal department.
Day 5
We took the tour at the City Hall and stood in the Blue Room, which isn’t blue, where the Nobel laureates have their special dinner with the king of Sweden. The entire city hall was so beautiful and situated right next to a large lake around which all of Stockholm is situated.
We carried on the bus to the Photography Museum but it was so hard to find we gave up and went to a charming area of Sodermalm. We had a beer on a bench outside a pub, did a little shopping, ate some lunch, and did a lot of people-watching. It was so fun to be among the locals on a beautiful summer Sunday afternoon.
We came back to the room for a rest and then went to dinner at the Food Hall. We have tried almost every food stall there.
Day 6
Today we went on another boat ride to the Stockholm archipelago. It was pretty and interesting. I’ll elaborate on our day more later but I want to post this blog before we leave for Copenhagen tomorrow.
