Stockholm: Day One

The previous day had been pretty stressful and exhausting, so we had a bit of a lie-in on our first morning in Sweden before going to the local train station and getting ourselves some 72-hour travel cards. Then we travelled to the central station, a huge place which is basically like a shopping mall.

Claudio wanted to buy an international phone chip from a shop there, but unfortunately for some reason none of the chips would work on his phone, so we ended up having to give up and ask for our money back. It felt like a bit of a disappointing start to the trip, but we cheered up once we'd had some delicious coffee and cakes at the Espresso House café (they do the best vegan brownies), where we were entertained by a chihuahua in a handbag at the next table!

Then it was time for us to finally see some of Stockholm!

The city is made up of various islands on the Baltic Sea and is connected by many different bridges. For this reason, it's sometimes described as "the Venice of the north". 

The most famous part of the city is Gamla stan, the historic centre, which is mostly located on the island of Stadsholmen.

As we walked away from the central station, Gamla stan suddenly came into view on the other side of the water. It was amazing to see!

On our side of the water, we found Stockholm City Hall, a very impressive building with a beautiful courtyard. There was actually a wedding taking place while we were there. It's definitely a photogenic place to get married!

Then we crossed over the bridge in order to explore Gamla stan. The first place we saw there was Riddarhuset, or House of Nobility, a grand house from the 17th century. It's a very beautiful and elaborate building.

On the Riddarholmen island, we saw the Riddarholmen church, which is one of the most famous churches in the city, as it is where the monarchs are buried.

The area surrounding the church was very attractive, with lots of very typically European-looking buildings.

The next famous landmark we saw was the Royal Palace, but to be honest, we weren't that impressed by it! There were many other places around the city that were a lot more eye-catching.

Located near the palace is Stockholm Cathedral. It's not a huge building but it's pretty to look at.

Shortly afterwards we ended up accidentally leaving Gamla stan! But it didn't matter, because there were plenty of other great attractions to see in the nearby area, such as Saint James's Church. I really liked how brightly coloured it was.

We also passed through a nice little park, Kungsträdgården (King's Garden). 

A short while later we found ourselves in front of the Royal Dramatic Theatre, a very beautiful and ornate building. The surrounding area was also very scenic.

Sometime around this point, we entered a shopping centre in order to find a bathroom, and it turned out to be some kind of infinite labyrinth that we felt like we were going round forever! But eventually we found both a bathroom and then a nice sushi place to have something to eat, and afterwards we made our way back to Gamla stan.

By this time, it was already getting dark, even though it wasn't that late. But if anything, it was actually even nicer to explore the Medieval cobbled streets at dusk.

Neither of us had working GPS, but we managed to find our way through the narrow maze of streets to see a couple of the city's most famous squares. First of all we visited Kornhamnstorg (Grain Harbour Square). Although it was smaller than I expected, the buildings were very nice.

And then we visited the oldest square, and perhaps the most iconic place in the whole of Stockholm, Stortorget (the Grand Square). Here you can find the Nobel Museum, as well as the colourful row of buildings that are seen on most postcards from the city. It was a really beautiful place to see, with a very European, fairytale-esque vibe, which made me feel Christmassy, even though it was October!

Eventually it got too dark to carry on sightseeing, so we headed back to the central station. But on our way, we passed this little island with a grand building on it, and I just had to take a picture! An internet search tells me that  it's the headquarters of an organisation called International IDEA. Interesting!

In summary, our first day exploring Stockholm was brilliant, and we both loved Gamla stan. The evening before, I think we'd both felt like travelling to Sweden hadn't been the best idea, but after our first full day there, we felt like the previous day's stresses had all been worth it now that we were able to experience such a beautiful city.

The following day was also very memorable, as we got to discover more of Sweden's nature, culture and history, when we visited Skansen open air museum and the Viking museum! It was a pretty exciting day and I can't wait to write about it!

Read about Stockholm: Day Two here and Stockholm: Day Three here!