Sweden is a country of Vikings, small portions of food compared to my Eastern European not so ‘Lagom’ portions. And don’t forget about all the tall blue-eyed cuties! This time I am exploring Stockholm, the capital of The Kingdom of Sweden.
The city is located across 14 islands. A lot of cathedrals and old houses are facing the beautiful Stockholm archipelago. The pavement is riddled with stones, plenty of tourists, and if you follow their trail you’ll end up in the old part of the city called Gamla Stan. This area looks exactly how I imagined it when my mom read me Astrid Lindgren fairy-tales when I was a child.
On the main square of Gamla stan, a Danish King executed 96 Swedish aristocrats. This led to a revolt that resulted in Sweden gaining its independence. One of the buildings is red to commemorate that bloody day. Each of the 96 white bricks around the windows symbolizes a slaughtered aristocrat. And you can often find quite the crowd gathering there so beware of pickpockets!
Well, keep talking about something pleasant, for example about public transport. As a tourist I used a boat as the main transport, I found this to be a quick and more reliable way to get around rather than taking the bus or train. And I can’t mention the boats without bringing up the opportunities you have for photography!
Now, branching out your excursion beyond the city center of Stockholm we start to dip our toes into what we often call the Scandinavian culture. This is also why I love taking the boats as their end destinations often leave you quite the distance away from the beaten path. But make sure you ask whoever checks your ticket to scan it when you get off, otherwise you might end up exceeding the 75 minute time limit each ticket has if you wish to take a connecting boat or bus.
My boat ride ended in the bourgeoisie part of Stockholm and that’s when I decided to have some traditional Fika.
I f you are not familiar with this practice then I’ll quickly break it down for you. It’s a time for socializing, drinking coffee and snacking something sweet ?
Fika is definitely not just only about the sweets, you also can eat a sandwich, but most Swedish people prefer solely pastries to their Fika time.
Small cute red houses or Scandinavian modern ones are standing on the hills among dense forest golf fields, horses, sheep, and big boats in the water.
And of course, do not forget to visit the King’s summer house!
I love sharing my experiences from my favorite country and city, but nothing can beat visiting it by yourself!
(In the non-virtual world)
Here is a quick list of places that I enjoyed visiting, but I advise you to find your own gems in this wonderful city!