Stockholm city from the bridge

Cloudy Stockholm city

Towards the end of August, Sweden had lovely weather. The clouds were gloomy but that did not dull our spirits. We still enjoyed walking all around the gorgeous town. Stockholm city was b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. You could sit on a bench and bask in the 360 degrees view of the beauty of nature, while slurping on an ice-cream, which I did all the while I was there. In front of me was the old city against the city’s waterfront, on my right was the Royal Palace and on my left was the National Museum. Behind me was the Grand Hotel and other erections. The exteriors of most of the buildings had an antique look with steeples towering over them. The canals made the scenery picture perfect. Basically, every side was overwhelming.

Waterfountain

During a walk in the old town, we saw an age old water fountain perfectly carved on all sides. People were drinking water straight from its tap. I was appalled at the sight and was curious to check the water. It was not green or dirty as I had expected it to be. Then, I learned that the taps, right from the houses to the public fountains, all poured drinking water. So, I filled my bottle and took the first sip. The water was clean and fresh.

The Royal Throne

King Gustav’s Museum of Antiquities

Endymion behind me

The Stockholm Palace banquet hall

The Royal Palace in Stockholm looked quite ordinary from the outside but it was a different world on the inside. It had burnt down at the end of the 17^th century and had been rebuilt without the tower. The articulate work done on the interiors could be seen in every single room in the apartment wing. Every chamber had a different theme. The banquet hall had the richest look I had ever seen. The Museum of Antiquities had more than 200 sculptures purchased by King Gustav III during his many journeys to Italy. His exquisite collection is supposed to have been exhibited exactly how it was originally placed back in 1794. Endymion and the larger sculptures enjoyed their space in the Large Stone Gallery.

Vaxholm’s Hotel

We visited Vaxholm, in the archipelago (you can book your Archipelago Cruises here) which was another attractive town, an hour away from Stockholm by boat. We sat opposite the port and had some delicious Swedish food and then headed to explore the Vaxholm Castle. The port had no one standing there but three kiosks. I looked around for some life but in vain. Every rule and instruction was written in Swedish, so, assuming the closing time was mentioned as 1800 hours, as the number was the only thing I understood, and it was 1830 then, we decided to leave when we saw a ferry. A man, from the approaching ferry, instructed us to get our tickets through the kiosks. We then went to the little island that was covered by the castle alone. Later, we waited quite a bit to be taken back by the ferry. Even on the island, everything was written in Swedish. I felt that perhaps they were not too keen on taking tourists, who do not read Swedish, to the castle.

Vaxholm Castle

The small island I was intrigued by – View from the fort

My son enjoying the ride from Vaxholm back to Stockholm

In the early days, the Vaxholm Castle was the fort from which they could protect Stockholm– the city where all the trade took place. A part of the interiors was now a Bed and Breakfast Hotel called Kastellet. As it was closed when we were there, I wondered what they prepared in the huge cannon ball looking cauldrons with heavy lids. I could smell some yummy food being cooked in it. Oh! I was hungry again by then. We munched on some potato chips and biscuits and went up to the terrace.

The castle was not a very big one but the 360 degrees view was breath-taking. The water stood calm against the many islands it touched. I assumed that each island, including Vaxholm, needed a day to be explored, except the small one that had only a couple of houses on it. I was curious to know how they managed their groceries because it did not look like they had much growing on it either.

Supermarket chips at a fancy restaurant

Back in Stockholm, I devoured a McDonald’s hamburger and relished it. I knew I was going to miss that too, once I returned to India. I had found a Pizza Hut joint that had a salad bar but it did not have the salad I was looking for- the most wanted macaroni and cheese salad (we go way back). So, I was happy to visit McDonald’s after PH disappointed me.

I have to tell you about the potato chips you have to think about before ordering from Orangeriet Bar & Café (Read my review here).

Chilling opposite the Stockholm palace

Sadly, the 150 year old modern art museum was under renovation, so, we could not have a look at it. Therefore, I would have to visit Stockholm again, in order to revel in its magnificence, along with the rest of the islands of the archipelago. It was a beautiful city and worth a thousand revisits. While heading to the airport, dark clouds covered the sky from one horizon to the other. It began to pour when the airport was in view. We debated about a possible delay due to turbulence, so, we unloaded our luggage from the cab and ran into the building. Unlike my travel buddy’s fate (read below), everything went well and we were on our way to Oslo.

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There are signs and then there are signs!!! And oh Stockholm, just how many you gave me!