Stockholm trip report
Jun 28th, 2004, 11:02 AM
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Stockholm trip report
Sweden no longer seems so remote with the new bargain airfares; now super-cheap Ryanair flies directly to Stockholm from several tourist hotspots in Italy, UK, etc. Great place to briefly escape heat and crowds in this sparkling Venice of the north.
Well, the city is a beautiful array of steeples and boats but in warm season the hotels are costly. I usually find one and only one tolerable internet deal. This time it was a week on the Lady Hutton, once the largest private yacht of it's time (Malard-something in Swedish) tied up in an unbelievably prime location just off old-town (Gamla-stan). It isn't the youth hostel ship, which is less well located. Actually I am a rare person that prefers the modern part of town rather than the self conciously twee nostalgic old town.
Quirks were poor ventilation, an intricate foldaway shower, and sea motion that didn't bother me but made me lose my "land legs" and stagger on solid land. There was a very convenient walkway slung on the water side of a freeway that allowed quick travel north and south without intersections - eg. 15 min walk to the airport bus/train depot.
Food: this time coming from Italy the food didn't seem so special - even at a huge, week long food festival. The farmers markets had good stuff... especially the indoor ones such as Ostermalmhallen to the east. Try a tub of that stuff that looks like red celery but is mashed like applesauce with strawberries - yumm.
Frankly the only special meal I would love to repeat was at the Ethnology museum - wow! Locals like it for the zillion potent foreign beers, but I loved the spicy ethnic food. This is east of town and only open during museum hours.
Museums: Gadzooks; the Stockholm cards gives you access to 70+ museums, some of excellant quality! Everyone knows the Vasa (ship) museum is a stunner, so try to visit during uncrowded hours. Liked the National art museum and the History museum (great Viking stuff and ecentric church carvings). Overrated are the huge Nordic museum and most of the gloomy Palace museums. Some underground palace excavation museums are interesting. Skansen was worthwhile, although I had to scold the nutcase lady who was throwing food to the bears, causing them to fight. And even further east was the obscure but wonderful Walden-something (Prince Eugen's villa/art studios) which had beautiful interiors and grounds, if not art.
One real favorite was Army museum although you miss a lot from not being able to read Swedish. Start at the top floor where there are incredible life sized dioramas with sound, light, and sometimes motion shows that really put you in a mood. Shiver with soldiers expiring in the snow, get kicked at by a horse, view some pretty cruel ways of discplining fellow soldiers, and even handle muskets and machine guns. You pretend to fire them, then view the impact of various bullet types into wood and simulated flesh. Sweden wasn't always a gentle neutral but more often a warlike bully.
Excursions: Liked the Millesgarden sculpture garden, although some confusion with transport (free with Stockholm card). Added university and botanical gardens to this excursion, but that seemed a time waster. Have already taken the palace excursion way to the west, so took a ferry to the best known island resort of Vaxholm to the east. Found that place dull except for the fascinating fortress/museum on an adjacent little island. Also the standard ferry ride (not the quaint tourist one) was pretty fun when it blasted along in high speed mode.
One annoyance was the marathon, which was held in the afternoon rather than early morning and snarled up even pedestrian traffic pretty bad. There seemed to be a lot of celebration and (organized) public drunkenness by runners the day before where you couldn't avoid being sprayed by beer. More, but this is getting too long...
Well, the city is a beautiful array of steeples and boats but in warm season the hotels are costly. I usually find one and only one tolerable internet deal. This time it was a week on the Lady Hutton, once the largest private yacht of it's time (Malard-something in Swedish) tied up in an unbelievably prime location just off old-town (Gamla-stan). It isn't the youth hostel ship, which is less well located. Actually I am a rare person that prefers the modern part of town rather than the self conciously twee nostalgic old town.
Quirks were poor ventilation, an intricate foldaway shower, and sea motion that didn't bother me but made me lose my "land legs" and stagger on solid land. There was a very convenient walkway slung on the water side of a freeway that allowed quick travel north and south without intersections - eg. 15 min walk to the airport bus/train depot.
Food: this time coming from Italy the food didn't seem so special - even at a huge, week long food festival. The farmers markets had good stuff... especially the indoor ones such as Ostermalmhallen to the east. Try a tub of that stuff that looks like red celery but is mashed like applesauce with strawberries - yumm.
Frankly the only special meal I would love to repeat was at the Ethnology museum - wow! Locals like it for the zillion potent foreign beers, but I loved the spicy ethnic food. This is east of town and only open during museum hours.
Museums: Gadzooks; the Stockholm cards gives you access to 70+ museums, some of excellant quality! Everyone knows the Vasa (ship) museum is a stunner, so try to visit during uncrowded hours. Liked the National art museum and the History museum (great Viking stuff and ecentric church carvings). Overrated are the huge Nordic museum and most of the gloomy Palace museums. Some underground palace excavation museums are interesting. Skansen was worthwhile, although I had to scold the nutcase lady who was throwing food to the bears, causing them to fight. And even further east was the obscure but wonderful Walden-something (Prince Eugen's villa/art studios) which had beautiful interiors and grounds, if not art.
One real favorite was Army museum although you miss a lot from not being able to read Swedish. Start at the top floor where there are incredible life sized dioramas with sound, light, and sometimes motion shows that really put you in a mood. Shiver with soldiers expiring in the snow, get kicked at by a horse, view some pretty cruel ways of discplining fellow soldiers, and even handle muskets and machine guns. You pretend to fire them, then view the impact of various bullet types into wood and simulated flesh. Sweden wasn't always a gentle neutral but more often a warlike bully.
Excursions: Liked the Millesgarden sculpture garden, although some confusion with transport (free with Stockholm card). Added university and botanical gardens to this excursion, but that seemed a time waster. Have already taken the palace excursion way to the west, so took a ferry to the best known island resort of Vaxholm to the east. Found that place dull except for the fascinating fortress/museum on an adjacent little island. Also the standard ferry ride (not the quaint tourist one) was pretty fun when it blasted along in high speed mode.
One annoyance was the marathon, which was held in the afternoon rather than early morning and snarled up even pedestrian traffic pretty bad. There seemed to be a lot of celebration and (organized) public drunkenness by runners the day before where you couldn't avoid being sprayed by beer. More, but this is getting too long...
Jun 28th, 2004, 12:18 PM
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Oh, I meant to add something about Sodermalm, the island just to the south which is poorly described by guidebooks. You can walk accross a messy cloverleaf from the old town (where I always heard an outdoor bar loudly playing US country-western music), or zip there on the freeway walkway mentioned earlier.
This is a bohemian neighborhood with great overlooks into Stockholm, but not much touristed probably due to hilly walking if you don't know your way. The guidebooks steer you mostly to the left (east) where there is the most stunning church. But most of the overlooks have recently lost their million-kroner views due to maturing trees. Reminds me of the botanical gardens of Rome where elaborate stone viewing platforms sit unused just because nobody now has the guts to apply a chainsaw for the common good.
So nearing sunset something drew me west of the cloverleaf, in spite of it being a trecherous area of up and down hills. I somehow found a weird route not involving too many ups and downs, and hit the jackpot. There is a wonderful and fairly level cliffwalk on that side with benches, flowers, and stupendous views of water, islands, boats, steeples, etc. At the far end are some paths down to the waterfront, and that is probably the easiest way to approach the walk in the first place.
Oh, there were some interesting encounters with the royal family at a special concert due to a ticket scalper, and touring military craft during flag day, but probably not of general interest...
This is a bohemian neighborhood with great overlooks into Stockholm, but not much touristed probably due to hilly walking if you don't know your way. The guidebooks steer you mostly to the left (east) where there is the most stunning church. But most of the overlooks have recently lost their million-kroner views due to maturing trees. Reminds me of the botanical gardens of Rome where elaborate stone viewing platforms sit unused just because nobody now has the guts to apply a chainsaw for the common good.
So nearing sunset something drew me west of the cloverleaf, in spite of it being a trecherous area of up and down hills. I somehow found a weird route not involving too many ups and downs, and hit the jackpot. There is a wonderful and fairly level cliffwalk on that side with benches, flowers, and stupendous views of water, islands, boats, steeples, etc. At the far end are some paths down to the waterfront, and that is probably the easiest way to approach the walk in the first place.
Oh, there were some interesting encounters with the royal family at a special concert due to a ticket scalper, and touring military craft during flag day, but probably not of general interest...
Jun 28th, 2004, 02:23 PM
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Well, a lot of the museums are out east near Skansen. Probably the top would be Vasa unless you have a particular interest in the other's specialties. There is a special funicular entrance to Skansen near the Vasa museum that closed at 5pm just before I reached it. Skansen may stay open til 10 so you can do it pretty late. There is a very atmospheric cemetery on the way.
I don't get the attraction of city hall except it doesn't charge the usual 5kr to use it's washroom (even some museums require you have such change). BTW at practically the only other free washroom in town I left some possesions behind before a long daytrip. I was amazed to find them still there at end of the day.
I don't get the attraction of city hall except it doesn't charge the usual 5kr to use it's washroom (even some museums require you have such change). BTW at practically the only other free washroom in town I left some possesions behind before a long daytrip. I was amazed to find them still there at end of the day.
Jun 28th, 2004, 03:57 PM
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The City Hall was underwhelming when I visited - but Vasa and Skansen are both must-sees. The Vasa ship is literally like nothing else on the planet - an actually double-decker man of war that sunk in the Stockholm harbor on its maiden voyage and was preserved due to the low levels of salinity. Skansen is really fun also - a treasure trove of actual buildings from various time periods and regions that an eccentric ethnographer dragged to a hill-top park (sort of like a real Disneyworld without the mouse) and staffed with helpful guides dressed in clothing appropriate to their building's particular time and function. The entrance nearest the Vasa does close at 5pm but all the exits remain usable for several more hours and we visited both quite thoroughly during a leisurly afternoon.
Jun 28th, 2004, 04:49 PM
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Town hall seemed to have large tour groups waiting whenever I passed by, so be prepared for delays. For those getting the stockholm card, you can leave town hall and the pretty good, refurbished modern art museum for other days since I believe they are free anyway.
Vasa and especially Skansen have very extensive displays which should alone tie up major chunks of a day, in case you don't have the evening free for Skansen. If it's raining I might do the not-too-far Army or History museum rather than outdoor Skansen.
Vasa and especially Skansen have very extensive displays which should alone tie up major chunks of a day, in case you don't have the evening free for Skansen. If it's raining I might do the not-too-far Army or History museum rather than outdoor Skansen.
