We arrived in Stockholm the First of August, 2002 by ferry from Helsinki. Stockholm is a city of islands - 14 to be exact. The city is one third water and has lots of parks and woodland. Lake Malaren meets the Baltic Sea which provides lots of frozen water in the winter for ice skating. The Stockholm archipelago contains 24,000 islands and rocks as we discovered when we arrived on the ferry early in the morning after an overnight journey from Helsinki. At right was a typical view of the homes dotting the coastline of the wooded islands, here along with a local ferry for island hopping with your vehicle.

For reasons that we cannot fathom, our guide book (The Rough Guide to Scandinavia) refers to the city of Stockholm as being an unwelcome place with the inhabitants being provincial and distant. We found nothing to back this statement. Everywhere we went we met people were very nice and went out of their way to ask us if we needed help with anything should we find ourselves looking at a map debating our next move.

While there, the weather was lovely (other than our approach through the archipelago which was pretty gray). As a result, the people were out in throngs, as can be seen above. The view is down Drottninggatan, one of the main shopping streets, as viewed through the arches of the Parliament buildings. Gamla Stan is the “old town” of Stockholm and is home to the royal palace (above, left), one of the largest in Europe (we were assured it has one more room than Buckingham Palace, making it the largest with 608 rooms). The Great Church from 1306 and the location for royal weddings and coronations can be seen at the rear, to the left, of the palace.

Other than around the palace, the whole of Gamla Stan is a warren of narrow streets, full of shops intended to ply those kroners from the tourists. There are plenty of cafes and restaurants, not to mention the number of ice cream shops redolent with the fragrance of baking waffle cones. From these narrow streets one can often get a glimpse down to the waterfront or up to the spire of the medieval German Church (right). This church reminds us that there was a strong German influence in Stockholm for many years. At one point Stockholm had 2 mayors, one Swedish and one German, as well as equal representation in parliament. The newer part of Stockholm is north of Gamla Stan on the island Norrmalm. Here the major shopping and business districts are located. Being surrounded by water, several harbors dot the coast, providing easy access to the other islands. The Ostermalm district to the east was the last to be developed and contains grand houses and broad, tree-lined streets. The view above right is of the houses on Strandvagen, one of the most elegant addresses in the city.

We took a local ferry out to the island of Djurgarden and enjoyed an afternoon walk around this wooded island. On the island is also the Tivoli Gronland amusement park as well as Skansen, Europe’s largest open-air museum. Skansen has over 150 buildings from all over Sweden that have been moved to the “Outdoor Museum” and preserved to show various ways of life over the ages. One of our favorites was the sod-roofed house, left. As you can see from the family about to enter, the roof line was rather low. The “sod” was lush and thick (almost wooded), and the chimney had an interesting external stone damper that was operated by a long pole from the outside. Obviously this was before the time of internal flues.

From the island, there are several places to get good views of the center of the city. One of the best was from the top of a 6-story tower on top of the hill. From here, you could get a nice 360 degree view. Below is one of the views toward the city (looking toward the Ostermalm district of Norrmalm). We also took a boat tour around some of the islands to get a view from the water. Below, right is one of the older grand homes built on the Djurgarden island. There were many like this built on the islands, although most were of a more modest means.

Above is a grand retirement house built on one of the other islands. Rumor has it that many visiting ships used to salute this building, thinking it was the royal palace!

And finally, we leave with a view of Norrmalm from Gamla Stan. The large building to the center-left is the opera house. At the far right is the Grand Hotel where winners of the Nobel Prize stay during presentations. We really enjoyed our stay in Stockholm and although large, it is an easy city in which to get around, especially if you make use of the public transport available. By buying a timed transport pass (24, 48 or 72 hour), we were able to move all over the city at a reasonable cost. Also, it allowed us to stay in a quiet suburb, saving a bit of money and giving us a safe place to park the bikes.

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