Stockholm, Sweden

We had the most wonderful time and the most beautiful weather we could ask for once we finally made it to Stockholm. It is certainly in my top five favorite European cities...but probably only in the summer. I LOVE how it sits on the water in every way...and because Stockholm is made up of 14 islands a lot of people get to live on the water which I think is very cool...in the summer as I am sure they live on the ice in the winter!
We had a little trouble finding our hotel from the terminal because there are three Rica Hotels in the city and we went to the wrong one first, but again once we made it we were so happy with our room. It was a little small but it had a balcony with good views. Here are the street views up and down our neighboring street from the room.

We stayed in the perfect location as we could walk anywhere we wanted including to other islands nearby. This area is primarily a shopping district, but there are very good restaurants and nightclubs here as well.
The first thing we wanted to do was grab a late lunch on the island of Gamla Stan which is the old city center of Stockholm and is where the palace sits. Here is one of the many very cool street views in Gamla Stan.

After lunch we snapped some pictures and stopped to have a beer before taking a boat tour of the area. It was gorgeous and perfect weather! We also got some wonderful pictures from the boat. The first picture is of Gamla Stan.

And this is one of the main islands and happens to be my very favorite street. I want to live in one of the parisian influenced apartments shown below. This area was once the ghetto of Stockholm and then they tore down and rebuilt everything and now it is a premier place to live. The Swedish tore down a lot of the city...they were never involved int he World Wars so Stockholm was spared, but they tore down a lot of older buildings to modernize and make things more efficiently. And the city is very modern with its architecture and very clean too.

This is one of my favorite pictures even though it didn't turn out great...it is simply a row of apartment houses sitting right on the sea.

A little further away there were newer condos...and you can't see it but the residents have lined the water and the docks to sun bath and jump in the water since it was such a nice day. I can't imagine how expensive these are as Stockholm is an expensive city anyway.

Here is one of the harbor areas where are cruise departed...it is right in the heart of things with Gamla Stan on the right side behind me and the Grand hotel off to the left. Behind me you can see a white boat...it is a youth hostel. I hate hostels, but this one is really interesting and in a great location.

Our second day here we wandered the city on our own and visited some of the sights. One of the most visited is the Vasa Museum where the famous war ship is kept from the 1600's. It was built as the premier Swedish war ship and sank on its maiden voyage. It layed at the bottom of the Baltic Sea until it was salvaged in 1961 after 333 years. It is so well preserved because of the cold water temperatures. Here is a look...

And the back. It was so ornate and in its time very colorful!

A lot of famous sites are on Gamla Stan...like the palace.

There is a courtyard in the back with old cannons and guards. The courtyard is huge as you can see TJ in part of it.

While we were in the courtyard we heard a band playing majestically down the street so we ran down to see what the fuss was...and it was the royal band. They played for a while and you could hear them on the nearby streets of Gamla Stan.

One of the best things about Europe...Stockholm included is that people spend a lot of time outdoors in the summer...there were people everywhere and with ample space for being a bigger city. Of course Sweden keeps their parks beautiful as the taxes are so high in this socialized society, but people were always out. This park was huge and had a giant fountain and pool where children were playing and people were just here hanging out...so we did too.

There was also a really nice park on the water and adjacent to the Vasa Museum. People were laying in the grass, picnicing, and getting ready to play Segway Polo!

Here is another view of the park. I actually layed on the bench near the water and waited for TJ to snap pictures...I am so lucky to have my own personal photographer on these trips! And he does a really good job too!

TJ and I were in heaven when it came to eating and drinking in this city. If you are a seafood fan you need to eat here...YUM! First there are plenty of cafes to grab a coffee or a drink, but the restaurants are amazing! The first night we went to the Sturehof on the Stureplan and had an authentic meal. We had lobster soup and then rainbow salmon cooked perfectly with steamed potates, salad, and poached egg. It was fantastic, and the dessert wasn't bad either. The second night we went to The East which had three menus dependent on what you wanted...we of course had sushi. I had something called a maguro cocktail and it is the best thing I have tasted since the tuna tartare I had in Kona two and a half years ago. Other than dinner we had good lunches as well. I also love the water cafes and reatuarants here like these...

This one has my favorite street behind it...isn't it cute?

At one of the cafes I order a mochacchino...we ended up calling it mocha soup as it was huge and came in a bowl.

We had a great time here! I was sad to see us go on Sunday, but it did make me want to visit other Scandinavian cities like Copenhagen and Oslo...but only in the summer!

We did go out one night and it was really fun too...more on that tomorrow!

Auf Wiedersehen!