Back From My Trip – Scandinavia Part Three – Stockholm

After the gorgeous scenery of Norway, the only thing that would have made things better was better weather. Fortunately, the weekend forecast for my next destination was sunny and temperate. I boarded my Norwegian Airline flight from Bergen to my next destination – Stockholm. The flight cruised over the rugged mountains of Norway, and the landscape flattened out into rolling hills dotted with a thousand small lakes. Touching down at Arlanda, I was excited to see blue skies.

I opted for the bus, rather than the train, from the airport to the city center. The train takes 20 minutes as opposed to 40 minutes; but the price difference was well worth it to my budget! The bus rolled through the outer suburbs before stopping at the main central station for both bus and train connections. I’ll admit, I got a little turned around trying to find the road I needed to get to my hostel. I ended up being one level above the street I needed, and I managed to get myself oriented after a few fruitless minutes of walking up and down the road.

My hostel, Castanea, is located in Gamla Stan, the medieval heart of Stockholm. The neighborhood is a warren of narrow cobblestone streets and twisty alleys. I was entranced by the palpable history of the area. The directions on the hostel’s website led me directly to the front door, where I was lucky enough to catch the desk clerk just as she was going home for the day. My bunk was in a very narrow 4-person room. The first night I ended up in an upper; but I snagged the lower bunk for the second night once the girl below me checked out. While the hostel itself wasn’t plush, the location was amazing. I greatly enjoyed wandering the streets once dusk had fallen.

The first day, I arrived early in the evening. I spent hours just wandering around Gamla Stan and checking out all of the little squares and alleyways I could find. I made my way over to the royal palace (where the royal family doesn’t actually live anymore) and watched the guards watch me acting like a tourist. After walking for miles, I made my way back to the hostel to get a good night’s sleep.

The next morning, I woke up and waited for the young lady below me to check out so I could snag her bunk. Then, I walked over to the “hipster” neighborhood just south of the Gamla Stan area. There were some great vantage points to take in views of the city. After that, I wandered around some more before heading back through Gamla Stan and into the business and shopping district by Sergels Tor. Since I had such a small pack, and the fact that Scandinavia is pretty pricey overall, I decided not to tempt myself by going into any of the stores.

The Stockholm free walking tour departs from the steps by the Sergels Tor station. I made my way there to discover that there was a fairly large gathering protesting the actions of ISIS in Syria. Despite my mom’s admonishment that I should avoid protests, I found a spot on the edges to watch. The police made their presence visible and all seemed very peaceful. By the time the tour group assembled, the protest had ended. After being divided into groups by the tour leaders, we marched our way back into Gamla Stan. We spent almost two hours exploring the little alleys, large squares, and the narrowest street in Stockholm. Some of the things I had seen the day before, but it was great to get the historical perspective on events that had happened on those cobblestones. By the time the tour ended, I was ready to treat myself.

Back in Gamla Stan, I found a shop selling ice cream in handmade waffle cones (a young woman sat in next to the open window pressing waffles on a hot waffle iron; the smell was intoxicating – how can you pass that up?). I sat on a window ledge with my cone and watched the hordes of cruise ship day trippers pass by. Somehow, I managed to strike up a conversation with a Taiwanese group, one of the members had lived in Texas for some time. It was evident when the cruise ship passengers had to be back to their ships, because just as dusk was starting to fall, the streets emptied out. And I was left to roam the darkening twisty alleys in peace again. Sad that those people missed probably the most magical time to be in Gamla Stan; but then again, without all the crowds, it made it that much more lovely.

The next day, I had some time before I needed to catch my evening flight to my next destination. I got up, took a leisurely shower, repacked, and walked over to the Central Station. I stowed my pack in a locker for a few hours and took off to explore the area north of Gamla Stan a bit more. I wandered without a destination in mind, deciding to head down a particularly interesting looking road if I felt like it. I spent some time in a courtyard of a church and cemetery where the office workers had claimed spots on benches or between graves to eat their lunches. I found it a bit odd to picnic with the gravestones but I had to admit that it was a very peaceful atmosphere.

At that point, I finally admitted to myself that I was pretty hungry. I had seen a bunch of people walking into a place named Ostermalm. I decided to investigate. It was a food court with a bunch of different restaurants – sushi, deli, Indian, and a place called Texas Longhorn’s. Of course, I had to try it! I ended up getting a burger and onion rings in Stockholm. Not exactly the Swedish food I was originally planning on getting, but the burger was really tasty. (Besides, I can always go to IKEA’s cafeteria if I need Swedish meatballs and lingonberry jam, right?)

Sufficiently full, I walked back to the bus station – only to realize that I really needed to use the restroom. I didn’t have the 40 kroner needed to pay to get into the restroom so I backtracked my steps to the food hall to use the toilet there. (I got bonus exercise.) Once I returned to the station, I grabbed my backpack from the locker and jumped on the bus bound for Bromma Airport, the city airport where some of the “budget” airlines fly. It’s super cozy and definitely felt from another era. My next flight was on time and ready to whisk me to my next destination. I really enjoyed Stockholm and was hoping that my next destination would live up to the atmosphere of Gamla Stan…