Walking around Stockholm

So, I lie, I probably shouldn't have titled this post 'walking around Stockholm' because today I walked, kayaked, took the tunnelbana (metro), a ferry, a tram and a funicular/cable car as well as an escalator down a hill (I didn't notice that you could take it up the hill until I was already at the top). I also might have been able to ride a pony, but I think that was only for children. No buses today (though I got lost on the tunnelbana with my suitcase yesterday and had to take a bus to my hostel).

The hostel is in a former prison, and there is a guillotine outside my cell. The cell window is quite large, and I assume it would have been well-criss-crossed with bars originally, but now you can swing open the window and get a breeze through the trees, and potentially jump out if you don't mind the two storey drop to the ground outside. After I'd sorted my stuff, I walked into Gamla Stan (the Old City) along the north edge of Södermalm Island, passing dozens of beautiful boats tied up under the trees (maybe willows?), larger boats with floating restaurants and hotels. The view across the water to central Stockholm is amazing - the city hall building looks a lot like it's on the Piazza San Marco in Venice - and many towers poke up from the older buildings below. In Gamla Stan, I got a hot dog for 15 krone at the newsagent (it seems to be a standard newsagent product, along with cinnamon rolls, much like IKEA) and wandered through the winding streets and lanes, browsing the many shops. Gamla Stan is built on a hill, and some of the lanes are quite steep and full of tourists taking photos. It's also built on soft clay, and they're currently trying to figure out how to stop some of the old buildings subsiding - a few of them are on a slight lean. As the kayak guide told us the next day, the workers going down into the basements and reinforcing the foundations have to get lots of vaccinations and wear good protective masks and gloves, because they find old animal remains and sometimes human remains when they're digging, and potentially could be exposed to very old diseases.

I found the royal palace and walked through richly decorated rooms with framed paintings and ceiling murals and two thrones. Many of the rooms are still used quite often, for many different purposes - Avicci had a concert in the ball room, and the guide said that, the day before, all the palace staff were called into the ballroom to jump up and down, to make sure the chandeliers downstairs would make it through. I spent a bit long wandering around the palace and was too late to visit the treasury and a museum - but I enjoyed taking my time in the palace.

As soon as I left the palace, I heard the sound of a brass band, so followed the sound into a cobblestone square outside the Nobel Museum. A large military band was giving a concert to a crowd of people (and a few dogs), wth music ranging from almost-recognisable upbeat marches and waltzes to Creedance Clearwater Revival, Mambo Number 5 and the Circle of Life front the Lion King. After listening for a bit, I realised the Nobel Museum didn't close until 8pm, so went in to have a look around at the relics (including Alexander Fleming's pennicillin pétri dish and Malala's scarf) as well as watch the quite-good short documentaries about Nobel Prize winners (nice to rest my feet!).

I had a kebab for dinner in a little place in the old town, then walked back to the hostel in the evening light.

The next morning I'd booked a kayak tour, choosing the short one that was fine for beginners (though, on reflection, I've actually done quite a lot of kayaking), rather than the 4 hour one that would take up lots of time and might be too much exercise... The beginners were quite beginnery, though, and we spent a while doing circles in the harbour and fighting with the wind before finally setting off up towards the island where Absolut Vodka used to be made - apparently Sweden used to have a big problem with alcoholism (the liquor stores are still state-owned) and the owner was asked to move out of the city. This island was far enough away, but still close enough that people could come in boats with their bottles to be filled up with vodka... It was a beautiful day to be out on the water, or sunbathing on the little jetties (as many people were doing) and despite our slow start I really enjoyed the paddle.

There was a market happening at the edge of the water, with food trucks (the fish tacos were good) and jewellery and bric à brac, that I walked through on my way back to the prison to change. My afternoon plan was to get the ferry to Skansen, an open-air museum/zoo on an island where they have replica or real houses and cottages and shops from different eras in Sweden, with guides dressed in period costume and, for instance, making cheese in a cast iron pot over a fire. It's a huge place, and I wandered through the Swedish animals section (saw some well-camouflaged wolves, a happy lynx lying on its back having a nap in a cave, bears, bison, reindeer, elks, pigs, wild boar, a seal... I almost went to see the cats at the children's petting zoo, but decided I could probably see cats at home. Possibly not Nordic cats... instead I went down the hill on a small green cable car and checked out the town buildings, with a printer's, grocer's, blacksmith and more.

I caught the tram back to town and descended into the metro to take pictures of some of the most interesting station artwork - all the stations have some kind of art in them, and some of the stations are like caves, with amazing patterns on the walls and roof. I think the rainbow station (Stadion) was my favourite, though the blue line platforms at Stockholm Central are pretty good too.

And then it was time to go back to the hostel and get ready for my 8.20 train the next morning.