Stockholm Sweden

Winter *** Gamla Stan *** Shopping *** Harbor *** Central *** Vasa

Look closely at the dancing children mural. It is really on a wall and you can see the man repelling down the side of the building.

It is not hard to find all the consulates and even the American Embassy in the garden waterways. I was surprised at the fortifications evident in this supposedly neutral and peaceful country.

However I did observe one of the peaceful demonstrations in the central city plaza.

There was a police presence but mostly just to observe and do some traffic control.

The port is 10 minutes by taxi and a nearby hotel is a fun diversion from staying downtown. The room is high overlooking the ocean and the auto ferry that goes to and fro to Finland passes beneath the windows.

The ruggedly handsome and the beauty of the Scandinavian heritage show in the young couples.

When you are in Stockholm it seems like water and the ocean is as important a part of the experience as the land. Stockholm follows a rugged and varied shore.

One of the hotels in the harbor area looks like a large cruise ship at night. In the hotel the rooms are small and outfitted as if they are ship cabins. Rich wood tones and long passageways. A galley bathroom and shower and a functional but spartan cabin room. Swedes are not ostentatious.

The Stockholm Royal Palace is on the harbor in the old town area. It is stately and across from the Stockholm Cathedral. However the palace guard was my entertainment for my weekend in Stockholm.

I went on a water tour also past the residence of ABBA; the creative site for Peppi Longstockings; various museums and the harbor waterways leading out to the ocean.

I wandered the docks and visited where they are building a Viking ship (to be used to take tourists on dinner cruises), the building across from the Palace where the Nobel prizes are decided, and even watched them fish salmon in the channel by Old Town (Gamla Stan). Then I stopped in at the Grand Hotel where they have the biggest and best Sunday brunch overlooking the harbor. The Grand Hotel flies the country flags of their guests.

Even more pictures of Sweden

Guard and his area of authority

Guards at Royal Palace

Changing of the guard at the Royal Palace

Harbor view past Royal Palace (on left) 

On the far side are museums.

Gun Control in shopping and city center

Fishing for salmon right in the channel across from the palace. The water seems to have strong currents and they seine for smaller fish also. The locks are hidden beneath the bridges but they allow 1-2 foot adjustments to the level and back the water up for passing over the falls. Te locks allow passage of small boats .

The area outside the palace is also the gateway to the Old Town and the harbor. It takes little time to notice all the bridges and you realize you are on islands when you had been thinking you were on the mainland.