Early on our second day, after a hearty breakfast, we move out in our search to buy a SIM for our phones which would cover our full European tour. On the way, we pass by Hay market, a flea market.
As we had booked a 75 min Panoramic tour, which would start at 10 am, we use our GPS to reach Gustav Adolf Square.
As we sit in the upper deck of the Sightseeing bus, we get to see the old Stockholm and the new: the Stockholm City Hall which hosts Nobel Prize awards dinners , panoramic waterfront views along the Strandbryggan, through high fashion streets of Kungsgatan, The charming Gamla Stan....
...as the tour ends...and before we hit the Tram stand to go to VASA museum, we spot the Swedish army marching to change guards in the Royal Castle....JUST AS PLANNED IN OUR ITINERARY. ...jaw dropping moment for me.. You can see this smart march here.
....we move towards the Swedish Public Transport transits...a tram Stand.... ....and do it like the locals do... .....we board the designated tram.... that will take us to VASA Museum
...Can't quite explain the excitement of boarding a local public transport, of validating a travel card (no bus conductors here, but god forbid, if you are caught without a ticket/ travel card). It is in these beautiful trams, buses and metros, that you really can feel the pulse of the place, by talking to the citizen sitting next to you or just admiring a well dressed 75 years young lady, or saluting the new mother with a pramful of twins maneuvering to the open pram space in the trams...
The VASA museum...a museum with a difference... ....external architecture screams out what its all about.. Its all about One 69 m long warship that sank on its maiden voyage in 1628 and was salvaged 333 years later...a much visited museum in Stockholm...
Be prepared to spend a couple of hours in this museum, reading about or listening to the details of the incident AND admiring the whole restoration process. There is also a souvenir shop and cafe for those who are interested.
We, However, chose to have lunch at a waterfront cafe, Sjocafet...200m away..
....satiated, we now brace ourselves to experience the Swedish Subway also called TBana.......towards Globen TBana....our next stop. We hop off the train and walk along the elevated walkway towards Ericsson Globe....the largest spherical building. It has a huge stadium inside.
Along the periphery are two Gondola lifts, the Ericsson Globe Skyview, which ascend to the very top, every ten minutes, from where you can get a birds eye view of Stockholm. Each gondola takes 12 people and it is always safer to book tickets online, for a particular time slot on a particular day, to avoid disappointment. And, well, it is much cheaper also.
.....off the gondola....we vote to go walking down the cobbled streets of Gamla Stan. As now we are pretty confident and comfortable with Public transport, we take the subway and alight at Gamla Stan....Only wish, we could have spent some more time there. There is a Indian restaurant, I believe, somewhere there.
We hit the next mode of transport...the local ferry. The one that leaves Slussen, nearest to Gamla Stan, for Allmänna Gränd, Djaugarden, close to Grona Lund and is free and also takes bicycles. ...we take the ferry and walk down some more beautiful cobbled streets, past the Abba Museum...
As we walk to the tram stand, take our tram and reach Hay Market, we are able to, at last, buy our roaming SIM for EU. Although physically tired, our excitement still overflows, as we end the evening by a visit to one of the worlds permanent Ice Bar, by Ice Hotels, Stockholm, within walking distance from our hotel. Once again, we buy the tickets online, at a discounted price.
A sophisticated, genteel lady with a string of pearls, sipping on her "fika" (coffee), with a friendly poodle on her lap. With an Apple in one hand,and fika in the other, she allures you with her friendly smile...Thats Stockholm to me....how beautiful, how old worldly, how graceful yet modern! You stole my heart away....
There was so little time to experience Stockholm. What do you think should be the duration of a trip to Stockholm?