Stockholm
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In June 2006 we went off to Stockholm for a few days not really knowing what to expect and what a lovely surprise to find such a pretty city. We were very lucky with the weather - the sun showed off the warm colours of the buildings beautifully. We arrived on a Friday evening, had all day Saturday there and most of Sunday before flying back to Heathrow. |
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We spent the first morning wandering about in the old town. It was only a short walk from our hotel (right) as were most other things. |
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One of the old town buildings we could see clearly from our hotel room was the Norstedts building which has a very strange pointy bit as part of its roof.
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One of the "tourist" places to visit is Marten Trotzigs Grand, the narrowest street in the old town at just 3 ft across. It's quite steep (36 steps) and shows how the old town used to be with the houses really close together. |
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The bloodiest square in the city is Stortorget outside the stock exchange. This is where the Stockholm Bloodbath took place in 1520. Many of the buildings are pretty colours and the flowers outside the restaurants/cafes also add to the colour. |
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This square is just down from the cathedral which was one of the few places we ventured inside. Oleus Petri, the Swedish reformer, spread his Lutheran message from here (the statue is of him). The tablet tells the history of the cathedral (Storkyrkan). Originally a small village church was on the site in the 13th century. It was replaced in 1306 by a much bigger basilica, St Nicholas. The Gothic character of the interior was revealed in 1908 during restoration work. |
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There was a ship hanging from the ceiling which looked lovely either in shadow or in the light. Having seen something similar in Copenhagen this time it wasn't such a surprise. |
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The ceiling was very pretty and the fresco interesting - quite a scary chap! |
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As with many cathedrals, there was plenty of gold around ... |
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... but the main attraction was the 1650's silver and ebony altar - very eye-catching. |
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From there we wandered through the parliament complex (the Riksdagshuset). The photo on the left is the new part of the building and, as you can see, this is joined by a walk through archway to the old part. |
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Not far from here was the Royal Palace (Kungliga Slottet) - the offices of the royal family. |
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It really glowed with the afternoon sun on it. |
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Next stop, the House of Nobility (Riddarhuset) - one of Stockholm's most beautiful buildings, built in 1641-7. The words above the door reflect the Dutch heritage and mean art and war.
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Just a little further down that road and we reached Riddarholmskyrkan (the church on island of Riddarholmen). The spire is made of cast iron, was created in 1835 after a serious fire and is quite wonderful to look at. |
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The round building at the side is a mausoleum. It is quite ornate to look at. |
Out of the old town, our next venue was the town hall (Stadthuset) where there at least 2 (or even 3) weddings going on at the time we visited. One party had brought a picnic with them for the reception - what a great idea! |
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The carving in the photo on the left was just at the side of the large front door whereas the lion was to one side of the building. This was another building close to our hotel. The queue was so long for going up the tower that we gave it a miss and stayed on the ground - perhaps next time! |
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The two towers - one at each end - have a gold bobble and three crowns on one (this is the Swedish heraldic symbol) and a gold crescent on the other - both pick up the light and glitter really nicely |
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There were quite a few statues around the city. the boy and girl (left and middle) were outside the town hall. |
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Later in the afternoon, we wandered over to Skeppsholmen Island. The navy used to be based here and there are quite a few reminders of forces' occupation. Admiralty House stands on the hill near the entrance ... |
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... whilst keeping guard on one side is af Chapman. Believe it or not this is the youth hostel. There are some more bedrooms on land but it must be one of the more interesting youth hostels around. |
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We were very lucky while we were there as a military band was performing an open air concert so we stood a while and listened. |
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The loading crane on the left is made of wood and, built in 1751 is the oldest of its type in Sweden. A quick stroll across the wrought iron bridge back to the mainland, admiring the views on the way and we strolled around the new town. |
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To get to the new town we went past the National Museum. |
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The new town is not nearly as pretty as the old town but they complement each other quite well. One of the gaudiest buildings we saw was Kungshallen ... |
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... but there was some nice street art around. |
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Opposite Kungshallen is the Concert Hall and a statue of Orpheus (sculptor - Carl Milles)... |
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... and some very pretty fountains. The glass obelisik is in Segels Torg and was designed in 1972 by the sculptor Edvin Ohrstrom. It's called Crystal Vertical Accent in Glass and Steel. |
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There is also Jacobs Kyrka (Jacob's church). It seemed very red when the sun caught it. It was consecrated for the first time in 1643 and has been restored several times since then. |
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There was some fancy painting on the pavements and the opera house was quite grand to look at. |
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One of the strange things we saw from our hotel was an air balloon floating gently above the city - a beautiful sight to end day 1. |
Day 2 and we decided to go to Djurgarden Island on a Hop On/Hop Off boat trip. We wandered around Skansen - an open air museum in a beautiful park with lots of lovely old buildings - replicas of the types of houses people used to live in. |
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We then found ourselves in the animal area where various animals found in Scandinavia are kept. |
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There were lots of different species including otters ... |
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... and peacocks, not to mention bears. |
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One of the main attractions were new born elks. Only a few days old, the 2 calves were called Josefine and Johanna. |
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Another baby was a wild boar - a funny coloured little thing, not at all like the grey parents but clearly very hungry. The seals were flopped out and enjoying their sun bathing session. |
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Another treat was the 2 lynx kittens - they were so sweet playing with each other and Mum was keeping a close eye on them. |
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The wolverine was romping around like a mad thing whereas the wolf was fast asleep! |
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All too soon it was time to go back to the boat. We resisted the opportunity of calling in at the funfair that was near the boat stop but did call in at a little cafe for some homemade cake and a drink - very nice! We left the boat a stop early and enjoyed one last walk through the old town to have another look at all the lovely warm colours. |
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Finally, we said "Goodbye" to this beautiful city, hoping that we'll be able to visit again one day soon. |
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