Impression of Stockholm

 

English speaking standard is high, for all staff in restaurants, shops, public transports, and local we stopped to ask for directions and ways to do things, for all ages too, impressive.

It is nice to see that there are not many big size locals, most young people are slim.

We have conditioned our mind that it is an expensive place to visit. Turned out to be wrong, especially on eating, both eating out and raw ingredients in supermarkets, it is reasonable, cooking quality good, mixed ingredients used and well presented.

Being a rich country, there are not many well thought of infrastructures for people to use, like modern free toilets, bilingual display, clear signs for landmarks, etc, Norway is far better in this respect based on my last year's visit there.

What I found most difficult is to feel the swedishness of the place. It is hard to get an impression that tells me of being in Sweden. May be being so near the water is the unique feature that make Stockholm stands out.

Stockholm tour 6/6 Eating

It is a pleasant surprise to find that we can eat well in Stockholm without breaking the bank, actually quite similar to major European cities.

seared herring street food

Vasa museum hand peeled shrimp salad

shrimp, edamame salad

meat balls

grilled goat cheese salad

Cooking quality is good, with a lot of cafe for simple yet tasty, well presented, with healthy ingredients dishes. For dinner, it is easy to find mid range restaurants serving local cuisine, also tried French food and tapas, all with good standard and affordable.

ox cheek stew

meat balls

artic char

sole

smoked prawn, smoked reindeer

seared deer, cod in mussle sauce

tapas

For snacks, cinnamon bun is available everywhere, but cardamom bun is a good tasty alternative. Hand peeled shrimp on treacle bread is always a good choice. Freshly seared herring is a juicy street food, a must to locate that store, Nystekt Strömming. 

 

cinnamon buns

 

Stockholm tour 5/6 day trip to Uppsala

Took the train for a trip to Uppsala. Dominated by a twin towers cathedral, tallest in Scandinavia, and a castle.

What interested me most is the garden and museum of Linnaeus, the man who created the plant classification system. 

 

 

Nearby is the house and studio of a famous local artist, Bror Hjorth, free to visit, very colourful paintings and child like sculptures. It is great to see a real lived in house in mid 20th C with a nice small courtyard, many big trees and flower beds.

 

 

 

Stockholm tour 4/6 cruise and island hopping

 

 

We took a 2.5 hours cruise that circled the major islands around. It is a relaxing way to see the change of buildings style, from the classic yesteryears buildings with many curves to the super modern glassy ones with only straight lines. 

 

Also went through a wide lough that holds a few boats inside ans adjust the water level between the Baltic Sea and the canal.

 

Took a ferry to small Fjaderholmarna island for a wander around. Tranquil, great to have an ice cream, see traditional house with fruit orchards and flowers, old fishing boats, and pike heads decoration. 

Stockholm tour 3/6 Vasa museum and Djurgarden island

 There are a number of museums on Djurgården island near the old centre.

The must see one is Vasa museum, built to exhibit the boat built in the 17th century for the King, but unfortunately capsized on its maiden trip.

It is so ornate, and obviously top heavy for the disaster to happened.

The description of locating the boat, who designed it, the provision on board, life of seamen etc are all very interestingly displayed. A joy to see such an exhibition, and the restaurant right next to water is great to relax the feet afterwards.

We also visited Skansen, a sprawling park with old buildings of various ages and from different locations being installed there to show building style in rural Sweden in the past. There are also Nordic animals like reindeers, mooses, seals living in partition areas.

 

 

Nearby the building that Nordic museum occupies is majestic, the display is voluminous and quite overwhelming.