Stockholm, Sweden

Friday 12th February 2016:

A bit of mid-air drama on board our Ryanair flight made it a little different to our usual journeys. One passenger sat a few rows behind us made several loud and bizarre outbursts, but the most unsettling was when the pilot announced that we would be landing shortly and his response to was to shout out “everyone prepare to die”. A woman sat near him then yelled “shut up, you’re a fucking idiot” to which he replied “yes, I know”. Stranger still, the flight crew continued about their business throughout his shrieks without intervention.

We arrived in the land made famous by ABBA, IKEA and Volvo, at Stockholm Skavsta Airport where it was gently sleeting. Snowflakes fell upon our faces as we made our way across to the shuttle bus, for the hour and a half journey into the city. We were amongst the last people to board the bus and so couldn't get a seat together. It was already fairly late, Brendan fell asleep for a little while. We arrived in the city near midnight, where there was plenty of snow cover on the streets and paths. This snow was pleasantly different to Reykjavik in Iceland, instead of being solid frozen ice it was still light and fluffy. Our accommodation was at City Backpackers Hostel Stockholm.

The city is quite unique, with the Stockholm archipelago being sprawled across 14 separate islands. Fortunately our accommodation was central and close to the charming island of Gamla Stan, which makes up the Old Town. On Saturday morning, we headed out and simply wandered (with no real purpose). Our first stop which came recommended to us by the hostel reception staff, was Muffin Bakery for breakfast. Plenty of different and delicious muffin flavours, of decent sizes and reasonably priced.

We continued down Drottninggatan, a busy pedestrian street stretching for about two kilometres. Crossing over a snow dusted bridge and passing through the arches of the Parliament House, we made our way into the old town, dominated by The Royal Palace.

Blanketed by snow, the steep ramps up to the front of the Palace had been transformed into a popular cross country ski trail. Not something you’d expect to see! Coming down seemed simple enough, but when we wandered around the perimeter of the Palace we found that there was no magic carpet or t-bar at the other end - the skiers also to rely on their own locomotion to make their way to the top.

We continued our way through the snow around the huge palace, to the southern side where the Changing the Guard was about to commence at 12:15pm.

After stopping for lunch (and trying out the Swedish meatballs), we passed the grand palace of Riddarhuset – the House of Nobility, and headed around towards City Hall.

At 4pm, we joined at walking tour at Stockholm’s central square, Sergels torg. Our first stop was outside the Opera House, a mere 120 years old, making it one of Stockholm’s newer buildings.

We promenaded along the waterfront back to Parliament House, which is spread across two adjoining buildings that date back to 1905 and 1906. Originally the semi-circular West Wing was the head office of the National Bank, however Parliament expanded to occupy both buildings in the 1970s.

At The Royal Palace, our guide told us how the palace is one of the largest in the world with over 600 rooms. The Danish royals including Prince Frederik (and his Australian wife Princess Mary) are also linked to the Swedish royals, and the veil Mary wore at the wedding is the same veil as worn by Frederik’s great grandmother, Swedish Princess Margaret.

Although we didn’t enter the neighbouring Stockholm Cathedral, our guide explained how this church is an interesting mix of architectural styles. Inside is an original Gothic interior, however the outside was face lifted around the time that The Royal Palace was completed in an ‘updated’ 18th century Baroque style.

Continuing through the narrow streets, the iron adornments to the front of many buildings were identified us as floor anchors, the shape and design unique to the time when the building was constructed. Some of these buildings, we were told, date back to medieval times.

Passing by the street where two of ABBA’s band members lived in the 1970s we made our way to Stortorget (The Big Square), which was the scene of the Stockholm Bloodbath in 1520. After the successful invasion of Sweden by Denmark, over 80 Swedish noblemen were beheaded in the square under the orders of Danish King Christian II. Today the Nobel Museum dominates the square, dedicated to education about science and the Nobel Prize.

With the light fading and the city developing its evening sparkle, we neared the end of our tour trekking through Järntorget (The Iron Square) and on towards the harbour.

On Sunday we went for a final stroll around the city, before boarding the bus once more to return to the airport. The variation in the amount of snow and how it affected the scenery was amazing. Even within the city while driving across a bridge, on one side of the street the river was flowing yet on the other it was completely frozen over. Perhaps even more amazing than that, before we departed the bus terminal, the driver was spotted sporting a functional Nokia 3310 – only 16 years on since it was first released.

Sadly we found out upon our return home to London, that on Saturday night while we were in town a British band Viola Beach and their manager were killed when their car plummeted off a bridge into the canal below, just outside Stockholm.

Highlights:

- Mid-air drama with crazy passengers

- Snow at Skavsta Airport

- Muffin Bakery

- Drottninggatan pedestrian shopping strip

- Soft fluffy snow throughout town

- Gamla Stan Old Town

- Parliament House

- Ski trail on the ramps of The Royal Palace

- Changing the Guard

- Riddarhuset – the House of Nobility

- Walking tour

- Opera House

- Stockholm Cathedral

- St George and the Dragon replica statue – representative of the battle between Swedish and Danish

- Stortorget (The Big Square), scene of Stockholm Bloodbath

- Ice skaters in the park