Saket Vora

It’s been quite a while since I last posted, and I apologize for that. During the last weekend I visited the great city of Stockholm. I left Saturday morning at go there at around 1pm. After some initial trouble with the hostel reservations (they said they had no booking my name), I was able to find a nice youth hostel that was actually a boat anchored in the sound. I didn’t have to check in until night, so I set about exploring the city. Stockholm is over a 1000 years old and is situated on around 12-13 islands that sit where the freshwater Lake Malaren empties into the Baltic sea. The central part of Stockholm consists of around 5 islands, varying in size. The old part of the city is called Gamla Stan, and the layout of the streets have been left unchanged for the past 500 years. Because of the islands, Stockholm has an extremely pleasing feel to it. As you walk around exploring the city or taking the public transportation, you see waterways and canals and bridges and boats. Architecturally, buildings and houses hug the many coastlines and cliff faces on the islands, and has a nice mixture of old Europe and new Europe feel. Antiquity and modernity. The weather was spectacular so the blues of the water and the bright colors of the buildings truly came out. During the first day I explored Gamla Stan. I wasn’t feeling terribly hungry and combine that with the very high prices for restaurants, I ate by going to supermarkets and purchasing food there. I made up for it by having my first real Indian meal on Sunday night, blowing 150 SEK on it. In the evening I went for a riverboat tour around Djurgarden and the main harbor. I was feeling tired after the day, so I went to bed at 10pm. I began Sunday by hitting the streets at 8am. The city is very quiet at this time of day. I made my way to the Nobel Museum, which is at the Stortorget (main square) in Gamla Stan. The museum was small but interesting. I had the Stockholm card, so the entrance was free. They had a nice exhibit on Einstein in honor of the 100th year anniversary on his 1905 year in physics. I was surprised to learn of the great controversy the Nobel committee had over his award. They were unimpressed by relativity so finally after an unusually long time of waiting they decided that the photoelectric effect was less controversial and gave it to him for that. After swinging by the train station to pick up my last minute train ticket back home to Lund, I went over to Djurgarden and saw the Vasa museum. This was incredible, but the museum is dedicated to a ship that set sail in 1620. It was the new flagship for the King, but on its maiden voyage it tipped over and capsized before even leaving the harbor. The water in the Stockholm harbor reduces the impact of sea worms, and just 35 years ago the entire ship was raised to the surface in one piece. It is remarkably preserved, and was a great museum. Next I went to Skansen, an open-air museum that gives visitors a glimpse of what historical Sweden was like. It was ok. I ended my time in Djurgarden by going to the Kaknas tornet, which is a tower that serves as a hub for all of Stockholm’s communication. This tower is a 133m tall (435 feet) and it has an observation deck on the top. There I enjoyed breathtaking views of greater Stockholm. It is definitely a must-see stop on anyone’s trip to Stockholm.
Stockholm is a city that easily stands among the ranks of Paris, Vienna, and Rome for most beautiful capitol city of Europe. Though pricey, it’s a definite must-see city to visit.