12-14 Aug 2013

 Ladies and gentlemen, we reached Stockholm safely. Here, I was officially penniless hence, from Sweden onwards, I had to rely on my friend for all my basic needs. Good thing she’s quite reliable. We purchased the Stockholm card at 640SEK, which included entrances to almost all the museums and the use of public transport except the bus from the airport to the city, which we had to separately cover at 99SEK each.

 We reached the city after about an hour and we had a hard time finding our accommodation in Stockholm, Interhostel. It was quite far from the city center. The night we arrived, we didn’t really do much. We were exhausted from walking from the Bus station to the hostel. That particular night, we just decided to walk around the area, find the cheapest grocery store and shop for dinner. An American roommate said there was a COOP grocery and its so far, the cheapest she knew, nearby,  hence, we took off in search for the said shop. We had sandwich, again and had a good night sleep.

 The next day, we planned to avail of the free, with the Stockholm Card, Historical boat tour which brought us around famous landmarks and buildings through historical canals. Tour was about an hour and it’s available at Stadshusbron, near the famous City Hall. And from here, a love story happened…in my head. I’ll share with you more about this in the next post.

 After the tour, we went to the city hall and learned more about the historical building which hosts the Nobel Banquet, whereby, my favorite room was the Gold room. I just loved the inside stories about the murals.

 After this, we headed to the Gamla Stan or Old Town. The town was said to date since 13^th Century and it consisted of cobbled streets and some archaic architecture. It’s the home for the famous Stockholm Cathedral and the Royal Palace, which we both visited.

 Then after this, to satisfy our need for panoramic views, we visited 2 towers, the Kaknas Tower, the hub for all TV and radio communication in Sweden. The view point was small and barbed as well, hence, it wasn’t very good if one’s into serious photography and the, Skyview, whereby we owned the vessel for 10minutes because we were among the last few people to visit. It was almost dark nevertheless, the view was still amazing.

 Day two in Stockholm, We planned to visit the UNESCO heritage site Drottningholm Palace, private residence of the Royal Family. It was said to be the most well-preserved Swedish Royal Palace from the 17^th century. We also visited the vast garden, Chinese  Pavilion and the court theater, which were also included in the list. My advice is, allot a day to see this area of Stockholm, there’s just so much to see and learn.

 We had to go back to the city as soon as possible because we still planned to visit the outdoor Museum, Skansen. Unfortunately, as soon as we stepped our feet into the museum, rain started to shower, hence, we decided, nah..it wouldn’t be enjoyable to walk around the museum with this, we just decided to drop by the outside of the Abba Museum, had some photo opp. Oh, I lost my umbrella here and I had to buy a new one at Glama Stan.

 We rushed back to the hostel to collect our stuff because, that night, we were heading for a Cruise to Turku Satama, Finland. We strategically chose this cruise instead of the one heading directly to Helsinki because this was cheaper, and because the timing was more expedient and practical for us. We took the metro to Slussen and walk for about approximately 1.5km, with our bags to the port once again. Joyce, was giving up. I told her, just imagine all the hunks we saw in Norway and she would get through this and she did!=)

 People were crowding at the terminal, while we were once again, people watching. This became our source of entertainment and inspiration the whole trip. Haha It has given us quite good memories.

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Tip, Practicalities and Blahs;

Stockholm card is guaranteed most practical way of exploring the city.

Streets were easy to navigate, some don’t follow traffic rules.

Interhostel dorms, some doesn’t have windows, hence if you’re  claustrophobic, ask for a room with a window.

COOP  is the place to be!=D cheap and there’s a lot of variety to choose from.