Stockholm

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View from the cabin to the Nobel Town Hall

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Getting to know Stockholm often starts at Arlanda Airport. We also flew to the capital of Sweden through these air gates. Knowing that the country is not cheap, we took care of a ticket from the airport to the city in advance. Luckily for us, we caught a promotion from Flixbus , where tickets were 2.5 euros one way, which allowed us to get to the very center of Stockholm for a "five". The only small negative was that we had to wait for our bus for a couple of hours, since the flixbuses run here less often than the local (but more expensive) routes.

It was already dark when we got out in the center and walked towards the Södermalm area, where we booked a cabin in the boat. We have previously had two experiences of living on ships turned into hotels. It was in Bratislava and Prague . We liked both last times very much, so we looked forward to another night on the boat with pleasure. The room turned out to be so tiny that the bed was rather a one-and-a-half rather than a double, but at the same time, the cabin included a shower, toilet and a real porthole 😊😊😊

It was the porthole that gave us the most vivid impressions. The fact is that our boat was parked directly opposite the famous Nobel Town Hall. We photographed this view from the "window" at night, in the morning and in the afternoon. After all, not every day you spend the night with a view of such a world landmark.

Thanks to the view from the room, we did not get enough sleep, but the breakfast pleased us: it was delicious, and included Scandinavian flavors that were unusual for us, such as herring in sweet sauces. In addition, the breakfast was quite plentiful, which is very important when traveling, where you have to walk a lot in big cities.

We ate, packed our things, and finally, photographed our boat for memory.

The wonderful rocky hills of the Södermalm region were waiting for us. Some sources refer to this part of the city as the "bankers' district", hinting at the high value of real estate. Looking at the buildings of Södermalm, it is quite possible to assume that fairly wealthy Stockholm residents live here.

Despite the fact that the name of Stockholm comes from the phrase "city on stilts", Södermalm is located on the hardest stone slabs. An important milestone for the region was the invention of dynamite by Alfred Nobel . Thanks to dynamite, residents were able to align most of their streets, and some were left half-patched to remember what the city looked like before.

Here in Södermalm, the famous Swedish writer Stig Larsson settled his protagonist of the Millennium trilogy, Mikael Blomkvist. The most famous part of the trilogy is the first one called The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. She has already gone through two film adaptations: Scandinavian and Hollywood. In both there is this bridge in the attic where I wait for "when Mikael comes out."

Since we remembered "The Girl with the Tattoo", then in order not to "get up twice", we will tell you about another famous place from this work. We were in it the other day, and it is located in a different area of Stockholm, but also became a cult, thanks to Stig Larsson. Cafe "Mellqvist" is the favorite cafe of the writer, where he made Blomkvist a regular.

By our arrival here, the front part of the cafe was closed due to renovation work, but the catering company itself was working. 😀😀😀

The place is very popular. Crowds of visitors periodically flock here for a cup of coffee. We were able to take a double table, right next to the counter, and after drinking, well, very strong coffee for 2.20 euros, we shot a short video for you from there.

Now, let's continue our morning route. In Södermalm, you can see the oldest preserved houses in Stockholm and visit the most famous Fjellgatan observation deck, which overlooks the museum island of Djurgården. All this will be shown to you during any sightseeing bus tour, so we will not even post photos from there, but on foot we will go to Stockholm City Hall, where the Nobel laureates' banquet is held on December 10 every year. Selfie near the tower is required. 😂😂😂

Locals love to relax on the embankment near the town hall, and for us a walk here was an occasion to see our boat from the other side. 😉

Small shops "Pressbyran" (in the photo behind my back) became a pleasant discovery for us in expensive Stockholm, where we stumbled upon a morning promotion and were able to get a huge coffee for one and a half euros, which was accompanied by a croissant as a gift. 🥐

A separate part of our story will be walks in another area of Stockholm, known as Ostermalm. This is such a clot of creativity throughout the Swedish capital. Apparently, housing prices here were lower than in the center or in the same Södermalm, so the area is famous for a large number of creative intelligentsia. Here is the Swedish Film Institute. The names of outstanding cinema figures such as Bergman and Tarkovsky are associated with him. The same Tarkovsky filmed his last film " Sacrifice " here in Sweden. And this film won three awards at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival, including the Grand Prix.

Not far from the Institute of Cinematography, there is a complex of Swedish television buildings.

In Ostermalm, there is also the Koknesporet park, on the lawns of which the notorious Swedish king Karl the Twelfth liked to conduct military exercises.

A little further behind the park you can find the office of the Swedish firm "Ericsson". Why did we consider it necessary to mention them in our report? Everything is very simple: it was the local craftsmen who telephoned Kiev in 1893 and Kharkov in 1896. This is the connection between times and states.

The development of Ostermalm is mixed, here you can find both classic high-rise buildings for us and ultra-eco-friendly modern residential complexes.

Here we came across the royal stables of Sweden. They have become for us an example of the ability to combine the traditional and the innovative, which is so attractive in this country.

An example would be the picture we saw here: on the one hand, we are watching a traditional horse walk from the Royal Stables, but at the same time we stand on a heated sidewalk where the falling snow melts instantly. Watch this video for yourself.

Now let's move on to Wazastan. This area of Stockholm is the most important for me, because there is a house on Dalagatan street 46. In the photo it has blue and red "awnings" above the facades of the first floor.

And all because the great Astrid Lindgren lived in this house on the second floor.

At the entrance of the house where Astrid Lindgren lived

Why Astrid Lindgren is a GREAT Swedish writer for me, I explain in this video

Astrid's windows overlook the Vasa Park, where we walked with pleasure and photographed the newly appeared snowdrops. A few days ago, when I started writing this report, I posted a riddle on our Instagram and several Facebook groups - in which country were these snowdrops photographed? More than 10 options were sent, Denmark was the closest, but no one got to Sweden. 😮 And here is the correct answer: Vasa Park, Vasastan District, Stockholm, Sweden. 😁

On the other side of the park is a multi-storey residential complex where young Astrid settled with her husband after the wedding. The address of this house is Vulcanusgatan 12. Once the writer discovered the secret that it was while living in this house that she heard a buzzing one late in the evening and went out onto the balcony to meet Carlson. Therefore, with a high probability, the house of a little mischievous person with a propeller is hidden on this roof. 😉

The classic streets of Vasastan look something like this.

Vasastan is a district of very educated people. Here is the Swedish School of Economics, whose massive door I diligently try to open. 😉

The main library of the country is also located here, famous for its circular arrangement of bookshelves. Our video from this unusual library can be viewed at the link :

After a cruise on the ship (it was a bit like this one ) we returned back to Stockholm and settled in Vasastan at the Best Western hotel. We can sincerely recommend this hotel. It is very warm with good internet and great breakfasts. How our room looked and the view from the window, see below.

It would be unfair not to show the key sights of Stockholm, and above all the "colored houses" - two houses on the square in front of the Nobel Museum, but they were under restoration.

We went to the royal palace and there we saw the apotheosis of the victorious feminism, (😉) namely, the entrance to the palace was guarded by a girl-guard. When a woman in a country has absolutely equal rights with men, why shouldn't she stand on the guard of honor with a weapon?

The girl guards the royal palace of Sweden

From the royal palace, we walked along the waterfront and discovered "Disneyland for birds". Winged merry fellows gathered in a big flock and dashingly rode on ice.

And our way lay to the "Golden Mile" of Stockholm - Strandvegen embankment. Here, overlooking the island of Djurgården museums, apartments, and even entire floors, are bought by the main Swedish "celebrities". Rumor has it that football player Zlatan Ibrahimovic, tennis player Bjern Borg, musicians from ABBA and Ace of Base and many others live here. The park growing on this waterfront can be seen in the Hollywood adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo directed by David Fincher. On it in the evening Lisbeth Salander, performed by Rooney Mara, returns to her home.

Fragment from the film "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". dir. D. Fincher

And this is how the "Golden Mile" looks from the other side of the bay.

We have combined various sculptures of Stockholm into a small gallery.

The photos below are clickable.

Among the interesting finds is an outdoor pool on a hill overlooking the rooftops of Stockholm, where residents swim in the warm season.

Heading "Interesting meetings".

In the evening, sitting near the entrance to the hotel, we met a local homeless man who, passing by, decided to talk to us. It turned out his name was Alexey, he was from Siberian lands, but once married a Riga woman and settled in Latvia, then he got divorced and became homeless. A few years ago I moved to Sweden and I am very happy about this, because the Swedish police are the most honest in the world, and every time he is detained, they draw up a complete inventory of his things, which, according to the same list, are returned back when he is released.

He knows about Ukraine that a war has been going on there for a long time, because in 2014 in Riga, Aleksey and his friend (also without a fixed abode), some recruiters agitated to go to fight in the Donetsk region. Alexey refused, and a friend went and died in the same 2014. After listening to this story about the homeless liberator of Donbass, we said goodbye to our new acquaintance, photographed the night Vazastan from the window of the room and went to bed.

The morning greeted us with a bright sun. We slowly went to the bus station.

Stockholm Bus Station is very bright inside, thanks to the white finish and the transparent ceiling.

Our bus has already arrived, I hastened to "shoot" a selfie among the white walls of the bus station, and we rushed to the Arlanda airport to return to our beloved Kiev in a few hours.