We arrived in Sweden Tuesday night, after a 2.5 hour flight from London. We arrived around 9:40 pm, just as the sun was setting. We then made our way to a train that would take us from the Arlanda Airport into Stockholm Central. After getting off the train, we walked about 20 minutes to Gamla Stan where we are staying in a 1 bedroom apartment. By the time we arrived, it was near 11:30pm and had been over 24 hours since we’d slept in a bed, so we were exhausted and ready to sleep!
Wednesday morning I woke up earlier than expected. While mom slept in a little longer, I walked down the street from our apartment to find a cafe for some breakfast. I sat and had a coffee and pastry while watching people walk by. There were lots of school groups on field trips - I assume on their way to the palace just around the corner.
The palace was our first stop for the day. We went through the treasury where we saw many crowns used by past monarchs. Although the current queen and princesses do wear tiaras for formal occasions, the Swedish royals no longer wear crowns or have crowning ceremonies.
Next, we got to see the changing of the guards. The guards march and ride into the courtyard along with the music corps. The music corps are one of the few still to play while mounted (on horseback). The whole process took about 40 minutes and was very cool to see.
After the changing of the guards, we walked through the royal apartments. Some of the rooms are still used as bedrooms for when dignitaries come to visit, others are used as offices, meeting rooms, or banquet halls. Most are decorated in the styles from the 1700s and 1800s but there is one room that was designed in the 2000s to show more modern Swedish culture.
After finishing at the palace, we stopped for lunch in Stortorget plaza. Next we walked through Stockholm Cathedral.
After the cathedral we walked down towards the water to take a canal tour. It was wonderful to get to sit down for an hour and hear about many of the nearby attractions. We then continued on to the Vasa Museum. The Vasa Museum contains the restored ruins of a giant ship which sank in the canal at the start of what would have been its maiden voyage. Because of the brackish water (mix of salt and fresh) the ship did not decay too much and was able to be lifted from the sea floor and removed from the water. Archaeologists then coated it in a special material so that it would not break or degrade further.
Thursday morning we spent some time walking around Gamla Stan and visited Riddarholmen church where all the Swedish monarchs are buried before checking out of our AirBnB.
We then rented a locker at Stockholm Central Station to store our luggage and took a tram out to Skansen open air museum. Skansen is the world’s oldest open air museum and showcases farmsteads from all across the country. It has a zoo, an aquarium, science center, and shops where you can see how furniture is made and glass is blown. It also provides beautiful views of the surrounding areas due to its location high atop the hill.
After spending most of the day at Skansen, we walked back towards the central station. We stopped along the way for a cup of tea and watched the boats on the canal for a bit.
Back at the central station, we were disappointed to find out that the lounge we were planning to wait in was closed. We were scheduled to take an overnight train from Stockholm to Malmo so we found another spot to sit and wait. The train arrived about an hour before the scheduled departure time and we were able to board and get settled in. We had a first class cabin with bunk beds and a private bathroom.
Early Friday morning we arrived in Malmo and disembarked from our train. We had some coffee and a pastry in the train station and then transferred to a commuter train which would take us across the water and the Oresund Bridge to Copenhagen, Denmark.
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