STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN

I recently embarked on a three week journey through western Europe for the first time. Stockholm was a bonus city for me on this trip. Norwegian flies direct to Stockholm from LAX then after around a nine hour layover, I was headed to Amsterdam. First though, that layover gave me plenty of time for some sightseeing. I took the Arlanda Express, which runs from the airport to the City Center every 15 minutes. They must have a lot of people that do the same thing as they have a 6-hour return pass for a discounted rate, which I took advantage of. I had a few things on the agenda that I wanted to check out, including the Ice Bar, boat tour and a walk around Gamla Stan (the old town).

As soon as you exit the station, the ICEBAR is right in front of you in the ICEHOTEL. I figured with it being so early they probably weren't open but wanted to at least go in to get some more information. Unfortunately, I found out that they were closed for a few days. The bar is completely made of ice, from the walls to the bar to the chairs you sit on. They even serve you drinks in ice glasses. Each year they close for a few days to melt the bar down and rebuild it with new ice. This just happen to be during my visit. At least the staff was nice and gave me a map of the city and pointed me in the direction of my next sites.

Before heading to the boat launch,my next stop, I walked along the riverfront to take in the architecture of the city. I found my way to a plaza area, Kungstradgarden, that had a lot of shops and restaurants around it. To my surprise, there was an avenue of cherry blossoms brightly blooming, it reminded me of Tokyo last year. Even though this was a Friday, there were a lot of people hanging out and taking photos underneath the trees. I decided to do so myself as well as grab some lunch while I was there.

After a couple hours or so, I made my way to the boat tours and decided on a 1-hour tour of the city with Stockholm Sightseeing. The sky had become overcast and started to rain so with a little time before the boat left, I stopped into the Grand Hotel lounge across the street to stay dry. This is where I met a girl from Abu Dabi that was also on a stopover on her way to the South of England. She was looking for something to do so decided to join me on the tour. Luckily, the boat had an indoor area and an outdoor covered area so we could stay dry. As we toured the city, the guide provided excellent narrative regarding the history of the city and its people. In the end, it was very fascinating hearing all of the stories.

When the tour concluded I had a little more time before I needed to head back to the airport so I made my way over to Gamla Stan. The old town, with its narrow, cobblestone streets was a look back into they way the city used to be. Here, I found some souvenir shops to look through as I made my way back to train station.

The journey back was uneventful and I was happy to have made the trip into the city instead of spending the day in the airport. I recommend that if you have time, definitely go see Stockholm and spend a few days there, they have quite a bit to see. Now, it was time to head to my next location, Amsterdam. Stay tuned for my next post to see what adventures I find there.