On to Stockholm - Days 8 & 9

In Stockholm, we stayed at the Hotel Karlaplan (Best Western). I stayed here when I visited Stockholm back in 2015, and it is still just as charming. 

Again, there is a lovely courtyard, where we were allowed to keep our bikes. Very convenient.

From the airport, we took the train to Central Station, and then got a taxi to the hotel, arriving in the early afternoon.

We set off on our bikes to explore the city, but unfortunately a helpful local gave us some unsolicited directions that were less than helpful. 

The conversation went something like this:

"Oh, such nice bikes! Are you going to the Old City?"

"Thank you. Yes."

"Oh, just follow this road to the end of the park and then turn left."

I'm not sure why we listened to her and I'm not sure quite what went wrong, but we ended up far from our planned destination. Apparently the left turn had not been sharp enough and the road we were on angled away from the Old City.

We ended up near City Hall but too late for the last tour of the day. After exploring the grounds a little, we stumbled on a bike/pedestrian pathway that circles the island called Kungsholmen. Why not? We rode most of the way around, enjoying the variety and the views. However, at one point we got off the main bike path and had to walk our bikes through a park area close to the shore. It was muddy and a little rough. At the end of this path, a fairly steep climb took us up to the road again, but we got onto the wrong bike path. Instead of continuing around the island, we went back towards the side we'd started on. When we realized this, it was getting late, so we decided to just keep going and finally ended up rejoining the same path. It was still a nice ride, about 15 km total.

By this time, we were ready for something to eat, so on our way back to the hotel we stopped at a place that looked promising. It was called the Kulturhuset -- some sort of cultural centre with small cafes. We were too hungry to look any further, so we opted for Toast Skagen and a couple of desserts. Delicious, but not cheap!

August 21: Stockholm

As you can see from this photos, this was a bit of a gloomy day, and it rained a little off and on. Undeterred, we set off on our bikes to explore. This time we did not let any well-meaning locals tell us where to go, and instead relied on my memory. We first rode across the bridge to Skeppsholmsbron, a lovely island with a little fortress. After riding around the island, we got on the ferry to go to Gamla Stan, the old city. Again, I used my Apple Pay for the ferry, and again it seemed to work, but I was never charged. Very mysterious!

In the old city, we enjoyed riding around the narrow cobblestone streets, admiring the buildings. We were in time to watch a parade involving guards from the Royal Palace. 

We also visited the Nobel Museum. Last time I was here, I went on a tour of the museum, which was actually quite interesting, but we had missed the English tour and the next one wasn't for another couple of hours, so we just wandered around on our own.

I think swans are swell, so to see so many of them was a real treat!

When I was here in 2015, I rented a bike from a bike shop in Gamla Stan and rode around the island of Sodermalm. This time we had our own bikes, so it was easy to cross a bridge and make the loop of the island. There are not really a lot of touristy things here; it is more of a chance to see where people live and work. There is a big Viking Cruise terminal, which gave us a little trouble when we were trying to find the ferry dock. However, we finally figured it out and took the ferry again. 

It stopped at Skeppsholmsbron, but instead of debarking there, we continued to Djurgården, which is where most of the big museum are. We hadn't decided exactly which museums to visit, although Dave knew he wanted to see the Vasa, which Rick Steves talks up in his Scandinavia video.

There is also a Viking Museum, but this seemed geared more towards kids, so we opted out. We did eat at the restaurant there, feasting on venison Swedish meatballs and some kind of fish that I can't remember. Both were delicious.

The Vasa Museum is definitely worth visiting! The ship is incredible, and the story of its disastrous maiden voyage is fascinating. I am not really very interested in ships or wrecks or anything of that sort, but even I was captivated.

We returned to the hotel along the beautiful Karlavägen (bike/pedestrian/ vehicle boulevard lined with trees and gardens) and packed up in preparation for flying out the next morning.

Scandinavia - Day 4: An afternoon in Oslo

 Oslo

Arrival - about 11:00 a.m. 

It took a while to get off the ferry, as we had to go through customs, and there was only one customs agent. It was quite the bottleneck.

Having learned from our experience in Copenhagen, we took a taxi from the ferry terminal to our hotel, the Thon Hotel Astoria. We were too early to check in, but again, there was a lovely courtyard where we could unpack the bikes and then we deposited our luggage in the storeroom.

It was surprisingly hot. We started our explorations by riding up the hill from our hotel alongside a big park towards the Royal Palace.

We were told we could get in for a tour, but after waiting in line for about half an hour, we didn't make the cut-off for admission, so that was disappointing. We walked around, admiring the palace's exterior and gardens, for a while and then got back on our bikes. Here I am with one of the palace guards. He was not allowed to talk, but it was OK to take a photo.

We were also disappointed to find that the Viking Ship Museum, recommended by Rick Steves, and the Nobel Peace Centre, were both closed. However, we were happy to see that there were places to swim on the waterfront. By this time, we were hot and ready to cool off, so we went back to the hotel to get in and get our swimming gear. 

It took us awhile to find the right spot, as the first "beach" we went to didn't seem to exist, and the second one consisted of some slippery steps into the water. But we finally found the Sørenga Sjøbad, which consists of partitioned-off swimming areas, with another open section accessed by ladders. We chose the open section, which was quite amazing. It would have been nice to have a sandy beach, but this was the next best thing, and was a wonderful way to cool off after a hot afternoon of riding. (sjøbad = seawater pool; "bad" = bath)

I thought it might not be bad to live in an apartment right here on the waterfront.

 On the way back to our hotel, we visited the Oslo Cathedral, which was less than a block away. For some reason, I didn't take many photos, but this is one of the outside. It is from the 1600s, but somehow it doesn't look as old as you might expect.

Our flight to Tromsø was early the next morning, so we had an early night.

Scandinavia - Day 3 - Overnight ferry to Oslo

 

Overnight ferry to Oslo

After one last ride around Copenhagen during the morning, we caught the overnight ferry to Oslo.

This is billed as a mini cruise, as you get a sleeper cabin, and buffet meals are included. The food, although plentiful, was not very good quality, so that was a bit disappointing, but the trip was still good value, as the cabin and meals cost less than a hotel room.

I did make up for that, though, by buying stamps. I was shocked when I purchased 3 postcard stamps and paid 21 CAD. I would like to think this was a mistake, but when I brought the stamped postcards to ask for them to be posted, the woman looked carefully at the stamps and assured me I had enough postage! I should hope so.