Scandinavia Trip: Day 2

Despite the practically incessant stream of light outside my window on this warm summer night, I managed to sleep until around seven. Rather than the sun, what woke me up was a persistent mechanical noise. My hotel here is on a boat, but I do not think that the sound was of a nautical origin – unlike the squeaking of wood, metal, and rubber that followed the movement of the waves.

I had a lot on my itinerary for the day, so I decided to start out in the Old Town and work my way towards other attractions. Crossing the bridge from the island of Södermalm, I walked northward past Mårten Trotzigs Gränd, the narrowest street in Stockholm. Looking for a good angle, I made a circle around the Church of Saint Gertrude, finding that the best view is probably from quite far away. After eating breakfast at a nearby Seven Eleven, I visited Stortorget, which is a plaza right in front of the Nobel Prize Museum.

It was on Stortorget where I met the bane of my day: lorries parked in front of beautiful buildings. As much as I wished to do so, I decided I did not have the time to compete with a van unloading supplies for a local restaurant. This proved to be a sensible idea in retrospect, as the lorry stood in front of another vehicle that would remain on the square for the rest of the day.

I then went up to the Royal Palace and back around to the Great Church, where to my dismay, another lorry was parked. Fortunately, I managed to outlast this one and snapped a few pictures before another lorry took its place. Finishing my loop around the Old Town, I walked down Köpmangatan to see the statue of Saint George and the Dragon, after which I doubled back to take another look at Riddarholmen Church (looking at a map, this itinerary makes absolutely no sense, and I admit my programme for the day saw a lot of improvisations).

I was surprised at what good time I was making as I crossed the bridge to the mainland. Taking advantage of the windfall, I took a stroll around Kungsträdgården and continued south to another island, that of Skeppsholmen. There are not too many interesting things on Skeppsholmen except for a relatively nice view of the Old Town. It does house Kastellet Stockholm, but this looks better from a ferry. I know this because I decided to take the ferry from Skeppsholmen, landing once more at the Old Town before returning eastwards to the island of Djurgården.

Djurgården is home to quite a few sites worth visiting, but I only stayed for two: the Skansen and the Vasa Museum. I knew I had to visit the Skansen on Djurgården when I found out that it is the original skansen after which all other skansens are named. While claiming to be an open-air museum, the Stockholm Skansen has a little bit of everything. Besides its various houses collected throughout Scandinavia, it also holds a small zoo and an indoor aquarium.

The most interesting part of the complex are the houses, which were transported to the island in what was effectively a massive ethnographic project. As industrialisation threatened to efface all traces of traditional Scandinavian life, farmsteads and village buildings from across the country were brought to the capital and put under serious protection – as well as on display. Nowadays, the complex holds structures from various Swedish regions and built by various ethnicities, not just Swedes but also Norwegians, Finns, and the Sami.

I spent about two hours at the Skansen; a very thorough visit would likely have taken all day. Walking down the hill, I arrived at what appears to be the museum quarter of Djurgården: besides the Skansen and Vasa, the island also houses the Viking Museum, the Spirits Museum, the imposing Nordic Museum, and others. The Vasa Museum delivers exactly what it promises: a massive 17^th century ship that sank on its maiden voyage and was hauled back from the sea floor several decades ago. During my visit, I learned that the figures decorating the ship were painted vibrant colours, which goes entirely against what I learned of ship design in pirate movies.

The clock had only struck one and I had already finished my programme for the day. Improvising, I decided to eat into the agenda for tomorrow and took the tram to Skogskyrkogården, a cemetery listed as a UNESCO world heritage site for its modern functionalist design. I did not find the site all too impressive. All the chapels were closed, and the complex was so big that walking was a positive pain. The whole place confirmed my budding notion that Stockholm has a much greater car culture than one might suppose. Even in the city, pedestrians often walk next to busy roads for long stretches and can rarely rely on trees to shade them.

Since it was still quite early in the afternoon when I finished touring Skogskyrkogården, I returned to the city centre to visit some of the churches that had been closed in the morning. I entered both the Riddarholmen Church and the Storkyrkan, and walking back again to Södermalm, I clambered up to the Sofia Kyrka. Needless to say, my feet were killing me by the time I stopped by the Fotografiska Museum for my last visit of the day.