Stockholm in Winter – Trip overview and places visited

My son was successful in his application for International Student Exchange Program with a university in Stockholm. This meant that he would be staying in Stockholm for 6 months from January 2017 to May 2017.  I thought it would be a good opportunity for me and my wife to go with him, partly to help him settle down in the new environment and also partly for us to revisit a city we had lived in for six month, some 30 years ago.

Co-incidentally, my nephew was also successful in his application in the similar program with another university in Stockholm. His parent and sister, knowing that we were planning a trip to Stockholm, also decided to join us. Our travelling group just got bigger and bigger when another niece pleaded with us to let her join.

The students made arrangement for their longer term accommodations separately while the family members, 5 of us in total, managed to book an apartment in the hip Södermalm area through Airbnb. That nicely furnished apartment was our home away from home for the next 10 days.

Since this visit to Stockholm was in January, the coldest time of year in the middle of winter, we did not really plan any fancy excursions. Just a free and easy stay in the city where we would decide the day before, or in the morning, what would be our plan for the day!

There were days where we would just laze around, go for a fika, run some errands to help the boys settled down before their university term starts, or go visit some city sights or museums. These were some of the places visited:

• Gamla Stan (the Old City)
• Riddarholmen
• Skeppsholmen
• Drottninggatan
• Östermalm area
• Vasa Museum

• ABBA Museum

• Kungsträdgården
• IKEA

• Monteliusvägen

• Skinnarviksberget

• Södermalm area

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Stockholm in Winter – Arrival at Arlanda via Finnair and settling down

14 January 2017

We flew to Stockholm via Helsinki using Finnair. We departed from Singapore Changi airport on AY082 at 23:35 hour.  This was my first time on a Finnair flight and I was pleasantly surprised by the nice clean and spacious Airbus A350 plane, reasonable good food and large touch-screen entertainment system.  A useful feature in the entertainment system is a time-table showing the timings of departure, arrival and meal services during the flight. There was also ample leg room for me, who at 1.74m is reasonably tall.

Simulated Northern Light or Aurora light-up on Finnair flight to Helsinki.

There was even a simulated Northern Light or Aurora light-up prior to landing.

Breakfast served on Finnair flight to Helsinki.

Finnair’s (Finland’s Airline) hub is at Helsinki airport. We landed in Helsinki airport at about 6 AM, as scheduled.

After going through passport control, we waited about 30 minutes to board our flight to Stockholm. Helsinki Airport is cool. There were even game machines at the transit waiting area and piped in sounds of singing birds in the toilet!

Game machines at the transit waiting area of Helsinki airport.

The plane to Stockholm was a small one and it was parked on the tarmac. No aero bridge connecting the terminal to the plane. We had to take a shuttle bus from the terminal to board the plane from the tarmac.

We got to experience Finland’s sub-zero winter weather for the first time as we walked on the icy tarmac from the bus to the plane. Although we were not too warmly dressed, the transfer was pretty quick and no one froze to death.  It was actually quite fun for me since walking in sub-zero temperature on a dark and icy tarmac was not something I get to do before.

Full moon over the frozen runway at Arlanda Airport.

It was dawn by the time we arrived at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport. We took off from Helsinki Airport at 8 AM and arrived in Stockholm at 8 AM! There was an one hour time difference between Finland and Sweden and the flight took one hour.

We bought our Comviq mobile prepaid data-only SIM card from a convenience store inside the airport and went to the Tourist Information Center to collect some maps and brochures of attractions in Stockholm. The SIM cards was easy to install and we had Wi-Fi service within minutes.

As this was a scheduled Arrival Day for International Students on the Exchange program, there were international student guides at Arlanda airport (Terminal 5) to help arriving international students.

Arriving students were able to travel for free from Terminal 5 in Arlanda Airport to Stockholm’s city center using their chartered buses which departs every hour during the Arrival day. There were vacancies on the bus and they offered to give a free ride to accompanying family members as well. Great welcome service!

We have time to grab some food and drinks from a 7-11 store before our bus departs. The bus ride to the Cityterminalen Bus Station took about 30 to 45 minutes.


First glimpse of Stockholm’s frozen lakes and landscape from our bus as we approached Stockholm city.

At the Cityterminalen Bus Station, we went to a Pressbyrån convenience store to buy our SL access card (20 SEK for the card) and load a 7-day Travelcard onto it for 315 SEK.  With a Travelcard, we could travel as much as we liked throughout the Stockholm county for the duration of the card.


Note: Useful tips on how get around with public transport, SL, throughout the Stockholm County can be found here.


Cityterminalen serves as a hub for the bus transportation system in Sweden and is connected by a tunnel to the Stockholm Central Station. From there, we walked to the T-Centralen (central station for Stockholm’s subway called the Tunnelbana) and took the subway train to Alvik Station where the students’ accommodation is located.

The apartment is located within walking distance from the Alvik tunnelbana (T-bana) station but it was not easy to walk on the icy side-walks. The normal flat sidewalks are quite OK. Going up and down the icy slopes that was completely iced up was the most difficult. One of us slipped and fell and injured his hand slightly along the way.



We got the keys from the apartment host, Patrick, and we went through the check-in process smoothly. The rest of the day was spent helping the boys settle into their new home and making a list of items that we need to buy. For some of the items, Patrick was helpful to provide upon our request.

Samuel’s room for the next six months.

Once the boys were settled in, we took the tunnelbana to the Medborgarplatsen Station where our own Airbnb apartment was located. There we met up with the rest of the group who travelled by different flights.

For dinner, we went to the Meatball for the People restaurant in the Södermalm area but the restaurant was fully booked. We made a reservation for the next night and went to pub along Folkungagatan instead.

The pub was well patronised by the weekend crowd and we were shown to a table located in the basement. This pub shows live sports and we were able to watch a live EPL match while having our dinner. While the staff was friendly, the food was not very good. By then, we were too tired to bother anyway.

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Stockholm in Winter – shopping at Drottingatan and dinner in Sodermalm area ( @ Meatball for the People restaurant)

15 January 2017 

This was a relatively relaxing day where our plan was to go shop for some essential items for the boys’ apartment before their academic term starts.

One of Stockholm's most popular streets is Drottninggatan ("Queen Street"). This pedestrian street runs north to south for almost 2 kilo-meters. There are many shops and boutiques along this street. We started near the Hotorget T-bana station.

Bridge over Kungsgatan.

Adidas Flagship store with a large video screen.

 Sunday market at Hötorget (Haymarket), a city square in the center of Stockholm.

We made our way down the Drottninggatan shopping street, had lunch at Pizza Hut and ended up in Clas Ohlson. 



Clas Ohlson at Drottninggatan is a good place to shop for household essentials. There are sections for kitchenware, electrical appliances, gardens, laundry and even bicycle accessories.

We bought a clothes stand plus a few other items and carried it to the boy’s apartment.


We ended the day with dinner at the Meatball for the People restaurant in Sodermalm (we had made reservation on our first day).  We later found out that we can actually made reservations online. The restaurant was not very big, with a couple for large tables for groups in the center and smaller tables along the sides, plus some bar seats. Hence, reservations are recommended.

Once seated, we were offered some appetisers that looked like thin cardboards!



Sweden is famous for their meatballs and definitely a must-try when visiting Sweden. This restaurant specialises in meatballs and we were offered options of lamb or pork meatballs when ordering our main dish.

CLASSIC MEATBALLS for 179 SEK. With choice of meatballs served with the classic accompaniments; cream sauce, potato purée, lingon berries and pickled cucumber.  

DELUXE MEATBALLS for 195 SEK. With choice of meatballs, served with red wine sauce, potato purée, shiitake mushrooms, bacon, spinach and lingon berries.

 

SPAGHETTI for 179 SEK. With choice of meatballs served with their homemade tomato sauce and grated parmesan cheese. 

They even offer take-aways and there was a fridge where we could actually buy the  meatballs to cook our own meals back in our apartment.

Compared to our dinner on our first night in Stockholm, this was way much better! I would not mind coming here again on my next trip.

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Stockholm in Winter – exploring northern Södermalm, Gamla Stan, Skeppsholmen and Kungsträdgården

16 January 2017

The adults in our group woke up early. While having our breakfast, I noticed that it was snowing outside. Snow flurries was forecasted, so I was half expecting that. I woke the girls up and there were squeals of excitement as they whipped out their smartphones to take videos of the falling snow. Living in a country near the equator, experiencing snowfall for the first time was an exciting event.

While the rest of the group took their time to have their breakfast, my wife and I went out to explore the northern part of Södermalm.

Snow was still falling when we left the apartment. Our first destination was the Katarina Church (Katarina Kyrka).

Katarina Church (Katarina Kyrka).

We walked through the church grounds towards the direction of the Katarinavagen. Katarinavagen was one of the recommended spots in Stockholm for nice panoramic views. The fresh snowfall on the church ground made the place quite attractive.

Somewhere along the way, we spotted a playground with small kindergarten kids playing in the snow. Swedish kids must be really tough, growing up in an environment like this. In my excitement to snap some photos of the playing kids, I slipped and fell forward due to the treacherous ice on the sidewalk, concealed by the fresh snow. The 2 to 3 layers of winter clothes and gloves on the hand cushioned my fall and I escaped with only minor bruises on my knee but major bruises to my ego.



This is how you should walk on the icy sidewalks. Slow and steady!

After a “lesson” on how to walk on snow and ice in Stockholm, we made it safely to the Katarinavagen viewpoint. 
Looking down at the Katarinavagen viewpoint. Djurgården can be partially seen in the background despite the light snow flurries.


Many of the central islands were viewable from this location, with Gamla Stan (the Old Town) on the left and the Gröna Lund amusement park on Djurgården to the front and right.

A snow-covered bicycle on the Katarinavagen viewpoint, with Gamla Stan in the background. 


We walked the entire stretch of Katarinavagen to Slussen T-bana Station where we took the tunnelbana to Gamla Stan, just one stop away.

Sculpture just outside the Gamla Stan T-bana station.

I felt that Gamla Stan looked almost the same as it was when I last visited 30 years ago. The cobble-stone streets lined with souvenir shops and restaurants were still around. Being a weekday and also being winter, there were fewer people on the streets.
Street in Gamla Stan.

I remembered Gamla Stan was where the narrowest street in Stockholm was located and I went to search for it using google map. Mårten Trotzigs Gränd, that’s the name.

Narrowest street in Stockholm with old gas lanterns.  - Mårten Trotzigs Gränd.

Leading from Västerlånggatan and Järntorget up to Prästgatan and Tyska Stallplan, the width of its 36 steps tapers down to a mere 90 centimetres, hence making the alley the narrowest street in Stockholm.

After climbing the 36 steps up the narrow alleyway, we headed in the direction of the Stortorget, the old town square in Gamla Stan. This was where Stockholm was founded in 1252.

 

Like most old towns in Europe, you would find tour operators offering Ghost Walk tours and it was no different in Gamla Stan.

Stortorget is lined with beautiful buildings, erected during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, making this a must-see place in Stockholm. The Nobel Museum is also located here but we did not plan to visit it on this trip. 
This viewpoint of the buildings in Stortorget is the most photographed. The well in the middle of the square had stood there since the Middle Ages.

The next must-see place which was only a short walk away.  The Royal Palace or Kungliga slottet is His Majesty The King's official residence and is also the setting for most of the monarchy's official receptions.  There are usually Changing of the Guards parade being performed here daily but not on this day. Probably the snow fall in the morning had caused the parade to be cancelled.

Royal Palace or Kungliga slottet.

I did not envy the guard on duty, standing still in the cold winter. I hope his dark blue coat would be able to keep him warm.



The palace contains many interesting things to see. In addition to the Royal Apartments there are three museums steeped in regal history: the Treasury with the regalia, the Tre Kronor Museum that portrays the palaces medieval history and Gustav III's Museum of Antiquities. We defer the visits inside the Palace for another day (maybe the next time we come to Stockholm in May/June 2017).

We met up with the rest of the gang at the Skeppsbrokajen, the quay on the eastern side of Gamla Stan.

On the way from the Royal Palace to the Skeppsbrokajen.

 

After taking some photos at the waterfront, we went to a nice restaurant called the Gastabud to have lunch. This restaurant serves delicious meals and provides excellent service.

Outside the Gastabud restaurant in Gamla Stan.

After lunch, there was still some daylight left but not much since the sun sets quite early in winter. We made our way to Skeppsholmen.
Some of the best views of Stockholm could be seen along the waterfront from the Skeppsbrokajen quay to Skeppsholmen.

Late 1800s ship called Af Chapman on Skeppsholms island. The ship is operating as a youth hostel!







Gilded Crown on Skeppsholmsbron, the bridge leading to Skeppsholms island.

Despite many constructions seen around Stockholm, this place had not changed one bit. I compared some old photos taken 30 years ago and they looked almost identical. The white three-mast ship called the Af Chapman was exactly the same as it was 30 years ago!

Comparing our photos taken 30 years ago with the present day.

By about 4 PM, it was totally dark and the street lamps were lit. We made our way to Kungsträdgården (Swedish for "King's Garden"). This is a park in central Stockholm. It was beautifully lit.

Kungsträdgården in winter.

In winter, the center area of the park is transformed into a public ice skating rink. Those interested could rent a skate and just join in the fun.

Kungsträdgården in winter. Public ice skating rink.

We ended the day enjoying some warm and shopping in the NK Department store before heading back to our apartment for some “home” cooked meal.

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Stockholm in Winter – Shopping for shoes and clothes for millennial generation

17 January 2017

We spent the morning at my son’s apartment meeting up with Patrick (Airbnb Host) to get some things done up in the apartment while he was away in the university. Once done, we went to the city centre to meet up with him and have lunch at Kajsas Fisk at Hotorgshallen. Its signature dish is fisksoppa (fish soup) which was very good and tasty. It came with free flow of bread and salad.

Half eaten soup - Super tasty and packed with seafood.

Quite a good value for money lunch in Stockholm.
Then we spent the rest of the day wandering around the malls in Stockholm. This includes the Gallerian, H&M, Ahlens and Drottninggatan.

For the young adults in the group, the highlight of the day was shopping for limited-edition sports shoes. Apparently, the models sold back home were very limited and there is a much wider range and models in Europe (and of course Stockholm).

Just some of the range seen!

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Stockholm in Winter – Monteliusvägen and Söder Mälarstrand for best views

18 January 2017

Monteliusvägen is one of the best places to enjoy panoramic views of Stockholm.  The 416m walking path is between Kattgränd on the west and Skolgränd on the east.  To get to this place, we took the subway to the Slussen T-bana station and walked the rest of the way to Skolgränd.

 First glimpse of the awesome view.




I kicked myself for forgetting to bring my Canon G5X and had to use my Samsung smartphone camera.




On any day, the pretty city of Stockholm waterfront and lakes would have been a photographer’s delight. Throw in some fresh snow and ice on the lakes, the views became much more interesting.  This was the reward for visiting in winter





The walkway was wide enough to accommodate larger groups but we were the only tourists on this trail. We met some local resident walking their dogs. The dogs in Sweden are generally well trained and friendly.

Along the way, there are terraces, park benches and picnic tables, making it easy to stop and enjoy the view. We had to be very careful with the ice on the wooden walkway.



Almost reaching Kattgränd, the western end of the trail.

This is what happens when you don’t use a Touch-sensitive gloves. Freezing hands.


After walking the Monteliusvägen, we made our way down to the edge of the lake along Söder Mälarstrand. Here we could get a closer look at the frozen lake and different viewpoints.



These are boats, operating as hostels along this stretch of the lake.

 

Panoramic view of the lake along Söder Mälarstrand.


We then walked across the bridge towards Gamla Stan and Riddarholmen. The viewpoints on this bridge were quite awesome as well.



Looking towards Slussen from the Centralbron bridge.

View of Söder Mälarstrand (where we came from) from the Centralbron bridge. 

View of Riddarholmen.

After the cold morning walk, we stopped by the Expresson House cafe in Gamla Stan for hot drinks and snacks! 

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Stockholm in Winter - Visit to ABBA The Museum at Djurgården island

19 January 2017

I belonged to the generation that grew up listening to ABBA music. Hence a visit to the museum dedicated to the Swedish foursome would be interesting. Since the Vasa Museum was also located near the ABBA The Museum, we planned a day out to both.

ABBA: The Museum is a permanent exhibition in the “Swedish Music Hall OF Fame” on the island of Djurgården, a brisk walk, or a short bus or tram ride from the city centre.


We travelled to the ABBA Museum using a combination of subway and bus. By the time we arrived at the entrance, it was slightly past 11 AM.  We saw a cut-out of the famous four but one of the celebrities was missing a face.




Tickets are 250 SEK per adult and we need to buy them online using credit cards and collect them from a machine at the entrance.  No ticket sale by cash at the museum. The printed entrance ticket includes a personal ID that generates a page on the museum website. This ticket is also used for the interactive displays inside the museum where we could sing and dance with holograms of ABBA, don a digital costume projected on us in a special booth.  

Inside a karaoke booth where we could choose ABBA songs to sing along with. The machine will judge your singing and assign you a score!



Besides the interactive displays, the museum showcases the band’s stage clothes, artefacts, concert footage, interviews etc.  There was even The Arrival helicopter from the classic LP Cover at the museum.
Stage outfits worn by ABBA for their performance at the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest.

I enjoyed the video of ABBA singing ‘Waterloo’ at the Eurovision Song Contest in Brighton in 1974 where they won and launched their stardom.

Life-size figures of Agnetha Fältskog. Björn Ulvaeus. Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad, collectively known as ABBA.
Who was your favourite?

ABBA sold more than 379 million records!

Overall, the visit to the ABBA Museum plus a quick look through the ‘Swedish Music Hall of Fame’ took about 2 hours. While I enjoyed the cool interactive displays, I felt there was something lacking. More about what happened after the group split up and how as individuals, they had continued their lives would be good. 

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Stockholm in Winter - Visit to Vasa Museum at Djurgården island

19 January 2017  

It made sense to combine a visit to the Vasa Museum with a visit to the Abba Museum since both museums are within walking distance to each other on the Djurgården island.

Vasa is a story of an epic fail that happened in 1628 and an epic success 333 years later. Vasa is actually a name of a Swedish warship, supposedly the most powerful warship in the Baltic, that sank on her maiden voyage before the eyes of a large audience, scant minutes after setting sail for the first time.

There would be no Vasa Museum if that was the end of the story. 

In the early 1950s, Anders Franzén, a fuel engineer in the Swedish navy and amateur archaeologist with a great interest in Swedish naval history, started searching for the Vasa. The ship was found a few years later, upright and half buried in mud, near where Grona Lund is.  It was a miracle that the ship had not rotted away or eaten by sea worms.  The mud had a preserving effect, and the wood-destroying sea worm does not thrive in water with low salt content.

The next challenge after the discovery was how to salvage the ship. Six tunnels were dug through the mud, under the ship, for the salvage team to pull massive steel cables across. These cables were taken to two floating pontoons and the ship was then lifted, inch by inch. On 24 April 1961, the epic success happened and the ship saw the light of day again, 333 years later.

There was still much remained to be done. Holes and leaks were plugged and water pumped put till she is afloat on her own keel and could be tugged to a wharf. Then the restoration work began. I remember I visited the Vasa Museum at the temporary exhibit, 30 years ago. It was good to be back.

There were free guided tours at the Museum and the schedules were posted near the entrance. We started the tour on the ground floor and followed the guide as she took us round the ship. The guide in the tour did a good job to explain details about Vasa. After the tour, we had time to go round to see the details of the ship and learn more about the Vasa, how and why the ship sunk, how it was found, recovered, restored, preserved and how the crew had lived and died. There was also some display of remains of the crew that was recovered.

Starting point of the tour – the bow of the Vasa.

This ship took 1000 oaks trees to build. This was a big ship compared to the normal Viking boats that requires 12 trees. The ship was designed by a Dutch guy called Henrik as the King wanted a super powerful boat with 2 rows of guns mounted on a double deck. 

In total, there was 64 number of 24-pounder guns. Due to the excessive number of guns, the ship was actually top-heavy and it was also found that there was not enough ballast at the bottom.

To add to the issues, the workmen and builders of the ship comprises Swedes, Finns and Dutch. There were communication issues. One example was that the Dutch and Finns were using different scales. The Dutch foot was shorter by 1 cm compared to the Swedish foot. There were also no drawing plans. All these led to bad construction. To make matters worse, the designer (Henrik) passed away one year before completion. Actually, that saved him from having his head chopped by the King after the ship sank!

All the design issues led to the pre-matured sinking. Before she could even get out of Stockholm harbour, a strong gust of wind tipped the ship so far over on its port side that water poured in through the open gun ports on the lower gun deck. Within minutes, the ship was on the sea bed at a depth of 32 metres. All but 30 of the crew and guests (family members of crew) survived when Vasa sank.



The figurehead is a lion holding the heraldic arms of the Vasa dynasty, a corn sheaf (“vase”), after which the ship was named.


The sculptures along the sides of the beakhead represent the Roman emperors, in chronological order.  Some were still missing.


Gun ports with hatch opened. The design is such that the brightly painted lion  mask would be upright when the hatch is opened.

Even the gun ports of the ship was also decorated. They would usually remained closed until the ship is about to go into battle. When closed, the lion head inside the ship would be upside down!
It was believed that when Vasa sank, all the gun ports were opened due to celebratory cannon fire.


Beautiful rigging and mast.

The “toilet” for the crew is located at the head of the ship. It can be seen in the photo above. Guess where it is.


The back of the Vasa.

The preserved ship was mostly dark due to the preservatives used. A project image shows what the actual colour scheme may be like.


A model of what the actual ship could look like in full colours.


Overall, I enjoyed my visit to the Vasa Museum.  I spent almost 2 hours at this museum and may have spent even more time if not for the 5 PM closing time.

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