Today we were determined to explore beyond the old town but staying within greater Stockholm. We left the hotel after breakfast and made our way across a footbridge we can see from our hotel rooms but which goes onto Gamla Stan at as slightly different angle from our regular walking route from Slussen.
We had barely crossed onto Gamla Stan than we were across onto Riddarholmen, "Knight's Isle." There was a permanently moored dining and hotel boat here as well as a number of governmental agency buildings. The big draw was the church, the burial place of Swedish nobility next to the statue of Birger Jarls, the alleged founder of Stockholm. Both occupy a lovely small and very peaceful square on the island.
the Torstensson crypt |
tomb of Kristiern Nilsson (Vasa) and his wife Margareta Krummedike |
As in Roskilde Cathedral (Denmark) the floor here is largely ledger stones some of which are quite remarkable.
.
From the church we made our way off the island and commenced our strolling with little purpose in mind other than seeing a part of Stockholm hitherto unrevealed to us.
Bonde foreground, Birgersson behind him |
two other travelers trying to find their way, I suppose |
Eventually we stumbled upon a pedestrianized shopping area that seemed to go on forever, which eventually led us to the large tram hub and shopping space known as Gallerian, which in turn led us down to the lovely and very busy park Kungstradgarden.
a view back to our hotel, roughly between those two cranes |
From Skeppsholmen we crossed another bridge (of sorts) onto Kastelholmen, the "Citadel Island", where we were treated to some rather lovely views of the city. We were joined by several military vehicles with armed soldiers. (Probably part of the changing of the palace guard ceremony which had just happened.)
With no more islands to conquer we made our way down to the ferry landing on Skeppsholmen back to Slussen and eventually our hotel.
Anyway we strolled a bit before finding a place to have an aperitif. Directly behind the Royal Dramatic Theater was Frippe, a place that seemed to cater to the before-theater crowd but kindly seated us anyway.
The restaurant was large, packed and extremely noisy but the food was delicious. For starters three of us had cold peel-n-eat shrimp (heads and all) while Richard opted for the duck paté. All four of us had the Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberries and cucumbers on the side. For dessert Susie had sorbet, Richard had a parfait, Pauline had a poached rhubarb thing and I had a glass of port.
Tomorrow is Sunday. Richard and Pauline leave for Great Britain and we spend one more night in Stockholm before we head off for Norway.
No comments:
Post a Comment