Stockholm - a few of my favourite things

The Royal Palace, Stockholm across the water from The Grand Hotel.
Behind the palace lies Gamla Stan, the old town.

Proof that he's done it!

Friends have just been to Sweden to run the Stockholm Marathon and asked me about things to do there before they left. I am of absolutely no use as far as the marathon is concerned (I did Google it and learnt that it is one of the most scenic routes in the world, along many waterways and taking in the Royal Palace, Park, the City Hall and Opera House).

Stockholm is my favourite city in the world   ("We give you one winter and then let's hear if you still think that," warns a friend who would love to migrate south.) and there are a few places I can recommend. 

Here are a few of my favourite things

My favourite hotel = Hotel Skeppsholmen

Situated on a small island with the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Architecture as its neighbours. Last year I combined a visit for the World's Children's Prize ceremony with a stay to work on my thesis. Imagine brisk walks interspersed with writing in the dining room after breakfast, Norah Jones playing softly in the background. At least go there for breakfast or lunch or brunch if you’re not staying.

 

I have also stayed at The Grand – but it is just that – grand! Kind of like the Mount Nelson or the Table Bay. Also popular for tea. Across the road from the hotel is a little kiosk that belongs to them – good coffee to go. Have a kanelbullen. Oh, the Swedes drink very strong coffee…just saying.

The Grand Cafe

kanelbullen

Square with Nobel Museum on the right

You have to walk around the old town –  across the water from the Grand you will see the royal palace and that whole area behind it, is the old town Gamla Stan. It’s one of Europe’s best-preserved medaeval towns. The Nobel Museum is on the town square; worth a visit for some insight into Alfred Nobel's legacy. Also visit the restaurant, Den Gyldene Vrede, which dates back to 18^th century. Nobel decreed that the committee which decides on the prize for Literature, meets here every Thursday evening. 

Typical street in Gamla Stan 

Sign outside Den Gyldene Vreden 

And then there’s a very different, funky restaurant Pubologi. It’s an experience. Book online before you go.

My favourite museum = Fotografiska. The café at the museum has the most beautiful views of Stockholm and the restaurant is another eating experience – book for dinner.

And nice for a walk around inside and out – Waldermarsudde art museum; and have something to drink in the café which is actually the original kitchen of the house of Prince Eugen (1865-1947).

Aerial view of Waldemarsudde from website 

Everyone says you have to visit the Vasa Museum but I haven’t yet. 

It’s the only almost-fully intact 17^th century ship in the world. 

The ABBA Museum is another place I haven't made it to. 

 

And my favourite shop (for gadgets and because I can buy small gifts to bring back) – 

Design Torget.

Photo: Visitstockholm.com

Visit the Sodermalm district for its vibey, alternative feel – shops, art galleries, cafes, etc. 

Take a boat trip in the archipelago if you have time and the weather is good.

Photographs of ship, ABBA, the kanelbullen and the medal, courtesy of C. Kotze.All other photos, unless otherwise credited, taken by me.  

Castles and Inns

Most people go to Mariefred to see Gripsholms Castle. This quaint little town is about forty-five minutes drive west of Stockholm. The little wooden houses look as if they have been around for almost as long as the castle which was started in the 14^th century and completed in the 16^th. The Gripsholms Vardhus, where I have stayed, proudly displays the date 1609 above its front door. It is the oldest working inn in Sweden and the rooms are elegantly furnished. It overlooks the castle and water and in days gone by was the guesthouse for visitors to the king.

I have yet to take a guided tour around the castle – I am always there out of season – but have seen good bits of it. It is mediaeval looking; thick stone walls covered in original oil paintings and old iron railings going up well-worn stairs. In places you have to duck so that you don’t hit your head on the low roof. The Swedish pop group, ABBA, who sang the background lyrics to my high school years performed here. Apparently in 1974 the castle was used as the cover shot for their Waterloo album.

Mariefred train station

Although I came by car, there are other, more leisurely ways to get here from Stockholm. There is the steamboat S/S Mariefred which plies the waters leaving from near the king’s palace in Stockholm to the castle here. I heard that it is a three-hour journey on a hard wooden bench, though. There is also a train that comes from Stockholm to the next town and then you can take the cutest little train into Mariefred station. It really does look more like the blue train that goes round and round in Mouille Point.

Town Square

There is a town square, also called the mayor’s square, although there is no longer a mayor. Just like there is no longer any policeman, although the station is still there.

This was my third visit - the first two were very brief; all three have been for the World's Children's Prize for the Rights of the Child ceremonies. Since I was spending a bit more time, I was able to wander round the village, dipping in and out of shops displaying typical Swedish ware – simple, natural and classic. 

I took advantage of the beautiful weather to sit outside in the sunshine (like a good Swede, making the most of the sun while it is there). A wooden deck was under construction in preparation for the summer. Like everywhere in Stockholm, things were being fixed and renovated, in preparation for the warmer weather.  

I have been there in the autumn and spring so the weather has been cold and crisp with beautiful, sunny blue skies and flowers in bloom all over (this is where I have taken some of my best daffodil pictures). I can walk for ages all around the lake, through the park that surrounds the castle or just sit at the water’s edge. It's the kind of place you could take off to, to write that book you have been promising to write...

Stockholm - Venice of the North

“It is not a city at all. It is ridiculous to think of itself as a city. It is simply a rather large village, set in the middle of some forest and some lakes. You wonder what it thinks it is doing there, looking so important.” 

          

I love this quote by Ingmar Bergmar talking about Stockholm.  It really does have the feel of a village, a really old village. The old buildings sit side by side with tall skyscrapers. It is not unusual to see people fishing over a bridge into the clear, fresh water in the middle of the city. I remember last time looking for the city hall,  sure that I would readily find it – except all the buildings look like city halls (or churches and palaces).

This was my third visit to Stockholm.  The first time we stayed in Gamla Stan or the “old city” and dined in the same restaurant, Den Gyldene Freden (The Golden Peace) – est. 1722, where the Nobel Prize for Literature was being decided upstairs. The committee members looked as if they had been around for as long as the restaurant!

Stockholm is one of the most beautiful cities that I have been to. It is set on 14 islands (hence the name, Venice of the North) and the water adds a certain charm. Cobble-stoned roads invite you to explore history minutes away from broad, busy modern roads. Parks with trees and benches are dotted all over the city.

This time a friend and I walked through the very Bohemian area of Sodermalm. Shops open late here  - 1030 or 1100 - which was a good excuse to duck into a coffee shop, Frantzen’s. On the counter was a yummy display of home-baked goodies. The cinnamon buns exuded a spicy aroma that was hard to resist and certainly lived up to the promise. In fact it must have been the best cinnamon bun I have ever eaten – slightly crisp around the edges, soft and filled with spices in the whorls.

Fortified we set off – in and out of art galleries, home-ware and clothing shops. The wares on sale were typically Swedish – linen and wood, glass and terracotta – natural and simple. Clothing was finished off with edges of lace and embroidery. We dodged dads out with their toddlers in prams. The Swedish have generous maternity leave of up to 18 months and paternity leave, too. So the mums take the first stretch and do the breastfeeding, etc and then go back to work and the dads take over for a while.

My favourite shop was grandly called the Tea Centre of Stockholm. Entering was like stepping into another world. Dark wood counters were stacked almost to ceiling height with row upon row of tea canisters, many accompanied by glass jars with samples to smell before you made your choice. Electric light glimmered on the polished surfaces and the exotic smells of tea from Morocco, Sri Lanka, India and other far off places, filled the air.

And then the owner made an appearance looking exactly like I would have imagined. Sleeked back hair, round, wire-rimmed spectacles and attired in a dark pants and waistcoat over a white shirt and tie, his skin almost as dark as the woodwork. He was from Sri Lanka and was an expert on teas; although I had to resist getting into a fight about the benefits of Rooibos (he was of the firm opinion that it had none!). We settled for a special blend named after the area in a quaint tin with images of the palace and city hall. The sale was rung up on an old-fashioned cash register. We stepped out into the sunshine with our purchase. Right opposite was a church with tiny graveyard dwarfed by tall bare trees. But in the middle was a little tree bravely heralding spring, all decked out with white blossoms.

Each time I have been to Sweden it has been either spring or autumn. The temperature is around 10-15 degrees, the air crisp and fresh. I love that the sun shines brightly and the sky is as blue as an African sky. Autumn feels like the locals are running around trying to make the best of the good weather and spring feels like the city has woken up from a long sleep and re-discovering itself.

We ended our morning with lunch at Le Gondolen restaurant which boasts grand views of the city. On the way home I could not help leaning out of the car window and taking yet another picture of the trees in bloom.

Mamma Mia, Dragon tattoos, Hornets Nests and Fire!

Sweden seems perfect - ordered, free and fair, things work. Sweden must be one of the few countries that I have visited where people really know about SA and apartheid. Over the last few years we have established strong links with some of the people through conferences on environmental issues and children's rights. Recently, we have become involved with a children's project started by two Swedish women in one of our townships. 

Stockholm is beautiful - it is known as the Venice of the North - thousands of islands, trees, people fishing in the lake in the middle of the city, skyscrapers next to mediaeval buildings on cobble-stone streets. On a recent visit I found myself thinking that I might be able to live there for a while, that is, if I could convince my inner African violet  to survive the winter. I watched the Swedish film, As it is in Heaven, four times (OK, maybe the fourth time was a bit too much) and bopped along with Meryl Streep to the ABBA (famous Swedish export) songs in Mamma Mia.  

So what it is the point of this little ramble? I have just emerged from reading the Millennium trilogy books by Stieg Larsson, a Swedish journalist who wrote the three books and died of a heart attack at the age of 50, soon after delivering the manuscripts to his publisher. The books have become a phenomenon, already being made into Swedish movies, with Hollywood versions soon to follow. 

These are not the kind of books I would normally buy. However, I found myself being sucked into each consecutive 500+ page tome (the third one is more than 700 pages), after being proudly handed them by a friend from Sweden. I was feverishly reading whenever I could, although I confess to needing a break between each book to read something "normal". I was slightly shell-shocked after each book - I had been exposed to the dark underbelly of the society, detailing human trafficking, espionage and prostitution. In spite of being a little distracted by the very foreign-sounding Swedish street names and places, I found the writing easy and the pace exciting - I wanted to know what happened to the "most unlikely heroine" I have ever read about.

So now I find myself wondering how much of this is in fact truth or a creation by an author who had experienced some of the danger and intrigue as a journalist known for his outspokenness against neo-Nazism and the like. How much of this darkness is really being covered up by a facade of perfection? Certainly the grass is never completely greener on the other side, but the book has succeeded in rocking the boat and making me wonder.