Stockholm Day 2 - Stockholm Palace

Tony and I awoke to a bright and sunny day. Go figure, rain had been forecast. We took the subway to the old section of Stockholm, Glama Stan, where the streets are narrow and windy - Very medieval and picturesque.








It was a beautiful morning and everything was bathed in a glorious yellow light with a blue sky.




























We wandered through the small streets looking for the famous medieval square, Stortorget. It claims to be one of the best preserved in Europe. It has this really interesting water pump where people used to get their water.





We had breakfast on the square, which was very pleasant as it was quiet, and though a little chilly, sunny. Tony had a Latte, which was served in this traditional wide brimmed cup. We also had these tradtional Swedish Cinnamon Rolls, which I was not that impressed with. I've had TJ Cinnamon Rolls, and they are the best of all of them. That being said, it was a very nice way to start our busy day.

From there, we made our way over to Kungliga Slottet, the Royal Palace. It is reputed to be the largest Royal Palace in Europe, and it is massive. It is essentially a big square building with two wings that reach out towards the water. It is impressive from both the water side and the city side.

They don't really allow you to take photos inside, but I managed to sneak a couple including the throne.






















We got to see the changing of the guard at the palace, which was another big production.









After touring the palace, we stopped at the palace cafe for lunch and a piece of Princess Cake in honor of the recently married Swedish Princess Victoria. The royalty in Sweden seem to be particularly well liked despite having no official royal powers.

We wandered next door to Storkyrkan, the royal church. It is a beautiful old church, built on the highest point in Glama Stan.


















It has a beautiful airy interior of mostly red brick and whitewashed walls. One particularly cool sculpture was that of St. George slaying the dragon. There was also a really cool sphere candle holder.














That evening we met up with, Emil, one of my students from Gnomon back home who lives in Stockholm. We had a lovely dinner enjoying the end of summer "warmth" and the late night sun.

Stockholm - Day 1

For the last weekend of Summer bank holiday, Tony and I made a trip up Stockholm Sweden. We'd both wanted to visit it, and having the long weekend made for the perfect time to go. I wouldn't dare visit in the Winter as it is REALLY, REALLY cold up there.

We decided to try out RyanAir as it is a really cheap carrier that flies there. It has a bit of a reputation, but we wanted to see for ourselves. It flies out of Stansted Airport, which is about a 45 minute train ride from London. We were taking the first flight out at 6:30, so we were up at 3:00am to get to the bus, to get to the train, to get to the airport and on our plane. It was a quite a flurry of activity getting there.

Our train was cancelled in lieu of bus service, so we made it to Stansted just in time to rush to the gate. Tony's first impression of RyanAir was really bad as they immediately dinged him for having a bag that was too big according to their dimensions, so he had to pay extra for it. We'd measured it at home to be sure it was within their specs, but they remeasured it, and charged him 35 pounds.

The seating inside the RyanAir planes is really tight, but being that our flight was only about 2 hours, it was managable. Everything on RyanAir is a la carte including the restroom. I didn't need to go, but if I had, they would have charged me a pound to use it. I got a kick out of all the announcements for purchasing drinks, bus transfers, etc, but Tony found them to be quite annoying. One way that RyanAir is able to charge less is that they often fly to airports that are on the fringe of the cities they are serving, so we didn't fly into the airport that is only 15 minutes from Stockholm, we flew into an airport that was over 1.5 hours away. We did pass by the world's largest IKEA store. Unfortunately we didn't stop there. All the transfers made for a very long journey for a air trip that was really only 2 hours. This is something to consider when using RyanAir. They may have the lowest fare, but by the time you add on the train/bus transfers, and the time that they take, RyanAir may or may not be your best option.

There was a major convention for doctors taking place in town that weekend, so we couldn't get a hotel room. As an alternative, we ended up renting an apartment. It was owned by a woman that occasionally rents it out for extra income. It was quite cozy, and gave us an insight to how regular people live in Stockholm. One interesting aspect of the building was that the elevator only had exterior doors. When riding inside it, you can see the floors go by. It was a little strange at first.


As the predictions were for rain the following couple days, we decided to do the walking around the city and boat tour that afternoon. Stockholm is a beautiful city. It is a bit of a mix of Paris and Venice as there is a ton of Art Neuveau buildings all built right up to the lake and river waterways that flow throughout the city.




























I took Tony to a Hot Dog stand for lunch as he is a huge Hot Dog fan. It was a nice afternoon to sit by the water and enjoy eating a Hot Dog. Thankfully most of the Swedes speak English despite the fact that most of the signage is in Swedish and looks like names of furniture products from IKEA.




We explored the extensive Subway system, which is very cool and appears to have been carved out of solid rock. It is quite unusual.





















For dinner that night we splurged and went to the Grand Hotel for their authentic Swedish Smorgasbord. It was a beautiful spread with all kinds of pickled and smoked fish. We tried Gravlox and had the first of our many servings of Swedish Meatballs. It was a lovely evening and warm by Stockholm standards. As we made our way back to the apartment, I hoped the weather would hold out for us.

Buckingham Palace

My old mate Eric Armstrong and his daughter Marley came to visit London, and I showed them around a bit. The main highlight of the tour was a visit to Buckingham Palace, which is only open for 2 months in the summer. Tony and I had been anxiously waiting to go see it. The palace is only open for a brief time as it is a working palace and central part of the Government activities here. It is used for many state functions and receptions.





I bought tickets in advance online for 2pm on a weekday - They only allow 8000 visitors a day and you pretty much need an appointment.





I took the afternoon off from work, joined Tony, and we made my way over to the palace in time for the big "Changing of the Guard". It was full of pomp and ceremony with a marching band and many decked out Military personel. We couldn't get too close, though we were told the central fountain, which is raised, would have been an ideal vantage point.

We toured the palace, but were not allowed to take any pictures. It is a beautiful palace, and is perfect for State functions.

The following day, I met Eric and Marley for a pub lunch, so that Eric could get the classic British dish, Fish and Chips.









It was great seeing old friends from back home.

Hampton Court Palace

Tony, Matthew and I went to Hampton Court Palace which is the palace that Henry VIII called home. It was a warmish day (a rarity), so we got to break out the shorts!






It is a beautiful red Tudor style palace that looks more like a mansion than a fort. It was art directed by Cardinal Wolsey, and was a "gift" to the king.




I'd ridden past it a couple times on bike rides, but not had the chance to go inside until this day.












Covered with hundreds of whimsical spiraling chimneys, it is one of my favorite palaces that we've had the chance to visit.






It is full of history and has been done up in period majesty. Some may feel it a bit touristy, but it is also a grand experience to see it.






Knowing that this is the palace of Henry VIII, one would expect it to have a massive kitchen. As foodies who love to cook and entertain, this was definitely a highlight of the visit.




There are food historians present in the kitchen to talk about the food from that period as well as how it was prepared and served.









The king was very fond of Meat, and Meat Pies, so we have that in common. Evidently in those days, the crust would not have been the tasty flaky crust we know today, as the intention was not that it would be eaten. It was mainly used to hold the meat as a cooking vessel.



The main drink served was not wine, but beer. The king evidently also loved his beer. We'd also have that in common to talk about. The wine would be comparable to a Beaujolais Nouveau. He had a huge cellar with tons of both.



We also visited the main Banquet Hall where Henry VIII would have his lavish parties and entertain his guests. It is magnificent.

When no one was looking, Tony and I stole a chance to sit at the Kings Table like royalty.



An unusual thing about Hampton Court is that many years later, the new King and Queen wanted to tear it down and have a new contemporary palace. They managed to build the new Versailles inspired palace onto the back of it, but never tore the older palace down.




As someone who has endured a couple home improvement projects, I understand what the royalty must have gone through doing the major renovations that they did. Of course, they probably just moved to one of their other palaces while the renovations were being done.



The new palace was built by the British Architect of note, Christopher Wren. I think he has really good taste, but then again a lot of his work was based on the classic symmetrical structure canonized by the italian architect and theorist Palatio.



It was a grand day out, and as we made our way to the train for our ride back to London, we stopped and had Soft Serve Ice Cream. They do that very well here.