Stockholm Is Where My Heart Is (Part 1)

Before I left for my exchange, one of my aims was to visit different parts of Scandinavia because I didn’t last time I was in Europe and was pretty devastated that I had missed out on seeing these beautiful countries. So after starting my course and realising I had in fact a vast amount of free time (studying hasn’t really gotten too hectic as yet, so I am curious as to when it will hit me, but for now I’ve managed to keep my head well above the water that is my university work), I decided to book tickets to the countries I really wanted to see so as to make sure I WOULD NOT miss out on seeing them again. I booked Sweden, Denmark and Finland; with also plans to see a little more of Norway too of course.
The weekend just passed was my trip to Sweden, with myself staying in Stockholm for four days. I had originally booked the trip on my own, but a friend I had met whilst on exchange really wanted to come and of course I was more than happy to have the company, so she booked her ticket last minute and joined me on the new voyage.

I have so much to share about the trip, and so I have decided to divide it into two parts (which you will notice in the title) - the first part is about the different districts, and the second part (which I will upload soon) includes more about the different shops to see, the 'coffee culture' and nightlife. This is still quite a long post though, so I have included photos to make it a bit more enjoyable, or at the very least bearable!

THE CITY CENTRE DISTRICTS

Stockholm is quite a big city – in fact it is dubbed “the capital of Scandinavia” - and like any big city it has many areas/districts within the city centre (as well as the greater city outskirts, but I stayed within the city centre whilst visiting). My favourite areas I visited were the following: Norrmalm, Gamla Stan, Djurgärden (but more specifically Skansen), and Södermalm. They each offered something different and were unique in their own way, which made them all the more alluring for me. Here’s a bit of a ‘rundown’ of each of them – what they offered and why I loved them.

Norrmalm: This was ‘central Stockholm’, the central station is located in this area and majority of the hotels and hostels. The hostel we stayed at was also located here which made it extremely convenient for walking around the town (free transport is always the best). In this area one can find the Kulturhuset and Gallerian – Kulturhuset is a cool place to sit around and wait to see what will happen, because within moments SOMETHING will be happening there whether it’s a lecture, dancers or musicians – the first time I was there I got to see a band play, then when I visited on another day with my friend we saw a small group of people dancing. Gallerian, which is right next to Kulturhuset, is the main shopping centre. It is huge, and offers everything you desire, therefore one could easily spend a whole day in there just shopping and looking around in awe at all the different stores.
Not far from the shopping streets is a beautiful park, Kungsträd garden, it has artificial grass which makes it a little less authentic but in the middle there is a cool fountain and on the sides the pathways are lined with trees which is something I absolutely love (sadly because it hasn’t hit peak autumn yet the leaves hadn’t started to completely brown and fall, but it was still pretty nonetheless)

HOWEVER, not far from this area is an even better park. It is much more beautiful and I loved it much more for it’s historical value (plus it wasn’t as dodgy as the other park – at one point during the day, my friend and I were followed by some youths that had nothing better to do with their day but hassle us). It’s called Strömparterren, and it is Stockholm’s first public park. Back in the day it was one of the only places where there was no class divide, it wasn’t specifically for the rich or the poor, but everyone who was anyone was welcome to enjoy their days in the park. It is very beautiful and there is a naked man called the “Sun Singer” who looks above everyone in the park. The Sun Singer is a monument to Esaias Tegnér, who is a much-loved Swedish poet, writer, bishop and professor of Greek language (although I think he was mainly loved for his writings and poetry). I liked this park more than the others because you could sit on the steps by the water and look over the city; plus if you turned around in a full 360 degrees you would be able to see the National museum, the Opera, and the many Royal buildings including the Royal Palace and the Royal Apartments.

 Above: That statue overlooking the water is the Sun Singer ^

Gamla Stan: Or the “Old Town” as it is referred to in English. This place got a little bit crowded due to the many visitors, but you don’t really care about how busy it is because its prettiness will evaporate anything that annoys you. Every place I go, if there is an ‘old town’ it is always one of my favourite places. I think the reason is that it always has such beautiful architecture, and many different laneways that act as a fun labyrinth to discover, and moreover it’s more historic. Who say’s history is dull eh? In fact one of my favourite places in Perth is Fremantle because it is the oldest city in Western Australia and it still has the original buildings and architecture, which yes may be old, but are beautiful and full of character. I feel you can relate the beauty of history with red wine – as the saying goes, the more you let red wine age, the better it will taste – and this, in my opinion, is also true for the buildings and streets in old towns that are well preserved. While there were the usual stores that reel in tourists, there were also some unique stores too such as record shops, clothing, and even comic book stores. There was even a store completely devoted to everything science fiction which I thought was very cute for it’s quirkiness.
It’s nice just to wander around this area and get lost in the different laneways, furthermore a visit to Stockholm would definitely not be complete until you had visited Gamla Stan.

Djurgärden (main area inside is Skansen): When I read about this place prior to visiting it was described as “Sweden in miniature” as it has majority of Sweden’s culture and history showcased in the museums here. For example, there is the open air (the world’s first open air museum), the Nordiska museet (which includes loads of Nordic history), the Nordic zoo (including animals like reindeer, musk ox, artic fox, etc), the Vasamuseet (which the Swedes are really proud of, the museum displays the Vasa, a Swedish warship that sank on it’s maiden voyage, however the ship is almost fully intact and is the only 17^th century ship that has ever been saved and preserved), Junibacken (a play park for children, has all the great Swedish children stories and you can dress up as Pippi Longstocking), and lastly but by far not the least the ABBA museum. Even if you’re not an ABBA fan, it is really a fun place to go, the museum is completely interactive meaning you can get up and dance on stage, record yourself singing the songs, and many other things although those two were among the best. Yet it isn’t solely ABBA, there are other exhibitions on the Swedish music industry and it’s “Hall of Fame” with many of its famous Swedish exports from the 1920s right up until present day.

Södermalm: The hostel had a map of the town glued to the reception desk which had different note markings – this area was noted as “the hipster area”. It’s actually very bohemian, but you know what it’s like these days, everyone uses terms like ‘hipster’ to stereotype/label things. However I think back in the day, maybe not that long ago, but a decade perhaps, this would have been labelled the ‘bohemian’/’’student’ district. It’s actually one of the bigger districts of central city Stockholm – so I just that just goes to show that ‘hipsters’ rule the town ;) Anyways, getting off the subject of hipsters, and more into what the place really has to offer. Majority of the clubs/bars and shopping outlets are found in this area – Götgaten is the best street to walk down if you fancy a lot of shopping, it’s like the high street of Stockholm. My favourite shops that I got my fix from were Monki and Weekday, which offered very cool clothes for mid-range price (plus in Weekday they had a whole section dedicated to Cheap Monday which was awesome, but not good for my budget), but there was also one store that I loved for its edginess; it was called The T-Shirt Store and had loads of different t-shirts with artwork designs printed on them, and what I liked was majority of the artwork was designed by Swedish artists. I was tempted to buy some but I thought I’d save my kroner and just hope for the possibility of going back one day (or there is always online shipping!)
I stumbled across this t-shirt which reminded me of a friend back home who absolutely loves puns, and this would of given her a giggle:

(link: http://www.tshirtstoreonline.com/us/product/category-t_shirts/taco-bout-it)

I admit it is a little dorky, but hey that’s what puns are for.

NB: I will talk about more about shopping later – more so in relation to the vintage stores which are found all around this area, but most around the streets Södermannagatan, Bondeg and Nytorgsgatan.

Another impressive place to check while in this district is the Fotografiska, which is located along the riverside. It is a photography exhibition museum, and the exhibitions are temporary so there is always something new showcased all year round (although there are a few permanent photographs displayed on the walls as you walk up the stairs). While my friend and I were in Stockholm, the exhibition they were currently displaying was Helmut Newton. They had displayed the exhibition so well – there was little lighting except directly above the individual photographs making them stand out in the spotlight even more. It was an awesome effect because your attention would get lost in the photographs, not in the crowds.

There is also a café inside which offers panoramic views over the waterfront and the city…

… yet if you are wanting to fill your stomach with delicious goods, the best place to go nearby is Herman’s. You literally have to cross the road and walk up the stairs from Fotografiska and you’re on the doorstep. Herman’s is a vegetarian restaurant that offers an all you can eat buffet costing around $25 – and believe me you get your money’s worth. Plus the best thing is that because it is vegetarian you don’t feel the “bloated full” you get from all you can buffets which include meat. Now if you’re a bit anti vegetables, you’re probably thinking that it just included salads – BUT YOU ARE WRONG. Yes there were a range of different salads, but there were rice dishes, lasagne, vegetable curries, vegetable stews, anything you can think of really but made with only vegetables. The restaurant also had many cakes and fruit smoothies which were all organic, but sadly they aren’t included in the buffet so you have to pay extra. (I paid extra to get a fruit smoothie and I didn’t regret the decision, it was delicious! And also very good for my health!!)

Above: And as you can see, you’re not compromising the views you would have had at the café in Fotografiska, you can still get them here. ^

So there you have just some of the districts/areas of the central city that Stockholm has to offer. I could talk about more of the others, but these ones were by far my favourite and in my opinion they are the most worthy to spend your time and money when/if you visit Stockholm.

REMEMBER! "Stockholm Is Where My Heart Is (Part 2)" will be up hopefully not too long after this post, so check that one out too if you're interested in Stockholm :)