September 29, 2005

Walk in Stockholm on a wonderfully sunny day, first Gamla stan, then a visit to Riddarholmen with some beautiful views, from the side of the Royal Palace via Norrbro to Gustav Adolfs torg and then Kungsträdgården. 

      Munkbron and Gamla Stan (the Old Town)

	Here we emerge from the Stockholm metro, at the station for Gamla Stan (the Old Town). In the background is the lace-like tower of Riddarholmskyrkan, the church on Riddarholmen, the 'Island of the Nobles', a tiny island off Gamla Stan; (holme = island).
We go past Munkbron with its flower sales stands to turn into Gamla Stan.

Stortorget (the Big Plaza) in Gamla Stan with its centuries old fountain in the foreground.	Storkyrkan (the Cathedral of Stockholm) seen from Stortorget in Gamla Stan. This oldest church in Stockholm is mentioned in the literature for the first time in 1279.
The Swedish Academy building (Svenska Akademin) overlooking Stortorget.	On a sunny day, mostly young people will always be seen sitting on the steps basking in the sun. One elderly lady also got into the picture.

Riddarhuset and Riddarholmen with Riddarholmskyrkan

View over Riddarholmen (the island of the knights) with its landmark church, Riddarholmskyrkan, taken from the edge of Gamla Stan in front of the House of Nobles.	Riddarhuset, the House of Nobles, at the very edge of Gamla Stan. Statue of the first Swedish king Gustav Vasa, who was crowned in 1523. This building from the 17th century is known as one of the most beautiful buildings in Europe. "The Swedish aristocracy met in this 17th-century House of Nobles during the Parliament of the Four Estates (1665-68)." Go to site

Various views from Riddarholmen (the Island of Nobles), west and east.

The City Hall and Norr Mälarstrand seen from Riddarholmen.	Seen in the background is the bridge that links the north side of Stockholm to the south side. It is named Nya Essingeleden, since it goes across the two small islands, Lilla & Stora Essingen.

Birger Jarls torg, seen approximately from Riddarholmskyrkan (see shadow) with a statue of the earl himself.  Birger Jarl was the founder of Stockholm, 750 years ago. Wrangelska Palatset (the Wrangel Palace) on the left and in front of the palace the cobble-stoned 'Wrangelska backen'.	View of the edge of Gamla Stan seen from Riddarholmen. The tower of Storkyrkan in the background.

          A few pictures from the Internet of the area around Norrbro, Gustav Adolfs Torg and Strömparterren.

Kungliga slottet, the Royal Palace seen from Gustav Adolfs Torg with Gustav II Adolf on horseback in the foreground of the picture. The towers of the two churches in the Old Town can be seen in the background. It's a picture that probably dates from the 50's, considering the streetcar and the general look of the area.	An old picture of the Royal Opera house from a web site. It is situated on Gustav Adolfs Torg at the opposite end of Norrbro from the Royal Palace.

Riksdagshuset, the Swedish Parliament, seen across Strömparterren with Carl Milles statue, Solsångaren, and the North Bridge (Norrbro). "Sweden Old Postcard STOCKHOLM  Stromparterren Parliament Stockholm. Stromparterren with Milles' "Sun-Singer" and the Parliament."

Strömparterren
On our way from the Royal palace to Gustav Adolfs Torg via Norrbro (the North Bridge) and across what is called Norrström
(= the north stream, the branch of Lake Mälaren that separates the island of the Old Town from Norrmalm, the bridge going across the tiny island of Helgeandsholmen), we walked down the few steps to Strömparterren, a small and beautiful area at the edge of this tiny island, where you get a wonderful view towards the east and north.

View eastwards from Strömparterren. In the background, behind Strömbron, on the left side, is Grand Hotel, probably the most exclusive hotel in Scandinavia. In the middle is the Nationalmuseum, the major art museum in Stockholm. Over to the right can barely be seen the island of Skeppsholmen with the roof of Skeppsholmskyrkan. On the right you can just see the three masts of AF Chapman, an old school ship which is now used as a youth hostel. It is moored next to Skeppsholmen.	One more view from Strömparterren in the same direction. Almost the entire building of Grand Hotel can be seen in this picture and, once again, the Nationalmuseum (The National Museum of Fine Arts). Strömbron, once again, with traffic moving over to the Old Town. The statue is  Solsångaren by Carl Milles.
The Royal Opera house seen from the side, the front entrance being on the Gustav Adolfs Torg. On the right side of the building is the famous Operakällaren, one of the most exclusive restaurants in Stockholm. Over to the right is the beginning of Kungsträdgården (the King's park), a park next to the street that goes to the very center of downtown Stockholm.	A final view from this beautifully arranged terrass. Grand Hotel once again (on the right) and the beginning of Kungsträdgården with the impressive old buildings on Kungsträdgårdsgatan, where you find more businesses than private apartments.

We had lunch in a small restaurant alongside Kungsträdgården and then walked through the park over to Hamngatan and of course we made a visit to NK. This luxurious department store was mostly for looks except for a nice snack at one of their restaurants and cafeterias on the top floor and a couple of CDs by the excellent Swedish classical guitarist, Göran Sollscher. Nostagic memories of the days when there was an outdoors 'takterrass', a rooftop restaurant where you could sit and look over the very heart of the city and far off. We walked down Hamngatan over to Sergels Torg. We made a quick buy at the old department store PUB (NK being too snobbish to have what we wanted), where Greta Garbo was discovered when she was working there as a clerk in the early twenties. Leaving PUB from the south side we took a quick look at Hötorget (=Haymarket, gorgeous flower stands) and the Concert Hall before walking back to Sergels Torg to catch the metro (tunnelbanan) to get to our friends' place in a southern suburb of Stockholm.


Go to Site map Sweden 2005