Stockholm: New and Old

Friday 11 August ~ Stockholm

Today was a brilliantly sunny and balmy day (74-degrees!) so we took off walking.
Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, is 1/3 water, 1/3 parks and 1/3 city. It is built on a string of islands (an archipelago) connected by bridges.

Kungsträdgården

Östermalms

Strömgatan

Our neighborhood - The Theater Distric

Strömbron en route to Gamla Stan and Royal Palace

Stockholm offers both old and new: Stylin' Swedish women strut in 6" high heels on cobblestone streets. There is excellent public transportation(although we did not use it), including the subway Tunnelbana (T-bana), busses and a single tram from the commercial center to the Djurgården (more on that later). 

We started our morning walk by crossing the Strömbron (bridge) to Gamla Stan - the island where old Stockholm town is. Until the 1600s, the entire population of Stockholm lived on this small island which today is teeming with tourists flocking to see the Royal Palace.  

Town Well in Störtorget 

Störtorget is Stockholm's oldest town square. There you can find the Nobel Museum, housed in the building that was once the Stockholm Stock Exchange. In 1520, the Störtorget was the scene of the Stockholm Bloodbath in which Swedish aristocracy, leading merchants and priests who opposed Danish rule were rounded up and beheaded... Three years later, Swedes elected as their first king one of the rebels who managed to escape, Gustav Vasa. 

Nobel Museum

Chapel and the Royal Palace

Viking Rune Stone
Reads: Torsten and Frogun erected this stone in memory of their son. 

Stained glass in the German Church (Tyska Kyrkan, 1666)
Amazing stained glass throughout this sanctuary!