mémoires of my travels..: a weekend in Stockholm

The signal was red. He stopped next to me. His ninja zx14r was roaring like a lion. He looked me straight in the eyes. The challenge was offered, im not the one to back off.. The light turned yellow. He revved his engine. My foot was ready on the pedal.. The ninja was roaring louder.. Not enough to intimidate me.. It turned green.. There was a surge of adrenaline my body.. I hit the pedal hard. Then there was a loud boom and before i could complete even one rotation of the pedal of my cycle, the ninja disappeared out of sight..
And that was my stockholm trip.. It wasn't about following any schedule or meeting an itinerary.. It was about being there.. Enjoying the cruise over the baltic sea.. Experiencing the capital of Scandinavia.. Staying in a historical boat.. Cycling through the cobbled streets of old town, the markets of Sodermalm and the forest trails of Dfurdgarden.. This is also how i celebrated my 27th birthday..

I took the 5.50 bus from Tampere (in Finland where I was staying) to Turku.. Reached 7:15. Bus dropped me right in front of Silja line terminal from where I took the 8:30am cruise for Stockholm.. It was a huge 9 floor ship.

Lower 3 floors were for cars. Ground floor was the reception and the shopping mall. Then there were multiple restaurants, grills, cafeterias in different floors.

A whiskey bar, a wine shop..

There was also an audi where i spent most of my time. There were some activities happening here all the time..

some game show..

a band performance..

I also spent some time on the deck. It was mostly cloudy outside..

The best part of the cruise was free internet. Even though i was travelling alone, I was connected to all my friends through facebook, whatsapp.. Was able to receive all the bday wishes. Also book a room in stockholm.
It was a 10 hour cruise. By the time I reached Stockholm it was evening. on the docks..

I had booked a room on this boat called AF Chapman. earlier a Swedish Navy boat until 1934 when it was given to the Stockholm City Museum. Now it is managed by the Svenska Turistföreningen (STF, Swedish Tourist Association). It serves as a youth hostel with 285 beds. Usually, the af Chapman and Skeppsholmen, the adjacent youth hostel are run as a single hostel, with the af Chapman offering accommodation and Skeppsholmen housing the reception, a kitchen for guests, and other facilities.

First night there was no room on the boat, so I had to stay in hostel on land. My dormitory..

In hotels in Sweden, using sleeping bags not allowed and they don't provide the linen for the beds. But having linen is compulsory, so either carry with you or you rent from them. I Checked in and lay down on the bed to rest. Sitting whole day had been tiring. I had borrowed a map from the reception and was planning where all to go. I dint realize when i fell asleep. Next morning I saw I was sleeping on the map and all the guide books with my specs on.
Next morning i first chalked the day's plan. Previous weekend I had gone to Tallinn where walking had been really tiring. So i decided to rent a cycle. My first stop for the day was the city tourism office. I intended to buy a Stockholm card which provided free entry to 80 museums and also free travel on all city transport. But then I thought that I wasn't too much of a museum buff, would get bored after going through 2 or max 3. Also I was going to rent a cycle, so wasn't going to use the public transport. So instead of spending 400 krona on Stockholm card, I bought the SL card for 100krona. Also I rented the City Bikes cycle for 120krona for 3 days. How it works is that they have stands in 73 places in city.

You get a card which you punch at stand. It will unlock a cycle which you can take. But there were 2 problems with this. One there are no locks on the cycle. So when you want to visit some monument, you need to first find to the nearest City Bikes stand and leave your bike there. And mostly the stands were pretty far off from the city attractions. Secondly you needed to return the bike after 3 hours. So you will have to plan your sight seeing in such a way that you pass the City Bikes stand within 3 hours. To solve first I bought a lock but wasted lots of time in this. Next I had to book return tickets. So after picking up a bike, I rode to the Viking Line office to buy the ticket. Till the time I could begin my sight seeing, it was already 2 in the evening.
Sergels Torg's fountain

I started cycling towards the old town Galma Stan. The cycle was very weird to ride. It was very small with very small wheels. And it had no break levers. One had to pedal in the opposite direction to break. Also the seat was higher than the handle. My feet dint even touch the ground when I sat on it. But this, I later realized, made cycling less tiring. If seat is low the legs turn more at the knee and this is more tiring (and painful). Right next to the tourist office was the King's Garden. It was beautifully covered with these pink leaves..

There were these huge statues all over the city..

Something familiar from India.. Rickshaw (i din't get what they call it)..

A big fountain in the park..

A little ahead was a church, St.Jacob's Kyrka. It was a simple building but the carvings on the stone were exquisite..

Inside it was even more beautiful..

Weather outside was again cloudy that day. It seemed that in Scandinavia, the weather was good only on the days I was inside the office.

Soon i reached the river.

Then I crossed the bridge to old town and stepped into a Labyrinth of cobbled streets.

It was difficult to find the way inspite of having a map. First building as I entered Galma Stan was the Swedish Parliament House.

a closer look at the carvings..

Next stop was the Gothic brick church, Storkyrkan (the Great Church).

45krona was the entry fee. It seemed to be a very old place and had lots of interesting things to see.
stained glass windows with glass paintings..

many statues..

candles..

some kind of a grave..

also angels averywhere..

some more artwork..

There was also this huge wooden statue of Saint George slaying a dragon..

The main altar- the Silver Altar..

Next to the church is the Kungliga Slottet, The Royal Palace but it was closed for the day.

Other monuments around..

A musician playing in the square..

I had read about this particular street which I tried to find but kept on going around the church. Finally when i reached it, I was getting close to the time to return the cycle. So then I started looking for the bike station. By then I had gotten a good idea of the streets and finding it wasn't difficult. I picked another bike and started again. For some I wandered through the narrow streets of the old city, enjoying the sights around.
a copy of the Saint George and the the dragon statue from the church..

Reached the river again..

the streets of Old Town..

Marten Trotzigs Grand.. The narrowest street in Sweden..

Glenfiddich Warehouse: a bar full of the whiskey i love..

I had lunch at an Italian restaurant and then crossed the bridge to the neighborhood of Sodermalm. From top of the bridge..

Here I rode through the markets. On the way I saw this church, S:TA Maria Magdelena Fors.

Then i crossed bridge back to the mainland and was not riding on the road was running next to water. I saw a park next to the sea and entered it. This was called Rålambshovsparken. After some rest and a few photos, I started back.

It was a lovely ride to the town hall. When I reached, it was open but I was too tired to go in. Finally found the place were I had to drop my bike. It was full.. Damn!! I had to go back and drop it at another place which I found after a lot of riding around. Plus then I had to walk some distance to my hostel. I was really tired when i reached. I rested sometime. Now the room was available on the boat so i moved into it. It was a small room with a bunker bed

and small peek hole..

At night I went for dinner. After a dinner at TGIF and a few photos, i came back and slept..
the fountain at night..

The boat, af Chapman

Next morning I got up and peeked out of the window. To my delight, the clouds had disappeared and it was a lovely sunny day.

View from the deck..

Today's plan was to visit Skansen. This was an open-air Swedish history museum, with buildings depicting the local architecture, people in traditional costumes and a zoo with Nordic animals. The last part was what i was interested in. I wanted to see a Reindeer. Before visiting Finland, i dint even believe these were real or just myths. I picked up a cycle from the nearby stand and rode till Skansen. Inside there were no cycled allowed. One had to take the tram till the top