Scandinavia 2019 - Day 6: To Sweden

I would say we were up before dawn, but the sun rises just after 4 AM in Oslo right now.

So we were up just after dawn to haul our luggage down to the tram station, and get to the Stockholm-bound 5:56 AM train.

We were at the platform just after 5:30 AM.

Our reserved seats in "comfort class" were in the bistro car, and we had it all to ourselves for the first few hours of the trip.

SJ keeps the trains nice and cold.

The ride to Stockholm was about 5.5 hours, through long expanses of forest, still lakes, and rolling farmland.

The forecast in Oslo was cloudy with light rain, and it starting raining in earnest, en route to Sweden. Thankfully, it cleared up again as we got close to Stockholm, and it was another perfect day in Scandinavia by the time we arrived at the central station.

Our Airbnb in the middle of Gamla Stan is only about a 10-minute walk from the train station, but rolling luggage doesn't mix particularly well with cobblestone streets, so we took an Uber (which just hails a taxi here) almost all the way there. The narrow streets of this medieval old town are pedestrian/bike for a large chunk of the day.

After unloading our bags, we ventured forth to find sustenance, taking a circuitous route through the winding alleys, and ending at Stortorget (Grand Square).

We sat for a light lunch at Gillska Huset, right on the square.

After eating, we did some of the recommended Gamla Stan walking tour from the guidebook, aiming for the Royal Palace, starting at Karl Johans Square.

Once we got our bearings, we headed into the Royal Palace to tour around several of the wings.

The palace is actively used for official government events, and also occasionally as a residence.

As one would expect of a palace, almost every single room was opulently appointed.

We somehow ended up outside at the end of the tour, right as the official Changing of the Guard ceremony was commencing.

As we hadn't intended to leave quite yet, we went back around to the entrance, then down into the dungeon to see the crown jewels.

Back out into the narrow streets, we navigated our way to a small courtyard behind the palace, home of the Iron Boy statue, the smallest of about 600 statues in the city.

Just a few blocks from Stortorget, we entered Köpmantorget (Merchant's Square), which is dominated by a large bronze statue of Saint George and the Dragon.

Next, we circled back to the main square, and wandered down some (different) narrow streets to towards the Storkyrkan.

Along the way, we stopped to see the Viking runestone embedded in the corner of a building.

We had some time to spare before our scheduled boat tour, so we made a quick circuit around the inside of the Storkyrkan. It's the oldest church in Gamla Stan (13th century), and parts of the floor are made from old tombstones.

This cathedral is home to the original Saint George and the Dragon statue (which is the original source for the replica bronze version seen eariler).

Leaving the church, we continued down to the waterfront and crossed the bridge towards the train station, in search of a boat tour.

We found the origin of the canal tour, but it wasn't running for another few weeks.

Not to be deterred, we strolled along the waterfront over to Strömkajen to find another boat tour.

We opted for the Royal Canal Tour around Djurgården. After getting tickets, we had just enough time for a quick Fika break before lining up at the pier.

The tour included an audio guide, with headphones at every seat and about a dozen different languages available.

It was perfect weather to be out on the water, and we got outside seats at the back of the boat.

This time of year, the tour doesn't go all the way around the island, because the water is too low in the canal for the boat to pass through, so it took us on a loop up each side, before heading back to where we started.

It was about 5:30 when the boat tour ended, and rush hour was in full swing. On Gamla Stan, crossing the bike paths is more treacherous than crossing the roads.

We took a new route through the old town, I think. After awhile, these tiny streets all start to look the same.

We paused briefly in Järntorget (Iron Square)...

... and then returned to the apartment to regroup before dinner.

While in Sweden, we felt we should experience some traditional Swedish dinner, and we found Slingerbulten within a block of the apartment.

Naturally, they had Swedish meatballs (we had seen signs advertising meatballs all over Gamla Stan); we got two orders, as well as Baltic herring and the reindeer/venison wallenbergare.

After dinner, we continued to wander around the neighborhood, considering dessert options.

Having satisfied our sweet tooths, we retired to the apartment to rest our feet.

My phone reports only 18,500 steps, so we didn't quite make our usual 20k quota. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day, though.