Stockholm, Sweden…Part 2

 Stockholm is built on 14 islands and also has a large archipelago with more than 30,000 islands with many of them close to the city and accessible by ferry. We took a boat tour out as far as Vaxholm, a larger island which is linked by bridges so cars can reach it.

The Vaxholm hotel is in the centre of town right where the boat docks…

Vaxholm also has a 15th century fortress where the series Pippy Longstocking was filmed.

Lots of cute houses and views so you can explore for a couple of hours and catch the next boat back to Stockholm…

The islands nearer Stockholm are used as summer destinations and have homes that are worth a lot of money, we passed some of them as we cruised through the islands…

Such idyllic spots to get away from the city…

Since the Finns love their saunas many of them had saunas down by the water as well…

Even though the Stockholmers escape to the islands they have plenty of green spaces in the city, as we walked we saw green spaces and parks everywhere…

Lots of park benches surrounding the fountains…

Many of the main avenues had wide tree lined walking spaces in the middle…

Large green spaces being enjoyed on a sunny day….

The rhododendrons were in full bloom…

Swedes have a tradition called Fika which is really a ritual. All Swedes consider it important to make time to stop and socialise: to take a pause. It refreshes the brain and strengthens relationships. And it makes good business sense: firms have better teams and are more productive where fika is institutionalised. 

Fika consists of coffee and most often a cinnamon bun, this was ours one afternoon…

After visiting the ABBA museum we walked around the Island called Djurgarten  which has a long trail stretching around it, the day was sunny and the views were awesome…

One of the many boat tours…

Lots of people out enjoying the day…

View across to one of the other islands with newer housing…

This couple were taking a swim, I think that water is still cold…

A linseed mill built in 1745…

 

This viewpoint was located in the Kings Garden…

Lots of beautiful sculptures in the garden

A canal going into the city from the ocean runs through the island…

Many boats cruising the canal on this sunny afternoon…

Lots of  flowers on the bridges over the canal, this was such a lovely walk…

Stockholm also has a big harbour front with beautiful architecture, lots of places to eat, shop and walk…

Many pedestrian only streets…

Great displays of fresh fruits in the squares…

Lots of restaurants on the waterfront ….

Wide promenades around the harbour….

Grand looking buildings…

A view across the harbour…

This avenue was full of  spectacular looking buildings…

Our final day we used our travel passes to take the metro and the commuter trains to the oldest town in Sweden called Sigtuna.

The public transit system here is awesome, so clean and efficient with great art work like this mosaic mural…

Sigtuna is a 10th century town settled by a Viking king and the Main Street still follows the same path as when it was settled…

The town hall is the smallest in Sweden and was built in 1744…

There has been a lot of research done on the town and we learned a little of it at the local museum.

The Vikings were great travellers…

Here is a map showing how far the Vikings travelled to explore and trade.

 There have been archaeological digs here which have discovered coins and other objects from all over the countries shown in this map…

Viking burial mounds on a hill in town…

There are also many ruins of medieval churches from the 11th and 12th centuries still standing in the town…

Another interesting find in Sigtuna are the number of intact Rune Stones which were erected by the Vikings as a memorial to the dead. There is even a Rune Stone walk around town to identify some of them, so much fascinating history here.

We really enjoyed our time in Stockholm as it is such an amazing people friendly city with so much to see and do, lots of history, great transportation system as well as being a very walkable city. It is our favourite capital city so far this trip.