Sweden: Day IV (Stockholm)

Monday, June 6^th:

Drottningholm Palace:

            Happy Swedish National Day to all of Sverige! Unfortunately all the shops and some restaurants in Stockholm are closed this day, but it was an exciting surprise as I had no idea that I would be in the country for this holiday! Jen and I woke up early again for the hotel breakfast, then made our way to the subway to the Brommaplan station. There we got on a bus to Drottningholm, as we wanted to go see the Drottningholm Palace—the summer home for the Swedish Royal Family. The trip out to the palace takes about thirty minutes each way.

            At the palace, Jen and I toured around its rooms and gardens. In a very French-Renaissance style, Drottningholm Palace reminded me a lot of the French castles and Versailles I had visited in the past. Even its long gardens and fountains were in the same vein as Versailles. We took a long walk down the gardens to also visit the Royal Chinese Pavilion, an old gift to the Royal Family. The pavilion seems almost like a place of escape for the royal families of the past, as it is so secluded and in the woods. On the way back towards the bus stop we also saw a parade of people dressed in traditional Swedish outfits and playing music for the holiday. Fun stuff!

Drottningholm Palace and Gardens:

            Back into the downtown Stockholm area, we went to lunch in the shopping district on Birger Jarlsgatan. Props to Nick DiNorscio and his Stockholm-born friend Christian Stenberg for recommending Restaurant Riche to me for this lunch. Riche is where I devoured my favorite meal of the trip so far, traditional Swedish Meatballs with a cream sauce, lingonberries, and sweet pickles. After lunch we took a long stroll down the waterfront and docks next to Strandvägen on our way to the Djurgården district of the city. Djurgården is home to a series of museums, a massive park, and Stockholm’s Gröna Lunds Tivoli amusement park. We went into the Vasa museum, a museum specially built to hold one of the oldest recovered warships in the world, the 17^th century Vasa warship. The ship sunk on its maiden voyage and was recovered after 330 years at the bottom of Stockholm harbor, and it is now on display at the most visited museum in Scandinavia.

The Beautiful Waterfront of Stockholm:

We walked around the beautiful Djurgården park for a while enjoying the sunshine and 75 degree weather before heading back towards the hotel. On our way back we stopped at a dockside bar and drank a pint of Spendrups Bryggeri beer while a holiday parade went by. When we tried to cross the Strandvagen road to go to the train station, the Swedish military police were blocking it off and would not let us pass. We decided to stick around for a bit to watch what was in store, and soon enough, we heard the footsteps of horses and royal trumpets sounding into the air. Following the multitude of royal guards on horseback were two carriages, one carrying the King and Queen of Sweden, and the other carrying the two princes and princesses of the nation. It was a pretty ridiculous and awesome sight to see.

The King and Queen of Sweden:

We finally got back to our hotel after a lot of sightseeing and decided we wanted to visit the Södermalm district in the southern part of Stockholm for a change of scenery. We made our way down there by subway for dinner and some drinks, and immediately noticed that tons of students and younger adults hang out in this area. As soon as we left the subway we entered a massive square with tons of outdoor bars and a free Swedish techno concert happening! We walked around the area looking for a suitable dinner venue and settled on a Swedish-Thai mixed restaurant called Koh Phangan. Here I had a very spicy salad, and an even spicier dish of whiskey marinated Squid and Seafood Medley with cooked vegetables, and Jen had a Thai Curry Scampi. Both were very tasty! We made our way back to the square for some drinks, and although the free concert had ended, one of the bars called Snaps Bar and Grill had its own DJ spinning some Techno for its young crowd. We drank a couple Pripps Blå beers here, a Swedish brewing company out of Gotenburg, before leaving around midnight to try to find a club to dance at.

The Nordic Museum of Stockholm:

            After realizing that not too much was going on in Södermalm on the Monday holiday, we walked back to Gamla Stan to find some more open bars. We stumbled into a Swedish Rock Bar briefly, and although it was very authentic and had good (for my taste) music, we left to find something more suitable for the both of us. We ended up spending the end of our night at a bar called Restaurang Movitz where we could drink and dance with some locals. The bartenders were very fun and got into the dancing and spraying the crowd with the bar water tap too! At about 1am, when the bars in Stockholm close, we made our way back home on the long walk and fell asleep promptly after a tiring day!