Järnpojke (Iron Boy) aka “Little Boy who looks at the Moon”—at 15 cms (5.9 in) high is the smallest public monument in Sweden
Dates visited: August 13, 2012 – August 16, 2012
After spending 9 days in Russia, surrounded by signs and names in Cyrillic script and advertisements for unfamiliar Russian brands, I had (subconsciously) missed not being bombarded by the marketing blitz of familiar brands! I realized this when, during our taxi ride from the Stockholm Arlanda Airport to our hotel, we got excited at seeing advertisements for the brands we typically see in the US. Point to note is that of all our travels so far, Russia (Moscow, in particular) seemed the most detached from the English-speaking world.
Stockholm is a beautiful European city with really tall beautiful people! No, seriously, everyone is immensely tall and strikingly attractive! We enjoyed our time people-watching in the city as we strolled along the Stockholm harbor and meandered through the cobbled winding alleys of Gamla Stan (The Old Town). Stockholm has some fine architecturally pleasant buildings such as Kungliga Slottet (Royal Palace), Stockholms Domkyrka (Stockholm Cathedral) and Nationalmuseum. Vasamuseet (Vasa Museum) has a weird exterior until you realize that it is built to accommodate the royal warship Vasa, the world’s oldest complete and identified ship. This ship, unfortunately, sank almost instantly to the bottom of Stockholm harbor on its maiden voyage in 1628.
Another famous attraction is Skansen. Rohan loved it for its open-air zoo (domestic and wild Nordic animals such as bears, wolves and lynx), I loved it for its open-air museum depicting Swedish rural life from 16th to early 20th century, and Prachi loved it for the live music and dancing.
But the crème de la crème on this trip was visiting the Grand Hôtel—not because Nobel Prize winners and their families always stay at the hotel, or not because it is the only Swedish member of The Leading Hotels of the World. But because it offers the most delicious smörgåsbord! My friends surprised me with the smörgåsbord since it was my birthday and they managed to get a dinner appointment and a table with an awesome view of the Royal Palace across the harbor. The smörgåsbord was just out of the world—herrings, gravlax with hovmästare sauce, charcuterie meat, meatballs with lingonberry jam, and so much more!
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- Stortorget (The Big Square)… …oldest public square in Stockholm. These beautiful buildings have been standing since the 17th century.
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- Walking down the cobbled streets of Gamla stan (The Old Town)
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- Swedish Parliament House on the island of Helgeandsholmen
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- Glass obelisk (Kristallvertikalaccent) by Edvin Öhrström at Sergels torg, a central public square
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- Vasa Museum… …Vasa, a Swedish warship built in 1626-1628, sank after sailing about 1,300 m into her maiden voyage on 10 August 1628
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- Sculptures of cherubs… …decorations on Vasa, a Swedish warship built in 1626-1628
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- Royal Guard… …keeping watch outside the Stockholm Palace (aka Royal Palace)
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- Galleon cannons of Vasa, a Swedish warship built in 1626-1628
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- Being a baaad girl at Skansen… …world’s first open-air museum, founded in 1891
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- Oldies hitting the dance floor at Skansen
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- Church of St. Nicholas aka Stockholm Cathedral… …standing since 1279
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- Strolling under the arches of Gamla Stan (The Old Town)
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- You gotta have at least one shot with a moose… …this stuffed one looked way more cuddly than the real one!
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- The Främmestad Windmill at Skansen
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- Vastveit Storehouse (14th century) at Skansen
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- ART… …no, I just don’t have an eye for it!
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- Royal Guards… …lining up for the “changing of the guards” ceremony at Stockholm Palace (aka Royal Palace)
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- Prästgatan (“The Priest’s Street”) in Gamla stan (The Old Town)
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- “Big Boy who looks at the camera” posing next to Järnpojke (Iron Boy) aka “Little Boy who looks at the Moon”—the smallest public monument in Sweden
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- He almost blended in with the train… …
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- Stortorget (The Big Square)… …oldest public square in Stockholm. This square was the site of the Stockholm Blood Bath of 1520 when Christian II of Denmark beheaded 80 Swedish noblemen and displayed a “pyramid” of their heads in the square.
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- View of the harbor waterfront from the Royal Canal boat tour
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- Loved the building… …
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- “Rag and Bone” by Laura Ford… …a despondent statue sitting before the bridge leading to Gamla stan (The Old Town)
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- need milk?
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- Lots of bicycles in this city… …
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- “Changing of the guards” ceremony at Stockholm Palace (aka Royal Palace)
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- Grand Hôtel, across the harbor, as seen from the Royal Palace
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- Celebrating my birthday at Grand Hôtel… …I saved some room for the cake after a delicious smörgåsbord!
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- Runestone (Uppland Runic Inscription 53) in Gamla stan (The Old Town)… …about half a metre tall and richly decorated with an arabesque of winding loops, the body of the dragon still carries fragments of the commemorative message: “Torsten and Frögunn had the stone erected after their son”, the name of the latter remains unknown. The date of the runestone is also unknown, but it appears in historical records in the 17th century.