The sunset over Stockholm, viewed from the Djurgården fjären (Djurgården ferry) is pretty damn spectacular. Even though it’s still quite chilly in Stockholm, it was still warm enough for us to stay outdoors on the ferry late this afternoon, and to enjoy the view.
We had just spent a couple of hours at the Fotografiska Museet (Photographic museum) and had a little bit of time to “fill” before Sue was due to join the evening walking tour of Gamla stan. This was a tour I decided I didn’t really need to join, as I’d visited the area on many occasions. Still, as Sue recounted the events of the tour over a later drink, I learned a couple of interesting stories also.
While she was on the tour, I enjoyed a drink at one of my favourite spots in Stockholm, Torget.
It had been a long and busy day. On top of the visit to the Fotografiska, I’d also been Sue’s guide for an “unofficial walking tour” of Stockholm. We started off with the obligatory visit to Katarinahissen, which I always think is a great spot to get a good overall view of the city, as you can see quite a bit of the central area from close enough proximity for it to actually mean something. I think it’s much better than somewhere like the Kaknästornet (which is often promoted as a good location to view Stockholm) because Stockholm is a “low-rise city”. Of course it would have been great to have done the rooftop walking tour, but unfortunately that doesn’t operate at this time of the year.
As we wandered through the Katarina kyrkan on Södermalm, we stumbled upon the grave of Anna Lindh, the former Swedish Foreign Minister who, ten years ago, was killed in a department store in Stockholm. On arriving home tonight, it was interesting to review the article on Wikipedia which went into greater detail into the circumstances of her killing than my vague memory of ten years ago allowed.
“If I lived in Stockholm, this would be the place I’d like to live”, I told Sue as we walked around Södermalm. It’s my kinda place. It’s close to the city (hey, it is the city), it has lots of nice shops and restaurants.
And it has a great second hand store. Amusingly, the second hand store and the vintage clothing store are located right next to each other. The difference between the two? A few hundred kroner! Seriously, I don’t know what the real difference was, as I was only interested in finding a new, lighter jacket to wear as we head into warmer temperatures. Although the jacket I have, loaned to me by Damien, is absolutely wonderful, and I have a light-weight rain jacket, I need something a little lighter. And so, as we wandered today, there was an unofficial agenda item to find something new for my wardrobe.
I ended up purchasing not one, but two fantastic jackets for the grand total of 280 SEK (currently about $41 AUD). According to Sue, you wouldn’t be able to purchase one of them a Gore Tex water proof jacket for less than a couple of hundred dollars in Australia (possibly more). The other carries Siemens Financial Services branding on the very bottom of the back of the jacket. “Are you happy to have than on your jacket?”, Sue asked me at one point. “For twenty bucks, I’m happy to wear anything”, I told her.
It’s really great being back in Stockholm. The city is bright. The skies are blue. With the arrival of spring (proper) there’s a real buzz in the city.
