“Spring is definitely here”, I thought to myself as I walked around Djurgården this afternoon.
When I arrived in Stockholm almost two months ago the lake in the middle of the city was still frozen over in many parts, and the grounds of Djurgården were still covered in snow. In contrast, the lake is now flowing and the white of the snow has been replaced by the green of the grass. A light dusting of snow on a tree trunk has been replaced (or revealed) by moss.
Temperatures are now solidly above zero. And yet it’s still a little chilly. Minutes after leaving the hotel earlier today, I was back in my room to grab a second layer. A polo-shirt and hoodie still weren’t enough for the daytime I concluded. Even though there were lots of people in the nearby playground playing soccer and running around wearing shorts, it’s still not summer yet.
The one “tourist thing” I did today, which I thought I’d share was a visit to the television tower, Kaknästornet. Even though it’s listed in all of the brochures as somewhere tourists should visit, I’ve never been. I was told several years ago by some Swedes it wasn’t worth it. They told me, it was too far away from the main city to get a really good view. Instead, I’ve preferred regular visits to Katarinahissen (which I love), and a couple of years ago, I did the rooftop tour of Stockholm (which was amazing).
But today, as I saw the bus which I knew would take me there approach, I hopped on anyway. “There’s nothing to lose except the 50KR (7 dollar) entry fee”, I thought to myself.
Guess what? The Swedes I spoke to were absolutely right. The view from the top is pretty shit. You’re too far away to see the detail of Stockholm. On top of that, there’s a wire cage all around, so the 360 degree view you have is also not that good. You have to squeeze your camera between the grid. All of the photographs I took were mostly of the sky, and from a rather uninteresting angle. For me (and others I noticed), it was only a couple of minutes on the outside viewing platform before we were back inside, sitting in confort downstairs and sipping a glass of wine. The restaurant/cafe below was actually quite good. You could sit there, look out, enjoy the view, and relax.
But if you really want to see a really good view of Stockholm, my advice is to visit places like Katarinahissen, the Modernamuseet, the Fotografiska Museet, and other places closer to the centre of the city.
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