I haven’t been to Stockholm since 2014. The time I spent there was with the ex and we only had around 8 hours here. It definitely wasn’t enough time to do very much. We did a sightseeing bus and a little bit of a walk around. You can read about that trip here.
I decided that since I had seen fares for £15 each way I would book it. It also coincided with the end of the good shifts and the start of the bad shifts. I needed a bit of a reset and I wanted to make my own memories of Stockholm and push the ones I had to the back burner.
The time came to leave for the airport and I am still so glad that there is a 03:05 coach towards the airport. I didn’t want to have to rest at the airport after a 12-hour shift.
I got to the airport and straight through security and just sat in the departure lounge until the gate was shown.
I boarded and as we were taxiing, the pilot said that there would be turbulence for the first 30 minutes of the flight (including the climb). I can’t tell you how overjoyed I was! There was a chap sitting next to me in the middle seat and the window seat was free. I told him he could sit there but he said he didn’t want to and I could if I wanted. He wasn’t so good on the take-off or landing. He chatted with me most of the flight too. I was glad when we landed as it meant I was closer to getting to the hostel and relaxing for a bit.
I had booked a coach to get from the airport to the city centre (it was cheaper than the train and only about 20 minutes longer). I got off the coach, had a quick look at the map to get my bearings and headed to the hostel to see if they would let me check in early. I sat in reception for 15 minutes before anyone even noticed I was there. Thankfully they saw me and they let me check in early. I got into the room and I quickly went back out as there was no cold air in the room and only a fan blowing the stale air around. There wasn’t even a window.
Commuter Ferry 80
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I decided that I was going to have a walk around. I started to head towards the river and I just let my legs take me in that direction. I got to see the courthouse and the passport office. The passport office is a grandiose building.
I carried on walking and found the river and it was nice to just sit there for a few minutes and take in the sights and sounds and smells of being by the river. I had an idea of where I wanted to go and I headed in that direction. I saw the town hall and headed in that direction. It is a pretty cool building. Very big and ornate. They had gardens there that you can walk around and it was nice to walk around there in the sun. I sat there for a while and watched the people in the boats and people on wakeboards. It was nice to sit there and soak up the atmosphere.
After that, I then headed towards Gamla Stan and sat on the bridge there and watched the trains go by. It was nice to hear those too. I went across the other side and I walked up some stairs to the Riddarholmen Church. I had a quick walk around here and then crossed the bridge to the other side of Gamla Stan and enjoyed walking around there. There was a pretty cool yellow house that was a bit wonky. I love seeing stuff like that.
The walking around here was cool (though full of tourists). I still have no recollection of being here in 2014 (despite having pictures). Nothing seemed familiar. It was really weird that nothing was feeling familiar.
I headed to get some food and to rest my feet for a little bit. I went back to the hostel to drop some stuff off and charge my phone and then I headed back out to the metro and headed back to Kungsträdgården. I noticed that the metro stations are huge and decorated. It was nice to see they weren’t uniform and boring.
I walked around here and came to the area of the parliament and royal palace. It started to look familiar from this angle. I was here for about an hour listening to the water and watching people walk by. I then headed back to the hostel to get some much-needed rest.
Total steps: 21,268
Total miles: 10.48
Below are some pics from today
I got the bus to the airport (I tried to sleep but couldn’t). I got to the airport, found some food, and just relaxed until it was time to board. I managed to catch some sleep on the flight back. I went to get the train and had about an hour until the train was due to leave. I managed to get seats that I didn’t have to share. I was so glad when I was back in Peterborough. I went home and dropped my stuff off, had a shower and then headed out for some coffee.
All in all, Stockholm was a fantastic trip. It is definitely somewhere worthy of a visit. It’s also a very walkable city too. If you get the chance, I would highly recommend going.
Total steps: 62,758
Total miles: 30.91
View all of my Stockholm pics [nslink k=”Iteiwo” c=”#000000″]here[/nslink]