Stockholm harbour

Nordiska Museum as seen from the ferry on our way into Stockholm harbour

Only two hours by ferry, Stockholm city seems world’s away from the outer archipelago.  We almost had culture shock coming in from the quiet of the islands.  Between our arrival by ferry into Stockholm at 5 Pm and collapsing that evening, we covered a lot of ground.  We walked from the ferry dock to our hotel, witnessing the Stockholm rush hour on bicycle.

Bicycle rush hour in Stockholm

Kungstradgarden

The Nordic Sea Hotel where we are staying, had a nice room, good size for Europe, and a private bath.  Yay.  This hotel has the Ice Bar, which we hit prior to turning in.  After dropping our things in the room, we walked to Gamla Stan, about 20 minutes, for more sightseeing and window shopping.

The restaurant I had hoped to try luckily had a table.  This particular restaurant, Den Glydene Freden has won many awards.  It lived up to its reputation and more, with my brother ranking one of the best meals of his life.   The brown bread they served tasted exactly like the home made bread my grandmother used to make and it started us reminiscing.  I had a very good crab salad to start, and then another fish dish I couldn’t pronounce for dinner.  My brother continues to compare Swedish meatballs at nearly every restaurant.  These got high marks.   Such a lovely place to sit and relax, we splurged on dessert.

Den Gyldene Freden in Gam la Stan

Den Gyldene Freden interior

Crab salad at Den Gyldene Freden

We made a leisurely stroll of our walk back to the hotel, (not on Gamla Stan) and popped into the Ice Bar.

Gamla Stan’s most narrow street, Marten Trotzigs Grand

The Parliament House at night.

The Ice Bar was a fun thing to do, but we only lasted 15 minutes in the -7 C temp of the room.  They rework the ice bar itself once per month, and the entire room once per year.  The bar tenders take shifts of 3 hours, which is longer than I expected.  The drink was good, served in a glass made of ice, which you “recycle” by dropping through a hole in the ice as you leave.

The Ice Bar in the Nordic Sea Hotel

Me in the Ice Bar

Website for our dinner spot:  http://gyldenefreden.se/eng/start.html