Charmed by Stockholm

While our introduction to Stockholm this afternoon was brief, we surely were not disappointed. After checking into our hotel, we headed to Gamla Stan, an island described as the "Old Town" of Stockholm. Up until the 1600's all of Stockholm fit onto this relatively small island that consists of a lake to the west and the Baltic Sea to the east.

As a brief insight to Stockholm, the city is made up of a network of 14 islands woven together by 54 bridges and has a population of 2 million residents (20% of Sweden). While today we ventured to see the most historic part of town, the city has numerous districts made up of modern structures and has successfully incorporated high-tech, environmentally focused transportation throughout the city.

We first-hand found it quick and easy to maneuver on the city metro and found ourselves in the historic "Old Town" within ten minutes of leaving our hotel. Wow... what a difference from St. Petersburg where we would probably still be walking. j/k

Gamla Stan Island can best be described as a location overflowing with character. The streets undulate in all sorts of directions, consist of buildings of numerous shapes and sizes, and are reminiscent of a painters palette with color schemes on the facades that vary from door to door. All of this occurs on narrow streets where the elevation is changing with each turn you take.

We felt like we could just walk the streets all day as we both agreed that this was probably one of the most charming European city centers we have ever visited. While on Gamla Stan, we visited a couple of different churches, walked around the Royal Palace, and popped into a few of the local stores.

Our trusty Scandinavian tourist book once again did not disappoint as we took the author's recommendation on a vegan/vegetarian restaurant where we delighted in all sorts of different foods that the Armenian chefs prepared from their native land with influences from throughout the world.

After dinner we took the scenic way home stopping by the lakeside of the island for a glass of white wine and apple strudel at a waterfront cafe. With such a late start to the day, we were pleasantly surprised at how much we got out of Stockholm on such a limited time frame. Fortunately, we still have two more full days in store before having to say good-bye to Scandinavia and heading home.