Sightseeing in Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden

This morning we arrived at Stadhuset’s tower ticket office by 9am. We were one of the firsts to buy our ticket for the 9:15 entry. Our group was allowed 35 minutes in the tower…ten minutes to climb 348 feet, 15 minutes to look around, and ten minutes to go down. Our climb included a variety of stairs, some appeared newer than others, and then a ramp of bricks that seemed to spiral up and around the tower in straight, narrow passage ways with a slight jog every now and then. After the fifth time around, we wondered when it would end! The top of the tower offered lovely panoramic views of Stockholm. In the middle of the tower, several models which were entered in a competition for statues around the city hall were displayed. It was quite interesting.

From the tower, we walked over to Kungsgatan to catch the number 7 tram to Skansen, the number one attraction in Stockholm according to Suman’s book. We figured out we needed a one zone ticket, for a 15 minute ride for 36 Kronor or just over $4. I have to say, this city is expensive!

We paid 170 Kronor to enter Skansen, which included a little of everything in the outdoor park. The book described it as an open-air museum. It includes a variety of buildings dating from the 14th to 20th Century, wild Swedish animals including lynx, grey wolves, brown bears, owls, reindeer, and wolverines just to name a few. We would have had to pay extra to enter the lemur building so we snapped photos from afar. We walked through a small fair ground with old rides and checked out the funicular railway, with a cable operated system constructed in 1897. After admiring the rose garden, we stopped for lunch. The choices were herring, salmon, meatballs, ham and cured beef. Given the first four choices are not foods that I don’t particularly like, I chose cured beef. I’ve never had it before, but it was pretty good, though salty. After visiting the glassworks shop, we bid farewell to Skansen and made our way to the Vasamuseet, also located on Djurgarden, another island. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).