Oh my goodness! What a day. 12 hours of walking around. Well, what can I say, Stockholm is an amazing place and no picture will ever do it justice. Truly. The architecture, the vibrant colours, and the hustle and bustle of everyday life for a Swede is hard to capture on a 3.5 inch screen.

Here is a recap of my time in Stockholm, Sweden.

 

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Our morning started off eating breakfast at the hotel and a small group of us headed to the Supermarket to buy our Tram day passes. The Tram is like the streetcar/subway passes that we have in Toronto. Only much, much better!! Their system is fantastic, we never waited longer than 6 minutes for ANY Tram, they are constantly running.

 

Morning Tram!

This was roughly 8:30, the streets of Nakka (the area we are staying in) were still asleep. Daily life doesn't start until around 10am in Sweden. One more reason I could live here, I am not a morning person, and neither are the Swedes!Right before getting on the Tram we met up with Ebony, our guide from Contiki. She filled us in with lots of tid bits of information, including how to get around the city and to get to T Centraalen, a Tram station is very similar to Toronto Subway stations, minus the system of using coins. Here, we use access cards, or your cell phone. 

 

After getting to T Centraalen, our group divided; Sam, Nate and I headed up the pedestrian walk, away from the Royal Palace, we had a few hours to kill and we wanted to see as much as possible. So, the Pedestrian walkway is just North of Gamla Stan (Old Town) and is basically a very long street, no cars can drive on it and it is full of stores, souvenir shops, restaurants, and eventually, when you cross over the 'bridge' into old town, you pass the Riksdagshuset, which is the House of Parliament. (The pictures above)

 

Eventually we met up with the rest of the group at Kungliga Slottet, which is The Royal Palace. The Royal Family no longer lives here, but everyday, at 12:15 (except Sundays, its at 1:15) The Royal Guard changes and there it is 45 minutes long.

 

Afterwards, Sam and I headed deep into Old Town, we went through tiny, graphiti filled alleyways, gardens, walked by tons of restaurants, saw The Nobel Prize Museum, and we found a gorgeous Church sitting in the middle of a garden.

 

The Swedes sure do know their sweets. My good lordie lord. I am going to be quite larger leaving Sweden than when I came. After eating lunch at Gramunken, we continued to wander around, popping into every souvenir shop we could. We were in search for sailor hats. Here in Sweden it is tradition for all students who are graduating to wear sailor hats. (They look just like our captains hats pappy!) Of course, Samantha and I are going to get one, cause hey! We are graduating too. Unfortunately, they can only be ordered online or tailor made... needless to say, I am more likely going to come home wearing a plastic Viking helmet than a sailor hat.

 

Around 2 pm (8 am home time) we saw a protest in T Centraalen regarding the war in Syria, we passed by a beautiful little park filled with cherry blossom trees.

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Then we hopped on a Tram and headed to Vasa Museum. I wasn't ready for what I was about to see.

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The museum told us all about how they raised the ship, how they recreated the faces of some of the men that died on the ship by using their skuls. They had made a (small) replica of the ship and cut it in half so you could see what floor was for what. If you ever have the opportunity to go to Stockholm, Sweden, GO TO THE VASSA MUSEUM.

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Another highlight of Stockholm was the Skansen Open-Air Museum. The best way I can describe it is that it is a blend of the Toronto Zoo and Lang Pioneer Village. The Museum sits on top of a massive hill that overlooks the city. I could seriously write so much about this city, but Instead, I will post my favourite images. After the Museum, we headed off to Kista (pronounced Sheesta) to learn about sustainability and innovation.

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