Winter Trip to Europe: Stockholm

Friday, January 15

We took the Magical Shuttle (same idea as Magical Express at WDW) to the airport, checked in for our flight to Stockholm, and lined up for security.

I took my shoes off when we got up to the x-ray machine, and the security agent gestured toward my purple Chucks and said, "I can tell you're American."  I smiled, thinking he meant the actual shoes, but he clarified that he was referring to me taking my shoes off, because apparently you don't have to over there unless your shoes have metal in them.  Sure enough, as I glanced around, most people were walking through the metal detectors with their shoes on.  Live and learn.

I had grand plans to take photos of Paris from the plane once we were in the air, but if you have read any of my other posts, you will not be surprised to learn I was asleep before we even backed away from the jetway.  I was able to snap a pretty cool photo as we were approaching Stockholm, though!

We landed in Stockholm and took a train from the airport to Central Station.  Our hotel, the Radisson Blu Waterfront, was less than 100 steps from the train station, which was incredibly convenient!  Obviously we'd be using public transportation to get around, but the train station was also really beautiful and there were many places to eat there, so it really could not have been a better set-up.  After grabbing a bite to eat at train station, I FaceTimed with Ginny once again.  Technology is so fantastic!

Saturday, January 16

Sunrise was at about 8:30 and sunset was at about 3:30, so we had somewhat of a longer day than we'd experience in Reykjavik, so after breakfast at the hotel, we ventured out into the city to do some sightseeing.  Our first stop was the Vasa Museum, which is home to a Viking ship that sunk on its maiden voyage in 1628, was all but forgotten before being re-discovered in the 1950s, and was ultimately salvaged in 1961.  The museum had seven floors, if that gives you a sense of how huge this ship is, and it is a pretty fascinating story.  One description referred to how impatient the King was during the ship's construction and how he threatened "His Royal Majesty's Disfavour" if the ship was not completed on time.  I love those words so much!  I feel like I need to adopt that saying and tell my fifth graders that if they don't turn in their homework, they will face "Her Royal Majesty's Disfavor."

we thought this looked like a medieval Jar Jar Binks

From there, we went to the ABBA Museum.  Yes!  There is an entire museum dedicated to ABBA!  We weren't really sure what to expect, but I was really looking forward to it because I have memories of my mom playing "Dancing Queen" on our record player and spinning me around and around when I was young.  Let me tell you – the museum was so awesome!  We spent a few hours exploring the artifacts, watching videoclips, and being surrounded my ABBA music.  Fabulous.  Just fabulous!  Their music is so infectious – people of all ages in the museum were dancing, bobbing their heads, clapping…the music is impossible to resist.  I have been happily singing ABBA songs to myself ever since.

After dinner, we took the metro to the Hard Rock Café to buy a shirt and then walked around the city admiring the lights and window shopping.  Even though it was freezing cold, the weather clearly doesn't stop anyone from going out on a Saturday night because tons of people were out and about.

Sunday, January 17

We again had breakfast at the hotel, and then took the metro to the Nobel Museum. There was a track that ran around the ceiling with Nobel Prize winners hung almost like laundry on a clothesline that rotated around the museum, which was pretty cool. It was an interesting place, with many different displays to look at.  One of them was in the category of Economic Science, and on one hand, I could appreciate the message, but on the other hand, all I could think about was that it reminded me of a ridiculously long CVS receipt.  Maybe I was overtired, but I really amused myself with this thought, and the austere setting only made my silliness worse.  Luckily no one was around to witness me giggling to myself.

After the Nobel Museum, we went to Kungliga Slottet, which is the Royal Palace.  Oh.My.Word.  Beautiful.  I really love castles.  Frankly, I wish I lived in an old castle.  I was in heaven wandering around this castle.  We spent many hours there, first exploring on our own, then observing the Changing of the Guard ceremony, and then taking a guided tour.  Each room was gorgeous, from the furnishings and decorations to the artwork to the carpets and wall coverings to the ceilings and moldings to the chandeliers.  I have a little bit of an obsessions with chandeliers – not just in castles, but generally everywhere I go – and I especially enjoy taking photos from underneath to capture the chandelier's symmetry and design.  As you will see from the photos below, there were countless chandeliers for me to admire (and the photos included are only about a quarter of the chandeliers I photographed!).

Monday, January 18

Monday was our departure day, but since our flight was not until dinner time, we requested a late check out so we could do a few more things in Stockholm before we had to head to the airport.  In the morning we visited the Stockholm Library, which was #1 on a Conde Nast list of the world's most beautiful libraries that was on the Huffington Post webpage. This was definitely on my bucket list of libraries to visit, and I was not disappointed!  After the library, we went over to SkyView in hopes of getting a spectacular view of Stockholm, but unfortunately the gondolas were down for maintenance and we did not have time to return later in the afternoon.  Maybe next time!  Our final stop was lunch at a restaurant called Akkurat before checking out of the hotel and taking the train to the airport.

Not Up / Up

Our flight home was uneventful and we landed at JFK at about 8:30.  We were through customs in a matter of a few minutes with our Global Entry cards, but what took forever was the baggage from the plane, so we didn't get out of the airport until well after 9:30 and we still had a very long drive home!  When we finally arrived at 2:30 am, we had some very happy pups greet us!

What an amazing trip!  11 days, 3 countries, and a lifetime of memories!  We picked up the "You Are Here" Starbucks mugs in all three cities, and I bought one of the cutest Disney mugs I have ever seen when we were at Disneyland Paris, but the best souvenirs are the stamps in our passports!

Check out my other posts about this trip:

Oslo
Paris
Disneyland Paris

Happy Tails to you!