INTRODUCTION Some 11 year ago I moved to New York, or rather I started to live in New York as well as in Stockholm. I understand now, many years later, that at that time, I became a tourist in my own home town.
The reason was obvious, my new family and friends in the US started to ask me what they should see when they come to visit Stockholm. Living in Stockholm or at least in a suburb of Stockholm for about 30 years gives you an inside track on these issues, you think, but to my astonishment, I realized I knew very little about the place, and I had to get up to speed very quickly.
An interesting aspect of life is that people show up when you need them the most, and that was the case with Kjell, our new guide, who appeared out of nowhere, a slightly older, distinguished, experienced and knowledgeable gentleman took care of me and my new Swedish/American family and re-introduced us to Stockholm in a new and exciting way.
The joy of traveling is the joy of the unexpected, and there is no better way than to invite the thrill of the unknown into the unveiling of a foreign city or culture, than to put on your sneakers and head out for a long walk. But before I do, I make some preparations.
When I travel to a new city I try to go on those double-decker tourist busses to get a quick and inspiring overview of the place, since I know more or less what I am interested in, I get a sense of where to focus and prioritize the next step of exploration.
This will be a series of three walks, so walk with me in Stockholm for a couple of days. All theses places that we will visit are personal to me; this is what I would show to a person coming to the city for the first time for let’s say an extended weekend. There are three walks and then a “walk on the water” as a bonus. We will explore the city’s culture, art, history, architecture, design, food and wine, as well at the physical design of the city through the many vantage points on the way. And we will have fun.
PS. As for the factual sources of the information described in these walks I rely on the information given on the website of the respective place or organization in question. The purpose is to give you a short and condensed introduction “in their own words”, so that if you are interested to dig deeper you know where to go. In other cases I have searched information online, predominately from wwww.wikipedia.com, thus information given here should be taken with a pinch of salt. DS
WALK 1
We start with breakfast at Tössebageriet, situated on Karlavägen 77, this beautiful Paris boulevard-inspired street that runs east/west through the up-scale neighborhood of Östermalm. When I fly from New York to Stockholm with SAS you arrive early in the morning and the perfect way to start your visit is to take a cab straight to Tösse’s, for an egg and caviar breakfast, coffee and juice, and smell the fresh bread coming out of the oven.
At Tösse’s you can get everything from French croissants to a sturdy and healthy whole wheat sandwich and enjoy the beautiful interior decor. In the summer time you sit outside on the sidewalk and watch people passing by on their way to work.
After breakfast we stroll down to Karlaplan and here the French influence on the urban design becomes even more apparent. A beautiful fountain in the center and then Fältöversten on the left, a modern shopping center that looks much better on the inside, than on the outside. One of my favorite food stores are in there, called Sabis, a very inspiring place to shop for food and delicatessen.
If you stand at the entrance of Fältöversten looking across Karlaplan in the intersection between Karlavagen and Narvavagen, you see an ICA store and in that building, lived Ingmar Bergman, the famous Swedish film and theater director, when he was not out in his house at Faro, Gotland.
One should also stop by the “Flygarmonumentet”, a sculptor by the internationally renowned Carl Milles, who moved from Sweden to the US in the early 30s and has his own museum out on Lidingö, called Millesgården
We continue our walk along Narvavägen heading south towards Djurgarden, passing the French Embassy on our left and why not a quick visit to the Historiska Museet at Narvavagen 13–17 on the right.
From their website: “The Museum of National Antiquities is packed with history spanning thousands of years, from as far back into prehistory as we can go, via the Viking era to the Middle Ages. Encounter the most fantastic artifacts and lose yourself in stories about the past and the people who lived before us.”
We continue down to the intersection with Strandvagen and the beautiful view surrounding the Djurgardsbron and Djurgardskanalen, we cross the bridge and on our far right is the imposing Nordiska Museet at Djurgårdsvägen 6-16.
From their website: “Discover Sweden's cultural history. Exhibition on the home, clothes and fashion, customs and traditions uncover daily life in Sweden through the ages. Nordiska Museet, Sweden's largest museum of cultural history was founded by Arthur Hazelius.”
A couple of years ago I visited the museum and one exhibit that caught my attention was an abandoned Midsummer Night dinner table in the early hours of the morning, with bottles, dishes, cigarettes and everything in a very authentic display. I wonder if it is still there?
We take aim at the art exhibition hall of Liljewalchs Konsthall, for some cultural inspiration, Liljewalchs often exhibits interesting and provocative contemporary art. They also have a very nice restaurant and a bar in the back by the garden.
Now it’s getting close to lunch ….
There are many lunch options open out here on Djurgarden. I would suggest the newly re-opened restaurant called Carl Michael at Allmännna Grand 6 opposite of the entrance of the amusement park Gröna Lund, named after the Carl Michael Bellman (1740 - 1795), a very famous Swedish poet-musician.
Or why not step back a couple of hundred yards and enter the magnificent Värdshuset Ulla Winblad at Rosendalsvägen 8? The restaurant bears the name of a semi-fictional character in many of Carl Michael Bellman's works, who in real life was Maria Kristina Kiellström (1744-1798).
After lunch we walk to one of the most amazing museums in Stockholm, the Vasa Museum, built on what is the only surviving 17th century battle ship, after it sank on its maiden voyage in 1628 and was later discovered and brought up to the surface in 1961.
From the website we learn: “The Vasa Museum is Scandinavia's most visited museum, located in Stockholm, capital of Sweden. The Museum was inaugurated in 1990. In the large ship hall stands the warship Vasa - the only remaining, intact 17th century ship in the world. The lower rig has been rebuilt, complete with masts, stays and shrouds.
Just like the Vasa would have looked like when set for winter in harbor. The wreck, salvaged in 1961, is now once again a complete ship. Surrounding the ship are several permanent exhibitions, cinemas, a shop and a restaurant. “
I have an American film producer friend Peter Israelson, who produced my music videos on my website and he is presently working a the movie about the Wasa, the story could be likened to the Da Vinci Code, with a complex web of events and characters evolving in parallel patterns from the 17th century and in present times, with dire consequences for everybody involved!
Inspired by the visit to the Wasamuseet, the walk continues passing the popular venue for music, comedy, theater and dance called Cirkus on the right. I saw James Taylor there last spring, has he written some great songs? He was incredible, just him and another guy on stage and then he sang with his choir back home, on the video screen. He was funny, I remember that.
To the left you will find the entrance to Skansen, which is the oldest open-air museum in the world. Skansen is also a zoological park. Over the years about 150 historical buildings have been moved here from nearly every part of Sweden. Most of them date from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. Visitors to the old houses and farmsteads are met by historical interpreters in period costume.
This is a fantastic place to visit for the entire family and make sure to stop by at the restaurant Gubbhyllan immediately to the left as you enter Skansen.
This place is run by the well-known restaurant entrepreneur KC Wallberg. I was there a couple of weeks ago and had a wonderful lunch and drank havtornsjuice (Hippophaë rhamnoides) or sea buckthorn juice in English, which is extremely high on C vitamins, and other stuff that is good for you, a mix between exotic fruit juice with a hint of Pastis, now KC will kill me, but that is how I interpreted the taste, again very refreshing, delicious and unusual!
Prepare for a long walk on the next leg of this excursion out on Djurgarden. Our destination is Stiftelsen Rosendals Trädgård at Rosendalsterrassen 12, here you can visit the botanical garden, buy plants, get refreshments and listen to music in the summer.
Behind the botanical garden you will find the beautiful Rosendal Palace. When my daughter had her confirmation a couple of years ago, we celebrated that by playing boule on the gravel court outside of the palace.
We had professional guidance from Prins Bertils Boulebar, who provided instructors and equipment for this event. It was a fantastic evening food and drinks and I remember that there was a vast supply of Cosmopolitan in chilled containers that tasted better as the evening progressed.
After this intense day of culture, art, history and exercise, I think we are worth a dinner at Paul & Norbert, one of the best restaurants in Stockholm situated on Strandvägen, or if we prefer a more inexpensive, mundane, cool atmosphere you should walk further into to town to PA & Company on the hill of Riddargatan 8 as they state very humbly on their website: “ Even to this day, "any one whose anyone" meets at PA´s - actors, writers, businessmen, artists, lawyers, editors, the advertising and fashion crowd, restaurateurs, professors, politicians, playboys and regular honest-to-goodness salary earners: they all still seem to find room among the 38 seats.
Enjoy dinner, you have earned it!
WALK 1: URL
- Tössebageriet http://www.tosse.se
- Karlaplan
- Historiska museet http://www.historiska.se/
- Millesgarden http://www.millesgarden.se
- Nordisk Museet http://www.nordiskamuseet.se
- Lilijewalchs Konsthall
- Carl Michael
- Vardshuset Ulla Winblad http://www.ullawinbladh.se/
- Wasamuseet http://www.vasamuseet.se
- Cirkus http://www.cirkus.se
- Skansen http://www.skansen.se
- Gubbhyllan www.gubbhyllan.se
- KC Wallberg http://www.kcwallberg.com/
- Stiftelsen Rosendals Trädgård http://www.rosendalstradgard.se
- Rosendal Palace http://www.royalcourt.se/royalcourt.4.367010ad11497db6cba800054503.html
To view the rest of the pcitures from this walk, please visit my profile.
