A most inspiring trip to Stockholm, Sweden

The weather wasn’t the best and everything was extremely expensive but though it was night time at 3pm (which in all honesty I found pretty cool) visiting Stockholm, Sweden was amazing!

Back in October, one of my best friends from school who I hadn’t seen in over three years told me she would be  living in Sweden until December and would love for me to come visit. How could I say no to that? I missed her like crazy and the possibility of visiting the Nordic capital again was mesmerizing (I had been there for the first time in the year 2000). 

I’ve come back monetarily ruined (don’t know if there will be any X-Mas gifts this year) but extremely happy. Not only did I catch up with my friend and spend some quality time with her, but I also had the chance to see, learn and experience new things.

Medieval reproduction of Stockholm

One of the visits I enjoyed most was the trip to the Medieval Museum of Stockholm, which relates the history of the city from the 1200’s to the 1500’s. As a lover of all things medieval, I got to see how the city would have looked during its medieval years, or how people would have lived at the time with real scale reproductions of buildings and crafts. 

Another favorite spot was Gamla Stan or the city center. Stockholm’s city center is one of Europe’s best preserved Medieval city centers. It was amazing to walk across those cobbled streets and imagine what it would have been like back in the 1200’s. 

 

 

A walk through Gamla Stan

You can see the bullet hole and the stained chemise

The Royal Armoruy, located underneath the Royal Palace was also a most interesting visit. Although, I was expecting to catch a glimpse of more weapons, having a look at Gustav’s II original chemise and tunic with a gunshot wound was pretty amazing. Also, the story of Gustav III assassination at a masked ball got my mind churning with possible settings for a story.

Gustav III outfit on the night of his death at a masked ball

Skansen is a great park in Stockholm which I had visited in the year 2000 in my first visit to the city. It has several original houses from 1840 and people dressed in period costumes that explain how they lived during that time. Unfortunately, my friend and I went to Skansen on a Monday and there weren’t any villagers around! We did get to see the Nordic animals though. *smile* and act a little crazy *grin*

 

Have you hugged your house today?

Visiting the Historika Museum and the Nordic Museum was also great fun! In one of them there was this great video which explained step by step how people got dressed in the 1700’s. 

There was also this cybergoth hiding among the sleeping bride and the chamberlain. *grin*

There was alsso a great exhibition about Vikings which led you around the life of a male and female aristocrat. You also had the chance to glimpse into a model of the Viking town of Birka.

A picture stone from the island of Gotland depicting men with drinking horns

A reproduction of a Viking boat

Reproduction of Birka

Time, as it always does when one is having fun, swept by and before I knew it I was packing my suitcase and saying goodbye to a snowy Stockholm and my friend. 

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