Stockholm - the charming capital of Sweden
Hi everyone and welcome back to my weekly blog about Sweden, its language and culture. I am the founder of Learn Swedish Now, an online Swedish language school that offers private lessons from a native speaker. I have lived much of my adult life in the US and love my home in Chicagoland, but I visit Sweden every year and appreciate all my native country has to offer. This week I wanted to tell you about the beautiful Swedish capital of Stockholm where I lived, worked and studied for more than a decade.
Stockholm is the largest urban area in Sweden with just under a million people in the city, and 2.4 million in the metropolitan area. There are many aspects that make it unique, including the fact that the central part of the city actually is part of the Stockholm archipelago. As a result there is plenty of water everywhere you go, with waterways making up 30% (!) of the city’s geographical area earning it the nickname “the Venice of the north”. Not only is there plenty of water, the city is also rich in parks with another 30% of the area made up of green space. During the summer months you can walk around the city and see people enjoying the parks, small beach areas and getting around with boats and ferries on the waterways. And there is plenty of time to see the city in the summer; with its northerly location it has long days in the summer, with up to 18 hours of daylight!
One of my favorite activities in Stockholm is to walk around and explore the Old Town part of the city which is a veritable outdoor museum. This is one of the of the oldest and best preserved medieval city centers in Europe and filled with historical buildings, as well as cafes, restaurants, boutiques, and cobblestone streets. This is where the city was founded in 1252, and where you can tour a Royal Palace and Sweden’s National Cathedral. Spend some time having a fika (snack) on the main square (Stortorget) for some people watching, visit the Nobel Prize museum and have dinner at Den Gyldene Freden, the oldest restaurant in Stockholm that first opened its doors in 1722. Speaking of Stortorget, if you stop here you should look for the cannonball stuck in the wall of one of the buildings. According to legend it was fired during the siege of Stockholm by Gustav Vasa in 1523.
And while we are on the topic of Vasa, no visit to Stockholm would be complete without a trip to the Vasa museum at Djurgården, which can be reached by ferry from the Old Town. The museum houses a well-preserved warship that sank outside Stockholm in 1628 and spent 333 years on the bottom of the sea until it was salvaged largely intact in 1961. It is one of the best preserved 17th century ships and the museum is the most visited in Scandinavia. After visiting the museum you can take a short stroll to the Rosendals Garden with its cozy cafe, farm shop and plant shop. And if you are a fan of one of the most famous Swedish music exports, ABBA, there is a museum for you close by. And I would be remiss not to mention Skansen, the world’s oldest outdoor museum, also located at Djurgården. Even if you are only visiting Stockholm you can still enjoy a showcase of houses and farmsteads from all of Sweden at Skansen and explore the country’s history.
There is so much to see and do in Stockholm, and I have only scratched the surface here. If you want to learn more about Sweden or take Swedish language lessons, get started with a free trial today! Click the link below to register for a free online lesson or consultation. I look forward to seeing you soon!
