Highlights from Stockholm

13 days and 7 cities in, we’ve created countless memories with many highlights and only one or two lowlights. With many insights revealed, we have tried to narrow things down to our top insights.

Stockholm was our first stop. Two nights and 1.5 days was just enough time for a taste of Sweden, which we found to be more than meatballs and lingonberries!

Trendy neighborhoods – Sweden is a country of only 10 million people, with Stockholm being it’s capital. The city, while spread across many islands, was replete with trendy neighborhoods, many within walking distance from the center of town. We walked everywhere, admiring the city in the short time we had.

Bike friendly city – We loved that there are bike lanes everywhere and everyone is using them. Perhaps that’s what keeps the blond haired blue-eyed peeps looking so good. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t permit us use their ubiquitous city bikes. We caught one nice sunset, but the next day was cold, cloudy, and rainy.

Interesting Nobel History – Seeing the Nobel Museum (below), was one of our highlights. We learned that the charismatic yet reclusive Alfred Nobel made his money in explosives – go figure! Yet he is most remembered for his six Nobel prizes: peace, physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and economics. All are awarded in Sweden except the peace prize, which Alfred requested be awarded in Norway. There are so many interesting aspects to the annual award process. Did you know even Hitler was nominated for a prize?

Water! All made up of Islands – Stockholm sits on a group of islands and is part of the Stockholm archipelago. We didn’t realize the amount of island hopping you can do even within the city center. We walked from island to island and had plenty to feast our eyes upon. We put our panorama setting to use!

Cold! – Stockholm is cold!!! It was the height of August. We expected long summer nights and warm days. Instead, we were met with cold and rain mixed with a tiny bit of sunshine on day one. Perhaps it was our bad luck, but we didn’t find the weather inviting. We also got a few cheesy chuckles going to the Stockholm Ice Bar, featured in the photos below. It was cold but worth the laugh.

Quaint Old Town neighborhood brimming with activity – The old town sits on its own island and is quaint and picturesque in spite of the kitchy tourist souvenir shops. We found ourselves in passing through Old Town quite often, which is right in the center of the city.

Equality  – It made an impression on us that Stockholm’s government is over 50% women. That type of equality is reflected in a higher percentage of women CEOs in Sweden. Paul snapped a beautiful shot of City Hall at night, seat of where things get done in the city (of course things get done, it’s run by women)!

Neutrality – Sweden prides itself on neutrality during certain conflicts. This pic is in the grand gold hall in Stockholm’s City Hall and shows itself as a bridge between the west and east (can you see the US flag and Turkish Minarets)? The tour of City Hall is fantastic – we think it’s a must see for anyone visiting the city.

With just 1.5 days, we left several things to do for the next trip to this Nordic land. But Greece was calling our name and so we headed to our second destination, Athens. More to come on the adventures from our homeland soon!

(For more photos from Stockholm, you can visit our DP Times Facebook album here)