Okay there is A LOT of pictures to go through, but with the recent dump of snow that we have acquired here in the Pacific Northwest I thought I would take the opportunity to go through some and post a couple days.
I’m going to try to do something a little different, I’m going to tell you what is going on in the pictures by having you scroll over them (something that my friend Anna is doing on her blog). Let me know what you guys think, and if you don’t like it I’ll change it.
January 1st – We went with Anna for a walk in the Nature Preserve by her house with Totti & Birgit.
January 2nd – Our first trip into the city! We took the train in (which neither of us had done before) and then ventured out on our own with maps & cameras in hand!
The Klara Kyrka (The Church of Saint Clare) is a church in central Stockholm. The Church of Saint Clare is located on Klara Västra Kyrkogata in the Klara area in lower Norrmalm. The graveyard, which has had the same location since the 17th century, is almost surrounded by modern buildings. The convent and church of St. Clare was founded on the site in 1280s. Gustav Vasa had the church and convent torn down in 1527 and construction of the current church started in 1572 under Johan III.
Tyska kyrkan (German Church), sometimes called St. Gertrude’s Church is a church in Gamla stan, the old town in central Stockholm, Sweden. Located between the streets Tyska Brinken, Kindstugatan, Svartmangatan, and Prästgatan, it is named for standing in the center of a neighborhood that in the Middle Ages was dominated by Germans. Officially named Sankta Gertrud, the church is dedicated to Saint Gertrude (626-659), abbess of the Benedictine monastery of Nivelles, in present-day Belgium, and patron saint of travelers.
Unfortunately the church was closed when we went by so we were not able to go into it, but it is still quite spectacular from the outside.
Once we got into Gamla Stan (Old Town) we were in desperate need of some food. And even though we would have liked to partake in some native Swedish food, there really weren’t any restaurants that specialized in that as a cuisine. So that being said, we headed into an Irish Pub and some good old grub. The amazing thing about this place is that the building was around 400 yrs old, and was originally constructed as a bakery.
Gamla stan (The Old Town), until 1980 officially Staden mellan broarna (The Town between the Bridges), is the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Gamla stan consists primarily of the island Stadsholmen. The surrounding islets Riddarholmen, Helgeandsholmen, and Strömsborg are officially part of, but not colloquially included in, Gamla stan.
The town dates back to the 13th century, and consists of medieval alleyways, cobbled streets, and archaic architecture. North German architecture has had a strong influence in the Old Town’s construction. Stortorget is the name of the scenic large square in the center of Gamla Stan, which is surrounded by old merchants’ houses including the Stockholm Stock Exchange Building. The square was the site of the Stockholm Bloodbath, where Swedish noblemen were massacred by the Danish King Christian II in November, 1520. The following revolt and civil war led to the dissolution of the Kalmar Union and the subsequent election of King Gustav I.
Since we were on Gamla Stan we decided that we wanted to go over to Djurgarden to see the Vasamuseet. To do so, the quickest and funnest way was to take a ferry.
The Vasamuseet (Vasa Museum) is a maritime museum in Stockholm, Sweden. Located on the island of Djurgården, the museum displays the only almost fully intact 17th century ship that has ever been salvaged, the 64-gun warship Vasa that sank on her maiden voyage in 1628. The Vasa Museum opened in 1990 and, according to the official web site, is the most visited museum in Scandinavia.
It was really dark in there, so we used our cell phones to take these pictures (they adjust better to the dark), so they are pretty grainy. 
The Nordiska museet (Nordic Museum) is a museum located on Djurgården, an island in central Stockholm, Sweden, dedicated to the cultural history and ethnography of Sweden from the Early Modern age (which for purposes of Swedish history is said to begin in 1520) until the contemporary period.
This was a really boring museum, but the building was cool!
These pictures were taken on our way to and from the Central Station. This is called the Sergels torg. Sergels torg has a dominant west-to-east axis and is divided into three distinct parts. 1. A sunken pedestrian plaza furnished with a triangular pattern (referred to as Plattan, “The Slab”) and a wide flight of stairs leading up to the pedestrian street Drottninggatan, connecting south to Stockholm Old Town and north to Kungsgatan. 2.This plaza is partly overbuilt by a roundabout centred on a glass obelisk and by the concrete decks of three major streets. 3. North of this traffic junction is a considerably smaller open space overlooked by the high-rise façade of the fifth Hötorget Building from where the avenue Sveavägen extends north.
More days to follow…
