Mini-tour of Scandinavia: Stockholm

A lot of people who had been to Stockholm told me that it was a beautiful city and definitely worth a visit. So it made sense to include this in our itinerary. First impression of Stockholm: it's huge! Indeed, a lot of the attractions here are quite some distance apart from each other, and it is better to use public transportation system to get from one place to another. It actually reminds me of Paris with its mixture of modern buildings…

…and enchanting European-style architecture…

…set against wide avenues and grassy parks, with a bit more magic provided by Lake Malaren (quite similar to the magic that River Seine brings Paris).

Looking back, we didn’t really do much when we were here. Part of it because we were tired. But part was also due to the fact that we didn’t really spend time inside museums (we were essentially budget backpackers on this trip due to the cost of traveling in Scandinavia), so we just found ourselves walking around a lot, whether in the old town Gamla Stan or amidst the lush scenery of Djurgarden.

We did visit one museum, the Vasa Museet. This museum contains the Vasa warship, which was probably Sweden’s biggest nautical embarrassment as it sunk in the bay almost right after setting off. The mud at the bottom of Lake Malaren protected the ship from damage brought about by wood-boring worms, so when it was pulled from the water, it was completely intact and later on placed inside this museum. When you enter, you almost instantly see it. And just as immediately, your jaw drops. The Vasa warship is an awesome piece of history. And when you see a ship like this completely out of water, you are put in awe by just how massive it is. The dim lights are meant to protect the ship from damage, but it also serves the dual purpose of adding an all-important dimension of mystery to the ship, making it even more intimidating. I recall entering here at 4pm thinking that one hour was enough (it closes at 5pm) but the moment you are inside, you are entranced and time seems to slip by so quickly. A trip to the Vasa Museet needs to be included in any and every Stockholm itinerary. The 70 SEK are all worth it.

Another thing you should not miss when you are in Stockholm is the Absolut Icebar Stockholm. This bar was created by the same creators of the Ice Hotel located in Jukkasjarvi, 200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle in Sweden.

Entrance fee is 160 SEK per person, and that covers rental of the winter coats as well as one Absolut Vodka drink. Additional drinks cost 85 SEK (and despite the fact that the refill costs close to P600, I decided to get another one. Ah well, you only live once…). Everything inside the bar (except for the floor I think) is made from pure ice from the Torne River in Sweden. And yes, that includes the glasses where the drinks are served. Talk about drinking “in the rocks” instead of “on the rocks”!


You need to book reservations if you plan to go to the Icebar, and I got mine for 9pm on Friday night. My mom and I got there 8:50pm, but we were allowed to head inside immediately. I read that you can only be in the bar for 45 minutes so I asked them how that worked, but they told me not to worry about it (we ended up staying an hour). When we got in, there weren’t a lot of people which allowed us to get a seat on the ice-made chairs that were covered in reindeer pelt to keep your butt from getting wet. I recall being surprised by the crowd, or even the fact that we managed to get a reservation for Friday night by calling just hours before, but maybe most people choose to go there even later in the evening.

My mom doesn’t really drink and I’m not an expert on Absolut cocktails, so I asked the bartender for recommendations. It turns out that my mom actually liked her drink, mainly coz it doesn’t taste like an alcoholic beverage. I think she got some vanilla-based cocktail while I had the very newly released Absolut Pear. People started coming in after that, although a lot of people who came in after we did also left sooner than us. It was great because we were able to take lots of photos inside. My mom and I even managed to have our photo taken with the bartender behind the bar. It was a really cool experience. And I mean that literally too. =)

The Changing of the Guard at the Royal Palace is another must-see. What was memorable about this is that it is done on horseback! It amazes me to think how those people managed to ride and control horses that lined up properly and moved in the right order at the right time. And they did this while playing musical instruments. How the hell you do that? I have to say, it is really impressive.

My Lonely Planet of Europe says that among its writers and contributors, Drottningholm Slott is one of their top 10 overrated sights in Scandinavia. But I figured that we might as well pay Drottningholm a visit because it has gardens that we can walk around in for free. When we got there, I actually thought it was worth a visit. (Or maybe the 70 SEK visit inside the castle itself is what was being referred to as overrated, I can’t say.) We spent a couple of hours just going around the garden area, taking more pictures.

My friend Christianne suggested that I take my mom to Kaknastornet, or the TV tower, to have a dazzling panoramic view of Stockholm while enjoying a coffee or a meal. So after going around our trip to Drottningholm, we headed to Kaknastornet for a very late lunch.

It was cloudy from lunchtime to early evening the day before, so I was pleased that the sun was out and the sky was clear when we got to the top of Kaknastornet. The views were naturally brilliant. And it was a very nice and cozy place to spend an hour or so over a cup of coffee (and a really good plate of pasta as well, in my case).

So that is Stockholm for you. The only thing that I missed out on doing was meeting up with Christianne, so maybe I will pay Stockholm another visit just so that I can get to meet up with her.