Streets of Stockholm

We chose one hell of a time to visit the 60th parallel: 3 weeks before the winter solstice.  Consequently, the darkness was oppressive.  After work duties were complete, my afternoons (dark by ~3pm) and evenings were spent wandering the streets.  It rained and/or snowed continuously until the day before we left, so most of my memories are of being cold and damp.


Bus passes by a decorated street


Street shopping

The entire city and countryside were resplendent with Christmas season decorations, so the streets were alive with nicely done lights.  Curiously absent were glaring displays like we're used to in the good ol' US of A...


The Tekniska Hogskolan T-Bana station; one of many that are filled with permanent artwork, feel very cave-y, and are super awesome

I wanted to spend a day traveling the subways with camera and tripod, but time did not allow.  As such, click here for a great photo tour of the subway system.


One burned out


Vaguely American

For the scant hours each day that the sun was technically up, it wasn't all that light out.  The snow kept it pretty gray, but we felt obligated to make the most of the "daylight."  We really only had two days to explore, and it didn't make sense to travel that far and be put off by the weather.


Proud home

I really enjoyed the architecture; stately buildings were plentiful, well-manicured, and easily viewable.  A few of them were even lit well at night!


Freshly fallen snow coats the grounds of the Swedish House of Knights (Riddarhuset)

Stockholm is a city of islands and water; with bridges and lights everywhere, photographic opportunities were ample.


Under one of many bridges


Waterfront (click for -much- larger)

We also spent a good chunk of time wandering around the old city, Gamla Stan, and I'll write more about that later.  In short, it's -super- old.


Quiet street in Gamla Stan

In all fairness, southern Sweden is warmer than most other places of such latitude, as global weather patterns bring warmer air to Stockholm than, say, Saint Petersburg.  Furthermore, the true cold snaps hadn't set in yet, so we were the silly tourists who thought this was "winter."


Tower at Sergel's Square


Shimmery structure at the Radisson Hotel

I have a lot more to share, and much of what's left centers around the food we ate and where we got it from, so we'll cap this post here and delve into the food stuff in the next post or the one after.

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