Pre-Tour Layover in Rainy Stockholm, Sweden on way to Munich
Grieving Queen Maria Elenora of Sweden
On the Arlanda Express from the Stockholm Airport to Gamla Stan
This is the story of our Rick Steve’s travel adventure for 2022. With still some of the pandemic protocols lingering my husband Pete and I (Pat) decided to take on European travel again with the Best of Munich, Salzburg, Vienna in 8 Days Tour. With Rick’s tours you arrange your own air travel which leads to more flexibility. When booking the air travel Rick usually recommends multicity booking which is to fly into one city and out of another. This time we accidently took this to an extreme. When checking out the airfares we saw some low fares on SAS Scandinavian Airlines. We booked a flight from O’Hare Chicago (ORD) to Stockholm Sweden (ARN) with a 6 hour layover before continuing onto Munich (MUC) and the start of the tour. We were feeling lucky and decided if no delays we would leave the airport for some sightseeing of the city of Stockholm.
In advance I bought tickets on the Arlanda Express – the fast and expensive train to Stockholm city. The train for two was 798 SEK about $80.00. You spend more in order to save on the time. On May 6, 2022 we flew from Chicago ORD to Stockholm ARN on an overnight flight. We were travelling with Rick Steve’s backpacks that we checked through to Munich and had just our daypacks. When we got off the train it was rainy and cloudy, but with umbrellas we decided to explore the old city.
Stockholm Central Train Station in the Rain.
Stockholm is a port city with a number of sections and an entire archipelago of islands to explore. Some of my must sees would have to wait as we did not want to live on the edge and miss our next flight. My husband wanted to see the Vasa Museum – the 1628 ship that sank on its maiden voyage and was preserved by the waters of the harbor. I wanted to see the ABBA Museum and be a Dancing Queen, but alas those sights were on the island of Djurgarden, and we did not want to risk the transport there and back to the train station. So the Gamla Stan (Old City) was for us.
We arrived early so our first stop on the walk was breakfast, stopping at Cafe Schweizer known for cinnamon rolls and coffee. Cozy, dry, and with chairs covered with fur skins we drank freshly squeezed orange juice.
Swedish Coffee Break - Fika with coffee and kanelbulle
Current King Carl XVI Palace with Guard.
Next, we walked around the palace of the King of Sweden - Carl XVI. We saw the palace guards and walked the parade grounds where the changing of the guards is held – no time to stay for that. The Nobel Prize Museum another must see was not open yet, but my husband found the oldest bar in the city Cafe Sten Sture serving at 0900. This bar was originally the prison that held the assassin of the Swedish King Gustav III.
Prison Cell of King Gustav's assassin in the Sten Sture bar
Gustav was shot in 1792 during the masked ball at the Royal Opera House. In the basement of the bar, you could sip an Abro lager and peer into the cell that held the assassin (Johan Ankarstrom) before his execution.
Nobel Prize Museum - Ceremony every December at the Stockholm Concert Hall.
We enjoyed the colorful architecture of the city strolling in the rain. The highlight of Gamla Stan was the free Royal Armory. This museum took you through the history of Sweden – ancient suits of armor for the royals and their horses to modern day clothing of the king. We even saw the costume of the assassinated King Gustav III along with the murder weapons a follow-on from the prison bar.
King Gustav III masquerade ball costume with bullet hole when assassinated in 1792 along with the murder weapons.
The crown of King Eric XIV 1561 is the official crown of Sweden
"Queen Maria Eleonora became an important person in the cult of King Gustav II Adolf. She ordered that all objects relating to his death at Lützen were saved. This is the cloth in which she kept his heart."
Another royal story was of Queen Maria Elenora who wrapped the dead Swedish King’s Heart in a cloth she kept in a golden box hanging above her bed. The intriguing bloody cloth was on display. She remained queen as she grieved for the rest of her life. I enjoyed the exquisite gowns of the queens and marveled at the tiny waist lines. (We will hear more about Swedish Royalty in Munich.)
Sofia Magdalena's Wedding Dress 1766
Wandering the streets of the old city we came across the Rikstelefon phone booth. It was a brand of Televerket, a company responsible for telecommunications from 1853 to 1993. Rikstelefon means that the phone could be used for long distance calls. If you watch Rick's show he touts it as his own private booth in Stockholm.
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Back to the train station we walked by the ICE Bar Stockholm part of the ICEHOTEL. It is carved out of 40 tons of ice from the Torne River. Here you can drink cocktails while sitting on ice stools at 23 degrees. Your entry fee includes one drink and a 45-minute visit while wearing an ice cape and gloves to stay warm. Unfortunately, it did not open until later in the afternoon.
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The Arlanda Express whisked us back to the airport and by a miracle we easily went thru security and back to our gate. Layover travel has its risks, but it is a marvelous way to run around a city while you wait for your next flight.
Onward to Munich, the home of Bavarian Germany and the start of our tour.
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Rick's private telephone booth in Stockholm
Click on the image of Rick Steve's Europe Tours and it will take you to Rick's Stockholm television program.
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