It was early in the morning when I woke up and headed out in the snow to the bus station. There was no one around me at 6 in the morning and only the crisp sounds of walking in the snow could be heard. Overnight some of the snow froze so the morning sights were glistening with icy coldness. I made it to Gothenburgs main train station, got a tea and waited for my train that was to depart at 8 for Stockholm. As I would soon find out, train travel in Sweden is not as efficient as in other European countries and my journey to Sweden's capital city was going to be a longer one...
In the end I approached a woman that was also waiting for the train and asked her to help me. She said we had a 30 minute delay, something that wasn't that unusual for Swedish trains. We talked about life and travel until the next message sounded through the speakers. Again, only in Swedish. I could see from the faces of the other travelers, that the news weren't great. Another delay, and we had to move to another gate as well. I only planed 3 days in Stockholm, and wanted to use them up as much as I could.
The slower train takes 4 hours to Stockholm and makes more stops along the way. In the end I reached my hotel room around 2 in the afternoon. I booked with Best Western Hotels in the city center. My room wasn't that big, but it had everything I needed, including a private bathroom. I quickly grabbed a shower, changed and went out to catch some light before the day was completely over. Night stets in Stockholm in winter around 3:30 in the afternoon.
I went outside, right to the city center, without my main photo gear. I decided that I wanted to explore the city a bit and not be bothered with carrying my camera around. I had two more days for that. The center of the city was a bit empty (though I would get more crowded later on). I was there at an unusual time in the day, where most people were at work and not so many tourists in the streets. The shops and decoration in the city provided the most light as I made my way to the old town of Stockholm.
Inside the old town of Stockholm (which I will show you in depth in another post) I immediatley went to the Christmas Market. It wasn't that big, but it was the first one I saw in Sweden during my travel. Hot mulled wine was served in a booth, but again not many people were to be seen. Also, there is not a lot of food in the booths, mostly decor. I was getting a bit hungry and finding a quick bite in the old town is actually hard.
I made my way out of the old town and towards the harbor and Baltic Sea. Dusk was already setting and the buildings were lit by the street lights. I walked (very carefully) towards a docking station for inter-city boats. Just like in Gothenburg, one way to travel through the city is by ferry and I have to say I quite like it. It gives you time to take the city in and take some really great images from unusual viewpoints.
In the picture above you can see the side entrance to the royal palace, which I will, again, show in depth in future posts. From here I walked back to the modern city center and now there were more people in the streets. It was only 5 in the afternoon! Festively lit decorations could be seen in one of the many city squares. An ice rink was also there, which people seem to enjoy a lot.
A long day was behind me. I reached the hotel room around 7 in the evening, changed into my pyjamas and went to bed, only to get up once more to grab dinner. The next two days were filled with things I wanted to see, but the nice weather that greeted me was about to change for the worse. You can't plan ahead in the north...
End of Part Five
To be continued...
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