GPS navigation is truly one of the greatest travel innovations ever. It has made cities more accessible than ever before to visitors. Navigating a new city is no longer the daunting, confusing, and intimidating task as it was in days gone by.
But even armed with our trusty Tom-Tom, Stockholm's motor ways were a challenge to get around. It was not uncommon to have the Tom-Tom's screen light up with a garbled mess of a tunnel below a city street below raised highway each with exit tunnels, side streets, exit ramps and other random confusion. Plus the Tom-Tom would lose its signal every time we entered another of the maze of tunnels below the city.
Once we finally got off the roads and checked into our hotel (a comfortable boutique hotel named Freys, right next to the city center) we found Stockholm easy to get around on foot.
As we set out to explore the city, we were amazed by the commitment to architecture, how through the centuries all the buildings remained architecturally beautiful, but not necessarily dedicated to a specific style. The only thing that remained consistent was the use of copper roofs and statues, which all took on a distinctive green color, giving the whole city a common color theme. It was a lovely effect.
As we walked past Stockholm's opulent opera house we reached the first of several bridges which linked together several small islands that the old city was built upon. The first and most prominent landmark that we came to was the Royal Palace. Because it was still in active use, it had ceremonial guards at its entrances. Though that post does not seem to be a very highly regarded position as that all the guards looked really young, as if anyone with any seniority has put it off onto the new guys.
Beyond the Royal Palace, the narrow, twisting avenues of the old city opened up, filled with hidden shops, cafés, and hidden treasures. One of those hidden treasures was the Nobel Museum, a celebration of all the past winners of the various categories Nobel Prize are enshrined. We sadly did not have time to go through the Nobel Museum, but it became a serious selling point for returning to Stockholm at some point in the future.
After exploring old town, we crossed another bridge to where Riddarholm Church whose gorgeous iron latticework spire could be seen throughout the city, and then down to the waterfront to get some excellent views of the city, including the city's rather imposing looking city hall.
At that point the sky was growing dark, and it was time to get some dinner and say goodnight to Stockholm.
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