Tvätta kläder i Stockholm - Washing Clothes in Stockholm

The primary focus of today is our third, and final, clothes wash, of the holiday, but also more time to spend in this delightful city. But before we go into that details let's begin with the early parts of the day.

Morning

I wake up after a good night's sleep at 4am. I edit and upload the photos we took yesterday, a large number yet again.

Drew wakes up at 6am and I make a cup of coffee for us both. Then we shower and get ready for breakfast. 

Breakfast

We go upstairs to breakfast at 7am, it is quieter today that yesterday, but the food is still excellent, though there aren't enough cakes for Drew's preference, he doesn't mind the biscuits. 

Blogging

As the laundry doesn't open until 9.30am, I use the hour after breakfast to update the blog. I'm writing about Vilinus to Riga a whole eight days ago. I've never got so far behind on a holiday blog, but thanks to making contemporaneous notes I have plenty to go on.

Metro

At 9am we walk across the to Tunnelbana and catch the T19 to Odenplan, 3 stops from the Central Station. This is the route:

We arrive at Tvättomaten i Stockholm (Washing Machines of Stockholm) at 9.27am three minutes before opening time, a young American couple are already waiting.

A very friendly man arrives and opens up, he tells all five of us:

Fill baskets to tell how much you need, tell me the temperature and whether it can be dried. One machine 200Kr.

Having put our washing into the baskets it is clear we will need two machines at 40c (our standard at home) and all our clothes can be tumbled dried, so we left the clothes with them and agreed to return in an hour and a half or two hours paying 400Kr (£28.80).

Bus

We decide to use the bus to visit two of the churches we hadn't yet seen in our visit to Stockholm.  

We caught the number 2 bus to the ferry port at Slussen,

there is a lot of renovation going on in this part of the City, so the walk to the first of the two churches in the area wasn't up a long gentle path, but up a set of stairs that reminded me of the stairs described in Barbary Lane in Tales of the City. 

Katarina Church

The first church here on the island of Södermalm is called Katarina Church (St. Catherine's) a beautiful 17th century baroque Lutheran Church.

The church is not open, but has lovely grounds were even this early in the day people are gathered to sit and take in the lovely weather. The church grounds have their own beehive.

and well-kept graves.

Sofia Church

The second church, a half mile along the island, is named Sofia after Queen Sophia of Nassau. It was commissioned by King Oscar II in honour of his new queen following a competition among architects. Completed in 1906 it bares comparison with the Kallio Church, built in the same era in Helsinki.

Returning for the washing

We leave St. Sophia's and walk to the bus stop

catching the number 66 bus from Sofia to Medborgasplaten

then the Tunnelbana from Medborgasplaten back to Odenplan

Our route so far has been like this:

Arriving back at Odenplan we walk the twelve blocks to the nearest ATM and take out 400Kr having not used cash anywhere else in Sweden.

The clothes are wrapped in plastic bags which we pile into our case and travel back by tunnelbana (T17) the three stops to Centralan arriving back at the hotel at 11.55am.

Checking Out

We sort our clothes and the other items in the room and are packed and ready to check out by 12.15pm. We again avail of the hotel's luggage room put our luggage there for later. 

Co-Pilot's Lunch

You will have noticed, dear reader, that during the course of this voyage we have had numerous poncy dinners, and yet only one tiny, little, itsy-bitsy pizza. So, and after copious amounts of nagging, the Pilot, decided, perhaps somewhat foolishly, and no doubt driven by the notion that he could sneak in an extra dinner later in the evening, decided that I could pick the location for lunch.

Being of a practical and logical mindset, dear readers, I felt that healthy, nutritious burgers were the order of the day, however this caused some consternation in the ranks!! The conversion as was, went something like this:

Mr B: You can pick somewhere for lunch, if you want.

<< Drew Ponders >> 

Drew: We can have a burger.

Mr B: I'm not having a burger.

Drew: Don't be a taker-backer - you're having a burger.

Mr B: Don't want one!

Drew: You're having one.

Mr B: DONT WANT A BASTARD BURGER

Drew: BUT YOU'RE BLOODY WELL HAVING A BASTARD BURGER

And do you know what dear readers! - He damn well had a Bastard Burger: 

This fine emporium, dear readers, of nutritious and healthy delights, welcomes us with open arms to: 

This is what we had 

and it was very enjoyable whatever he says!!

Bookshop

After lunch we head back to the windy streets of Gamla Stan 

where Drew goes into a bookshop to buy two books to strengthen his written Swedish.

St. Gertrude's Church

While in Gamla Stan we visit the Church of St. Gertrude, known locally as the German Church, which was not open when we walked past two days ago. This has some of the smartest stained glass we have come across. You can see it all on Flickr - here, but here is a taster:

 

Gustaf Vasa Church

From Gamla Stan we catch the T17 metro back up to Odenplan. This morning we had passed the attractive church called Gustaf Vasa Church, but it was closed, we noted the opening time and returned, we were glad we did, as it is light, bright and amazing.

Again, Flickr is the best place to see all the photos, starting here the inside is amazing marble. This is no strict protestant traditional church but a midpoint between strict protestant tradition, not unlike some of the High Anglican tradition we see in the UK.

Back to the Hotel

We caught the number 53 bus back to the hotel. This is the same bus we caught three days ago when we arrived in the city. It seems right to be ending as we started. It went right from outside Gustaf Vasa Church to the City Centre and we knew our way to the hotel this time. 

Accounting note 

This being our last ride on Stockholm public transport it is worth noting that, we have travelled via various methods 17 times since we arrived in the city. At 39Kr per ride this would total to 663Kr when we paid 330Kr for the three day ticket. In the case of the over 65s, i.e. me, at 26kr per ride this equates to a cost of 442Kr when we paid 220Kr. So, a saving of 333Kr and 222Kr respectively or 555Kr (£40) when combined - well worth it and so convenient too. 

SJ Lounge

Having arrived at our hotel at 3.30pm we pick up our cases from the luggage room and head over to the station. As our overnight train trip is technically a First Class ticket we are able to make use of the SJ (Swedish Trains) Lounge at the station.

We arrive at 3.45pm and they have some lovely coffee and plenty of cold water, as the day is again warming up. 

I used the time, and their free wifi, to uploaded all the pictures we took today so far to Flickr before going on to a wifi free train for the next 12 and a half hours! 

Onto platform at 5:15pm for train at 5:34pm. I'm not sure why a sleeper should need boarding earlier than a regular train but it seems everyone had the same plan as when the train arrives at the platform at 5:25pm it is a packed platform. 

The story of the overnight journey will form the content of the next blog post.

Stockholm - The Venice of the North

Stockholm is often called The Venice of the North due to the centrality of water to the town - though I did enjoy reading this student blog arguing that Stockholm and Venice are very different, the argument that "You can swim without risk of waterborne disease in Stockholm…" is well made. The fact that the city is made up of 14 islands and lots of bridges means you are never far from the water. 

But before we continue to explore this lovely city, time to look at the beginning of the day.

Morning  

I woke on Monday morning at 3.30am and after the limits (no photo upload or access) on the overnight ferry the previous night, I have a lot of photos to upload.

By breakfast time I had completed uploading all the photos to Flickr from Friday evening, Saturday daytime, Saturday evening and all-day Sunday - i.e. a lot.

Drew wakes at 6am, and we have two cups of coffee each. This may be a small burrow like room (Watership Down comes to mind) but the kettle is a full size, full speed kettle. Not like the small travel kettles we have had in a number of previous hotels.  

We do our ablutions and at 7.45am we go up for breakfast - note up not down, given that the rooms in the hotel are all below floor level, though as it is on a hill there is a window overlooking a back street in our room. 

Breakfast

We have two Sami in, what a few years ago, we would have called full Eskimo dress, with us at breakfast along with people from all over the world. We were sat next to a young Chinese couple from New York. 

The breakfast was an excellent selection

as well as things we have seen elsewhere, this is the first time that I have ever had broccoli for breakfast!

Catching the Tram

We leave the room at 9am and head towards the tram stop outside the central station (as I mentioned yesterday, everything is very close to the hotel). We catch the no 7 tram to the museum stop - five stops.

The Vasa

For about four or five days Drew has been mentioning "We'll have to see the boat in Stockholm" [Co-pilot's note: Captain Jack, dear readers, always chortles when he tells the tale of woe about this ship, he, he, he 😁😂🤣] but I'd not really caught on to what he had meant until yesterday, when it turns out 'The Boat' is in fact a warship called that Vasa, launched in 1628. 

In fact, the Vasa is so famous it has a whole museum dedicated to it on the island of Djurgården in Stockholm.

We arrive at the museum at 9.30am, as with some of the other museums we have visited this holiday there is an excellent audio guide, access to it can be found here and the full text version here.

The story of the Vasa is a very simple one, the New York Times tells it thus:

On the afternoon of Aug. 10, 1628, the Vasa, built by the Swedish to be one of the most powerful warships in the Baltic, set off from the palace docks in Stockholm.

The Vasa did not even make it one mile. 

A strong gust of wind caused the 226-foot-long ship to keel over as water poured in through its open gun ports, which were on display for its maiden voyage.

So, to be clear, we are here in a museum celebrating a ship which sank within the first mile of its first journey!

Yet it is so fascinating, not only is the outside well preserved, as shown in these images:

but the museum has researched the range of materials used at the time to recapture the colours in the replicas of the various decorations on the Vasa, though not as real as the ship itself, they make a great impact as I hope you can see below:

Viking Museum and ride

The second museum of the day is a lighter, less serious, but equally informative experience. The Viking Museum makes good use of its references to TV programmes like The Last Kingdom and The Vikings to tell the story of this seafaring people from Scandinavia who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries were the dominant power in most of Europe and who voyaged as far as the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Middle East, and North America. Indeed, one of their major trading routes was with the capital of the Roman Empire - Constantinople or Miklagard, the great city, as they called it. 

Again, there is an excellent set of resources to explain the museum, you can access them here. 

Drew really enjoyed the interactive elements

and we were pleased to reach the end of the exhibits and go on a ride called 'Ragnfrid’s Saga' which you can read about here. 

Here are some of our photos of the exhibits and the saga:

Water Bus 80

As mentioned yesterday our three day ticket covers all public transport in the city, having already used Tunnelbana, bus and tram after our visit to the Viking Museum it was time to travel on the Water Bus. This takes you down the central river in Stockholm from the Museums to Nybroplan, back in the heart of the City.

Cafe Albert

By this time it is 1pm and time to stop for a coffee. We discover the quaint cafe called Café Albert. Drew again manages to exercise his Swedish and to ensure he gets the famous fika cake - Kanelbullar (Cinnamon Bun).

You'll note that again my coffee is half the size of Drew's, so he orders me another one as it has been a warm day. 

Sergels Torg

After our coffee break we walked through the shopping centre of Stockholm coming to Sergels Torg, the central square of the shopping district, this 1960s modernist square is one of the symbols of Stockholm that is used in its promotion worldwide.

Afternoon

The afternoon saw us visiting St Clara's Church, a fascinating Lutheran Church build on an ancient convent of the Poor Clares which you can see on Flickr here. 

We again crossed the river to the Riddarhuset, the House of Nobility, which is the equivalent on the House of Lords, but which no longer has any political influence in the Swedish governmental system. 

We then crossed the Riddarholmsbron from the island of Stadsholmen to the smaller neighbouring island of  Riddarholmen, in medieval times this was known as the Monks' Bridge as it lead from Stadsholmen to the monastic community at what is now known as Riddarholmen.  

and come to the Riddarholmen Church, this amazing church is the burial place of many of the Swedish Royals. Three chapels include the major families with generations of kings, their consorts and children. 

The church also honours those who have received the various orders of Swedish knighthood. These are mainly overseas dignitaries and include Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Nelson Mandela and, an old freind of Drew's, King Alphonso XIII of Spain, whose statue Drew is often photographed beside on the Balcon in Nerja.

Back to the Hotel

We catch the T19 back to the hotel. Though as part of finding our way around the station for tomorrow's journey we walk out through the main entrance, but as it turns out this was a mistake. Again, we had level problems, while we were able to find our way past the back of our hotel, we could even see our room, we had to walk past the hotel and back on ourselves to find stairs and get back to the hotel. Returning at 4.30pm.

Dinner

We headed out at 6.45pm to go to dinner. We had decided to walk in the tradition of Lisbeth Salander of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo fame. The traditional bar and restaurant Kvarnen (The Mill) appears a number of times in the books, fans will remember her meeting there on Tuesday nights with her friends of the rock band Evil Fingers to discuss feminism, music, men and politics. It turns out that Kvernen is a real place and has been serving Swedish food and drink since 1908. [Co-pilot's note: The location, dear readers, did nothing to stop this from ear-wigging me, an issue since we arrived in the city. Slightly different to Mr B’s ABBA thing. ]

We catch the T18 to Medborgarplatsen and walk the short distance to the restaurant. 

The food selection is just to our taste. I opt for what they call the SSOS – 4 kinds of pickled herring with Västerbotten cheese, spiced cheese and boiled potatoes, each flavour was distinctive and sharp, perfect for me.

Drew opted for Råbiff, the classical Swedish steak tartare with Dijon mustard, egg yolk, beetroot and capers - he loves raw beef and thought this was a great example of the genre.

For mains I had Kronhjort, Red Deer, which is served with Truffle creamed Jerusalem artichokes, cranberries, fried black cabbage (cavolo nero) and celeriac purée, tangy and tasty accompaniments to a lovely rare piece of venison (with apologies to my vegetarian friends) it was juicy and delicious.  

Drew opted for Lammytterfilé, Lamb Sirloin, with rosemary mayonnaise, baked point cabbage, roasted root vegetables and spinach. He loved every bit of it.

For Dessert Drew had Rabarbersmulpaj, Rhubarb Crumble with Vanilla sauce, it was sweet and the creme was one of the most vanillay things he has tasted.

I opted for Gårdsost Från Påverås Gårdsmejeri, Farm Cheese from Paveras Dairy and biscuits. This was an organic cow's cheese with all the flavour of the grass having come through the cows gullett and into its milk providing a perfect, fresh tasty cheese with plain light rye biscuits.

We caught the T18 metro back after the lovely meal and got to bed at 10.30pm bed. Clearly Ms Salander had good taste in her eating places! We had walked 9.6 miles during the day, so it was no surprise that we went straight to sleep!