Postcards from Stockholm 2

Thistles and Kiwis

For the second in the series of postcards from Stockholm, let’s start with a walk around Gamla Stan or the old town, starting with Ridderholmen, and this statue of Birger Jarl, who was said to have founded the city. The square is also home to Riddarholmskyrkan, the church which is the site of the burial sites of Swedish kings. The church is undergoing major renovations, so can’t be visited at this time.

On our wanderings, we came across, not for the first time, the Löfgren antique shop. I am sure this has appeared on the blog somewhere before, but if you haven’t seen it, here it is. And no, this is not family related.

Close by is Stockholm Cathedral, built in 1279, houses unique objects such as the St George and the Dragon sculpture from 1489. Below you can see the altar, and on the left the royal pews. The wedding of Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel took place on 19 June 2010 if you are interested in those sorts of things.

From there, you can head to the royal palace, perhaps visit to see the crown jewels, or watch the guards, or just look out over the water. King Carl Gustaf XVI celebrated his 80th birthday on 30 April with lots of festivities and visiting royals from Denmark, Norway and The Netherlands.

Away from the old town…and back to Vasastan…and two more interesting churches. On the left, Skt Matteus Kyrka and on the right, Gustav Vasa Kyrka. Pictures taken on rather a dull day, and a seagull is included for something extra.

And closer to home.. some more streets of Vasastan, with their distinctive colour which looks great against the bright blue skies, and even against the grey.

Thistles and Kiwis is a Wellington, New Zealand based blog written by Barbara, who likes cats, summer and good food. Thistles and Kiwis can be found on Facebook and Instagram @thistlesandkiwis

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Published by Thistles and Kiwis

Loves summer, sunshine and cats. Beginner gardener, likes eating, cooking and reading about food

20 Comments

  2. Thank you for the interesting look-around and photos. For me born across the Baltic Sea in a country which the Swedes way back invaded, there is a familiar feel when looking around. Love to see the churches, which like in Estonia methinks, are all/mostly Lutheran. I don’t think formal religion plays very much of a part in either country these days. How time truly flies – The current King Carl Gustav XVI 80 already . . . OMG > I had a chance to meet his Grandfather a few times in Italy . . . he loved Italy and we used to stay in the same Hotel and ended up at adjacent tables more than ones > an extraordinarily nice guy . . . lovely memories now . . .

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  4. I feel like I’m there! I especially love the feature photo, which you carefully composed to show the scallop design of the cobblestones. The churches are beautiful too.

    In fact, I’m fascinated to learn that Kyrka = church in Swedish. I recently learned that Kerk = church in Dutch and already knew that Kirk = church in Scotland. That’s not to far from Ch-ur-Ch (with a consonant shift thrown in). Thank you for helping me to see that!

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  7. As always, enjoyed this tour. What a magnificent cathedral! I tend to forget that Sweden has a monarchy. Somehow, the British monarchy looms so large that it crowds out all the others. But maybe that is an American perspective.

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