I took on Stockholm early in the morning on May 7th. A short train ride from Knivsta saw me in Central Station by 9am. By the end of the day, I reigned victorious over the ancient and beautiful city by the Baltic, but it wasn't without heavy casualties.
My first setback came right out of the station. One wrong turn had me far from the tourist office, wasting my valuable energy simply trying to get my bearings. Once I reached the tourist office, I felt confident that my troubles were over- Oh, how mistaken I was! I purchased my Stockholm Card, received a map of the museum locations and away I went. I found the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Museum: It didn't open till 11am (at this point it was shortly after 10). I moved on to the Museum of Dance: There was some sort of baby-day affair going on. As I do not have a baby, I could see I wasn't welcome. From there I wandered over to Gamla Stan ("Old Town") with the intention of seeing the Royal Palace. Unforturnately, though the signs told me to ask for staff assistance, there were no staff to be found. Somewhat dejected, I took a few pictures of the buildings and proceeded down a pedestrian-only street. Though I was tempted by the many interesting shops, at this point I hadn't been to a single museum yet, and I worried about getting my money's worth (or rather, Dad's money's worth- thank you, Dad!) out of my Stockholm card. I found my way back to Norrmalm (the modern city centre- like being downtown T.O.) and grabbed a burger (it was now 12 and I was famished).
Things began to look up for me. I headed back to the Mediterranean Museum, knowing that it would be open by now. Sure enough, I got in and was able to take many pictures. However, I reached the mummy exhibit and got a bit creeped out, so I moved on to the Museum of Dance, confident that the baby time would be over. My belief turned out to be entirely correct and I quickly took in the many exhibits.
The battle had reached a stand-still at this point: I was unsure of where to go next, and wandered aimlessly in search of inspiration. Then Stockholm got a bit tricksy, by sending a nice young Swedish student to attempt to distract me with a survey. Oh, Stockholm. I cannot be fooled by your magician's tricks. I answered the questions quickly and moved on- my next goal was the Medieval Stockholm Museum, but it proved elusive. I was not about to surrender! A moment of brilliant thought, and I was on a bus heading for Skansen.
Once in Skansen, I had Stockholm on the ropes. I went to the Aquarium, the Nordic Museum and off to the Museum of Antiquities. Stockholm cried for mercy and I, gracious in my victory, simply claimed the city as part of Emily-Land. My job done, I returned to Knivsta for victory pancakes and an evening of British television.
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