I simply love a city that you can walk in and find something wonderful down every street. Stockholm is one of those cities and we certainly did walk and yes, there was something lovely in every street of the old town, Gamla Stan. The architecture in this part of the city is very beautiful. 13th century buildings with steeples that pierce the sky and form a beautiful skyline.




It is an engaging place to spend a few hours wandering around - you are never far from a glimpse of water or a baroque cathedral, a cobbled square, narrow lane or statue. Navigating the narrow streets in this charming city is loads of fun and honestly the best way of seeing it all is to simply wander around. You will find art, history, and culture around every corner.




I would say that a tour of Gamla Stan definitely forms the core of any visit to Stockholm. It is absolutely beautiful in any season and you can feel the medieval atmosphere in the air along the numerous picturesque narrow streets and alleys.




The architecture is stunning and all along the streets there are so many original arts/crafts and crystal shops selling beautiful Kosta-Boda and Orrefors crystal pieces. You can truly get lost in time in this beautiful old part of Stockholm. And each time you look up, you are reminded of the history of the place. The colours they used are so warm and rich that even on a grey, snowy day they still look picturesque.




Wandering along from the underground station I came to Västerlånggatan, the main “Pedestrian Street”. The longest street in the old town is lined with pubs, café, restaurants and many, many small shops--a haven for any tourist. In summer this area is jammed packed with tourists and a place that locals avoid like the plague. But in winter it is so much quieter, though there were still a surprising number of tour groups being led around the slushy, snow filled streets. As well as a few people out doing lunchtime shopping. But it is the very quiet Österlånggatan that I love to spend time in.




One of the things that fascinates me in many northern European cities is the higgeldy-piggeldy nature of some of the buildings. You can see that town planners and building inspectors had not been invented when many of these structures were erected and the angles that they literally sway at are fascinating. It can be a little unnerving at first as you expect them to topple down any minute.




In the middle ages, Baltic trade was dominated by the Germanic cities of the north and grouped under the Hanseatic League and their architectural influence can be seen all around us. Heading away from the area around the 17th century German Church, you come to Mårten Trotzigs Gränd which is the steepest, narrowest tiniest, little street in the entire city, with 39 steps and a width of just 90 cm (35 inches) across. If you stretch our arms out, you can touch both sides of the walls at once.




You certainly could hear everything your neighbours were up to in a place like this. I'm much more fond of a little more "personal space" than this affords, but it is still a lively, vibrant place to visit. I do however have to say that the snow clearing in Nynäshamn is much more efficient than here in central Stockholm and I was so glad that I was wearing my spikes as the snow and ice on the cobblestones, added to the steep incline of the streets made walking there a bit treacherous.




My chief reason for visiting here was to meet up with some friends, including one who was visiting from Sydney and who had come out for the day in the snow wearing white canvas sneakers which caused those of us who live here to laugh out loud. Needless to say, they leaked water, became soaked and her feet froze. But she was a good sport about it. Lars-Göran, feeling very fatherly towards her asked if she at least had her thermal long johns with her and she beamed up at him and said "Don't worry, yes, of course I do!" and opened her handbag to show him them. *insert rolling eyes* I can't tease her too much as she brought me TWO packets of Naprogesic, for which I will fall down on the ground and worship her for for the next year or so.




Here you can see a few of us standing outside our favourite Gamla Stan café after we had been inside to fortify ourselves with warm calorie-laden drinks and giant sandwiches. I love both Chokladkoppen (the yellow building) and Kaffekoppen (the red building), both very eclectic, warm and inviting places with a cosy, unhurried atmosphere that encourages you to linger. One puzzling thing was that literally everything came accompanied by a slice of orange - and I mean EVERYTHING we ordered, no matter what it was. That is something I hadn't seen in Adelaide since the 1970's, except perhaps at that wonderful, quirky Adelaide icon Spats Coffee Lounge (I wonder if that place still exists?).




We wandered up past the palace, where we discovered someone even more inappropriately attired than Kirsty. It's always comforting when you are a long way from home to strike something very familiar. And today, while watching this guy dressed in only a pair of cargo shorts, sandals and a rather manic expression loping down Drottninggatan in the snow, I was reminded of another Adelaide icon - our very own Johnny. What a hoot to find that he has his very own Stockholm counterpart.

Later it was a short walk down past Järntorget - a lovely square and once a busy trade center for iron and an open space perfect for the work of the stevedores who loaded goods onto the waiting ships. There were many taverns in this area where the seamen came to eat and drink, along with many brothels. But today, despite the weather, there were only divers.




And along the historic picturesque island of Riddarholmen (or “Knights Island”) where noblemen and knights built their palaces in the 17th century, we looked across at the beautiful and much photographed area of Söder Mälarstrand and Mariaberget across the water. I love this area and enjoy the view from my train each time I enter or leave the city. I've always loved history and this country is so rich in it. What has struck me the most is how we’ll put a memorial plaque on a building that is 200 years old in Australia, but 200 years in Sweden is still a “new” house. In Gamla Stan, we are seeing buildings that were built around 750 years ago.




It's always a very humbling experience for me. But I did have a great day, enjoying the company of good friends and feeling proud to show off a little of my new homeland.