Stockholm, Sweden 4
Our first destination of Day 4 was the island of Skeppsholmen, located between the island of Stadsholmen (the Old Town) and the island of Djurgården (Vasa Museum and Skansen). We crossed the east bridge to the island of Skeppsholmen and walked along with the harbor. It seemed like a morning rush hour. We saw many commuters on bicycle.
We passed by the Royal Palace, one of the largest palaces in Europe. It's the official residence of His Majesty the King of Sweden, with over 600 rooms while it open to the public and offers several museums. The Palace was largely built during the 18th century in the Italian Baroque style, on the site where the “Tre Kronor” (Three Crowns Castle) burned down in 1697. Visiting the palace was on the agenda of the day.
The view of the Old Town from the bridge to the Skeppsholmen island and the shore of the island was great! I don't know how many times we stopped to take a photo.
There wasn't anything particularly we wanted to see on the Skeppsholmen island. We just took a nice walk along the shore. Our walk extended to the islet of Kastellholmen, which is attached to the south of the Skeppsholmen island. There was a hilltop castle on the islet. Kasrellet Stockholm is a 19th century citadel, which was built on the site of the 17th century fortification that exploded in 1845.
Gröna Lund, Sweden's oldest amusement park that was founded in 1883 on the Djurgården Island, was just over the water.
We returned to the Skeppsholmen island and continued circling the island along the shore. It was nice to browse various styles of boats that were docked on the east shore.
We practiced "Fika" (a Swedish coffee break) after the lovely walk at Café Schweizer in the Old Town. The cafe has been open since 1920 in the same location as today. I thought it would be a German-style, Swiss-inspired cafe at first (schweizer means Swiss in German). However, according to the cafe, "the name comes from the term “Schweizeri”, originating from early 1800, meaning a small café that serves alcohol." Rooted in traditional Swedish 'Fika' culture, the cafe offers sandwiches, desserts, coffee, and their famous freshly squeezed juices.
I know what I was getting. A slice of Prinsesstårta, of course! It was a rectangle shape version and a little smaller than that of Vete-Katten that I had on the day before. Actually I thought this tasted better than Veta-Katten's, especially the cream layer tasted fresher and richer. J had a Biskvi. It's a Swedish cookie with an chewy almond macaron base, chocolate buttercream filling and a dark chocolate shell. He shared it with me and we both loved it. Our Fika was successful. The cafe was J's recommendation. Thank you J!
It was time to visit the Royal Palace. We happened to be at the courtyard when Several Royal Guards were doing something there. We saw the ceremony partially and entered the Palace.
First we visited the Royal Chapel. The Baroque architecture and decor didn't look overwhelming. The chapel was bright and calm. Strangely there were only a few visitors at that time even though I saw so many people were entering the palace. Did they know where the chapel was?
Next we visited the Treasury in the cellar. Several crowns and other regalias from historical Swedish monarchs were exhibited. The oldest preserved objects are two swords of state belonging to Gustav Vasa, the king of Sweden (1523–60).
The oldest preserved crown belongs to Erik XIV, which was from the coronation in Uppsala Cathedral on June 29, 1561. It's also the oldest crown in the world that is still in use as a royal crown.
Those crowns were magnificent while I was very curious about the iron chest for the regalia that was made in 1732 and had 25 claws to lock.
Then, we walked through the Royal Apartments...
My impression of the Royal Apartments was that many rooms were kinda dark and the chandeliers were gorgeous... Well, we ran into some groups of tourists and some rooms were very crowded. It was difficult to keep my own pace to see the details of the rooms.
Next we visited the Museum Three Crowns that is dedicated to the original Tre Kronor Castle which was burned down in 1697. We watched a video that shows the history of the castle - from the 900s when the Viking built a wooden blockage on the site where the palace stands today to the fire tragedy.
The castle looked much simple in the 14th century.
I believe this model shows what the castle looked like just before the fire. It looked completely different from today's boxy U-shape building complex.
The last but not least museum we visited in the Royal Palace was Gustav III's Museum of Antiquities. At the end of the 1700s, King Gustav III was an avid admirer of art and antiquities. He acquired several of the museum's sculptures during a trip to Italy at the end of the 1700s. The King passed away in 1792 and the museum was open two years later to show the collection, which consisted of over 200 sculptures in honor of him. The sculptures are placed in the two galleries in the exhibition hall precisely as they were originally exhibited.
We left the palace and walked to the Riddarholmen Church on the islet of Riddarholmen. Located about 5 minute walk from the palace, the church serves as Sweden's royal burial church. It was originally a 13th century Franciscan priory, and is the only preserved medieval abbey in Stockholm today.
Before heading to a lunch place, we briefly checked out the west shore of the islet, where an observation deck was built.
Hello, the City Hall!
After the busy morning, lunch at Knut Upplandsgatan was lovely. Located at the north of the city center, the restaurant focus on food from Norrland, the northernmost and largest region of Sweden. Knut is the name of the founder's grandfather, who took him on berry picking, fishing trips and moose watching in the Jämtland forests in his childhood.
The inside was crowded very much but luckily we got a table. J got beer!
To be continued...
