Impressions of Stockholm (Sweden)

I'm finally back from Stockholm and of course I can't wait to share my impressions of the city with you. This was my first real visit to Sweden and the trip was part of a gift from the hubby for my birthday (which was last Saturday). Since this country has given us everything from ABBA to Ikea, I had quite high expectations and Stockholm didn't disappoint: the air was fresh, the people were friendly and there really is an H&M on every single street corner...

The city itself comprises of 14 islands and is beautiful, simply because you're constantly surrounded by water and greenery. I can safely say that Swedish tap water is the best I've ever tasted. My favorite past-time - aside from shopping of course, which I'll get to later - was walking among the 18th century buildings and admiring the architecture. As with all Scandinavian countries, locals were exceptionally helpful and spoke English fluently. The one thing I found slightly odd was that chewing moist tobacco seems to be a big thing there, even among teenagers. And my only gripe? The 25% VAT... ouch. Definitely one of the more expensive cities, so if you ever plan on visiting, start saving now.

View of the city from Riksgatan.

The glass obelisk in Sergels Torg.

Buildings facing Gamla Stan.

View of a neighboring island taken from Gamla Stan's harbor.

The Parliament building.

The Orpheus sculpture in front of Konserthuset.

The Royal Palace as seen from across a bridge.

The Changing of the Guard in the Palace's Outer Courtyard. This ritual took almost an hour and involved several dozen horses.

Heading towards the Old Town in Gamla Stan.

The 'af Chapman' ship, which is now a popular youth hostel, docked at Skeppsholmen.

Charmingly quaint streets in the heart of the Old Town.

The Stadshuset (City Hall) in Kungsholmen where the Nobel Prize festivities take place every year.

Courtyard of the Stadshuset.

The garden and neighboring Södermalm as seen from the Stadshuset.

Stortorget with its 18th century well, surrounded by beautiful houses.

The stunning cherry blossoms in Kungsträdgården (King's Garden). There are 63 of these trees in total.