Stockholm Sweden Day 1

My Paternal Grandmother or Far Mor was from Norrkoping Sweden. It has been my life dream to go and see this land that she left to immigrate to Meadow, UT. Since my dad was going to be in London for the Triathlon I decided to see if he would be willing to take a few days vacation and come with me to Sweden. I have become a pretty comfortable world traveller, but my dad speaks fluent Swedish which is always nice to have in your back pocket :) Dad agreed and away we flew. Dad has a work friend in Sweden named Jorgen who arranged a hotel in Stockholm for us to stay in that was walking distance from everything we wanted to see and do.

Sweden is called "The Venice of the North"

The Clas Pa Hornet

Jorgen "the Viking" and Dad

Jorgen picked us up from the airport and took us for a drive through Stockholm.

Dad and Jorgen looking like twins. I laughed how they have no bottoms, they were stepping in the same gait, and they both walk with their palms lifted. My mom has always laughed at the way my dad lifts his palms back when he walks, I laughed when I saw that Jorgen does the same thing.

After we drove through Stockholm Jorgen took us to Gamla Stan which is the old town. This photo is taken by the palace and the church where the Royals are married.

This is the church where the Royals get married.

This square in Gamla Stan is where the Danes when they invaded Stockholm in the Middle Ages cut off the heads of the Swede's and let them roll.

This is the smallest street in Stockholm.

The Royal Palace.

I think I have mentioned before that I always seem to stumble upon interesting things. Well, when we got to Stockholm we happened to arrive while the international Pride festival was taking place. Gay people from all over the world had come to Stockholm, the flags were flying everywhere from the streets to the buses.

This is the balcony on the Royal Palace where the Royal couple comes to wave to the people.

The Parliament building.

Side view of the Royal Palace.

Sweden is made up of 24,000 islands. Right near this spot is where the sweet water and the salty water converge.

Near T Central there was a monument placed in the square to honour the people killed in Norway.

I loved this figurine hanging from the building. Hubby asked me if it was real, it isn't but it looks really real.

Jorgen took us to dinner in Gamla Stan where we enjoyed some amazing meatballs. 

Stockholm day 1 was AWESOME. I cannot believe how warm and beautiful it was. The Swede's are absolutely gorgeous and friendly. Stockholm is a clean and beautiful city and the pace is VERY different from London. Stockholm is a walking and cycling town and there are zero fat people. Jorgen told us that he told people that he had "big Americans" coming. I was so embarrassed that before he had met me he had assumed that I would be "big" because I was American. Does America really have the reputation of being obese? Neighbours Hugh and Mary confirmed this stereotype, and yup it does. I was shocked. No more obesity for my family. After travelling through Europe and Scandinavia I have seen that Europeans are very thin and fit. No more excuses of having "big" Swedish ancestors, they aren't "big" but they are tall, beautiful, and fit. Another thing I thought was funny was how many Swede's have dimples. You don't see many dimples in the UK, but you see tons of them in Sweden. Too funny.