Then Solène and I washed up, ate our breakfast and prepared our lunches before we head out again. Today's weather is also equally good! Blue skies and sun.... but the winds were really chilly... much stronger than yesterday. We decided we'll walk to Östermalam Saluhall. This is an indoor market, where they say that this place sells the finest ingredients and the freshest food here! The 2 of us are really intrigue by the comments and reviews, so we decided to head there to take a look at this famous indoor market. Buuutttt, it was closed! coz today is Langfridag - which means its Good Friday! So we could not see what this place has to offer.
Östermalam Saluhall. It was closed
Sculptures and the square in front of Östermalam Saluhall
We decided to head south and walk along the river banks to get to another island - Kungsholmen, where the Stadshuset is. The Stadshuset is the City Hall. Stockholm's City Hall is more significant than other city hall buildings because, this is where Nobel Prizes are awarded and where the Noble Prize banquets are held! Walking along the river banks, was indeed a good choice. Coz we get to see more the river sights of Stockholm. To be frank, this really reinforce my agreement on Stockholm being a more beautiful city than Copenhagen! hahaha.....
Stockholm's Royal Dramatic Theater
Bust of John Ericson
Ferries docked at the river banks. U can still see sheets of ice floating on the waters
More sightings of the rows of houses (the rich live here) along the river banks
Ducks, swans, seagulls and some other birds eating
When we were reaching the Stadshuset, we saw 2 men in diving suits. We and some of the passerbys were curious about what they were going to do. But obviously they were going to dive into the cold waters. Still its unbelievable... coz it was really cold that day... with the strong winds.... no-one in their right mind will want to jump into the cold waters of the river... furthermore in certain parts we can see sheets of ice floating on the water. But these 2 men really dived into the cold waters. But there were people from the civil defence holding onto the rope that was attached to the divers. Till now, we still don't know what they were doing.
2 men in diving suits. 1 is already in the icy waters, the other is waiting to go in
More of Stockholm & the icy water covered with ice
Stadshuset
Soon we reached the Stadshuset! I must say, up front, the building is bigger than we thought. Most part of this building is now a museum. We did not visit the inside, coz we'll need to pay to visit the museum. But we did walk around the building and we saw a gold sculpture on a sarcophagus. This was the tomb of Stockholm's founder, Birger Jarl.
Us in the inner courtyard of Stadshuset
Outer walls of the Stadshuset
Trying to get the entire view of the Stadshuset
Walking along this pathway to the sarcophagus
The sarcophagus of Birger Jarl
After snapping a few pictures we then headed to Riddarholmen. This is the tiny island beside Gamla Stan. The main landmark of this island is the Riddarholmskyrkan. This church is the royal burial site since the 16th century! Pity the church was not open until May! Seems like things will only come to 'live' in summer! Coz yesterday we wanted to visit the National Museum, and this museum was also close due to moving!
Riddarholmskyrkan
Courtyard on Riddarholmen
So we continue walking and found ourselves on the island of Södermalm. This is the island south of Gamla Stan. This island is also the background for the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson. Yeah the author of the famous book 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'. So following the map from 1 of the guidebook, we walked to Söder Mälarstrand. I must say here the scenery is really fantastic! coz looking across the river, we see Kungsholmen and Riddarholmen and Gamla Stan. And it was also really difficult to walk. Coz with the thick snow, it has now melted into ice... so the wooden walkway was slippery... few times we missed our footing.
The numerous ups & downs on Södermalm
2 sculptures with knitted stuffs on them. This is a rather common sight in Stockholm, i.e. u can find knitted stuffs on benches, trees, railings sculptures etc.
Another sculpture with the knitted items on it
The thick and slippery and dirty ice on the wooden walkway. see how thick it is???
Scenery of Stadshuset taken from Söder Mälarstrand
Iconic Swedish buildings of Stockholm - taken from Söder Mälarstrand
Because we were feeling cold and its lunch time, we wanted to find a nice table in the sun with little wind to eat our sandwiches. But we could not find an appropriate table..... by the time we reached the end of the wooden walkway.... so we decided to walk to the Stadsmuset thinking that there maybe benches for us to sit and eat. But there were no benches either! In the end, we decided to have our sandwiches in a MacDonals outlet just next to the train station. It was good. coz at least it was warm inside and we could eat and use the toilet... hahaha.....
after our lunch break, we headed to the Katrina Elevator. Hmmm.... there was an elevator... but we did not take it. we climb some slope and stairs to reach it. Solène was a little afraid of heights... but somehow it was not that high and she could take it! but I must say, the view up here is also really good!
Looking down at Södermalm from Katrina Elevator
Me on Katrina elevator
The next place we went to was Fjällgatan. This street is well known for the beautiful view of the lake Saltsjön. It looked nice... but i must say... the view was not as jaw dropping as some of the beautiful scenery i've seen of Stockholm thus far. The houses here were nice... but I think they were not as nice as the ones I've seen in Gamla Stan.
Houses on Fjällgatan
Scenery of Skeppsholmen from Fjällgatan
After making 1 loop of Södermalm, we headed back to the hostel. Seeing that it was still early, we decided to borrow a pair of ice skates each and head to a park that is 10min away. The Vasaparken. The receptionist had told us that we can do ice-skating in this park! so the both of us are excited to give it a try. But u know what? when we reached the park, we were trying to figure out where is the lake or pond for ice-skating. we only saw a football field that was covered with ice. The it struck Solène that this is the ice-skating ring! muhahaha.... we had a good laugh! SO now Solène is not afraid of falling into the water if the ice break... coz there is no water to fall into! we put on our skates and try out. hmmm... its a 1st time for me. Of course i had problems trying to balance. i only skate about 50min with the help of Solène, then i gave up. In fact, i was using a lot of energy to keep my balance... but i must say its really fun!
Solène in her ice-skates on the fake ice-ring
I rested while Solène skated a little more. After that it was back to hostel to cook our dinner. Today we have meatballs, brocoli and pasta for dinner! it is good.... hahaha.... and tonight i was able to sleep better! coz the lady who slept below me has left! in fact she changed room...
Tomorrow we'll be visiting the Nobel park! Really looking forward to it! =D
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