After four days in Iceland, it was off to the second destination of the trip: Stockholm, Sweden. Reykjavic Airport gives one last chance to purchase some Blue Lagoon skin products. The flight itself on IcelandAir was uneventful.

Stockholm has several airports, but Arlanda airport handles the majority of international flights coming into Sweden. Unfortunately, it is 40 kilometers outside the city center. Luckily, there is an express train named Arlanda Express which goes to the city center. The pricing scheme is different, in that multiple tickets purchased together lessens the price per ticket.

My lodging was at Hilton Stockholm Slussen. The view from the room was pristine.

In the few hours that remained in the day, I took a stroll around the center.

Like most European cities with old town centers, there is a pedestrian street. The name of Stockholm’s old town is Gamla Stan, and the street is Västerlånggatan.

To get there, I needed to cross a bridge. Most bridges do not have such dramatic scenery on the other side, though.

There was a gate to enter the pedestrian area.

The road was fairly narrow, but luckily there was not a crush of tourists.

Västerlånggatan

I stumbled across this statue in the courtyard of one of the many buildings.

Across the Vasabran bridge is the Norstedt building, headquarters of the Norstedts company, a book publisher. The building was completed in 1891. The color contrast between the lower and upper levels is eye-catching.

Norstedt building

Note the spire in a zoomed out picture.

Norstedt building

It was getting late, so it was time to grab a bite to eat. A traditional dish in Sweden is pickled herring with potatoes and a crispy bread called Knäckebröd. This was by far the best herring I ever had.

Pickled herring

Sundown was approaching, but I couldn’t help but snap a photo of a classically yellow Stockholm building on the way back to the hotel.

Then it was off to bed and to mull the itinerary for the following day in colorful Stockholm.