Södermalm

We flew budget Norwegian Air to Stockholm from Oslo. The train was going to take more than seven hours so we decided to fly instead. The hour flight started with cabin crew doing a well-rehearsed, synchronised interpretive dance as part of the safety demonstration – well , that’s what it looked like to me as they flapped and waved their hands about – but it was a performance that nobody, except me, paid attention to. The cabin echoed with hordes of Scandinavians chatting at full volume.

One of the airline attendants asked the people behind us in the exit row if they were familiar with the emergency procedures and they responded in the affirmative. That was enough to satisfy her and she went on her way. Normally, they would ask if people were comfortable with being in the exit row and then give a tutorial. Maybe this is due to Norwegian Air's cost cutting. The previous flight to Copenhagen didn't include any food or drink to purchase because someone forgot to load it onto the plane! It's hard to get good staff these days.

A few days before we arrived in Stockholm, an airport train had derailed, and so there were no trains operating from the airport. We had to catch the local bus to a nearby train station and then change to the metro to get to our accommodation. We got a little lost in the train station maze trying to find the metro. We went up and down the lift before we found the metro. As we were going back up for the second time, a Swedish woman entered the lift and quickly realised we weren’t from Sweden. I impressed her with a tack så mycket (thanks a lot). In Danish and Norwegian, the word for thanks is the same, albeit spelt and pronounced slightly different.

We finally arrived an hour or so later at the apartment, which was located on the second floor. The apartment was spacious with a separate lounge and dining area. But being an old building the floor boards squeaked with every step. On the up side, it had a great view of the street along Götagatan in Södermalm and was walking distance to most attractions.

Stockholm is made up of fourteen islands connected by bridges. But to get to some of the islands you have to traverse across multiple islands before getting to your destination. There are also ferries to get you from one point to another, but we were determined to cover the city by foot.

Stockholm, particularly on Gamla Stan, has many historical buildings, adding much grandeur to the city. Stockholm is sometimes referred to as the Venice of the North, but I’m not sure I really see the comparison. Stockholm is a massive city, with a metropolitan population of about 2.5 million, and it is spread across a large area. There was no way we were going to be able to cover it all but we tried our darnedest to see as much as we could in three days. I think we covered about 7 or 8 out of 14 islands: that ain’t bad.

On our first day, we explored the surroundings of Södermalm, including the Högalid Church. Södermalm connects to Gamla Stan to the north via Slussen and a bridge. The following day commenced the great walk across the city, including the old town (Gamla Stan) and the Royal Palace. I got to see the changing of the guard with all its pomp and ceremony. It even included a marching band. I had to return home before I keeled over with exhaustion. And yet there was still so much more to explore.

A trip to Sweden wouldn’t be complete without a tour of the ABBA museum. I have to say that I'm not a huge fan, but I can appreciate their music and the contribution that they've made. It's difficult to get those Swedish pop songs out of your head. Benny and Björn even admit that unless the melody gets stuck in your head it isn't good enough. At first, I was a little underwhelmed by the exhibition, but as I went along I changed my opinion.

We got to a section in the ABBA museum that included a theatre showing a video collage of different ABBA footage. People were crowded around the edges of the theatre with little room to stand. Apparently I was too tall for some woman standing at the back of the room, and rudely asked me to get out of the way. What was I suppose to do chop off my legs! She wasn't offering to move so I could stand behind her but just complained like an entitled a-hole. Instead I had to crouch on the ground.

Later, I became a de facto tour guide to a group of English women who were trying to work out how ABBA became famous through their involvement in Eurovision. I pointed out that ABBA competed in the national finals in 1972 with Ring Ring but they were not successful. Two years later they won the national finals and went on to win Eurovision with Waterloo.

Then as we were at the end of the exhibition, an American couple were arguing about whether the members of ABBA were still married; I corrected them and then we went on our way to explore more of the island of Djugården before limping back to our accommodation.

Apart from ABBA, IKEA and Volvo, I always think of Stockholm Syndrome, a condition where hostages develop a psychological bond with their captors. It also reminds me of Patty Hearst, who is probably the most famous person to claim Stockholm Syndrome after being kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army. She changed her name to Tania and joined in with her captors to rob banks in San Francisco. I don’t think I’d have the energy to resist any kidnappers at this point. Just call me Tania the bank robber, I give in 🤣. Maybe some rest is needed before moving onto the next destination.

By the way, the Lost World has been axed due to the writer’s strike in LA. But you never know if another network might reboot it.

Next destination: Helsinki.Read more