Sunday, April 8, 2012

Gamla stan

It was really nice and sunny weather today, but it's still cold outside. Still, it wasn't too windy and it didn't snow so we decided to take a trip to central Stockholm. We had friends visiting and they wanted to try to get some good rice so we decided to combine fun with rice-hunting.
Group of statues near the subway station

We took the bus and then the subway to Gamla stan (old town). There's a great bookstore there filled with all things geek. It's called the Science Fiction bookstore, but they have fantasy, anime, manga, movies, tabletop games, card games... A little bit of everything.


Perfect game for microbes, no?

Yeah, I had to get this book. It was too silly not to buy.

Next we went to Stortorget (The great square). It's not a terribly big square but it's Stockholms oldest. This is where the Stockholm Bloodbath took place. We investigated the large well building. It's no longer working but at one point it must have been a very important feature of this square.

The well on this square used to be the middlepoint used to measure the distance to Stockholm on the roads going to the capital. The well dried up long ago (it was built 1778), but it still stands as a decorative piece on the square. Neat lion heads, huh?

Stortorgsbrunnen

We shouldn't mess with the water supply, but it's fun!
Some buildings at Stortorget

Next stop was the The Royal Palace. We didn't wait around for the changing of the guards, but the building is pretty impressie in itself.


A little kid was very impressed by Riki, I bet he would have wanted to sit there.

An old pharmacy sign in Gamla stan. Most pharmacies in Sweden had names of animals or mythological creatures. This is Korpen (the raven)

The City Hall in the background.
 When we arrived at Riksdagshuset (the parliament house) we were starting to get cold and hungry so we didn't get many fun pictures. (might add those I took later)

After lunch at a somewhat sketchy italian restaurant we started the quest for the perfect rice. I'm not too picky about rice but my friends eat mostly Chinese food and it's a different matter if you want to eat with chopsticks. I think we went to four or five different places before finding rice that was fit for their tastes, and we picked up a lot of bits and bobs on the way.

Riki hiding in one of the many stores we visited.

Our haul. A few different kinds of instant miso and some seaweed snacks for me.

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