Södermalm To Riddarholmen Is Far Lars!

One of the things I learned in Sweden is that the Swedes don't really have a handle on American measurement. May be that whole metric conversion thing, but maybe not, because I know some Americans who can't wrap their head around guesstimating miles and think yards is only used in football. American football that is.

Anyhow, I'll pick up where I left off... leaving the Möllbergs.



Even tho it was about 10:30 when we left and we had to drive into Stockholm (about 90 minutes, or 1½ hours) Lars wanted to stop by and introduce me to the other American dude in Sweden, Jimmy and his wife Mena.




They were quite sweet and offered up some helpful hints for me to navigate my way thru the city in the morning. Mena served up some delicious sausage, which was the topic of discussion for most of the evening, and we polished off another two bottles of merlot. Boys these Swedes can drink.




It was well after 1am when we finally arrived at Lars's apartment in Stockholm, lucky guy. This place was tiny. The bathroom & kitchen were in closets (literally) and the bed was raised above the room bunk-style to allow space for more than one person to stand. I loved it.




Lars tried to clean up a bit while I tried on his military police headgear.




Lars then left me to my vices and wished me good luck on my journey around Stockholm the next morning which was about to begin in about 5 hours. Only problem was.... Lars never told me where his apartment is. I mean, I know I was in it, but when you are about to embark on a venture into an unfamiliar & foreign country, it's helpful to know where you're starting from. I'm just saying.

The other issue was that I had no krona, Swedish money, and I was sure to be hungry, not to mention have to take the train back to Strängnäs, so that was my first line of duty. Lars had informed me of an exchange in Central Station. Great. Where's that? I decided to just head out and let the city take care of me.

Högalid Church





Kinda lost


Homes on Varvsgatan


I knew I was onto something when I found the river.


After walking for about twenty minutes and seeing more unpronounceable street signs than you can shake a stick at, I finally pinpointed my location and was able to reset my course, destination #1: Central Station. I figured out I was in Södermalm, the southern district of Stockholm.




I didn't realize how Stockholm was a grouping of islands, 15 of them. But this meant I had to cross two bridges and go thru four of these islands to reach Central Station. Lars told me it was about 1 mile. I left the apartment at 7 and got to the station at 8:30. Pretty sure that was more than a mile. See, no handle on American measurement. That's fine tho because I had to walk along Riddarfjärden, one of the rivers that separates Stockholm, and cross a bridge that went thru Riddarholmen. All very cool places. So I snapped some shots.

Along the Riddarfjärden




Riddarholmen


Riddarholmskyrkan in Riddarholmen



Wrangelska Palatset in Riddarholmen



Riddarhuset in Riddarholmen




I think that's where I'll end today. Don't wanna overexpose. Tune in for the next exciting episode to see if Travis ever makes it to Central Station and whether or not he encounters some barbarous vikings.