TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

I just realized that I forgot to blog the open-air concert at Riddarholmen in Gamla Stan, Stockholm. Riddarholmen is an islet connected to Gamla Stan, the old town centre. Open-air concert at Riddarholmen (Gamla Stan, Stockholm, Sweden). In Riddarholmen, there is a wide promenade that has beautiful panoramic views to Riddarfjärden. Here I witnessed an open-air concert. People sat patiently on the promenade steps waiting for the concert to start. I also saw that the concert organisers were collecting money so I guess the concert was not free at all, however, the area is so open you can just sit several meters away and watch the concert for free. Because I don’t speak Swedish and I didn’t want to ask people as well about the concert, that’s exactly what I did. I sat several meters away, and listened to the concert. Riddarholmen’s famous resident is the Riddarholmskyrkan (Riddarholmen Church), the burial and memorial place of many Swedish monarchs. The church is from the Francisca...

After my eventless search of Stockholm’s subway art and joyriding , I went shopping at the PUB which is also where my hotel is located . It’s still raining cats and dogs and cows outside and even though I have an umbrella courtesy of my hotel, I was not in the mood to walk outside. No one in their sane mind would. Late lunch at Stortorget: Räksmörgås and going against the trend pairing it with a red. I also went to have a quick coffee at the café corner of the building where I had a yummy delicacy—munched a tiny crunchy croissant filled goodie stuffed with lemon. It was really good! I wish I knew the name. The rain slowed down a bit in the early afternoon when I took the metro back to Gamla Stan. I am meeting an old colleague in Stortorget. She is Swedish with South Asian roots. We used to work together at F years ago in Amsterdam. The last time I saw her was her going away party at her apartment in the centre of Amsterdam. I remember liking her apartment, quite spacious with...

13th century old Gamla Stan is small so it’s easy to see everything on foot in just a few hours. Like in most of my travels, I try to get lost in the narrow alleys and cobbled stone streets. Stockholm’s medieval Gamla Stan has enough of them so that was a delight. Its location is very dramatic and unique—in a little island. To see a googlemaps sattelite view of Gamla Stan, go here: Gamla Stan . Ah, Stockholm is indeed beautiful, no wonder she is called the capital of Scandinavia. I will let the pictures below do the talking. This is one of the charming tiny pockets of Gamla Stan -- Branda Tomten, a triangular corner/mini square with houses in different colours. Next: A few more of Gamla Stan and Stockholm.... Travel Period: August 2011 Destination: Gamla Stan, Stockholm, Sweden

Sweden is one of the few monarchy countries that still practice traditional royalty rituals like the changing of guards. These guards are called Swedish Royal Guards and they play an integral part of guarding the Stockholm Royal Palace as well as the Drottningholm Palace where the Swedish Royal Family lives. I was quite lucky the day I was in Gamla Stan because when I passed by the Kungliga Slottet (Royal Palace) the change of Royal Guards was on the way. I don’t think it was very spectacular but it was nice. Upon closer look on some of the guards, I noticed they were curvy and they have thicker breasts. Then I realized that they were women! There were quite a number of them in fact. Did you know that there are 1430 rooms in Stockholm’s Royal Palace? The Swedish Royal Family comes from the House of Bernadotte. I am not really a royal fanatic (nor a celebrity fanatic—they are only people like us!) and I would not want to be in their shoes as well, unless of course if I would fall under ...