Levels

After breakfast, I headed to Kungsträdgården tunnelbana station and rode the blue 10/11 to Fridhemsplan and I transferred to the green 17/18 to Brommaplan. Then I followed the other tourists to the blue 176/177 bus and after a 7 minute ride was at Drottningholm Palace.

Despite the several transfers, the public transport here is frequent and clean and I arrived in about 50 minutes.

Drottningholm which means the “Queens Islet” was the summer residence of the Swedish Royal family and is actually their current home. A photo below:



From the road, you walk up the path and enter on the east side of the Palace. Here’s the staircase:



I purchased a combination ticket that includes the Chinese Pavilion and started walking through the royal apartments, library, ballroom, and other rooms:













Here’s a view of the baroque gardens from the palace window which I explored as well:









I also popped into the Royal Chapel:



But apparently the most famous sites here are the Theater and the Chinese Pavilion which helped the Palace become the first UNESCO heritage site in Sweden.

I purchased the supplement ticket from the theater foundation for a 30 minute tour which explained that it’s one of the few 18th century theaters in Europe that uses its original stage machinery. The theater had not been used for a long time and therefore never modernized. Operas and performances are staged in the summer only with the stagehands still operating everything by cranks, wheels, pulleys, and other mechanics:





I laughed during the tour as there were some props in an IKEA bag and I joked to the tour guide that they clearly use the iconic large blue bags here too. He said every household has one and is perfect for laundry.

In visiting the Chinese Pavilion, I learned it was a gift to the Queen replete with Chinese inspired design and interior decorations. This is where the royal family used to isolate themselves for more privacy and relaxation:





After my visit, I could have waited for a private ferry that runs only during the summer to bring me back to the city center. But as it was chilly and a bit of a wait, I hopped back on the bus and took the metro to Hötorget where I wanted to explore more neighborhoods. Here, there were pretty flower arches:



I personally had not done as much research and had been relying on Google maps for suggestions and stumbled upon Brunkebergstunneln. Stockholm has levels and hills and they had created this photogenic pedestrian and bike path through the neighborhood:





I walked around the neighborhood, window shopping, and checking out the secondhand shops. I popped into a grocery store and a Svensons which felt like a Swedish Crate & Barrel. I do love the minimalist Scandinavian design aesthetic and wanted to sit in their many lounge chairs.

As I tried to get lost in the city, I found myself back in the busy central plaza…



And back at Sergels Torg where I rested at a coffee shop and enjoyed a chai latte:



On my way to Tak, the rooftop Nordic Japanese restaurant that was recommended to me, I stumbled upon an IKEA City in the mall:



I didn’t realize the restaurant was a rooftop as it just said it was in the Galleria…



I ordered a Grenache rosé and the chef tasting menu which included oyster with ponzu, shokupan with mushroom, green pea guacamole, salmon sashimi, beef tataki, pork belly katsu with rice, and sake ice cream:



I then headed back to the hotel which was a 10 minute walk. But since I explored many levels of this city, here are some more photos of the artsy metro from today:





There are layers to Stockholm and Avicii’s global hit “Levels” continues to resonate in my head. Maybe it’s because I’ve been listening to Swedish pop music at night!