Europe

[Visited: January 2003]

Stockholm is arguably one of the most beautiful cities of Europe, and one of the reasons for this is that the city is built around an archipelago and stretches out to several little islands. In a cold winter, the water freezes sufficiently to allow for walks on the ice and see the city from a new perspective. While at first it was a little strange to set my feet on the ice of the sea, I quickly got very excited and walked around Stadshuset, or City Hall.
I was certainly not alone. There were scores of people on the ice, taking a stroll, walking their pram, walking their dogs, cross country skiing. Probably for them it was quite normal, but for me it was spectacular to see these wide sea waters completely frozen with a very thick layer of ice. I had taken my skates, but it had snowed a few days before and therefore skating almost impossible - hence the cross country skiers.
Walking around the harbour, I did see some small parts which were not frozen, for instance the area near Gamla Stan. Probably these are atrificially kept open to allow for birds to have some space to live in the wintery conditions. Otherwise, the view of the frozen archipelago was impressive. No more sound of waves against the quays, no more boats plying the waters. Although, yes, I did see one small boat struggling its way through a small stretch of loose ice, disappearing in the white fields.

Around the World in 80 Clicks

Personal travel impressions both in words and images from Stockholm Winter (Sweden). Clicking on the pictures enlarges them and enables you to send the picture as a free e-card or download it for personal use, for instance, on your weblog. Or click on the map above to visit more places close to Stockholm Winter.
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