Stockholm, I think, is a great city to visit at any time of year, even in December, when daylight hours are only six hours. Especially since the airfare isn't going to get any more expensive, despite the slight depreciation of the ruble against the euro: three days before departure, I bought my ticket for eight thousand rubles.
There are still quite a lot of tourists in Stockholm in December, but it seems that ninety percent of them are in the old town – Gamla Stan.
Riksgatan street, which runs between the two wings of the Swedish Parliament building.
What always surprises me is how much almost all tourists love to sleep in. It would seem that December has very little daylight in northern Europe, and by three o'clock in the afternoon it's already pitch dark, so why not get up early? And it's not even early morning, around ten o'clock, and Stortorget is completely deserted.
On the right is the former Stockholm Stock Exchange, now the Nobel Museum.
These houses can be seen on almost the majority of Stockholm souvenir magnets or plates.
Stockholm Cathedral Storkyrkan, or St. Nicholas' Church.
View of the cathedral's bell tower from Storkyrkobrinken street.
An obelisk in honor of King Gustav III. Erected after the Russo-Swedish War of 1788-1790, which the Swedes started.
The Royal Palace. A medieval fortress once stood on its site; it burned to the ground at the end of the seventeenth century.
The palace is one of the largest in Europe: it has 608 rooms.
The Royal Palace is both a functioning residence and a museum (several museums, to be exact), but this time there was no time to visit it, except to stop by for a few minutes to wait out the rain 🙂
But I did get to see the changing of the guard at the palace. Not too impressive, to be honest.
Streets of Gamla Stan.
View of the Tyska kyrkan (German Church).
And this is she.
The interior of the German Church does not look very Protestant.
You can look at the numerous stained glass windows for a long time.
Bono's seventeenth-century palace on Slottsbacken. Bono was a Swedish merchant of the time, not the frontman of U2.
A monument to Olaus Petri at the cathedral. One of the leaders of the Swedish Reformation.
Shop windows in Gamla Stan.
What does the inscription "ELEPHANT" mean?
And one more thing.
Source: travel.ru