tiramisu: stockholm weekend pics, get out of town

we rented a car - a volvo - this weekend and explored a couple of medieval towns outside of stockholm, on the hunt for castles. it was a blue sky, freezing, bright kind of weekend :)

sigtuna

sigtuna was sweden's first town, founded in the 10th century. it sits by lake malaren where kai enjoyed playing with the iced over lake. we explored the church ruins (during the middle ages, 7 stone churches were built by wealthy individuals), viking stones, the town hall, and the quaint main street (many of the wooden buildings and houses are from the 18th century). much was closed when we visited, including the castle we sought out, but you still got a sense of what it was like way back when.

a bellfry

the town hall built in 1784

boys playing with rocks and ice

mariefred

mariefred is my favorite of the two towns. picturesque, tiny, with a lovely castle across the water. i can't put my finger on it except to say that it has a lovely charm about it, even during the cold winter day we visited. i can only imagine it gets better in the summer months so we've already made a mental note to return for a relaxed weekend getaway.

i loved the narrow streets with the all the red wooden houses. i read that the colour is named falu red, after a copper mine because that particular red is caused by the mine's coppery residue. the church, dating from the mid 1600s, sits on a hill overlooking the town; it's white colour a lovely contrast to the red houses. fine art exhibitions from both swedish and other artists can be seen at the grafidkens hus; there were lovely things to buy in there. and then the train station that was restored and brought back to life as a vintage steam train station made you feel like you stepped back in time.

the main attraction was gripsholm castle. it was built in the 14th century and sits right by the lake. guys, it's a fairy-tale castle. after we strolled the grounds we went inside - thankfully it was open. the interior design is from the 16th to 19th century and also features a theatre. there are a staggering amount of rooms, corridors, and staircases. best of all, the castle is filled with portraits, over 5000 them. the portraits are mostly of kings and other nobility and of course we didn't know most of them but i recognized a pic of benny andersson from abba :)