After one loop we gave up with the hop-on-bus, too slow. We walked to the Old Town and wandered through the cobble-stoned streets and alleyways. Some areas are very touristy and others less so. We stumbled upon this Italian cafe in a courtyard where we could sit and eat lovely salads and pasta in relative peace. The courtyard was reached through an arched doorway and in a 20 by 20 metres square with mixed buildings accessing it, residential on top with business on the ground the floor.
Interesting to see how new (relatively newer) buildings are built on top of the foundations of older.
Here are some pictures to show what the place is like. Remember that some places we choc full of tourists, I just don’t take crowd pictures ! I think the cruise ship passengers seem to follow each other rather than adventure out into the less busy areas. (a lot of the passengers were a bit badly behaved here – surprising)
On our second day we gave up walking through the old town, the number of cruise boat passengers had exceeded comfort level. Too many people and in particular too many people smoking.
It is very common to see scaffolding on the older buildings, there is a need for constant maintenance.
Last task was to find the narrowest street. This is a street, it has a name and houses use it as an address.
“Mårten Trotzigs gränd (Swedish: “Alley of Mårten Trotzig”) is an alley in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Leading from Västerlånggatan and Järntorget up to Prästgatan and Tyska Stallplan, the width of its 36 steps tapers down to a mere 90 centimetres (35 in), making the alley the narrowest street in Stockholm”
On our way back to the hostel we walked down another alley and found this grand circular court yard and no people.
Next – A visit to the Vasa Museum