The Charm of Gamla Stan

There’s good enough reason why all roads in Stockholm lead to Gamla Stan or the Old Town. It has a really old town charm that promenading through its narrow cobblestoned streets gives you a feeling of being part of its glorious past.  

Gamla Stan dates back to medieval times as early as the 13^th century. It was then Sweden’s center of government and commercial trade with its neighbors around the Baltic Sea. The baroque-style Royal Palace, the Royal Chapel (Stockholm Cathedral) and The Parliament buildings are built around it. 

The town houses one sees along the Old Town today were built during the 17^th and 18^th century.  They look old and faded yet their rustic exteriors are what draw one’s attention to this piece of history.   

I was especially captivated by the medieval-looking building doors and the meter-wide alleyways separating the residential structures from one another.  Passing through them is like crawling through secret passages where the clicking of one’s footstep is the only sound one hears.  The energy from the main road cannot be missed as it is lined with a mishmash of the old and new, souvenir shops, specialty boutiques, restaurants, ice cream and coffee stops.  Throngs of tourists were coming from all directions; this medieval part of town was as alive as it must have been in the glory days of the horse-drawn carts. 

We just had to check out one of Old Town’s traditional café’s as the noontime stroll along this labyrinth of mustard town houses and narrow passageways left us yearning for some foot rest and thirst-quenching break.  The hubby recommended I try his favorite coffee tandem – a slice of melt-in-your-mouth Budapest cake, made of layers upon layers of cream filling flecked with ground walnuts and dried fruits. It was so rich and invigorating; this number was certainly no piece of cake for the tummy!

We returned to Gamla Stan a day before leaving the city to pick up some travel souvenirs and of course take more photographs of this charming place.  I was hoping it would be less crowded on our second visit but it seemed that the  irresistible Stockholm summer  was drawing more and more visitors to what was once a slum area in the middle of the 19^th century but has now become today’s most sought address.