I'm not sure if you remember what I said while writing my travelogues, but I loved 'markets.' When you go to a market, you can confirm the atmosphere of that country. And I think a market is really a space that can show people's daily lives. The motto of my travels was 'everydayness,' so going to markets might be only natural, but I've never seen any friends who go to markets while traveling, so I again wondered whether I'm trying to do a different kind of travel. Haha.. Well, department stores are actually the same everywhere, but markets are a little different. If a market still has lots of people, I think that country is a livable country. As for where this place is, it's here.
You can follow the link. I linked it to the concert hall, and there's a plaza nearby. If you go into the market from that plaza, this place appears..
The market was held in that plaza I linked earlier; I hadn't expected it, but it was quite a fine sight. An atmosphere that goes well with the night scenery, neither noisy nor too quiet—for me it was a decent place. This was a photo I took on the night of the second day. So where did I go on the third day..
I went straight to Gamla Stan. People kept saying Gamla Stan, Gamla Stan when you go to Stockholm, so I was curious and went. But it was a snowy day and it was morning, so there wasn't much; even coming back later, it's a street I don't think I'd find that interesting..
This is where, if you come out toward the waterfront from Gamla Stan, a space like this opens up where you can take photos. I think it was the eastern side of the island where Gamla Stan is located.. Hmm, it's not that I had no expectations, but I walked on again carrying a touch of disappointment. Walking and walking, the place I went was the 'King's Garden.' In Swedish it's Kungsträdgården.
If you look closely, you can see children skating; they had set up a skating rink in this park so children could come out and skate. Just like putting a skating rink in the park in front of Seoul City Hall.. But the atmosphere would be different—here the surrounding buildings are extremely low, whereas Seoul City Hall really gives off the feeling of being 'in the middle of the city.' Of course, the people here probably feel that way too, but after a trip to Seoul, wouldn't they feel that this isn't as much of a city as that..
I took a photo of a bookstore I passed on the way from the King's Garden to a nearby department store. I didn't go inside, but the bookstore is really lovely.
So after stopping by the bookstore, the place I arrived at is the Swedish Royal Library. By the way, the Swedish Royal Palace is in Gamla Stan too. Anyway, so the Royal Library—just like I went to a library in Ghent, I visited here too. Because when you go to a library you can get a sense of that country's atmosphere.. But the library wasn't as big as I'd thought, though it was still rather lovely in its own way..
Both last time and this time, I couldn't take photos with people in them. There were so many people that I felt sorry to photograph them.. there's also respect for personal privacy, you know.
This is a photo of the street located in front of the library. There's nothing special. It's just dark because the weather was overcast..
So I wrapped up the third day, and the next morning I take the Arlanda Express like this to the airport (Arlanda Airport).. You can use the bus too, but I didn't want to get confused and didn't want to miss it for no reason, so I used the train like this. I think it was 150 Swedish kronor.. I don't remember exactly. It'll help a bit if I post a photo of the ticket later..
I felt the difference just from a design like this. An airport's ceiling doesn't always have to be high. Well, of course Incheon Airport in Korea has a high ceiling—very—and Hong Kong is high beyond mention, but European airports aren't always high. Among European airports, the buildings that weren't newly built and have a bit of age are usually low, and I thought that when they're low like that, making the information this way instead of having you look up has this kind of utility. It's a quite efficient design, made so people can recognize it at a glance. Usually the 'displays' that show flights are either hung from the ceiling for advertising and space efficiency, or hung up very high—one of the two. More people can see them and unused space can be saved, but I don't think it's people-friendly. But this Stockholm international airport felt, just from my immediate impression, truly friendly. Design that takes eye level into account is precisely this kind of thing..
I think Stockholm's beauty was less than Copenhagen's, but that beauty comes from the 'downtown,' so it has a slightly different feel. Looking only at the beauty of the downtown, Copenhagen was more impressive, but considering the surrounding environment too, Stockholm was also a fine city. There's a lot to learn from, the subway stations are especially beautiful, and although Gamla Stan was disappointing, the wealthy district I went to at the very start (other than Gamla Stan) (https://www.google.co.kr/maps/place/%C3%96stermalms+Saluhall/@59.3381108,18.0604259,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x3d784e22bab4355a!8m2!3d59.3362346!4d18.0774906?hl=ko) was impressive, so if you wander the streets near here you'll be able to get the feeling that it's quite sophisticated.
There's one fact I left out: when it comes to stylish people, Stockholmers are number one...
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