Journal no. 3

Sigtuna


We had 6 hours to kill before our flight back to Singapore, since we arrived at Arlanda airport from Copenhagen in the morning.
This cute little old town is within the same transport zone as Arlanda, so we stuffed our suitcases in the airport lockers (wasn't too expensive) and got bus info and single zone tickets from the tourist info counter person at the airport, who seemed in a hurry to get rid of us.
Sigtuna was 2 bus rides away, since we missed the direct bus.

The town was founded in 980, and contains the main old shopping street, with castle ruins, rune stones, a really old church and a lovely view of the bay.

We arrived with empty bellies and wanted to get some grub. It was nearly 2 pm so the lunch specials were nearly over. Surprisingly, we couldn't easily find any attractive / affordable eateries.
After walking up and down the main street, Stora gatan, in the hot sun, we decided on a okay looking place. It served okay food. I had salty stew on rice and mom had tuna and potatoes.

Then we went to find the tourist center and got a comprehensive map of the town.
This building here is the town hall, in fact, the smallest town hall in Sweden.
We went inside - it was only as big as 2 bedrooms!
The nice lady there said that it used to be a prison. Now it's a museum of sorts.

That's a view of Stora gatan, surrounded by old wooden buildings that have been painted in various pastels and re-purposed as shops. The ones of interest have a little plaque outside stating its history.

That's the edge of the town, ending with the huge lake / sea.
It's a park with people playing miniature golf and kids doing random stuff.

Ducks, boat, houses, trees, all very picturesque.
It feel wonderful just looking out at the expense of water.

Many houses near the park. This one has a bicycle for a gate!

I had to go see the ruins.
This, S:t Olaf church ruin, was one near St. Mary's.
This is the ceiling of St. Mary's Church. It was finished in 1255!

A fine example of medieval brick work.

The exterior looks very modern though.

Then we went back to the S:t Olaf's ruins next to the church.
It was already atmospheric in the middle of the day. Imagine what it would be like at dusk!

We went up a little hill that offered a view of the bay.
There was the klockbacken nearby too.

Another ruin. This was stunning.
S:t Peter's church ruins.

The tower looked fine, but all that remained from the rest of building were walls, pillars and arches.
There were mysterious stands in the high windows.
It was super cool.

To get relief from the sweltering heat, we got iced chocolate from the cafe on Stora gatan. It was nice!
And we got a cake too.

This is a cute book kiosk for people to borrow books freely.

Stora gatan again.
It's very sleepy.


And it was goodbye Sweden!

We went to the park to look at the water lapping at the pebbled shore and see people feed ducks.
Then it was time to catch the bus back to the airport for our flight to Helsinki, then home.