A full day in Surakarta. Checked out the residence of the Prince. My Actifit Report Card: February 15 2026
Today my wife and I are in Surakarta / Solo. I'll just say Solo because it is easier :) Of course we have a great hotel breakfast to start the day but after that my wife wanted to explore. Now there are a number of things to see in Solo but we limited it to the Princes palace (The Sunan/King palace is undergoing renovations) and the Butik (Boutique?) as both were within walking distance from the hotel.
First up was the green room. Named because it it green :) Huge reception hall for formal royal functions. Built over 300 years ago in the 17th century and functional until this day which is kind of cool. The most interesting things for me? There was a center square right in the middle of the room so the Prince would know where to stand to address the room. There was a gigantic musical instrument (Gambol?) which is played at formal events. There are actually two of them, one of them is the original instrument from hundreds of years ago. Personally I thought it looked like the serving dishes at the hotel buffet in the morning :)
Then of course there was the "off limits" red carpet leading to the royal and holy area. We didn't head that way obviously.
The first image and those two above were from the women's garden/area. There was one place for the women and one for the men. The Prince still lives in the men's area. There prices sisters and cousins come to visit and stay in the women's area but as they weren't home we were allowed to go through.
There was a formal greeting hall, formal dining area, lots of family pictures and cool statues along with gigantic bird cages... But I don't want too many pictures :)
Outside the Princes residence we went to a cool shopping area for "used" items. You could also say antique but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. There were lots of little stalls with memorabilia, junk, clothes and lots of other stuff.
As much as I was tempted to find some trinket to take home there is no room in the luggage so it all has to stay there. Still, it was really cool to see all the stuff piled high :) I kept thinking there might be something magical under a bunch of kitsch and crap but when I don't speak the language I'm sure there is a story to be told that I just don't know and never will.
I'm also certain my Dad would have loved it.
Then we wandered down the narrow streets of the botik area. Personally I just sat in the coffee shop and had some hot chocolate. My wife found a bunch of clothing stores and bought a few items. I really loved the feel ... And the fact that there were no cars... Although a few scooters motored though which was a little annoying.
After that it was back to the hotel for a nice dinner and time to relax after a day of exploring. Not bad for 9.5K steps :)
This report was published via Actifit app (Android | iOS). Check out the original version here on actifit.io