Swedish delight

So – weekend before last we were supposed to have a little UK roadtrip... see a few friends, enjoy a day in the Cotswolds, relax, soak in the English countryside. Except, after what seemed like 8 weeks of rain, Ashley said – forget this, let’s get out of here, let’s go to... sunny Stockholm!

Er... as the pictures show, Stockholm was anything but sunny (of course until we took off) – but that doesn’t matter, was great to get away and see somewhere new, and I’d definitely recommend it. Especially in the sun.

It’s an incredibly walkable city (though hillier than I expected, built as it is across several islands). I saw a sign calling it ‘The Venice of the North’, but that’s not really accurate I suppose because it’s not canals running between the islands. And no gondoliers in stripy shirts.

We were only there 2 ½ days, but packed a fair bit in, including not one but TWO meatball meals (yum!) and I also tried a reindeer steak (think I preferred the meatballs). And – double yum – pickled herring, though not nearly as prevalent as I thought it would be. Oh yeah - we did more than eat. Though Ashley did like the chocolate balls at Wayne's Coffee - the Starbucks of the North. (until Starbucks buys them and becomes the Starbucks of the North themselves...)

One great visit was to Skansen, in the Djurgarden (a greenery-filled, er, garden island that also boasts an amusement park). Skansen is sort of like the Williamsburg of the North, though no peanut soup. And not as commercial. They did have old buildings brought from various parts of Sweden, in an attempt to show a variety of old Swedish life across the country – including tradesmen (and women) in period clothing. Skansen also had representative flora & fauna – so we saw the home of the Moose. Ok, it was really an elk, but hey, pretty much the same thing, right? (I'm sure the nice lady at Mooseworld would disagree!)

On the opposite entertainment spectrum, we tried out the Absolut Ice Bar – a bit surreal, and very touristy... and I’m not even a big vodka fan. But glad we went – a bit strange to be in an ice room, drinking from cups made out of ice, sitting on ice benches (we were glad to see they were covered with reindeer pelt throws).

One thing I really liked about Stockholm? Outdoor (and even some indoor) restaurants / cafes have blankets for their customers! Nice little polar fleece lap blankets in many places, a little better than what you get on the airplane – and just perfect for an al fresco meal even when it’s al frio weather. And much more environmentally friendly than heat lamps! Hmm... once again, that implies all we did was eat. Well... it *was* raining after all!