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Published: July 11th 2017
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Our local pub serving great traditional Swedish food, Stockholm We spent four days in Stockholm ?? in total, from 1st to 2nd July, then again after our cruise on 9th to 11th July. The weather has been kind to us and we have walked our feet off, exploring this lovely city. Initially, we thought it was quite a dirty, old European city, in need of a good gurney, however, having seen in it overcast, raining and in full sunshine, our perspective has changed and we can definitely see the charm of this old city.
Originally we arrived from Oslo, by scenic train journey through the countryside to arrive at central station followed by a short walk to our hotel. It was in Öderplan, an easy walk to the old town, local restaurants and parks and to our bus to reach the Frihamnen port. Public transport if easily accessible and reliable Stockholm, though most things are an easy walk close to the city centre.
From the day we arrived, we wandered down to the old town, which is called Gamla Stan, a little island joined by bridges and roads and connected by ferries that take you everywhere. It was during a festival where there were many street performers. We
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Traditional Swedish food, Stockholm managed to see one through the crowds of people. There were thosands of people as several ships were in port, dropping off and picking up passengers to go across the Baltic Sea.
We walked down narrow, cobbled streets through a range of very modern shops to souvenir shops and cafes that lined the streets. We saw the Opera House, the Royal Palace, and several churches and cathedrals. We know we would have to return to explore after our cruise to see more detail.
We ate in a local restaurant, which felt like a pub, close to our accommodation that had been recommended by a Swedish lady in our hotel. The food was delicious. Marcus ate Swedish meatballs with mashed potato and lingonberry sauce and I ate a very thick bacon dish with a sauce and potatoes. They were both very tasty. Surprisingly, it was not so easy to find local food. We have seen every type of Western food, but not so much local food, we were pretty happy with our find. We had joked about going out to Ikea for Swedish meatballs if we could not find them, but even that was on the outskirts of Stockholm.
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Stockholm The following morning, we went out to local parks, suburban cafes and wandered around in the sunshine. There were families outdoors everywhere, children on playgrounds and really rustic parks set up for families to sit and watch their kids explore hand made objects that moved and made sounds. We were not sure if this is the way they always lived, but it was a weekend and summer and it was certainly a popular past time.
Since returning from our cruise, we walked down into the old town again to explore more details we thought we had missed. We walked along the waterfront, appreciating the buildings and their development from the 1600's to today. There we people everywhere as the weather was perfect. People were strolling, out on boats, cycling, kayaking, on buses and trams, sitting in cafes and restaurants watching the world go by. Meanwhile, we walked over to the Vasa museum, over near the Tivoli amusement park (which was extremely crowded), and Skansen open air museum and zoo. We visited the ABBA museum, which was fantastic- such warm memories of my sister and I singing and dancing as little girls. We had a lot of fun, laughing and
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Stockholm reminiscing. It was th first concert I had ever been to at the Myer Melbourne Music Bowl. I was only about seven at the time.
Marcus wanted to explore a local market, so we walked up to Karlaplan, home to Historiska Museet (filled with Viking history) and some very expensive real estate. Unfortunately, the Saluhall (market) was not open Sunday (which was a drizzly, cooler day), so we had to return again today (Monday).
This morning, the market was filled with gourmet foods and oysters that ranged from $2.50-$8 each, none of which were local. It was a very nice market, but was the temporary version as the original was under reconstruction (like so much of Stockholm). We also enjoyed local coffee, beer, cardamom buns, lemon licorice ice-cream as we wandered along streets, bridges, dodging cyclists and people walking French bulldogs and enjoying the sunshine. We bought a few souvenirs as we went and I managed to squeeze in a little clothes shopping in between.
We saw the Nobel Peace museum and the Royal Palace, but missed the changing of the guards. We crossed up to Fjällgatan- which has the most incredible views of the city and
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Old town Stockholm across to the trendy side of Stockholm. Saw the Ericsson Globe from a distance, which houses numerous sports and important presentations and guests who visit Stockholm, such as Pope John Paul II who held a mass there in 1989, as well as The Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela and performers such as Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Eurovision, a Jennifer Lopez, etc. We wandered around Medborgarplatsen which links the island Södermalm and the old town, between lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea.
With weary feet we took a break by the water at City Hall, a beautiful building which is the home of the Nobel Prize dinner, which houses a magnificent ballroom. This is beside Riddarholmskyrkan, the final resting place of the Swedish kings and Stockholm's only preserved medieval monastery church. We returned to our hotel for our final night, along the lovely, leafy canal which was buzzing with the energy of people exercising in the afternoon sun. We are going to a local restaurant, as we did last night so our batteries are charged for tomorrow as we return to Finland for our final leg of our trip.
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