Thursday, May 23, 2013

Stockholm

Vikings. Vasa. Meatballs.

For our long (Swiss holiday) weekend we visited the capital of Scandinavia - Stockholm!  It's a beautiful city straddling the Baltic Sea and Lake Mälaren, consisting of 14 different islands.  Much like Venice, the islands and waterways make for a pretty surrounding, but they also make transportation across the city tricky, requiring a network of bridges linking the different islands.




We started our visit by taking a walk around the Riddarfjärden bay, starting in Gamla Stam (the old town), across a bridge to Södermalm, across another long bridge to Kungsholmen, and finally another bridge to Norrmalm.  On the way, we popped into Mellqvist Kaffebar, a favorite haunt of the late Stieg Larsson (from Girl with the Dragon Tattoo fame).  Very cool! 


It was a nice day, but a bit overcast - perfect walking weather.  There were a lot of families out and about, as well as a ton of joggers.  Very outdoorsy.



The walk worked up our appetite so we headed to the Östermalms Saluhall food hall.  The hall contains old wooden stalls with vendors selling fresh vegetables and meats as well as a handful of small restaurants (which were packed).  We settled on a stall with two open seats at the bar and enjoyed our traditional Swedish meatballs, tart lingonberries  and parmesan pork.  Yum.



In the afternoon we took a free walking tour of the old town.  Kate even rubbed the city's smallest statue for good luck (I'm still waiting for a winning lottery ticket, dangit).


For dinner Matt made us ressies at a fun little gastropub serving small plates of delicious-ness.  The ceiling was decorated with suitcases and vintage luggage labels.  Eclectic but cool!  I think we have finally found a place more expensive than Switzerland.  Stockholm ain't cheap, especially the highly taxed liquor.


Sunday was our "museum" day.  We started our morning by visiting the Vasa museum (on another island), which contains the well preserved remains of the Vasa warship from 1628.  The cold water of the Stockholm harbor preserved the ship until it was exhumed in the 1960's.  Very impressive, indeed.

 
After the Vasa we walked to Skansen, the first outdoor open air museum containing historical buildings from all over Sweden (spanning multiple decades).



Following a quick lunch we took a late afternoon boat cruise traveling through two locks and under 15 bridges.  It was a great way to see the city from a different perspective (it looks like there are trails all along the water, filled with runners and walkers).




For dinner we had traditional Swedish food.  Kate went with the salted bacon in onion sauce with a side of potatoes (healthy right?), and Matt finally had Swedish meatballs with mashed potatoes.  It was good but heavy & filling (I guess you need hearty food to survive the cold, dark winters)!

On Monday the sun finally came out, allowing us to revisit some of our favorite sights to see them with the gorgeous blue sky backdrop.  Not only was it sunny but it was also pretty warm - it was warmer in Stockholm than in Basel.  Overall a great weekend.   





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