Stockholm, Sweden - August 22 through August 25, 2008

Stockholm, Sweden

Taking advantage of the August bank holiday weekend, Annie and I headed to Stockholm, Sweden. It was our first (and hopefully not last) trip to Scandinavia. We were both very excited for our trip as Annie is a fan of IKEA , Volvos, ABBA and Swedish design and I am a big fan of Swedish death metal. It did not disappoint! Stockholm delivered on all fronts and proved a great weekend destination. It was so different than any other city we have visited, consisting of a number of islands with beautiful streets and parks to explore. It took some time to get our bearings but with a good map (or two) we were able to figure out the main islands and the bridges. Walking shoes were a must in Stockholm as we did a ton of it!

The charming streets of Södermalm

3+

1. The island of Djurgården. We took a ferry to Djurgarden in order to see the Vasa Museum and Skansen, both of which we would highly recommend to anyone visiting Stockholm. The Vasa Museum houses the preserved royal warship Vasa, a ship that sunk on her maiden voyage in 1628. In the 1950's it was discovered on the bed of the Baltic by an amateur archaeologist and was recovered, restored and put on display. The ship is quite spectacular to see and the museum has extremely good exhibits. Before exploring the museum we watched the 25 minute video that provided a good overview of the ship's history and is worth watching. Skansen, a short walk away, is the world's oldest open air museum and represents how Swedish people live in the various parts of the country, highlighting their living accommodations, dress, occupations and even the native animals. It reminded us a bit of the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii, but Swedish...and better. Skansen provides an interesting view into rural Swedish life and is a great place to spend an afternoon if you have an interest in learning more about Swedish life. We read that Midsummer's celebrations and a Christmas market are held in Skansen, both of which are probably great experiences. (Top photo: The island of Djurgården, Nordiska Museet (left) and Vasamuseet (right), Bottom photo: Grass covered house, Skansen)
   
2. Annie loved all the shopping and has plenty of souvenirs to prove it! She was very pleased with all of the traditional goods made at Skansen and picked up Swedish glass ornaments for ourselves and our families. The clothing shops and home stores also drew her in and she made sure to fill up any empty space in our suitcase! I personally liked all the record stores especially Repulsive Records.
3. The bakeries in Stockholm are unbelievably good. We never knew the Swedish were such baking experts! The bread that was served at our hotel every morning was perfect first thing in the morning and the cinnamon buns, kanelbulle, were a great way to get a sweet fix. Our favorite Swedish treat was the sockerkringla, a sugar coated doughnut that reminded us of the malasadas we have enjoyed in Hawaii.

Sockerkringla from Skansen Bakery

3-

1. We were not thrilled with the food in Stockholm. We imagine that Swedish food is an acquired taste and in the short time we were there we didn't acquire a taste for much of it, other than for the baked goods. We were surprised though to find that 7-11 has a very strong presence in Stockholm, starting at the airport and continuing on to many of the streets. We haven't seen a 7-11 outside of America before and would have never imagined we would encounter them in Sweden!
   
2. Stockholm is pricey. The shock was not quite as bad coming from London but even so it is definitely not a value vacation destination.
   
3. We didn't have nearly enough time in Stockholm! There were more things that we would have liked to do but didn't have the time to. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see all the interesting museums, take a boat tour or visit IKEA (poor Annie!).