Day 10, Make it Last- Day 5 in Stockholm-Part 1

10pm Monday night

Today was our last full day in Stockholm and we ate very sad that we couldn't change our plans because the airline wanted an additional $400 plus from each of us plus the hotel was going to be a small fortune so we will not be returning to this fair city. Tomorrow we are off to Gotland a lovely island off the Swedish coast, just finished.
I didn't sleep last night the sun going down at midnight and coming up at 2:30am really messes with your head. So this morning was a hard start and my partner was kind enough to make all the phone calls to attempt to change our reservations to stay in Stockholm which you already know didn't work out. Got breakfast at the Rival cafe which was pretty awesome for 109 sek (about $16), greek yoghurt with walnuts and honey, 3 min egg, slices of cheese, giant scone, jam & butter, a piece of fruit( I got a banana), mini tube of caviar, orange juice, & tea.



Debra met me and we went shopping, I finally got my clogs!!! I'll post them when I wear them also bought a silk/cotton scarf and a cute tiny embroidered bag.

We stopped in at Blooms again and got delicious cardamon buns and a chai latte as an afternoon snack. The cafes have ground cardamon to put in your chai or coffe. Debra tried on some dresses in a couple of a shops, they have a lot of linen clothing oddly enough.



We went into a fabric store,Tygverket, and I wasn't impressed for the prices, you couldn't find hardly any fabrics for under 395 sek/meter ($50). Some of the prints were nice and they had Liberty but also $50/ meter.





We needed to go into a pharmacy which they call an Apotek here and we found a few interesting items






These sat alongside your run of the mill products like toothpaste.
Stockholm's a pretty easy going city when it comes to sex, there's a free to be you and me attitude and Debra found out that when you turn 15 years old there's a law that says "you're in charge of your pants!"
After our shopping we went for lunch, at 5pm, to Pelican another traditional Swedish food pub.



I had the Pytti-i-Pana, which is a beef hash with a fried egg and a side of pickled beets. Debra had more pickled herring and Grubba which is an anchovy egg salad.







We started off to a nearby park and we cane across this in the window of a maternity store



Don't think you'll ever see a logo like that in the States unless it's followed by XXX.
We got to a park not the park we were looking for and decided to hang out for a bit in the sun. It was a small park but hilly and trash free. Lots of twenty-something year olds drinking and frolicking.



After the park we headed to Mosebacke the outdoors bar/ restaurant that sits at the top of Sodermalm with some of the most amazing views of the city.



Mosebacke entrance



Moseback courtyard

It's 9:45 pm so we decided to go in search of dinner again. We can't seem to get on a regular eating and sleep schedule, the sun dupes us into thinking it's much earlier than what it really is. It definitely let's you have some guilt-free sleep-ins, and if you have limited time here you can pack a lot into a day.

On our way to find food we stop at the Katrina Hiss(hiss means elevator) which was built in the 1800's then rebuilt in the 1920's. This is a amazing overpass with a lift plus there's a bar, some of the best view of the city.




We went to a delicious meal at Sjōgrās (means seaweed, but not a seafood place. We both had the Risotto with asparagus, parmasean and a circulated egg of 64 degrees, yummy!!



Posted by misskitty1970

Day 9- To the Palace! Stockholm day 4

Gamla Stan

Started the day off with some brunch on the way to find our food we past a skate park that was really sweet and tons of kids were showing off.




Skate park

Brunch ended up at South of Folkugagatan, we had delicious paninis with hot beverages while sitting in the warm sun, then it was a race to get to the stores since they close at 4pm on Sundays.





First we hit Grandpa (that sounds bad), kinda a better Urban Outfitters, tried a few things nothing looked good. We walked some more in the neighborhood and then it hit us, in the gut, that is brunch did, then it was race to find a bathroom.





Looks innocent enough but it was the demon in my belly!!

After our bellies settled we took the T-bana to Gamla Stan and checked out the tourist shops and the palace, and tiny alleys. The palace guards were dressed in their royal garb and angry mugs it was not as impressive as I was expecting. We stopped in to a candy shop since candies are so much part of the culture we thought it would make a nice souvenir for friends. There's even loose candy bins at the Seven Eleven and in the subway newstands.
On the way back Debra and I parted ways on how we wanted to get back to the hotel. Debra walked over the mini bridge and I being super lazy took the T-bana up to Maria Torget.





In my train car there were three dogs, dogs are allowed on most trains without a carrier in Stockholm( more about dogs in Stockholm later), and one guy was pretty miserable he was crying the whole time while his owner slept. Poor little guy wanted to get off so bad he started following me off the train since I paid him attention.
Got back to the Rival relaxed for a bit, had some tea at the self-service bar in the hotel, then got ready for dinner.






Debra had been jonesing to go to Nytorget Urban Deli in SOFO, so we got a nice table there with great food and service. Lovely restaurant attached to a gourmet market where some of their ingredients come from. I ordered the charcuterrie plate, that came with breasola, procuitto, sopressata, giant capers and wasabi olives. Then Debra got the cheese plate, that came with a creamy brie like cheese, a blue cheese, and another delicious cheese we aren't sure about, accompanied by fig jam and sun raisins and some lovely breads.











Debra also ordered a warm wheatberry salad with entire roll of goat cheese.

We decided we turn in early since we wanted to get up early to try and change our plans to leave out of Stockholm instead of Copenhagen. On the way to the hotel we saw this





Gay Gnomes! WTF!!! Their snuggling after the fact, you can see unbuckled pant belts ;)
Love Stockholm!

Okay on a side note a just wanted to visit the topic of dogs in Stockholm. So I already covered dogs riding on the trains, which you will see signs on the individual train car windows a dogs allowed sign (no carriers necessary). At the pharmacy you will find a whole section for your dogs medical needs. And most important of all the docking of tails and surgical alteration if ears is illegal. You will see all the breeds that you see in the states without tails with a wagging tail. It's wonderful to see them express themselves with their tails. So please think about this the next time you see a Cocker spaniel or Neopolatin Mastiff or a Jack Russell.












- Posted by misskitty1970

Day 8-Runnin' from the Princess, Stockholm Day 3

Saturday we wake up up with one thought how do we avoid the Royal wedding because the crowds are going to be madness. I started out with a light breakfast (light being a relative term here) at the Rival cafe. The mini cheese sandwich was less then delicious but the ginger sugary treat was really good.


As I sat outside in the sunshine having my tea a little blue and yellow bird, smaller then a sparrow, landed at the edge of my plate and then a sweet Jack Russell came to hang out with me, it was nice to have some doggy company because I really miss my dogs.



Then off to do some shopping, my goal is to buy some clogs before I leave Sweden, so I tried Pure and Simple, they had one pair off Swedish Hasbeens and the store although it had amazing stuff was really pricey. Headed over to Hornsgatan and I went into the Swedish version of the Good Will everything was so clean and fresh, didn't get anything though. Kept walking until I reached this store Afro Art that had textiles from all over the world I ended buying two beautiful hand made embroidered pillows. Debra bought a lovely multi-colored scarf.








It was lunch time and the wedding was commencing we wanted to try to find a cafe in Djurgarden so we took the last ferry there to by pass Gamla Stan where the wedding was taking place. They were also shutting down the ferry from 4-6pm for security so we literally made the last ferry to Djurgarden. Got there we spent some time trying to find the cafe we realized that it was in Skansen their Ren Fair village in the park. We paid a whopping 120 kr for the entrance it turned out to be a very pretty historic village where all the buildings were indeed original architecture transplanted from different parts of the country to Skansen.


We walked and walked and no cafe so we settled for one of the restaurants in the village, I had a $24 chicken cesar salad, it was tasty but not $24 worth of tasty. We did get to watch the cannons blasting from the palace signifying the Princess' marriage. Skansen had amazing views of the city and of the palace. After we ate we met all the animals in the village there were, bears, wolves, seals, wolverines, moose with moose babies!! There were also some very well cared for farm animals.
Then we took the T-bana to the Odenplan station in Vasastan to a really nice and delicious restaurant Tranan. This place was definitely elegant and you need reservations which we had the hotel make for us earlier that afternoon.


We both ordered the same entree because it looked so good andvit was!!! A grated potatoe pancake with a huge wedge of lemon and toppings on the side, the toppings were roe, sour cream, chives, and onions, and you mix it all up and gobbled it down.






We were done with dinner at 10:30pm so we took the T-bana over to Sofo in Sodermalm and made our way to the Roxy bar a mix bar (gay/lesbian/straight) that was totally relaxed. We ordered two Leffe Blons and found a nice table to watch the Swedish Lesbians do their thing (hang out with their friends and drink).


Then went to bed at 2:30am and the sun was up.


- Posted by misskitty1970

Slussen & Smorsbord- day 7

Blooms cafe

Day 2 in Stockholm, pretty sweet. Started the day late but started it delicious at Blooms, ate a very fresh lox sandwich with lots of lemon and dill, the bread was soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside and very hardy.

Lox sandwich

Then I stopped in a local bookstore and of course the yarn store, Litet Nystan, on the next block. They had a very nice selection of Swedish an Danish wool but I cant wear wool so I went for some marled alpaca sock weight.

Litet Nystan

Then we took the T-bana at the Maria-Torget station which is half a block away from our hotel. The clip card was really pricey at 180 kr about $24 which gives you 8 clips it's like $3 a ride.


We rode to the Ostermalm stop which is 3 stops away to find 2 design stores that we couldn't afford, Svenskt Tenn where they have textiles by Josef Frank and the Carl Malmsten design store on Strandvagen. Both lovely and pricey.While in the stores it started to deluge outside so we just hung out as long as possible inside, thank god they had a WC.




Josef Frank print

Next stop Djurgarden. This is a massive park that is on it's own island with amusement park and Ren Fair village. Neither appealing to us but the park is full of cafes unfortunately the weather was not in our favor, so we took the ferry back to Slussen the ferry ride was pretty cool it afforded some great views. We even got to see the Swedish Navy including a submarine, all for the safety of the Princess' wedding on Saturday.


This ride is called INSANE! Well named. I will have to post the video so you can watch the death and torture contraption yourself.



Kvarnen

We got back to our hotel to dry off and head down to Kvarnen, a great pub/restaurant/club, well the club part sucks, but the food and beer delish! This was the best meal I've had our whole trip. We first got a massive basket of breads then our starter was 4 types of pickled herring with vats of beer! The herring had a cardomon, a remoulade, another mayonaise type and a basic flavor with tiny potatoes. Maincourse, we both ordered the same thing because the pub is known best for their Swedish meatballs entree it came with creamy mash potatoes, lingonberry sauce and gherkin pickles. We stuffed the last meatball and drank as much as humanly possible from our vats of beer, then headed into Sofo for a walk and to scope some bars.




4 types of herring (terrible pic)


Swedish meatballs, mash potatoes, ligonberry sauce

Okay so when I to the restroom I went to the last stall because it looked more spacious, when I got to the stall I did a double take when I saw a double toilet in the stall. Is this for BFFs that can't be separated even when they need to use the toilet??? Anyone?


So we went to our hotel after checking some bars for our Saturday night in Stockholm, I know lame we should have gone into some place Friday but grandma(me) and sicky(Debra) were too tired.

Here's midnight