Sunny Stockholm

It's a big claim, wait for it... there is no better city in the world to be when the sun is shining than Stockholm! There is lots of water around, lots of places to sit and relax, and lots of outdoor cafes and great icecream shops! It feels great just to cycle or walk around the city at this time of year, such a vibrant atmosphere!

I have made two trips there over the past three weekends. First I headed up with Steph and Jon, a last minute organised trip, but definitely worth the effort. We headed up on the Saturday night, and just took it easy around the south island of Södermalm, not wanting to exhaust ourselves before a big day of sightseeing. First stop was Gamla Stan, the Old Town, where we managed to see the Changing of the Guard, which was interesting enough. Also was nice to spend a bit of time wandering around, exploring all the side streets and alleys. Quite a touristy area of Stockholm, but with good reason.

From here we headed up to Östermalm, which is the posh part of town. Did some nice people watching here, sunglasses as big as your whole face seem to be in fashion around here, just a tip if you are in the area! After this, we headed over to the island of Djurgården, relaxing by the water and enjoying the great views to be had over the city.

After heading back to Linköping for a few hours, the next day I was back to Stockholm and on the way to Germany, which you can read about in the previous entry. Getting back from Germany on the Tuesday after Easter, I was on my way back to Stockholm again on Friday the 13th, to have a 24th birthday celebration weekend! Going back a few hours, I headed to the city centre in Linköping to party it up with my friends at one of the few nice bars in town, Platå. I had a nice evening, topped off with a couple of surprise visitors from Germany, Jenny and Silke, so it was nice to see them again as well!

A not so thrilling seminar at uni took up too much of my birthday time, but after that it was off to the station, where my friend Jule and I headed to Stockholm, making the train just in time. I decided I wanted to forget about the crazy prices in Stockholm for one night, so we went out for a delicious dinner at a Thai restaurant in Östermalm, then headed to a café in Vasastan (another part of town), topped off to a cool Cuban salsa bar also in Vasastan, where I made sure I enjoyed a birthday Mojito! Though I didn't indulge in any salsa dancing, I left that to Jule

On Saturday, we headed out to enjoy an action-packed day around Stockholm in the sunshine, which was exhausting enough that Saturday night was spent relaxing at the hotel watching the Ice Hockey finals, which our local team here in Linköping, the Lions, unfortunately lost, so that was a little disappointing.

On Sunday, we borrowed some bikes from the hotel, and made our first stop on the island of Kungsholmen, to visit the City Hall. We took a guided tour of the building, hearing some interesting facts, as well as seeing where the Nobel Prize banquet is held every December. Another must see stop in Stockholm. It is well located, looking over the water, so we took this chance to cycle along the coast, enjoying the water scenery and further sunshine.

After an obligatory stop for ice cream, we headed over to the island of Djurgården to visit the outdoor museum of Skansen. We caught up with a friend of Jule's, and spent a nice hour or so wandering around and seeing some of the animals that were living there, including the big brown bears which had come out of hibernation - that was a highlight for me! From here we headed to an outdoor café nearby, enjoying once again the sunshine and perfect weather. Following one more stop for ice cream, the excitement began, with 50 minutes to head from the city on bike to the hotel on the outskirts of town, then catch the train back to the central station. Was expecting it to be straight forward, but coupling a stop for Jule to steal a poster advertising The Who in concert, with my chain falling off the bike as we cycled as fast as possible to get back in time, we really began to be pressed for time. A crazy dash from the hotel to the metro station got us there just in time for the next train, coming at 10 minute intervals at this time of day. This meant we would arrive at the central station at 7.47pm, in time to take our 7.50pm train back to Linköping. As soon as the train doors opened the mad dash began, darting and weaving through human traffic to make it from one part of the station to the other, stopping only long enough to check which platform we needed to go to. Thankfully it was one of the closest ones, and I was quite relieved to see it still sitting there when I arrived. I had left Jule behind, so I had a worrying moment for a few seconds as I waited for her to appear. But she did it, so we jumped onto the train within seconds of the doors closing, and weren't even sitting down before we were on the way home. Quite a bit of excitement to end the visit to Stockholm, certainly didn't waste one minute of time there!

So yes, that was my couple of visits to Stockholm! Have some photos online already, will put some more on ASAP. Better go to bed now, back on the road again tomorrow to visit a country I have never been to before, so looking forward to it. Stay tuned!