Stockholm

Day one in Stockholm was just me and Julia.  We were originally going to travel here by ourselves  while Heather and Trevor were in Switzerland for a wedding, then meet up with Heather in Iceland.  But then they decided to join us in Stockholm, which means that Trevor picked where we stayed.  He chose this beautiful hotel, Ett Hem, which used to be someone's home.  This is the common area.

Breakfast was included with the stay, as well as "fika" which is cake and coffee or tea every day around 3 pm, which proves that I am Swedish because that is right around the time I want a snack every day.  The first day we were there for fika, but the other days, we were out.  This is a cardamom cake with fresh strawberries.

Julia and I borrowed bicycles from the hotel to ride to dinner

Outside the hotel at night.  This is at 10 pm and is about as dark as it got.  

At the airport...

Malmö part 2

we visited this little church in town.  We had to wait for a wedding ceremony to end before we could go inside.

Upcoming concerts in Malmö

When the rain stopped

An exhibit on a bridge of famous peoples' shoes, cast in bronze.

Dinner of meatballs & lingonberries and mashed potatoes.

Next up, Stockholm...

Malmö

On the way to the airport in Oslo, I bought a few things that I miss and I wouldn't be able to get anywhere else.  Here is one of those things.... which their TSI wouldn't let me bring on the plane.  Is Nugatti a liquid or a gel? 

I got to Malmö, where I met up with Julia.  Her niece lives here -- she married a Swede last summer-- so they showed us around.  Julia wanted to go to this clog store, where she bought some super cute clogs like the ones on the sign.  

Love the manhole covers!

on the main street

We stopped in a food hall and had some of the BEST food.  

These "bullar" were so delish!!  

Cardamom and Vanilla Bullar (the first of many cardamom bullar)

It was raining a lot but in the afternoon the sun came out .

As we walked past this restaurant, I knew it looked familiar.  So we took a picture.

This is from 2011 when I was here before!

Olso part 2

Oslo has changed a lot since I lived there.  They closed down most of the streets downtown to cars, which makes it a really nice place for walking (and is also good for the environment).  They added this scooter-sharing program.  These scooters are scattered all around town and you can just find one, unlock it with an app on your phone, and then ride them around town.  When you are done, just leave it wherever you want.  

Oslo harbor. I took a ferry and I was the only one on the boat for the first part of the trip.  

One of the island stops, I jumped off the boat and took these pictures.

Another thing that has changed is that they built this Opera house, which must be good because my friend Trevor has come to Oslo twice for opera.  Approaching the Opera house from the boat.

this is an exhibit with shirts draped over all the wooden slats.  They are becoming discolored and tattered in the weather.  

More pictures of the Opera house. 

Here is a man-made iceberg.

I got off the boat and walked up and around the building.

Outside of the Grand Hotel.

I stopped in for hot chocolate and a "bolle". 

Statue of Henrik Ibsen outside the National Theater

My favorite yogurt

At Frogner Park 

I tried to find a Portuguese bakery and it was "stengt." 

By afternoon, the skies had cleared up.  

Here's a view of Karl Johan's and the famous Freia chocolate sign.  

Here is the best "bolle" I had at the airport leaving Oslo for Sweden.

And an Ericsson 5G sign for Jill's benefit at the airport.