Stockholm part 2

the view outside of my hotel window.

view at night

this church became a major landmark as we walked around the city to find our way back to the hotel

Day 1

Julia wanted to do a lot of souvenir shopping and this place had the best.  It reminded me of the name for the Relief Society in Norwegian, which is Hjelpe Foreningen 

Still love the manhole covers

Random views of the city

Narrow streets in the old part of the city

We stopped for lunch and then split an order of Swedish pancakes for dessert off of the children's menu

We visited The Vasa Museum, which is named after the Vasa ship.  The king at the time commissioned this giant ship, which everyone warned him wouldn't sail because the proportions were all off, but he didn't care.  It sailed for about 20 minutes and then sank.  It was preserved in the ocean for centuries and finally dug up in the 1950's.  

At the end of the tour I saw this little guy walk around this statue until he found the perfect spot to rest his head.  I couldn't resist a photo.  

Another day we rode bikes to a city park, that has this restaurant inside where they grow their own food.  They also had their own little gift shop where I bought a book on Swedish "fika" and left my wallet.  

We got all the way back into town to return our bicycles before I realized.  We tried to call the place, using the receipt from the book I bought, but it had closed about 5 minutes earlier.  So then we tried to flag down a cab during rush hour.  It was a huge ordeal, but I was able to get my wallet back.  The woman that worked there was just as relieved to get back to me as I was to get it back.  I asked if I could hug her, and she seemed apprehensive, but I did it anyway.  

Stockholm at night.  I love it here! 

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!