Stockholm Sightseeing

Our two days in Stockholm were full of 

And...

And great Swedes - Meet Markus, Martina and Elizabeth. If ever in Stockholm, it is highly recommended you find some great people like these to show you around.


Day 1 - Sweden National Day

What a better way to start a day of celebration but with breakfast and a toothpaste container of kaviar. When in Sweden, do as the swedes do. I have mixed feelings and believe it is probably an acquired taste, but I don't think I will work on acquiring it on this trip.

The rest of the Swedish breakfast was outstanding: meats, cheeses, bread, and cucumbers.

Then, off to roam the streets.

First stop, the farmers market.

We had the most amazing famous Swedish strawberries. Thanks Markus!

Found Mandy a shirt.

Then, thanks to National day, the castle was free to enter and enjoy. It was over the top and fascinating. But regretfully our whole group declared ourselves rule followers and did not use our cameras. No worries though, I am sure you can find the pictures online from EVERYONE else there that day. We might have been the only people in the building following the rules.

There was a cannon show...

And a marching band on horses (or is that a horse riding band?)

Then, Fika! The Swedes really know how to do everything right. Fika is one of those great things, I would like to continue when we return. My understanding of their definition of Fika is "time to sit and have coffee and a sweet treat." Best if done twice a day. So, here is where we spent our first fika. It was a little streetside cafe with great people watching.

And delicious treats: mud cake and caramel cake.

More walking along the water....

And more boat shoes...

We had a second Fika at a cute little bar restaurant, this time with beer instead of coffee and of course more treats.

Then, on our way back to the apartment to get ready for dinner, we ran into this Swedish drinking party. Here is my best description, it was a circle of Swedes all wearing Swedish flag colors. They took turns going into the middle, shouting, performing a brief jig, drinking, and then everyone else would drink too. It was fantastic!

For dinner, we met Elizabeth and ate down in the basement/cellar of what Kelly kept calling "the castle."

The food looked so good, Mandy wouldn't even let Johan come near here burger.

And I had three types of potato dishes and two types of sausages. Yum!

Just another shot to show the dungeon like room we were in.

Since the sun was of course still not down... We went on for more drinks

And more treats. Catching the theme?

Ended the first full day in Sweden, full of delicious food and cocktails. Thank you to our under paid and very appreciated team of Swedish guides!

Day 2: More Stockholm

We lucked out! More time with Markus and Martina. We discussed breakfast out again, but instead decided to take advantage of our real Stockholm apartment kitchen.

Johan made us our own Swedish breakfast.

Matched with the delicious bread brought from Martina's favorite bakery, it was very nice.

We said our sad farewells to our friends, wished them a happy happy wedding coming soon, and were off...

Forgive the many, many pictures, it was just too pretty to stop.

Even though we felt like taking up a spot next to this kid in the courtyard...

We mustered up energy for a quick burst of learning, the Nobel Prize Museum.

So many amazing facts to learn, thanks to so many of our world's innovative and awe-inspiring people.