Liz, Jenna, Teddi and I decided to head off to Liz’s homeland, Sweden, for a girls weekend full of shopping, relaxation and food! We left bright and early Friday morning and were out exploring by 12pm (thanks to Teddi and I’s amazing direction skills). The public transportation in Stockholm is amazingly simple and can take you pretty much anywhere around the city. By far the best way to do a weekend in Stockholm is to get the 72 hour pass for all metros, buses and ferries, which can also get you to and from the airport for only 250 Swedish kroner.
First we hit old town, the oldest part of Stockholm and walked among all the cute colored, old style houses. Royal Palace (Kungliga Slottet) was the next stop to take some fun pictures with the guards.
The Stockholm cathedral sits right beside the palace but we decided to skip going inside due to the steep entrance fee. We then caught the bus to the other side of town to go to the Vasa Museum. The Vasa ship is one sight you have to see when in Stockholm, and is well worth the 100kr. It’s one of the most complete and best preserved shipwrecks in the world, built in 1628. It had only sailed 2km before it sank in Stockholm harbor. It lay at the bottom of the sea until 1961. Fun fact: The production team of Pirates of the Caribbean came to the Vasa museum to use its design for the famous ‘Black Pearl’.
For dinner we ate at a little hidden pizza place that Jenna had read about in the airplane magazine. Pizza Hatt Pizzeria was started by the creators of Cheap Monday Jeans and is famous for its sourdough crusts. After a long day we all couldn’t have been happier with our pizzas and straight to sleep we went.
We started Saturday with a free walking tour of Stockholm. Our tour guide was Canadian but knew a lot of interesting facts about the city. We passed the hall where the Nobel prizes are awarded, the opera, and ended at Drottningholm Palace. For lunch we found this amazing market called Hotorgshallen that was right next to Hay Square. There we finally found our Swedish food we had been searching for! Lingonberry Jam and Swedish meatballs. It was absolutely divine, especially after all of our walking.
After we had regained our energy it was off to City Hall (Stadshuset) then home for a quick cat nap before the Ice Bar! The Stockholm Absolut Ice Bar is one of the original ice bars of Sweden. It was really fun to hang out with the girls with a Lingonberry cocktail in a cup made of ice!
Sunday was dedicated to exploring and shopping! We walked downtown to central station where the largest mall in Europe is located; we had to be super careful not to lose each other in that mad house! It is also home to the flagship H&M, Sweden’s second most famous store. Ikea is the first, obviously!
We then set off to find Fjallgatan, a street that Trip Advisor promised to have ‘spectacular views of the city’, and spectacular they were! It was a clear, sunny, gorgeous day and you could see all of Stockholm. It was the perfect ending to the trip. Last stop was Coffeehouse by George for a quick pick me up and some Chokoballs (which are a must-try if going to Stockholm).
Before we knew it the weekend was over and it was back to school in Copenhagen.
No comments:
Post a Comment