10h00 – February has started calmly, no snow, no wind, no rain. The wood burner is on, it is below zero outdoors but not as cold as it has been.
The news about Eygpt and Cairo especially seems positive, my niece Wendy lives there.
17h00 – I first visited Stockholm in the mid 1970s on a round Scandinavia rail pass and again in the late 1980s, I do not have much memory of either visit. This time I had a bit more money in my pocket and so was less restricted. Additionaly armed with my iPhone 4 with WiFi, GPS and The Lonely Planet Guide all loaded we were off … bonne route …
Well, overall we had a great break in Stockholm (lonely planet guide) a fabulous city, plenty to do and see even in the ice and snow, we did get a bit of sunshine but even at midday the sun is so low in the sky, just over the roof-tops. The main past-time was trying to keep upright and avoid being stabbed by falling icicles and roof avalanches – “Snö Ras”. You definitely need boots in Stockholm, shoes even strong shoes are not good enough.
Everywhere has huge cloakrooms (Garderom) where you can hang up your coats while your bags and woolies could be stored in lockers. Thus leaving you unencombered while you wander around an art gallery or museum. Even small cafés and shops have space where you can remove your outer garments without knocking something over.
Prices were high but not as high as I expected, hotels were possibly cheaper than London but eating and drinking out could be dear. On the other hand some places did self-service buffets and these could be reasonable.
Click to enlarge.
To the left is a view of Stockholm’s main shopping street ”Drottningatan” – Queen Street. We were sitting in Hurtigs Konditori at the time having coffee and cakes, very nice cakes, watching the snow clearance gangs at work. Se op!
Click to enlarge.
To the right is a view from “Katarina hissen” – The Katarina Lift, this lift takes you up to a walkway to central Södermalm, one of Stockholm’s islands, (malm translates as ore) thus avoiding an icy hill climb without spiked shoes. It shows an amazing clover leaf road junction at “Slussen” (the lock / sluice) where six main roads intersect in the middle of the city, whilst entwining the metro (Tunnelbana, T-ban), rail links, footpaths and the water.
A city worth a winter and summer visit.
09h00 – Hotel Tegnérlund did a fine Scandinavian serve yourself breakfast. A choice of cereals, different types of bread, meats, cheeses, fresh fruit, water, milk, culture milk (kefir), soya milk, a hot dish – a kind of baked omlette – really nice, juices, boiled eggs – hard and soft in differnt bowls, tea, tisanes, danish pastries and of course Swedish coffee. So we sat down and tucked in.
There is no need to over-fill your plate as many non-scandinavians do, just take a small amount then later go up and get another plate and help yourself to some more. It’s not like a British buffet where it seems that if you don’t get there first and pile up your plate you won’t get any. Well of course this in the end does become true all those greedy bsaratds people in front of you take the lot and the kitchen does not replenish. Breakfast in Norway where I once worked is a leisurely thing, especially at the weekend or on holiday and the kitchen continuously fills up the serving dishes. Relax take it easy.
10h00 – The hotel had free WiFi and printing facilities, so I got myself a loginID and password from reception and I was all set.
11h00 – On he road to Gamla Stan – Old Town, a small island due south, plenty of shops and places to eat, a bit touritys but then we were tourists. Not overcrowded at this time of year and it was a public holiday after all – Epiphany. Stockhom Map opens in a separate window/tab for your future reference.
Some of my wants was to sample – Swedish Christmas Beer (Julöl – I tried Falcons Mumma), some Glögg (mulled wine) and eat some Pytt i panna (hotch potch) and stekt Strömming (fried Baltic Herring – Clupea harengus membras). I got it all except the Herring.
… more Stockholm coming soon …
Restaurants
Hermans – Vegan, Pickwicks – Pub – Pyttipanna, Abyssinia – Vegan, Lebanese, Chutney, Hermitage, String, Many coffee and cake shops
Museums
Vasa – Vasa ship – not enough time, Skansen – Open air, Techinical – The whole gambit, Sport – Idrett, Historical – Vikings and gold, National – Art and design, Nordiska – Fashion, customs, Sami – Not enough time, Tram – Enthusiasts
Art
Modern Museum, T-ban stations
Markets
Hötorget, Söderhallarna, Östermalms Saluhall
Places
Metro (T-ban) stations – art and solid rock, Skansen, Gamla stan, Södermalm, Parliament, Palace
Transport
Metro (T-ban), Train, Tram (Spörvogn), Boat
Jumbo Jet Breakfast. Click to enlarge.
08h00 – Up fairly early, used the shared shower and washing facilities which were adequate and clean. The shower I used was rather slow to drain, I reported this to reception and they took immediate action to verify the problem and get it fixed, a welcome change from just ‘OK sir thank you, we’ll look into it’. I had confidence by thier attitude and action that this would be fixed. Leisurely breakfast and chatting to other overnighters, some on their way to go dog-sledding with the Sami in the north of the Scandinavian block and some on their way home. Freindly and helpful staff at reception again.
09h30 – Free bus back to the airport terminal then we took the Arlanda Express train to Stockholm Central Station in the city centre, an expensive way to get there but what the heck. For the price of a ticket to the city centre we could, according to local advertising, got a flight to London or Milan. It was then a short walk to the hotel at Tegnerlund, a small square not far from the centre or the main shopping street Drottningatan – Queen Street. We had decided not too travel too light as it was winter so we had taken suitcases, the type which also has small wheels. These small wheels did not work very well in the soft snow which was falling onto already icy pavements, they continuously blocked but this was soon remedied with a sort sharp reverse movement and then off forward again. Tegnérlunden and the Tegnérlund Hotel were up a hill, normally not too onerous but in the snow and ice and constant watches aloft for avalanching snow and falling icicles it was hard going.
11h30 – We had arrived early but the friendly and efficient reception said that our room was ready and we could go straight up. They also informed us that tomorrow, Thursday 6th Jan, was a public holiday in Sweden, Trettondedag – 13th day (Epiphany), and that not many places would be open, including cafes and restaurants. We settled into our room which was clean and quiet but a little over warm, dare I say hot, for our tastes. Having unpacked and sorted out the heating and windows we were ready for exploration.
P who had been learning Swedish for some months before we went had made a list of places to visit and we agreed upon a strategy of each being in-charge on alternate days but day one, today, was to be just a general orienteering day. First stop lunch.
14h00 – We took out first tentative steps out unhindered by luggage, it took a short while to get our snow feet but after walking into Tegnérlunden park (lund translates as grove but seems to apply to any small green space) and it’s small inclines we became more confident. We soon found the Backpacker’s hotel on our way back to the city centre where we settled down for coffee, expresso, and Free WiFi. Stockholm seems to have more Free WiFi than the whole of France, great.
06h30 – A long day ahead, the first job was to catch the cats and get them into their travel baskets, not an easy tasks despite having done it many times. This all being done and the house secured* we were on the road by 09h00.
11h30 – Arrived at the cat hotel and all four cats, Sesame, Calico, Jéton and new girl Cressida, were let loose in their internally heated holiday home.
14h00 – Caught the direct train from Fleury les Aubrais (Orleans) to Paris Austerlitz. Very quick very smooth. Then we missed lunch and took the Metro/RER (RATP) to Aeroport Charles de Gaulle known as Roissy by the French.
17h30 – Well we were at the airport well ahead of time. Having printed out own check-in/boarding passes at home we sought to get our luggage through the system. We were to discover that this was called quick-drop or drop-in, anyway we choose to go to a desk and al went well. So luggage gone we wandered around and settled into a coffee shop. One never knows whether to go through to the departure lounge or not, some airports have more in the departure lounge than outside and some have very little. There is not much on the other side at Roissy. The coffee was awfull, made I think with UHT milk, very common in France.
19h30 – Up and away on time, thank goodness. We sat next to a Swedish woman on the plane Anna who worked for Alstrom and gave us some insights into our first trip to Stockholm together. Anna regularly travelled Stockholm – Paris.
22h30 – Arrived at Arlanda, Stockholm’s main airport. We knew we would be
Jumbo Jet Hostel. Click to enlarge.
arriving late and had taken the precaution of booling a hotel at the airport, we choose the Jumbo Jet Hostel. This is in fact a real Jumbo Jet, Boeing 747, that has been refurbished as a hotel/hostel, it calls itself a hostel and hotel comes from other providers. It was great, efficient check-in, clean room, very quiet and an acceptable if self-service from a fridge breakfast, with plenty of Swedish style coffee. We enjoyed the experience an ideal stopover for late/early arrivals/departures, just a short, free, 10 minute bus trip from the main airport bus station. Bus No 14.
