Ellie here, hej hej! Today was a travel day and we were to head north-east to the capital of Sweden, Stockholm.
It was a leisurely morning spent packing our rucksacks and making sure our plans were in order. We headed down to breakfast a little later today and it was much busier but still delish. My turn to rave about breakfast, but my favourite were the crêpes, of course. My sweet tooth knows no bounds.
After breakfast it was a quick trip back to the room to grab the bags and out to catch the bus to the train station. The trams were absolutely packed today which was a bit awkward and Barry had his foot run over by a pram accidentally-on-purpose. We tried but it’s a bit tricky to stay out of the way with these rucksacks on!
When we made it to the train station, which was very pretty and really busy, we made our way to the first class lounge. Yep, you read that right. The LOUNGE. When Barry booked the train tickets for this cross country journey, he had found that it wasn’t too much more costly to upgrade to first class, which would also include a lunch! The lounge was lovely and quiet, with free drinks and snacks (though we were still full from breakfast). It was nice to sit and chill for a while as we waiting for our boarding time.
The train was a lovely experience, with lots of space, more free drinks, and a very lovely meal at lunch time. It was lovely looking out at the countryside and lakes that we passed. The whole journey took almost exactly three hours, which isn’t bad at all! You could tell the train was speedy as it was almost banking round corners, which was a surprise to begin with, when Barry got up to get some cups of tea for us! Henning loved every second.
We had arrived in Stockholm and the Scandic Hotel was only a five minute walk away. My back was really starting to dislike my rucksack, not sure how I can help that apart from with ibuprofen gel. Poor Barry, I really think he could see far more of the places we go if he just left me behind sometimes!
The hotel is in the newer, more trendy part of Stockholm. It’s really pretty inside, very Scandi vibes with a big atrium lounge in the middle. We opted for a street view on a higher floor as we enjoy hearing and seeing the city life outside.
Once we made it to the room we had some downtime and then headed out for a little wander to the older part of the city, which is beautiful and surrounded by water. There are hundreds of islands around the city, some of which we hope to explore in the next two days. We saw the Swedish government, the royal palace and some very grand old hotels that looked very fancy!
It was on a little cobbled back street that our dinner was waiting for us. The restaurant was called Tradition and, as suggested by the name, it serves traditional Swedish dishes. Barry opted for the meatballs with mash and I went for something we’d never heard of, they were potato dumplings with deliciously seasoned pork in the centre. These were covered in brown butter and lingonberries. Definitely filling, neither of us needed dessert after that!
Barry could have done more exploring after dinner but I was really flagging after not having had a proper doze earlier in the afternoon! It was a lovely wander back through the city to the hotel in the evening sun. Tomorrow, we explore the old town further! I see a pastry in my future...
Fun fact! Did you know that the recipe for Swedish meatballs actually originated in Turkey? They were brought over by the king of Sweden. Lingonberries is what makes the dish distinctly Swedish.
Hope you are enjoying your motherland ! 😃