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***Surfinbride*** Back from Stockholm
Surfinbride:
Will you report back after your weekend in Stockholm? We have the opportunity to go in early June. When researching what to do, I'm finding lots of museums, architecture, art... but, not much else.
We had a bit of a lazy trip, so we didn't pack too much into our time there. Part of this was because there were so many great coffee shops! (Kura Cafe was my favorite, but the large branch of Espresso House near the central station had a nice atmosphere).
Our first day we wandered around Gamla Stan which has that narrow, winding-street old Europe feel (and lots of tourist shops), and then after noon we visited the palace and took the English tour of the royal apartments. The tour was definitely a good idea, because I don't think we would have gotten too much from just wandering around on our own. The second half of the day we went to Fotografiska photography museum with temporary photography exhibits and a cafe with a great view over the water.
The second day we walked along the waterfront and then went to the Vasa Museum before grabbing a drink and meeting a friend for dinner. The Vasa itself was very interesting, and I enjoyed the 25-minute film explaining how they found and recovered it, but I wasn't all that excited about the museum and seeing the ship in person. Luckily we had great weather, so we walked to and from the museum and just enjoyed the sunshine and seeing the city.
On the last day I went with our other friend to Skansen, which was again a nice place to walk around in the good weather. I love open-air museums, but (maybe because it was extremely crowded due to the holiday and good weather) I didn't find many of the reenactors to be that friendly or enthusiastic. I think I might have gone to the Folk Museum here in Oslo too many times, and Swedish culture & history aren't too much different from Norwegian. There were a lot of demonstrations, though, which were quite interesting, and we definitely could have spent most of the day there. (I had to catch my train mid-afternoon.)
In terms of what else there is to do, what kinds of things are you interested in? You can take a boat ride around the city (they even have a hop-on hop-off boat to get to some of the major sights). There are lots of art galleries and plenty of shopping (it's home to DesignTorget, which I adore). There's a small amusement park. I've always been a little intrigued by the rooftop walking tour of the city. One of my friends really liked the musical instrument museum, where you could actually play the different instruments. And you can pick up a copy of What's On to find out about exhibits and events (or search the listings on the web: http://www.visitstockholm.com/en/to-do/events/ ).
Re: ***Surfinbride*** Back from Stockholm
Thank you so much. Your trip sounds good to me. I just watched some clips on youtube that showed Gamla Stan. It reminds me of the French Quarter in New Orleans, LA, USA. I love wandering through a city and seeing the variety of shops and people. The Photografiska Museum looks amazing, with a unique location. There is a rooftop walking tour of the city?! That sounds like a must-do. I like listening to live music... small acts or big concerts. I do not play music. I would be kicked out of the country for noise pollution. I may skip the musical instrument museum for that reason. The boat rides and ferries should be on my must-do list... I am unsure of where to go and what to experience. I would like to see things that I can't see in America. We have some nice beaches here, though the geology is different. I looked up some in Sweden that had large rock formations that intrigued me. I'm hoping to experience a mix of the city and some outdoor interests. Thanks for helping me.
Newlyweds since 2007
I wasn't particularly wowed by any of the restaurants that we tried, but Chokladkoppen had a great location (especially if the weather is nice) and the food was pretty good for a quick and simple lunch stop. I had the broccoli & blue cheese quiche, which was quite good, and my friend had a nice salad. The desserts didn't quite live up to our expectations, though, so you might save the sweets for a mid-afternoon snack somewhere else. The prices seemed fairly reasonable for the area (mains around 75-125 SEK).
The rest of our dining experiences were mostly just going after things we couldn't get as easily or inexpensively in Oslo. Our first goal was dumplings, and we tried both Beijing 8 and Pong on Drottninggatan. I'm a fan of Dong Bei (northeastern) cuisine, so I liked the basic steamed dumplings at Beijing 8, but my travel companion prefers more southern dim sum, so she preferred Pong. Both places cost around 100 SEK for 12 dumplings. We also visited Jensens B?fhus for a basic steak - a luxury we can't afford in Oslo. Since we pretty much never have steak, I did enjoy it a lot and thought both the sirloin and the tenderloin were good. At 175-250 SEK for a basic steak and potatoes, you'd probably be better off saving your steak dinners for the US.