Hello! I am finally getting round to writing about the second half of our holiday, Sweden. Thank you so much for your kind comments on the Finland post. To be honest, that is that half of the holiday I think about more - especially the wood fired sauna and daily sea swimming - but we did also absolutely love Sweden.
Our holiday house was quite different to the summer house in Finland: a modern new build in a quiet village with views of the lake.
No sauna or access to the lake here, but a much better outdoor seating area for meals or just relaxing in the evening, and a hot tub.
The house was light and spacious with huge windows making the most of the views.
Given that there were four adults and four teenagers, it never felt cramped. We drove past this church, above, every time we approached the village and I loved how it was placed on the hill with just the sky above it.
Our first full day in Sweden was a Sunday so we decided to explore nearby Drottningholm Palace, home to the Swedish royal family and just outside Stockholm.
I do love a royal palace and this was perfect.
The interior design was stately and impressive, but I really enjoyed the Swedishness of the design: the painted flowers, the blue and white tiles, the symmetry.
I loved this library - what a place to sit and read.
Over the next three days we went into Stockholm. We bought a metro ticket and parked at Brommaplan each day, quite close to where we were staying, then caught the train into the city.
It worked out really well and gave us so much time to explore. I really liked Stockholm. It was clean, organised, efficient, friendly, yes, but more than that - it had style and charm and so much history. Placed on an archipelago of islands, you are never far from a bridge or the sea, or a boat for that matter.
There is so much to do in Stockholm (the museums are really excellent) and we only scratched the surface but our first stop was the Vasa Museum, home to the Vasa ship which sunk on its maiden voyage and remained buried under mud for hundreds of years before being salvaged and brought up to the surface. It was fascinating.
If you go, I recommend you watch the screening (they show it in lots of different languages at different times) because it's a really good mini documentary explaining the history of the ship and story of the excavation.
After a morning of culture, we walked along the water to our restaurant for lunch.
After googling "best place to get meatballs in Stockholm" we booked a table at Riche which was a little bit fancy and the meatballs were one of the most delicious things I have even eaten.
Everyone said we needed to try Meatballs for the People, and we really did try to go, but could never book a table. When there are eight of you, you can't just show up at a restaurant in high season and hope to be seated.
We ate really well in Sweden. There was pasta and pizza at an incredible Italian restaurant one day when we were all hot and tired and hungry, and we also ate some truly delicious fish at Lisa Elmqvist in Ostermalm Food Hall. We shared the herring plate to start, as we all wanted to try it, then I can't remember exactly what I ordered but it was salmon and it was very good. I tried Princess Cake (heaven) at the cafe at Drottningholm Palace and had a really good cinnamon bun at Gast Cafe (also, the interior design in Gast Cafe was so joyful - the pink tiles!). These treats were balanced out with cheaper meals outside of Stockholm and we ate breakfast and dinner at home every day which saved us lots of money.
There was a traumatic experience at this delightful little ice cream truck when I got over confident with my new-found love of liquorice ice cream, and ordered a tub salt liquorice flavour. It was saltier than the sea and I could not cope with it. I tried to offer it to everyone else but they (rightfully) looked at it dubiously and it was not money well spent.
We explored the very pretty, historic Gamla Stan (old town) a few times during our visits into Stockholm.
Gamla Stan is quite touristy, but we are tourists on holiday, so I never have a problem with this. We were easily able to find somewhere off the main streets to sit down and get a drink.
I loved the cobbled streets and the sandy coloured buildings.
We found a Dala Horse shop (there are many) and I was completely overwhelmed with choice and couldn't decide which one to buy. So many shapes and colours! So I didn't buy one, thinking we might return, but we didn't so I ended up buying one at the airport. Not very authentic, I know.
We walked up to the Stockholm Observatory which is situated on top of a hill with excellent views over the city.
I have printed off the above photo and have it framed. Happy memories.
The shopping in Stockholm was as good as you would expect. I think this was inside the Arhens department store and I bought one of those little Dala horse mugs. It makes me think of the holiday every time I drink from it.
One of my own very favourite parts of the whole holiday was exploring Nordiska Museem, a huge gothic building filled with exhibitions about life in the Nordic countries.
It's full of information about how people live in Nordic countries: the food, work, houses, interior design, traditions.
I especially liked the part about Swedish traditions. Many of them are similar to ours in the UK, but there is also Kraftskiva, and Midsommar, and St Lucia's day in December.
The rest of our time in Sweden was spent exploring smaller towns in the area (we stayed in just west of Stockholm). We drove up to Sigtuna, near Arlanda aiport, and had a lovely day wandering around Sweden's oldest main street.
The town had some of the "gossip mirrors" we saw in Ekenas in Finland, designed so you could see the comings and goings of the people outside from your own home.
We also explored some walks in the forests and fields around our village
And then it was time to say goodbye to beautiful Sweden. To leave behind the clean, stylish,organised airport selling liquorice and other treats.
To wave goodbye to that expanse of green and blue, the forests and lakes.
London seemed very grey in comparison.
But we did get some good views of the city.
It was a pretty perfect holiday, really. Great company, beautiful weather, and so much time to explore some countries that are new to us. Scandinavia and Nordic countries always fascinate me: their emphasis on social responsibility and doing things for the good of society, not just yourself, the culture, the climate, their relationship with the outdoors. I definitely want to return.
Soon I will show you a quick post with souvenirs and my holiday embroidery so far!
