I was also able to video chat with my family which was fantastic :) I got to see my Mimi who promised me homemade turkey noodle soup upon my homecoming, my grandfather sneaking my cats shrimp from the table, my mom dangling devilled eggs in front of the camera, my dad unveil the turkey (in his new Guinness apron of couse), my sisters new bangs, and various aunts, uncles and cousins as well. Needless to say, I was sad not to be there, but skype makes holidays away from home a lot easier.
On Friday morning, we woke up around 8 and had breakfast at the hotel. A full brunch every morning was included with the stay. After breakfast we headed into the old town where we first saw the city hall among other historic buildings. We went in and out of some of the stores, and then made our way to the Christmas market in the center of town. Here, we checked out the local vendors, tried various cheeses, breads, candies and jams. I was even able to try various different Swedish sausages and meats. I tried Nordic Reindeer (sorry Rudolph), Elk, Wild Boar & Traditional Swedish sausage. All were equally delicious, and surprisingly different in taste
Lauren, Megan & I on the walking path into town
Stockholm City Hall
Stockholm City Hall
The Harbor on Kungsholmen
Walking to the Old Town
Pretty Building :)
A Cathedral in Stockholm
Lots of Glogg!
Unique Meat Hut
After the markets we headed to the Vasa museum which was about a half hour away. The Vasa is a Swedish war ship that was built in 1626. It soon after sank in 1628 only one nautical mile into it's Maiden Voyage, and was rediscovered later in the 17th century. In the 1950's it was located in a harbor just outside of Stockholm where it was then moved to the Wasa Shipyard. In 1987 it was moved to The Vasa Museum where it still resides today.
The Vasa
Rough!
The Stern of the Vasa
Profile
The 3 of us walking back to the hotel. We were excited by all the Christmas Trees :)
After the museum, we made our way back to the hotel where we indulged in a bottle of "Glögg.". Glogg is the term for Mulled Wine in Nordic countries. It basically consists of red wine, mulling spices, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. It is usually served warm around the Holidays in Sweden. After the Glogg we walked into town and went to dinner.
On Saturday, after our deluxe breakfast we headed to Serglestorg which is kind of like the center of Stockholm. Filmed here was a HUGE flash mob with a Swedish group of dancers. Below is the link, check it out! It's actually really cool :)
After Serglestorg we made our way to Stureplan which is a high-end shopping street in Stockholm. Supposedly this is where all the 'Stockholm brats' shop...I figured I'm an American brat so I might as well say I was there, right? We also made our way back to Kungstradgarden which is a park in Stokholm, here there were some more markets as well as an ice skating rink in the center of the park. I was able to buy some nice things (mainly Christmas gifts) which unfortunately I cannot disclose on this blog post :) For dinner we went to a restaurant called 'Salt' where I had a delicious Frutti De Mare dish which was fairly spice and filled with shrimp, scallops, mussels & calamari.
Meg & I in the park
Inside the National Museum
View of the Harbor
One of the Royal Palaces in Stockholm
Nice view of Down Town
Serglestorg all lit up!
On Sunday we slept in until about 10, went down for breakfast, checked out of the hotel and headed in to town. Fortunately we were able to leave our bags at the front desk so we didn't have to carry them all day. After this we strolled through town and went to a well renowned Department store in Stockholm called Ahlens. Then we went to a pub and grabbed a pint and headed back to the hotel to get our luggage to head home.
Enjoying a nice Kilkenny!
Overall, Stockholm is and INCREDIBLE city. Basically, it is composed of many small Islands all of which can be accessed by foot bridges. They all resemble different atmospheres, some more laid back with an 'old town' feel, others with a more fast paced city feel, and some with a more high end atmosphere. All were equally interesting and unique. It was also really nice to see a city so well decorated for the Holidays, being here kind of reminded me of NYC at Christmas time. The lighting was extremely tasteful (Cassidy, you would approve..no multi-colored lights here) and it really put you in the Holiday spirit. I think that just breathing in the crisp Nordic air that whips off of the Baltic sea was my overall favorite part, I even got a little bit of a wind burn :)
One of the major shopping streets all lit up
A map of Stockholm with all it's smaller Islands
Sweden concludes the last of my international excursions from Ireland. I don't think I could have asked for a better trip. Sweden has always been a place I wanted to visit, and now I can cross if off my bucket list along with Italy, Greece, London oh and Ireland of course :) Hopefully I will get to come back to Sweden one day with my Dad, I know he would really love it.
I hope you enjoyed my post!!
Cheers :)
Lea
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