Stockholm - Day 1
Time for a change of country, we're off to Sweden today! Our flight is at a sensible hour of 10:30, however being an international flight we still need to be at the airport 2 hours before the flight. We check in and go through security which is rammed and feels rather hazardous if an emergency were to break out. Apparently you can pay 5 quid to go through express but we don't do that on principle. We make it through with plenty of time to spare and find a spot for breakfast. There's a healthy amount(or rather an unhealthy amount) of drinking going on for 9am. We manage to abstain and have coffee and eggys instead.
After a 2 hour flight (wild that in two hours you're in a completely different country) we're descending into Stockholm. The views are amazing, lots of lush green trees and red barns. We're very excited to be here.
One of the reasons we've come to Stockholm is to visit our friends Tomas and Sarah and meet their son Arlo. They moved here from Australia a bit over a year ago, with Tomas being from Sweden originally and Sarah from Ireland. Tomas meets us at the airport with as big a grin as we're all wearing and it's hugs all round.
Tomas and Sarah have very generously offered to put us up while we're in Stockholm, so we head to their apartment. Tomas points out sites along the way and we squeal at every red barn we see. We get a bit of a feel for the city as we drive right through on our way to their apartment.
We arrive at their apartment that looks to be in a great location, just across the water from all the action that is Södermalm. We're feeling very spoiled already as we are welcomed with Fika on arrival. This is a Swedish tradition where they take a break at least two times a day for coffee and cake. The cake is usually a cinnamon and/or cardamom bun. We love it here already. There is also a bowl of lollies on the table as Sarah informs us it's also a Saturday morning tradition to go out and buy a shit tonne of candy.
Sufficiently sugared up and caffeinated, it's time to see some Stockholm! A short walk across the bridge and we're in Södermalm. We're proper tourists out here, craning our neck and taking many photos of the beautiful coloured buildings and streets. It's a also a beautiful sunny day and everyone is soaking it up, after what our hosts have said was a very long and dark winter. We stop at a brewery for our first drink, which actually turns our to be a Danish brewery. We continue on and head up to an out door bar with a view. It's amazing and everyone is thrilled to be soaking up the sun. We grab some pizza for dinner and continue our tour along a boardwalk with views over the water and across to Gamla Stan and other parts of Stockholm we are yet to explore. It's the perfect time of day to be walking along here with the way the sun is falling over the city. It is truly stunning.
We hit a few more bars and it's 11pm when we decide to head back to the apartment and it's still not quite dark. This will take some getting used to.
