Stockholm - Day 3
We're treated to another buffet brekky of eggs, ham, cheese, bread, kalle, yoghurt, fruit and muesli and we're feeling very spoilt and wonder if Tomas and Sarah will mind us moving in on a more permanent basis.
Tomas is working today, so Sarah and Arlo have generously offered to be our tour guides. We start by taking a short walk to the water where we catch the ferry and a short ride later were at Djurgarden. The ferry stop is at an amusement park that isn't open yet. We wander past some lovely looking estates along the water and into the park. It's lovely and green and the weather is a little overcast and it's just beautiful. We head for a café in the park as it's Fika time! The café is surrounded by orchards and vineyards and birds and it's just lovely. We purchase a selection of cakes and (bottomless) filter coffee and grab a seat to feast. The birds are very friendly, so friendly in fact they will hop up on the table and eat the icing right off your cake.
Whilst the girls are having a bathroom stop Jeff spots a greyhound lounging around with it's owner. He's fluffy and apparently very chill so the opposite of Simzy boy. He's a lovely boy, just like Simz though and its nice to talk to some locals. Apparently their dog's dad is the speed record holder in Stockholm and raced against a car once.
We continue our walk through the park taking a million photos as we go. We exit the park and end up on Strandvagen, a street in Ostermalm which is in central Stockholm. Courts is frothing over the buildings and how "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" everything is.
We wander further into town until we get to Ostermalm Market Hall, which is essentially a fancy fresh fish, meat and veg market where you can also have a meal. We settle in at one of the cafes and order the toast skagen (prawns in a crème fraiche type dressing served on toast, topped with trout roe) and traditional meatballs with mashed potato, pickled veg and lingonberry sauce. It's all bloody fantastic. The meatball dish as a whole makes a lot more sense to us now, and we can see its not just some weird Swedish novelty.
We continue our wandering through the city and stop off for a few essentials (souvenirs and ibuprofen). We feel like we've seen a lot so we head back to the apartment. We've also booked a hotel to stay in for the next few nights, to give our hosts a little break. We collect our bags and head to our hotel located in SoFo, another neighbourhood in Stockholm on Södermalm. The hotel room is.... cosy for 3 of us.
Tomas has finished work for the day and meets us for drinks and dinner. We pick a place nearby in Södermalm and have a round of the local beer, Norrlands Guld. It's so good we have three more. After much deliberation about where to eat, we decide to stay where we are as there are a few traditional items on the menu, plus your usual pub fair. Tomas gets the plank steak, which comes with mushrooms in a creamy sauce surrounded by a mash potato frame which looks like someone has gone over it with a creme brulee torch (in a good way). Stella gets a schnitty with a side of potato gratin with a side of béarnaise sauce (Swedes have a thing for sauces, especially béarnaise). Jeff gets a burger and Courts has pasta. We eat, we enjoy, we laugh hysterically. We find novelty in the small things even at this pub.
Seeing as it never gets dark here apparently, we decide there's time for one more night cap. The boys have beers and the girls have wines at nearby bar 'Bananas'. They call last drinks and so do we. Another stellar day in the Stockholm book.
