Red, White and Tulips

The second part of our Scandinavian adventure took us to Stockholm and Oslo.

Stockholm

We arrived in the Stockholm harbor at 10 a.m. and headed to our hotel to drop off our bags. Our home base in Stockholm was Hotel Lilla Rådmannen. As expected our room was not ready, and reasonably so since check-in doesn’t start until 3 p.m. But this meant we had dedicated exploring time. We also did a lot more shopping during this part of the trip. Teenage girls always have to know when they will get their next shopping opportunity.

When in Sweden, you must have meatballs; that is a rule, right? Well, we did. I found Meatballs for the People and snagged a reservation for lunch. Make sure to make a reservation. The place is small and it filled up quickly, even at lunch. We went with a pitcher of lingonberry juice and two meatball entrees. Each entree comes with mashed potatoes, lingonberry sauce, veal gravy, and pickled cucumber (pickles). Leila went with lamb, and I decided on the chef’s choice because I wanted to try different kinds. As the name suggests, the chef chooses the varieties you get. I got beef, chicken, pork, and reindeer. Other types they had avaialbe that day were vegan, veal, boar, moose, deer, and the standard pork/beef. Of the ones I got, I liked the beef and reindeer the best, but overall, the lamb was the best.

After lunch, we ventured to the old town, which led us across one of more than 50 bridges in Stockholm. The city comprises a series of 14 islands, though you would have difficulty noticing. It was interesting to walk and see the signs of old Stockholm and the development of this new Stockholm, a European high-tech hub.

In the Gamla stan area, we were able to see Mårten Trotzigs Gränd, the narrowest alley in the city, which is only 90 cm (35 in) wide. Nearby is Prästgatan (The Priest’s Street), home to some interesting architecture.

And our final stop in the area was the Storkyrkan (Stockholm Cathedral) and Royal Palace of Stockholm. The Royal Palace has more than 600 rooms and remains the official residence of the Swedish Royal Family. It has quite a different feeling than going to a palace in England. Security is light, and it feels like you can walk right up. We didn’t try. Due to a literal tumble, long story, we were at the palace during the changing of the guard.

After all of that, it was time for a snack, so we headed to Vete-Katten, where we were recommended to try their hot chocolate and princess cake. The hot chocolate was nothing special; the princess cake was tasty and unique. Evidently, others got the same recommendation because they only had two slices left when we arrived. With the sugar boost, we caught a second wind for more shopping, before heading back to the hotel to actually check into our room and refresh and recharge a bit.

We had a delicious and Instagram-worthy dinner at Basta Stockholm. If you are in Stockholm, I highly recommend checking them out. We both had dishes with wonderful fresh pasta. For dessert, we opted for a lemon sorbet with meringue. We were both full, but it was so worth it.

Oslo

We were up early Saturday for our flight from Stockholm to Oslo. We both agreed that we wished we could have stayed longer in Stockholm. So, I guess we need to add it to a list of places to return. The original plan was to take the high-speed train between the two cities, but they had railwork underway on the weekend, and I couldn’t stand the idea of a ten-hour bus ride, so we opted for the quick one-hour flight.

In Oslo, we stayed at the Hotel Folketeateret, which was in a neat location. The lobby was inside a larger building, which also had restaurants and a theater. And as you can see on the right, some interesting art. I thought the sculpture looked familiar, but it wasn’t until I looked it up after that I realized it was Kate Moss.

I will admit that we were wearing ourselves out a bit by the time we arrived in Oslo. We knew it was a short time to see many things, but adding “shopping” time for your teenage daughter cuts into touring time. So we were the most relaxed about seeing things in Oslo. We still walked a lot and saw much of the beauty Olso had to offer. An overall impression – they love patios. I guess that happens when the winters are so long and dark. As soon as the warmer weather comes, everyone wants to get outside. They have lots of brightly colored playgrounds too.

The other thing I noticed was the prevalence of sculpture around the city. They have several sculpture gardens, but you will also find sculptures spread throughout the city.

It was a short trip, but we got a taste of the three capital cities, mission accomplished.