the swedish kitchen

The train to Stockholm from Copenhagen was an easy ride, plus we had the funniest photo bomb moment from the guy sitting behind us. We arrived in town late at night and checked into a hostel in Gamla Stan (Old Town), which is a little quaint little tourist hub.  After a crowded moment with our roommates in a room that was the size of a matchbox, we were so buggered we just hit the hay. We were somewhat disappointed that we couldn't be arsed contributing to the sounds of the Saturday night party brewing across the street, but we didn't wake up until ten minutes before check-out the next morning so we must needed the sleep.

The next afternoon we met up with a Swedish local, Lisa; a friend of Simon’s who had returned to Stockholm after living in Australia for five years.  It was nice to finally put a face to a person I had heard so much about through Simon and his friends! Lisa has the cutest apartment in Fridhemsplan not far from the city centre. We shared stories of our strange connection over some spiced wine and sweet gingery biscuits with blue cheese and Lisa pointed out some places for us to visit the next day.  

Mai and I wandered through Södermalm; we browsed some beautiful vintage shops (featuring an assortment of Grandma's Christmas sweaters) and had the most delectable toasted tuna sandwich in a cute café with lots of lamps and old retro furniture. We then headed over to Fotografsika, which is really worth visiting if you’re a budding little photographer J During our stay we also took the ferry over to Djurgarden, went back to Old Town to buy smoked reindeer at the Christmas Markets and had the best tomato soup and hot chocolate at Chokladkoppen.  A must visit for the best hot chocolate in town!  We also ate at The Hermitage in Old Town, a completely vegan restaurant that has a cheap and super tasty buffet! Do yourself a favour and get a transport card when visiting Stockholm, it works out being much cheaper in the long run and you can see all the sights by bus, tram or ferry.

After discovering that we had a well-stocked Swedish kitchen at our fingertips (Lisa loves her spices and fresh ingredients), Mai and I decided to cook a feast of Sri Lankan curry accompanied by a surprisingly decent bottle of Australian Shiraz we found at the local bottle shop.  We had a nice quiet night in over a candlelit dinner for three! Very romantic haha

Unfortunately, Mai was getting a little sick and spent the whole next day in bed. I did the washing and since the lifts weren't working, by the time I had finished I had walked up and down five flights of stairs about 4 times (100 steps each time to be exact- yes I counted). Needless to say my legs were actually sore the next day and I didn’t go for a run in Sweden because of it! That night, I left Mai in her the sedated state she had been in all day and took a train to meet Lisa at the Scandic Hotel bar to see a young rock band from Copenhagen, Reptile Youth. We had a lovely time at Lisa's and hopefully we can return in the summer!!