the weinstein family visit stockholm, part 1 södermalm, gamla stan & djurgården

we were over the moon happy to receive dede, jason, jade and chloe in stockholm.  they were here for a week but it felt like a whirlwind visit, we managed to see alot, wandered through neighbourhoods from old town to södermalm, took them to my favourite cafe in the park, plus a couple of days exploring quaint little towns and a trip to the archipelago.  oh, there was abba too :)

södermalm

in södermalm we visited the shops in the götgatsbacken area.  there was sought after clothing but the swedish price tag proved too great, something i deal with daily.  for interiors, design torget is a must visit for scandi designs; you can often find me browsing here looking at all the pretty things... i believe a dala horse was bought.  


we visited stefan's hangout, johan & nyström for some caffeine... and a taste of fabrique's nut squares, a personal favourite.

the caffeine proved to be much needed for the loooong walk we embarked on around the perimeter of söder... first, from mariatorget we walked the cobbled streets up to monteliusvägen.  along this cliff path a panorama of gamla stan and kungsholmen lines the water.

we wandered onto långholmen for lunch.  they serve mainly swedish meals, think smoked salmon & shrimp, västerbottensost pie, open faced sandwiches.  while i have come to love swedish food, the weinstein family don't have the acquired palate but they made do, i hope so anyway.  there is just so much good food in stockholm!

the evening ended playing a "friendly" game of boule by the water along hornstulls strand. so fun, although the dads proved to be a tad competitive.

it was followed by a hastened walk to catch the ferry to dinner at nya carnegie bryggeriet.  thankfully, we made it, every meal we have ever had at this brewery has been really really good and they didn't disappoint this time either.

on another day, before heading into gamla stan (see below) we wandered the sofo streets... i just love the atmosphere in this colourful neighbourhood.

gamla stan (the old town)

a weaving network of charming, cobblestone streets lined with bistros and shops and inns, souvenir stores and ice cream shops (i can't believe i forgot to take them to stikkinikki!!!)... gamla stan may be touristy - i prefer to visit in the non-touristy season - but it's a must visit.   

djurgården

if you have been reading my blog, you know that i love rosendals trädgårds, it's why i chose to take them to djurgården in the first place. we also visited the vasa museum, because you just have to.  it houses the world's only intact 17th century ship, a royal commission built to be sweden's greatest warship that embarrassingly sank about 30 minutes into its maiden voyage.  it's an incredible sight.  and of course... the abba museum! there was so much more to see on this little island, skansen, walking along the river and visiting the plethora of museums but there simply wasn't enough time.

one of the best things about stockholm is that it sits in the swedish archipelago and all you need is to jump on a ferry to access one of thousands of islands.  we chose utö, a delightful island to be discovered by bike.  read about our utö visit here.