Stockholm
A colorful city...
Caracolons ensemble purpose you for the first time to discover a city abroad. Sometimes now, we will share our discoveries out of France, with an article on our Blog to share our sensations and adresses that we taste and also a tour on Caracolons ensemble website, like this you could see our escape, walk and adresses.
To start, we have been to Stockholm in Sweden just before Christmas... we want already to go back over there because we fall in love with this place! This city is done with many little islands and discover Stockholm by foot is a real happiness! Going from one islands to the over through bridges, by ferries let us enjoy a lot of point of views.
As you know Caracolons ensemble, it's me, Caroline, but most of the time accompanied by a friend for my escapes. This time, the escapes was between girls! With one of my most important and old friend, "my Sister", who was a lot of times my friend of travel! Here is the resume of a 3 days week-end in the moose, waffle, ikea, H&M and Santa country with our Myne bennets always on our heads!
We start from Paris on friday night, only 2h30 of flight... so near but nearly North Pole! The transfert from Arlanda airport to Stockholm was made with a taxi. It's easy to find them, just becareful of the wrong one who are not making the good prices. You can easily recognize them because they aren't in the good file of taxis. The good societies are Taxi Stockholm, taxi kurir et taxi 020. The transfert is around 40€ and 50€ depending on the hours (day or night).
We arrived quite late in the night, in our charming little hotel "Hellstens Malmgräd". We had a lovely, cosy room and the front office gave us all the informations that we need to be relax before sleeping.
In december the days in Stockholm are shorts, night is coming around 2pm and 2.30pm, so we wake up early to enjoy the day with the sunrise at 8.30am.
The breakfast was fantastic, a complete buffet, with local products, salted and sweet. We didn't taste the swedish herring, but we enjoyed eggs, bacon, delicious breads, yogurts, cereals, fruit juices, fresj fruits and toasts! All that we need for a walking day. And also the breakfast room is great, in an arched stoned room with Christmas songs bring us in a warmful atmosphere!
DAY 1: Saturday
We know that it will not be a sunny day, but the rain wasn't too hard and too often. It was a grey day but not too cold. We decided to enjoy the essentials of Stockholm, and Christmas coming, we need to do some shopping to put some gifts under the Christmas tree.
We walked to the old town of Gamla Stan. Enchanting. The pavements streets, shops, pubs, architecture, we have been surprised by cleanliness, quality of each shops.
We identify our favorite places, the shops where we want to go and take a first break, coffee for my Sister and Chaï latte for me. We found a great adress who will become like our GQ in those 3 days! haha! A lovely place, purposing a various card and free WiFi. Perfect for a stop while it was raining and making a point! Because informations points and organisation are important :) This coffee house is located at the "26, Stora Nygatan", and called "Lazy House", all was always perfect, tea, chaï latte, coffee, hot chocolate, waffle, a comfortable atmosphere, with many little places to enjoy your break!
While this period the guardian changing at the royal palace wasn't everyday, so saturday was perfect for us. At 12h15, we were in the exterioir court of the Royal palace to enjoy the show. The duration is around 20 to 30 minutes. It's just better to arrive in advance if you want to be well placed. 15 minutes is enough. You can see on the google map of the tour the perfect place.
We continued to walk in the little streets, passed on the lovely Christmas market on "Stortorget" place, and then as the weather wasn't really good, we decided to go to the Norrmalms, Ostermalm districts through the nice Vasabron bridge. And we arrived in the area of big roads, big shops, more people, more swedish people. We entered in a huge H&M store of course.
The breakfast was complete, so we have made our lunch break around 2pm, in a sympathic juice bar "Joe and Juice" at "Kungsgatan, 57". On card : fresh fruit juices and sandwiches done with their local bread like "wasa", but fresh and crunchy, delicious! At this moment, I keep my head up and it was already dark outside, night was here... 2.30pm... quite strange! haha!
We took our way on by apprecitaing the lightening, simple but really nice. At this season, for Christmas, most of the flat and shops put on their windows a star of an electric candles pyramid, who's giving a warmful atmosphere in every streets of the city. My Sister bring back a pyramid and I choose the star!
We continued to walk on the right and the left, up and down the streets to arrive around the "Ostermalmstorg" place. Just behind an amazing circular church "Hedvig Eleonora kyrka".
We want to have a break and we stop on the terrace of "The Soap" bar at "1, Nybrogatan". 3.45pm, night... apéritif or tea time? We choose apéritif! Beer and wine on terrace with our plaids on our knees to enjoy this moment. And then surprise a firework! We don't know, from where, why and hiw but we enjoyed it!
We start our way back, always by foot through the docks, to join the islands of our hotel passing through Gamla Stan. On Södermalm island, a lot of restaurants, coffes, pubs and shops, we have turn a little bit in this area to enjoy the stockholm's life on saturday night. And then we stopped in a cosy restaurant, one more time. We had always been very weel installed during this 3 days, to enjoy our meals and breaks. This restaurant was "Exit lounge bar restaurant" at "53, Götgatam". A huge cesar salad and a delicious burger with their famous "Halloumi" cheese fried.
DAY 2: sunday
The weather is going to be wonderful, we decided to walk along the south-west coast of Södermalm island through Tantolunden park. A magical place where you find many little typical colored houses up on the hill. A place where at springtime each little garden let you discover amazing colors with their flowers.
Boats, runners, this morning walk let us be in a good shape for the rest of the day. We have been to the amazing point of view near "Maria Magdalena kyrka". See the path on the google map.
There is more than 80 museaum in Stockholm... all that you need to fill out a day. But with this wonderful journey, we didn't want to go inside, but a unique place, permitt us to enjoy the weather and the swedish culture, the outside museum of Skansen! Enchanting one more time! To go on Djugärden island, we took a ferry a few minutes, to appreciate an other point of view of the city and preserved our foot also!
The week-end before Chritsmas was really busy but we were there for 10.30am and so we didn't wait too long. This park is amazing, many typical swedish houses or farms are everywhere. In some of them, people are working like it was in the early ages, working leather, whool and steel.
Perched on the hill, Skansen offered a fabulous point of view of Stockholm city. You will find also a farm; nordicanimals; and for Christmas time there is a big Christmas market in the middle of this incredible natural open space. Some animations are purposed for kids, perfect to stay a few hours or an entire day! The price is not too expensive, 17€ for an adult.
We didin't stay too long, because we had a mission : be on the crown bridge before the night! Haha! To take some good pictures. So we took again the ferry, to stop on the little museum's island, Skeppsholmen. And it's on the bridge going from Skeppsholmen to Norrmalm district that we had appreciate the beginning of the sunset on the crown bridge "Skeppsholmsbron".
We continued to the city house, "Stadshuset", this incredible building on Kungsholmen island, through a bridge and a pedestrian path. We were there for the rest of the sunset... 2pm... We invite ou to see our 360° in the city house court.
Night was here so we decided to eat :) and we choose to go on our favorite island "Gamla Stan" and tryied the oldest coffee of the island "Sundbergs Konditori" at "83, Järntorgsgatan". An institution, you enter, if with some chance there is some place, because it's quite small, you are placed, and you go and order at the bar. They giving you a plate with your drink and dessert. For the main course, it's order by a phone and you wait a few minutes on your table, they bringing it to you. It's fresh, just cooked and delicious. We tasted paninis and hot chocolate. For hot chocolate, they asked you if you want some cream and in this case they gave you a pot of whipping cream... marvellous!
We go on a shopping tour in Gamla Stan and here I give you my crush with some adresses, and a tea time in the "Lazy House":
* "Kerstin Adolphson", in "Västerlanggatan" street with 2 entry at 40 and 44, is a little wool shop where you can find gloves, scarf, pull-over made in sweden. I took a pair of white gloves so comfortable and warmful!!! Find them on Facebook.
* "Handkraft swea" in "29, Västerlanggatan" street, is a wonderful shop where you find many wood and straw objects sculpted. Angels, humans, typical swedish animals. I took a moose corkscrew and a moose to put your glasses on! So Funky!Find them on Instagram.
* "Sirlig", at "22, Tyska Brinken" is a lovely shop where you will find clothes, beauty products and house decoration, in a warmful swedish atmosphere, where you want to take everything. The owner is absolutely charming and speak a litlle bit french :) . I loved oragnic beauty products, and I found a lovely swedish brand "L:A Bruket", I tooh the stick lips and a hand cream. I was searching since a long time a good rain coat, I FIND IT, a real crush! The danish brand Danefae is doing those clothes, with organic tissus, perfect for me who's trying to buy local things depending on where I am. Find them on Facebook.
* Theodore's Home, at 28, Västerlånggatan, the temple of Bukowski teddy bear! You are in love with teddy bears? You will find them all, little big, grizzly or polar bears, they are so cute! For my mother who loved them so much I took the polar bear and 2 mooses for the girls of a friend and the little Santa where you see only his nose, I fond of them.
* For the ones who want to bring back the famouse wood horses, the essential adress is "Runstenen" or "Wooden horse museum" on "Störtoget" place. you can appreciate some amazing realisations because it's also museum, free entrye. This little wood horses are quite expensive but my Sister offered me a miniature one in a key chain version.
Shopping finished, we went in Norrmalms district because we had reserved our frozen experience in the Ice Bar for 6.45pm! You can find other Ice Bar in the world, but seems to us that it will be the perfect moment to live this experience in Stockholm during winter, than in Paris in summertime :) . Unforgettable moment, laugh and friendly concept. I invite you to se see the 360° inside the bar. Everything is done with ice, a huge warm cloak with gloves let you enjoy this time with serenity. The price is 25€ per person included entry and one drink. You can stay for a while and if you want to drink more cocktail you can pay them directly at the bar. The ice Bar is just on the underground of the Ice Hotel. Some little spaces are done with Ice to capture some good moments, an icy throne, Sweden map... And your glass of course are made with ice too!
We stopped this day by eating quite near in a pub who's called "Bishop Arms" at 7, Vasagatan, with a burger and a goat cheese salad. This salad is purposed quite evrywhere, one of their classic courses. And their plates are always generous.
With our shopping bags and quite tired, we decided to take the tube to go back to the hotel. We heard that it was an art design... we were amazed, superb, clean, colored, painting, sculpture in each station. A real artistic travel! We took it from T-Centralen to Zinkensdamm. A little way but gave us a great memory.
DAY 3: Monday
We took a little moment to do our luggage... big moment! With my Sister, it's always very sacred, nobody talk as our life depending on what's going on! haha! But we managed with: "going in, going out many times everything", we are quite really good now, maybe we was good players at tetris before ;)
For this last little journey, it's was a snowy day. We walked in the direction of Gamla Stan for a last visit through an other little park with a nice point of view. We went on Riddarholmen island where you find only some monuments huge and beautiful!
We walked on the little streets of Gamla Stan, the ones that we didn't took before, and we have make a break in the "Cosy café", with free WiFi but we had prefer the "Lazy House".
We had lunch in Gramunken coffee, who won't let us an unforgettable memories, but we can't be good at each time. Nothing awful but the food wasn't really good. We recommand you the Chokladkoppen who seems great, but my Sister wanted a wafle and they did not make it.
We go back to the hotel and wait the taxi for 15h45. We enjoyed the nice living room with fresh and hot drinks for free and saw the snow falling outside.
Stockholm was an incredible discover, I hope going an other time other there maybe in an other season and enjoyed the thousands things to do!
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Discover our tour on the website...
