The day after our wedding, Frederick and I were on our way to start the best trip of our lives- the HONEYMOON! Through out two weeks, we visited Stockholm, Paris, Riga, Tallinn, and Helsinki! Did I mention that we only brought our backpacks? Not those huge backpacking ones, but the ones you could manage to take as a personal item (carry ons between European countries cost a fortune– in some instances more than the ticket itself).
After 16 hours, we were in a beautiful city of Stockholm.
After a little nap (oh it was so good to finally rest) we began our exploration of Stockholm. We went through the Rålambshovsparken (a park) near our hotel going towards downtown. It was interesting because there were a lot of people of all ages sitting on blankets, grilling, chatting, kids running around… it really seemed that there was some sort of an event going around. As we kept on we saw Lake Mälaren with little boats and restaurants. It was so amazing.
Fun fact: Stockholm is made up of 14 little islands.
DAY 1: we checked out the old city center- Gamla Stan- filled with historic buildings, tiny streets, and lots of little shops.
Frustrations: weekends in Stockholm means everything is closed early or closed! Also, we were always looking for Swedish restaurants, yet it was nearly impossible- Stockholm seems to be the lover of anything Asian- thai, sushi, chinese… anything but Swedish food.
We ended up too hungry to continue searching for that authentic Swedish food and like typical americans went to McDonald’s- hey in Europe it is pretty much a luxury right?
DAY 2: woke up early and walked to this hip part of Stockholm called Östermalm that is filled with tons of shops that were unfortunately closed… well Urban Outfitters was open… We continued and finally found a place that we absolutely loved- Strandvägen 1. If you are around- totally worth checking out! For the rest of the day we continued walking and just absorbing the beauty of the city. And of course taking lots and lots of pictures.
Strandvägen 1 brunch- Frederick had salmon with potatoes and I had salmon omelette.
Hard decisions. I wanted it all!
At night we booked another hotel (near the Arlanda airport) only to find out hours later that our flight to Paris is not from that airport, but the middle of nowhere airport called Skavsta.
Tip #1: remember to double check the airport names on the tickets!!
Now, to get to the Skavsta airport is an 1.5 hour bus ride that was leaving 8 hours before our flight… The bus dropped us off at the station that was dark and the little store next to it was closed. We had no idea how far or how to get to the airport. We walked over to the bar down the road (it was basically empty) and sign-languaged our way to have the owner to call a taxi for us. The whole time I thought we were going to get murdered (the guy kept looking at us and mumbling something that I couldn’t understand- pretty sure he was calling his gang… jk). Taxi came…whew.
For the next 8 hours we battled sleep with eating candy and other junk food. I bought a book A Man Called Ove but quickly became bored.
Tip #2: DO NOT GO TO SKAVSTA AIRPORT! It has wooden chairs, one little shop that is open at night, and wifi that you have to pay for yet it will keep bumping you off.
Looking back, it wouldn’t be a true adventure if it was not for the times of frustration and confusion. Stockholm was awesome! Just plan it around weekdays!
Next stop: PARIS!
xo
O