I’ve been to Stockholm twice before, and it truly is one of my most favourite cities. It’s just got that je ne s’ais quoi, like NYC and Paris. When people ask me what it’s like, I just say it sparkles. There’s this unique (and often blinding) quality of light, probably from all the water that surrounds the islands, that is special. John suggested it’s like a white light, which I am inclined to agree.

We splurged a bit on accommodation this time, mostly because I spent a day looking for something affordable and not sketchy and came up with nothing. So we got an actual hotel room at the Nordic Sea Hotel (I scored an online special). Personally, I often like to stay near the central train station, because everything is accessible from there and when you keep adding baggage to your entourage like we are, it helps to only be a short walk to the hotel. Unlike our experience in Oslo, the room was ready for our arrival at 10am (oh by the way, we flew Norwegian from Oslo, about $60 per person and a smooth ride it was).

Since I sprained my ankle, we spent the day close to home base, in the City Center. I did a bit of shopping at Topshop (which was stupid since they mark up the prices for importing it into Sweden) and at MTWTFSS Weekday (I think it’s a part of Cheap Monday, if I do recall correctly) along the main shopping street Drottninggatan. Then we headed over to the luxe department store NK (Nordiska Kompaniet) to get my boots fixes, as I had lost a part of my sole, probably when I tripped.

John, take it away……………..

Then it was off to find Design House Stockholm.

Design House Stockholm had some beautiful objects, featuring a lot of freelance designers from Sweden. We were kind of bummed to find out that most of the products were made in China.

A Stig Lindberg print, they sell pillows with this print that are all screened in Sweden.

We really loved the oil & vinegar cruets, teak trays, and the award winning Whale tongs, where a percentage of profit goes to the “Save the whales foundation”.

Bold ceramic clocks.

The stoppers of these carafes sit ingeniously in a groove underneath the glass.

This table looks great inside or outdoors. I’d like to see it used as a bird bath, minus the West Nile disease.

A set of hand painted bone china.

We were going to grab a steamboat ride into the archipelago in the evening but found out that the restaurant on board was fully booked. Looks like we might miss out on this adventure as the weather has taken a turn for the worse–dark, gloomy and rainy for the rest of the weekend.

So we asked the hotel concierge where to get some authentic Swedish food and she sent us over to Fem Små Hus, in the Gamla Stan area (old city).

S.O.S. appetizer. Herring in four different sauces/styles, accompanied with a bit of sharp cheese. This dish was amazing.

The restaurant is underground, in a bunch of chambers–cozy and intimate.

Sorry, this is the point when we forgot to take a photo BEFORE we start eating. This dish was recommended by the concierge, so we both got it: Fillet of reindeer with mushroom crème, Port wine sauce, root vegetable croquettes and spicy lingon berries.

White chocolate parfait with raw stirred cloudberries.

This dinner runs a close second to our Alberto K experience.