Tuesday 31 May 2011
A Beautiful View!
On Friday there were a couple of big storms that came through Milano. They were needed. We had a week of humid days and so the storms cleared away all the smog and left the city air cleaner than its been for a while. I decided to make the most of it and went to the rooftop of Duomo in the early evening on Saturday. The view was spectacular. The mountains were clearly visible, and so I took some photos. Take a look!
Long Weekend in Stockholm
A week ago I travelled to Stockholm for a three day weekend. I have been wanting to visit Stockholm for a very long time, so I was so pleased to be finally visiting the city. Stockholm is a place I've been told a lot about and everyone I know that had visited prior to me going had told me that it's a really pretty and fun city.
We flew up on the Thursday night, and I have to say that even the flight was really lovely especially as we got closer to landing with a beautiful sunset, and below us a multitude of islands. The first realisation about arriving into Sweden was that it was organised. As one friend pointed out to me a couple of days later, living in Italy definitely lowers your expectations about organisation especially, and this is absolutely true!
As accommodation is generally expensive in Stockholm we booked to stay in a hostel called Skanstulls Hostel (http://www.skanstulls.se/en/) which is found in the Sodermalm area of Stockholm. It's quite a cool area with a lot of shopping, plus great cafés, restaurants and bars. The hostel was actually full over the weekend, however it was very clean, had comfortable beds (!) and the location was probably the best thing about it.
On Friday we basically walked the whole day exploring the centre of the city, through Sodermalm, Gamla Stan and Norrmalm, the main downtown area of the city. It's easy to understand why Sodermalm is considered to be one of the coolest areas of the city, it really is full of lovely little shops (especially nice clothes), has an abundance of cafés and good coffee, plus as we discovered later in the day lots of bars and restaurants. Gamla Stan is the oldest part of the city, quite touristy with lots of souvenir shops plus has traditional older buildings, Churches and is nice to walk through. We had lunch on the waterfront in Gamla Stan looking towards the Skeppsholmen and Kastellholmen islands. It was a really sunny warm spring day and so we enjoyed our lunch sitting outside. Actually all the food we ate in Stockholm was really delicious and service was always great. In the afternoon we headed towards Norrmalm, and did a little bit of shopping. Of course in this area there were a couple of huge H&M's, plus more high street brands and the shops were mostly found on pedestrian walkways, so it was easy to wander around. Later in the afternoon we headed back to Sodermalm, and here you can find more independent clothing stores, including a Filippa K store which is a well-known Scandinavian brand and lots of shoe shops too! After such a big day of shopping, walking and being tourists we ended up in one of the main squares of the area, and as it was such a lovely day enjoyed a couple of beers in one of the packed bars. There is a bar called "Snaps" which is I believe really well known in Stockholm, and we were sitting in another adjacent to it. During the evening it did cool down a bit and the bar brought out heaters and even blankets for people to use, which I later discovered is something nearly every bar and restaurant do if they have an outdoor seating area. That night we ate dinner at a great restaurant called "Garlic & Shots", which is on the street Folkungagatan. All their food is cooked with garlic! I definitely recommend this restaurant, good food, service and prices too. There is also a small bar connected to the restaurant.
For Saturday morning we started in a pretty similar manner to Friday...breakfast at a local cafè, a bit of shopping in Sodermalm, another coffee stop and then across the bridge into Gamla Stan where we caught a ferry to the island Djurgarden. Here you can find a small theme park and also Skansen, the zoo. Now, I have to say that I personally am not usually a massive zoo lover, however this particular zoo in Stockholm is really great, and extremely interesting. Not only is there lots of Scandinavian animals, such as wolves, elks, reindeers and bears but also traditional style Swedish designed homes from all regions and also eras. The whole area is nicely laid out and has the feel of walking through a lovely park with lots of trees, and then views towards the city. I enjoyed seeing the animals as well, with quite a few new born such as the baby elks who were just two weeks old. They were very cute! So after the fun of the zoo we headed to lunch at a cafè called "Blå Porten", also on Djurgarden and it served once again great food. Actually the cakes and desserts looked really good, but we didn't partake, just ate some lunch and sat outside in the sun to eat. After lunch we walked over the bridge from Djurgarden into the Ostermalm district. This area is one of the more expensive in Stockholm, and in a way is more suburban than for example Sodermalm. There was also a a few streets with shops, and after sitting to relax in the sun in one square we caught the metro back to our hostel. In the evening, we decided to "stay local" and in the end had a great night. We found a small very cool bar on a street called Skanegatan, and had a few drinks there before heading to a different bar called "Pet Sounds" where its possible to dance downstairs.
Because we needed to start heading to the airport on the Sunday at around 1pm, we didn't do so much on the Sunday besides a walk through Sodermalm and Gamla Stan again. I have to say that Stockholm definitely is a great city to visit. We were lucky to have sunny warm weather the whole time we were there, the people are really laid-back and nice, the city is easy to navigate around, plus as I mentioned below the food was yum too! I actually think it would also be lovely to do a driving tour through Sweden, as even the small amount of countryside that I saw outside of Stockholm was also very beautiful. Go see for yourself I say!!
We flew up on the Thursday night, and I have to say that even the flight was really lovely especially as we got closer to landing with a beautiful sunset, and below us a multitude of islands. The first realisation about arriving into Sweden was that it was organised. As one friend pointed out to me a couple of days later, living in Italy definitely lowers your expectations about organisation especially, and this is absolutely true!
As accommodation is generally expensive in Stockholm we booked to stay in a hostel called Skanstulls Hostel (http://www.skanstulls.se/en/) which is found in the Sodermalm area of Stockholm. It's quite a cool area with a lot of shopping, plus great cafés, restaurants and bars. The hostel was actually full over the weekend, however it was very clean, had comfortable beds (!) and the location was probably the best thing about it.
On Friday we basically walked the whole day exploring the centre of the city, through Sodermalm, Gamla Stan and Norrmalm, the main downtown area of the city. It's easy to understand why Sodermalm is considered to be one of the coolest areas of the city, it really is full of lovely little shops (especially nice clothes), has an abundance of cafés and good coffee, plus as we discovered later in the day lots of bars and restaurants. Gamla Stan is the oldest part of the city, quite touristy with lots of souvenir shops plus has traditional older buildings, Churches and is nice to walk through. We had lunch on the waterfront in Gamla Stan looking towards the Skeppsholmen and Kastellholmen islands. It was a really sunny warm spring day and so we enjoyed our lunch sitting outside. Actually all the food we ate in Stockholm was really delicious and service was always great. In the afternoon we headed towards Norrmalm, and did a little bit of shopping. Of course in this area there were a couple of huge H&M's, plus more high street brands and the shops were mostly found on pedestrian walkways, so it was easy to wander around. Later in the afternoon we headed back to Sodermalm, and here you can find more independent clothing stores, including a Filippa K store which is a well-known Scandinavian brand and lots of shoe shops too! After such a big day of shopping, walking and being tourists we ended up in one of the main squares of the area, and as it was such a lovely day enjoyed a couple of beers in one of the packed bars. There is a bar called "Snaps" which is I believe really well known in Stockholm, and we were sitting in another adjacent to it. During the evening it did cool down a bit and the bar brought out heaters and even blankets for people to use, which I later discovered is something nearly every bar and restaurant do if they have an outdoor seating area. That night we ate dinner at a great restaurant called "Garlic & Shots", which is on the street Folkungagatan. All their food is cooked with garlic! I definitely recommend this restaurant, good food, service and prices too. There is also a small bar connected to the restaurant.
For Saturday morning we started in a pretty similar manner to Friday...breakfast at a local cafè, a bit of shopping in Sodermalm, another coffee stop and then across the bridge into Gamla Stan where we caught a ferry to the island Djurgarden. Here you can find a small theme park and also Skansen, the zoo. Now, I have to say that I personally am not usually a massive zoo lover, however this particular zoo in Stockholm is really great, and extremely interesting. Not only is there lots of Scandinavian animals, such as wolves, elks, reindeers and bears but also traditional style Swedish designed homes from all regions and also eras. The whole area is nicely laid out and has the feel of walking through a lovely park with lots of trees, and then views towards the city. I enjoyed seeing the animals as well, with quite a few new born such as the baby elks who were just two weeks old. They were very cute! So after the fun of the zoo we headed to lunch at a cafè called "Blå Porten", also on Djurgarden and it served once again great food. Actually the cakes and desserts looked really good, but we didn't partake, just ate some lunch and sat outside in the sun to eat. After lunch we walked over the bridge from Djurgarden into the Ostermalm district. This area is one of the more expensive in Stockholm, and in a way is more suburban than for example Sodermalm. There was also a a few streets with shops, and after sitting to relax in the sun in one square we caught the metro back to our hostel. In the evening, we decided to "stay local" and in the end had a great night. We found a small very cool bar on a street called Skanegatan, and had a few drinks there before heading to a different bar called "Pet Sounds" where its possible to dance downstairs.
Because we needed to start heading to the airport on the Sunday at around 1pm, we didn't do so much on the Sunday besides a walk through Sodermalm and Gamla Stan again. I have to say that Stockholm definitely is a great city to visit. We were lucky to have sunny warm weather the whole time we were there, the people are really laid-back and nice, the city is easy to navigate around, plus as I mentioned below the food was yum too! I actually think it would also be lovely to do a driving tour through Sweden, as even the small amount of countryside that I saw outside of Stockholm was also very beautiful. Go see for yourself I say!!
Wednesday 25 May 2011
It's been too long...
Since I posted on my Blog! I can't believe that its been weeks since I wrote here, but I have to say that these past weeks have been pretty crazy. I've been travelling, was sick for almost a week, and also work has been pretty full on...oh, did I mention too that I'm moving back to Sydney at the end of June, so I'm starting to figure out moving my life back to Australia. I've had moments in the past week where I've felt completely frazzled and stressed, but this week I'm feeling like yes I can do it, yes I can. In fact today I should of been flying across to London for three days, but I've re-scheduled the trip till next week because of the new volcanic eruption in Iceland. I was worried of being stuck in London. It wouldn't of been the first time. I was stuck (because of snow) in London last December for an extra six days to what I had planned, and this included my Birthday and Christmas. I had visions yesterday afternoon of the same thing happening again and so I re-booked to go next week. At Christmas time I was lucky, to have been stuck in London rather than say Islamabad where I wouldn't have known a soul. In London I have friends and places to stay, plus I could work at our London office, but during that extra six days, even with lovely people around me, I was very frustrated at not being able to just head out to the airport and hop on a flight to Milano. It was impossible, and this time around I decided to stay put. I just spent a long weekend in Stockholm and it was really great. I'll write a complete blog post about it in the next couple of days, but here are some Hipstamatic pics of Stockholm that I took:
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