Week no. 28 / Stockholm guide no. 3
no. 1 / I could spend hours in the store Papercut. Here you'll find a vast array of hard-to-find magazines; art and interdisciplinary journals; design, architecture, and culinary books; and fun gifts. Basically any beautiful thing in print you can imagine. I bought the inaugural issue of Kajet, a cultural journal about Eastern-European narratives. It's awaken the Anthropologist in me.
no. 2 / Iris Hantverk is one of those shops you walk into and want everything. Here you'll find beautiful versions of common household items: dustpans, brushes of every kind, peg shelving, brooms. It reminded me that design can be applied to the everyday.
no. 3 / I think I found my favorite garden café thus far: Bergianska Gamla Orangeriet. It's an old orangery in Bergianska Trädgården with delicious food sourced seasonally and organically. The gardens are lovely and there's even a beach for swimming. We cycled there (it's close to Stockholm University) and made a point to stop at Nordic Fauna Ice Cream on the way back. They're know for unique flavor combos. I went for rhubarb gin + blueberry tarragon. Simply amazing.
no. 4 / ArkDes is the Swedish architecture and design centre. The permanent exhibit walks you through the evolution of Swedish architecture. They currently have a fascinating temporary exhibit called Public Luxury that looks at experimental architectural and design solutions for public spaces in Sweden. It's worth a stop, especially as it is attached to the Moderna Museet (modern art museum) and also has free admission.
no. 5 / I'm a pescatarian, so I unfortunately I can't give any recommendations for traditional Swedish meatballs, but I really loved the fish quenelles at Kalf & Hansen. They identify as "fast food" but everything is organic and sourced from Nordic countries. Try the "Stockholm" for the most authentic version of a Swedish meatball dish. And yes, they do serve meatballs made of meat, but they also have vegetarian quenelles too that are vegan.
no. 6 / I can't claim to be a football fan (soccer for all you American folks), but watching the World Cup while we've been here has been exhilarating, especially because the Swedish team made it to the quarterfinals. Bleck has been my favorite spot to watch the games. Situated on the edge of a park, it's also a pretty idyllic spot for a meal or just a drink.
no. 7 / We finally escaped to the archipelago and chose the island of Grinda. It was about a two-hour boat ride, which in itself was part of the experience, as you get to pass loads of little islands with the most quaint summer houses. Grinda had great swimming spots but felt a little too orchestrated, like summer camp for the whole family. I wish we had made more of an effort to check out more islands in the archipelago, but I guess we'll have to save the rest for the next trip.
I'm planning to revisit some of my favorite spots during our last couple days in Stockholm, but next week I'll be back in the studio and headed to Renegade Seattle next weekend. Hope to see all of you Seattleites there!