Week no. 27 / Stockholm guide no. 2
no. 1 / Summer in this city is truly magical. When the longest day of the year boasts roughly 18.5 hours of sunlight, it's palpable in the way Swedes take to the city's beaches and cafés with outdoors seating. It's possible to get a seat inside anywhere but en plein air is another question. On the hottest day thus far, we ventured to the city park Tantolunden on Södermalm. There's a beach and a pier with a diving board nestled against a hillside of the most lovely allotment gardens and tiny sheds. Nearby is Boulebar, where you can play pétanque (similar to bocce) and have a drink. There are also a handful of food trucks that serve burgers, fish & chips, smoothies, and coffee.
no. 2 / Garden cafés have been high on our list of places to visit. We found another gem this past week, Vintervikens Trädgård. Despite being so close to a neighborhood, the scenery is poetic and the food divine. You can sit under a canopy of roses. Unfortunately it rained the day we visited, but they have a small-covered area with a wood-burning stove. Talk about hygge. They also have live music on Tuesdays, which we're hoping to check out next week.
no. 3 / On my search for the best fika spots, I have discovered two new favorites: Pascal and Gast (pictured). Both have delicious coffee, excellent pastries, and the most wonderful ambiance. In addition to delicious food (try the Asian salmon bowl), Gast has a bunch of magazines and design books (think Cereal, Kinfolk, etc.), Here I was able to read through The 500 Hidden Secrets of Stockholm, which is one of the best-organized travel guides (they have guides for many cities). I've also been using the Stockholm CITIx60 guidebook, as well as Green Kitchen Stories' post, Our Stockholm.
no. 4 / Spent one morning savoring the acai & raspberry smoothie bowl with peanut butter and free coffee refills at Pom & Flora. Their open-faced scrambled egg dish also looked amazing.
no. 5 / It feels funny to recommend a regular bookstore while traveling, but I reveled in seeing the differences in book cover designs between the U.S. and European publishers at The English Bookshop. Euro-market versions are always better designed. I wish I had space to take more books back!
no. 6 / Stutterheim is a Swedish brand of handmade raincoats whose motto is "Let's embrace Swedish melancholy. Embracing rain is a good start." In fact they celebrate melancholy, saying it's the source of creativity and forces us to see the world in ways a content person would not. As an Enneagram Type 4, I couldn't agree more. Considering I live in the PNW and one can never have too many rain jackets, I was committed to getting one. Plus I was able to take advantage of their summer sale and pay half price (!)
no. 7 / Södermalm boasts an amazing array of secondhand and vintage shops. Many are centered around SoFo neighborhood and around Hornsgatan. There are secondhand chains (re: Goodwill) like Red Cross, Myrorna, and Stockholm Stadsmission. However, with plenty of independent gems like Ritz, Lisa Larson, Vintage Klubben, and Sive & Ake, you can't go wrong.