What do you do when you decide on the fly to spend a long weekend in Stockholm,
only to discover when you get there all the Swedes have left town?
(sound the crickets)
Note to self: sometimes it pays to plan ahead, just a little bit.
So it was Midsommarafton,
one of the biggest Swedish holidays of the year,
to be spent in the countryside, with flower garlands around your head,
prancing around maypoles, eating fishy things (herring) with potatoes,
and singing songs while drinking Schnapps.
We ate some fishy salmon, with potatoes....
...and Swedish meatballs with potatoes
(accompanied by lingonberries and pickled cucumbers)
And instead of Schnapps, stumbled upon the wine
that was served at Swedish Crown Princess Victoria's
royal wedding in 2010.
And a delicious lager and some pear cider.
With most shops and restaurants closed for the holiday, we joined
the other non-Swedes on a boat tour.
Went through locks,
from lake, to Baltic, to lake.
And eventually found where all the people were.
(The very touristy, but charming
Old Town)
With just about everything closed, we decided to
head over to the Sodermalm section of Stockholm and
seek out some Girl With a Dragon Tattoo haunts.
It is supposed to be a very trendy, hip part of town.
(but all the trendy bohemians left town).
The coffee bar where Stieg Larsson wrote his trilogy,
shut tight for the holiday.
The fictional Mikael Blomkvist's apartment.
Where to stay? There's a quirky hotel in a great location called
Story.
Story has a kitchen.
And a lively bar.
And off-beat artwork on the walls.
Lycklig resa!
(happy travels)
