My extended weekend in Sweden

Yes, it was indeed supposed to be a long weekend in Sweden, 4 days to be precise, but what can you do when a gigantic cloud of volcanic ashes prevents the planes from taking off as scheduled?? The only thing reasonable I'd say:

Enjoy it!!

You see, that's not very difficult when you are stranded in a city like Stockholm ;)

.....and so I did enjoy it and the long weekend turned into a long week.

It was already a fantastic schedule before the 4 extra days became a fact..... Here it is, a short summary of both a planned visitors and a stranded passengers daily schedule!!

Thursday

Beeing picked up at the airport by the worlds greatest Aryan! Heading into Stockholm for lunch at NK, to my knowledge the best Stockholm shopping-mall for mid/high-end fashion, where I always order the same thing: Shrimp and avocado salad (this is a standard and a must whenever I'm in Stockholm)!! To die for!!!

After this lovely meal, we did some shopping and I filled up my storage of Voluspa scented candles (in my opinion, the best there is!).

The weather was awesome, so we then headed into "Gamla stan" (an absolute must-see!!!) and to my surprise - they had opened a Ben & Jerry's ice cream bar there!! OH MY GOODNESS!!! Again - simply divine!!

In the eve, we had dinner at one of the best Asian restaurants in Stockholm, East, where I had the best sushi ever, inside-out rolls with tempura fried tiger-shrimps, asparagus and avocado....mmmmm.......

The evening ended in the Ice Bar - which is always a fun thing to do if you are in Stockholm. If you go, I do recommend you to make a reservation before - especially if you go on a Friday or Saturday, as this place attracts a lot of tourists ;)

Friday

Fantastic start of the day with a reservation at No Limits Spa! This is a great thing to do with your friends or for a bachelor/bachelorette party! No Limits is a hair and beauty salon but you can also reserve a little mini-spa in their basement. They have a whirlpool, a sauna, a couple of showers and a bar (you can also bring your own food and drinks, which is really cool!). We rented the place for 2 hours and felt perfectly relaxed after!

After that, some thai food at another fantastic restaurant in Stockholm, Koh Phangan and then I got on a train to Koping (my hometown) to see my family and friends.

We had a lovely BBQ in the sun and then spent the evening catching up. What would life be without friends and family??

Saturday

After a lazy morning, I went to see my dad, my brother and his girlfriend in my dad's new apartment. We had a classic Koping Sunday lunch - Kebab (seriously!! If you are ever in Koping or just passing by with a little bit of hunger, you have to try the "Kebabrulle" or the "Kebabpizza" at Pizzeria Maestro!!! Trust me..... I have never had Kebab of such caliber anywhere else in the world!).

After the always so emotional "Auf wiedersehen's", I headed back to Stockholm again to attend Aryans house-warming party. What a blast!!!

Sunday

Oh lazy Sunday.......first spent shopping at Barkarby outlet (Love their Peak Performance store and managed to properly refill my training-wardrobe!) and at Kista Galleria (opened every day of the week from 09-21!). Then off to Balsta to see Patricia and the kids - BLISS!!! We defied the wind and the short rain-shower and had a little coffee-picnic on the beach, playing soccer and feeding the birds. Absolutely awesome!!

....then the SMS came "Your flight has been cancelled. Please do NOT proceed to the airport! Visit www.swiss.com for the latest information."

So, unknowing what would happen next, I went off to the next scheduled stop: Dinner with Johanna and Daniel!! As always, they had cooked amazing food, were the perfect company and I loved every minute of it!!

Monday

At this point, I was supposed to be on a flight back to Switzerland - but Mother Nature had other plans for me. It was a beautiful day, I had no plans and the sun was shining........what to do?? I'll tell you the perfect thing to do on such a day if you are around Stockholm: Go to Sigtuna!!

You see, on a sunny day during the weekend, this place is CROWDED with tourists which can bring some frustration for the less patient (such as myself ;))!! It's such an idyllic little town just by the lake Malaren and it offers, not only a genuine sense of Sweden - but also amazing foods, pastries and chocolates ;)). If you go there, I sincerely recommend you to try the restaurant "Farbror Bla" (AMAZING food!!) and also to have a "Swedish fika" at "Tant Brun".

It was the perfect day!!!

Tuesday

This morning started with 1 1/5 hrs in the Swiss telephone queue. After someone finally picked up, I was nicely informed that the very first available flight back was on Friday......taken!! After all, all train-tickets were also sold out and driving a rental-car to Switzerland from Sweden is NOT an option!

Again a day without plans and with a sunshine that had to be soaked in properly!!

This day was spent in Stockholm city looking around, shopping and stopping by my former colleagues at Disney/Buena Vista to say hello.

Something that I love to do is as well in Stockholm is strolling around in Hotorgshallen, checking out and, of course, tasting the foods from all over the world!

I was also really happy to see that there now is an "Urban outfitters" store at Biblioteksgatan!! I love this store and its concept and was completely unaware that it had found its way to Sweden!

I love happy surprises!

In the eve, the dinner was consumed at a fab little Persian restaurant called "Kharazmi" in Vasastan that I can also sincerely recommend!!

Wednesday

The return of the snow! This shouldn't be surprising for a genuine Swede. Every Swede knows that April-weather is as unstable as Bambi on ice and yet, I found myself shocked that the lovely spring-weather so quickly could be replaced by such crappy and cold weather, only suitable for Polar-bears. Switzerland suddenly seems like heaven on earth and sympathy for any Swede with less hair-growth than those polar-bears started to arise.

Not much to do this day really........and honestly - in need of a little rest ;))

Thursday

The last day, suffering from a little bit of separation-anxiety which was cured by spending another day strolling around in Stockholm city and an evening with great friends at a little bohemian restaurant/bar called "Babs Bar". It must be mentioned that their restroom is an experience that must be..........experienced!!! ;))

Hooray for the cancelled flight and the extra time and "forced holidays" in Sweden - but Booray for the backlog of work waiting for me when I was again back at work on Friday efternoon and for the classic "Post-Sweden depression" that always follows me when I'm back in Switzerland without my next visit home already scheduled!!

The good news - In Switzerland, spring has now REALLY arrived and temperatures have reached between 20-26 degrees and I have some really great friends here!!

My glass is almost full..........

xox

Linda - Busy and back in Switzerland