reflecting on stockholm

here's a quick run down of my thoughts on stockholm.

food: as for savory, i'd skip it & did. most meals were made at the hostel with theresa. as for the sweet - sign me up! with all of the licorice, jellies & pastries that stockholm had to offer, i've had my sweet tooth satisfied for days. my favorite - salted black licorice gummy. you'll also find many wonderful sidewalk cafes & chocolate shops perfect for people watching & spending a slow afternoon.

accommodations: stay at city backpackers, it was perfect. the facilities were great, free internet & bikes, many tours available, hip cafe upstairs (for the nights you want to stay in without feeling like you're at the hostel) & friendly staff. i was there for 7 nights & dropped a mere $350.

fashion: stockholm has tons of big shopping districts filled with h&m, gina tricott, acne jeans, whyred, fillipa k, face stockholm, pub & othe swedish staples; as well as great neighborhood boutiques & vintage shops - spending your entire trip shopping could easily happen.

it seemed to me that the locals were really well dressed, perfectly put together in a non-flamboyant sort of way; men & woman alike seem to have a natural, classic style. i will say that there is a definite uniform right now - white sneakers (vans, keds, converse, adidas), skinny jeans, layered tops, short jackets (leather or nylon) & scarves. not too different from the states right? other things i noticed were pants with drawstring bottoms (which i loved), hammer pants (ugh), & straight up 80s.

design: i don't need to say too much about this right?! it was incredible. form & function integrated, even the hand soap in restrooms is sexy. from urban planning, interior spaces, products, architecture, wayfinding & signage, stockholm showcases some of most intelligent & careful design.

people: everyone in stockholm was fantastic & helpful, not to mention that most were quite beautiful. even the bartender at the hip local bar was more than happy to give advice & take care of you as if you were a regular.

things to see: between the 80+ museums, intimate & hip neighborhoods, historic landmarks, parks & outlooks, the archipelago & waterways - you could spend some hefty time in stockholm without finding yourself bored.

there is so much more i could write, but how much more can i do right now? not much - time to hit the hay & get rid of this cold so that i can wake up to a proper day in copenhagen.

bike love in stockholm - days 6 & 7

the last two days in stockholm were wonderful & while i'm nursing a cold & treating the largest blemish ever know to my face - i enjoyed every minute.

after yesterday's trip to the archipelago, i had to some time to take pics of all the stylish bike commuters coming from the north & heading to the more residential areas in sodermalm.

we decided to hit up the national museum before catching our train to copenhagen at 2pm. the national museum was fantastic, one floor of amazing paintings from 17th - 19th century europe & another with the history of applied design (product design) in sweden. i could have stayed for another 2 hours, taking in the details of each painting. while surrounded by the works of rembrant & monet, i found that i was struck by swedish artist anders zorn & most of the 18th century french work.

after that, it was sad to say goodbye to the lovely swedes, but very exciting to head to copenhagen. the train was quick & comfortable; towards the end of the trip we realized that the two couples next to us were part of a band - listening in to words like gig & promoter. as we exited, bart convinced me to just ask what band they were in - i was excited to hear in response - glass candy & desire. as you may remember, they were my music to listen to a while back. it looks like i'm on the guest list +1 for the june 18th show in berlin - anyone want to join me?

trip to vaxholm - a glimpse at the archipelago

with only a couple days left, bart & i decided to take a steam boat to the inner archipelago, valxholm island. i'd equate it with a trip to kitsap or bainbridge in the pacific northwest, only a richer & deeper history. we had a fun day relaxing on the boat, chatting with traditional english dancers (one who's quoted saying, "i've been to seattle once, lots of music & desperate looking drug addicts"), checking out the tiny town, & exploring the waterfront views.

stockholm street art

oh dear it's ice cube, baby bee!

fourth & fifth days in stockholm

another couple days, this time with sunshine & warmer weather. bart got in last night as well, i can't tell you how exciting it was to see him walk into the hostel.

with these warmer days we've had more trips to sofo with long visits in cafes, shopping, long walks & bike rides. i am glad that i approached the trip as i did, spending a fair amount of time in each spot, getting to know the city beyond the sites. sodermalm has definitely become my favorite part of town, one that i could see myself living in & spending my weekend afternoons popping around. it's filled with shops that feel intimate & carefully stocked, the cafes are kitschy & comfortable, but mostly, on a sunny day like this you can find the streets filled with people enjoying the company of friends & nice weather.

our hostel has free bikes & we've taken advantage the last two afternoons. the first day was spent on the streets of vasastaden & today we went through djugarden (a large green space also filled with many museums & surrounded by water) & back through ostermalm. i have so much to say for the walkability & cycling ease of stockholm, but that will be shared more at iva jean rides.

tomorrow we are off to the archipelago for a short stop in vaxholm. without more time, it's hard to get out into the real islands. i'm looking forward to the next day & a half, but am sad to leave stockholm with so much more to see.

for more pics of the trip so far, click here.

melissa shook

there were many photographers in the reality revisited exhibit that struck me, but the daily self portraits of melissa shook are still with me. her photographs are completely revealing & personal; the ones with her daughter are even more touching.

second & third days in stockholm

aside from the cold & occasional rain - stockholm has been wonderful. i was lucky enough to meet two wonderful girls, one from munich & the other from quebec. we've been good about making meals at the hostel & seeing the sites, despite the conditions. stops included the showcasing a recently recovered war ship that sunk on its maiden voyage in the 1600s, picking up some pastries from an adorable bread shop in sofoo, a small bar up the street that was filled with young swedes listening to beastie boys & a-ha, the vasa museum, museum of modern art, the museum of architecture, & continued shopping & exploring. the museum of modern art (moderna museet) had a wonderful collection, as well as beautiful exhibitions from clay ketter & reality revisited (a photography collection). the museum is just beautiful, with design that simply blew me away. i wish i could have had my camera, but i think that without it i enjoyed the experience much more.

first day in stockholm

well, well - after a solid night's sleep (thanks tylenol pm), i spent my first day out & about in stockholm. it's just how i thought it would be (only better) - completely walkable, lots of bikers, well dressed people, amazing architecture, beautiful shops & great coffee. i also love all of the water, i'm waiting for bart to get back before doing the canal tour, soooo anxious.

today my main destination was sodermalm & sofo. the walk didn't take too long & i was able to get a quick peak at the historic district as well. sodermalm was pretty fantastic with lots of great shopping & plenty of cafes. sofo is seen as the young, hip part of town & it's reputation held up. there were endless thrift & record shops, boutiques & bars.

after a nice long run along the canals, i'm laying low tonight (yes, it's night here), sipping a latte & reading. that makes for a nice long day of adventure & picture taking. until then...