Here is the final portion of photos from my solo trip to Stockholm, which took place this past August for a week. This city was gorgeous. Laid back, romantic, lovely. Its a city that begs to be wandered, explored, photographed. The one major drawback to Sweden: its obscenely expensive. This was a bummer. I had not anticipated just how high expenses would be with their exchange rate, so this was a bit of a blow. Other than this one slight shock to the system (or more aptly, to the wallet), I loved it.
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| How totally gorgeous is this door? My mom tends to point out beautiful doors to me, whenever we have been adventuring in Europe together. For a long time, I thought, meh. What if the big deal, its a door. Now I am starting to get it. A door is the entrance to ones home. Its sets a tone and an impression. Plus, like all eye-catching and gorgeous architecture, a door can be equally as ornate and beautiful as anything else. And there is something fabulous about uniquely designed doors that really draws the eye and holds ones attention. |
Herman's! I had read about this place online. They were rumored to have a particularly delicious and extensive vegetarian all-you-can-eat buffet, and for a decent price. As I was thrown off center by the prices for a meal in general within Stockholm, this was looking like a good deal. For roughly 13 euros, I could stuff myself with a delicious late lunch and hopefully be good for the day ;-)
Another supposedly awesome aspect of Herman's. They were said to offer phenomenal views of Frankfurt. I wrote down directions (yes, on paper ha-ha) and headed towards this enticing offer.
The buffet did not disappoint. There was a mouthwatering vegetarian lasagna, a super tasty red cabbage and walnut salad, an especially yummy carrot, ginger and peanut salad, hummus, french bread and different dips on offer, grilled vegetables, rice, curry sauce, etc. The buffet was varied with a decent amount of choices. Water, coffee and tea were included in the price. For dessert, they offered a number of luscious looking desserts, as well as some raw desserts (meaning, refined sugar free).
Their chocolate cake, though not sugar free, looked too good to turn down. So I had a slice of that and took a raw dessert (mint chocolate, sugar and gluten free) with me to go. Both were excellent.
True to my anticipation, I was full to the point of bursting upon making my exit. In fact, I was worried I might trip and roll down the hill instead of walk! ;-p
All joking aside, I highly recommend Herman's. Super yummy and pretty good deal for your dollar, and yes, the views of Stockholm were great. I only wish the day hadn't been a gray one. Then the view would have been a tad brighter.
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| Stockholm is so beautiful. Its one of the more scenic cities I have ever been to in Europe. |
On one of my last afternoons in Stockholm, I headed back to the outstanding tea shop I had discovered on my first day of wandering. I decided to get one more pot of the blow-a-hole-in-your-wallet expensive rose green tea. It was simply one of the best green teas I had ever tasted. Earthly and distinct like a typical green tea, but with a hint of floral, light sweetness. I ordered some brioche bread on the side with cream and jam. I sat, engrossed in my book, The Girls by Emma Cline, for an hour or so as I enjoyed my tea and bread.
During my stay in the stellar hostel I had booked for the week, I met a great person with whom I spent a day exploring Stockholm with. His name is Titouan. He had come to Stockholm from France for a semester of studying and had happened to book a bed in the same room as me. He was staying for two weeks (until he found an apartment in the city), while I would be leaving in two days. So there was only slight overlap in the time we were both there. However, we began chatting one evening and went on to talk for another hour easily.
I found him to be very intelligent, a fun conversationalist, curious and interested in other people (a rarity nowadays), he was friendly and kind. We played chess together in the common room of our hostel one evening, talking about all sorts of different things. Our hobbies, our passions, our dream jobs, places we had traveled, life goals, etc.
The next day, I asked if he might like to explore the city with me a bit, to which he agreed. We wandered together for the entire morning, a few hours falling away as we chatted and walked. I took him to the old town which we wandered around for a while. Then I suggested a raw food cafe I had read about and was eager to check out. He was easy going and agreed readily. We found our way to Sthlm Raw Food, what ended up being quite a long walk along the harbor, but neither of us minded this.
We chatted about our friends and what some of them were like. We talked about significant romantic relationships each of us had. We talked about books. Awkward travel stories we had experienced with people to whom we are close. Family members. Books. We covered a wide range of topics. I really enjoyed his company. Lots of fun.
Finally we found the Sthlm Raw Food Cafe. I ordered a piece of raspberry chocolate cake which was sugar free, dairy free and wheat free. This was super tasty. I had to battle inwardly not to order a second one. The cake was creamy, tasting just like a regular dairy-made cheesecake. The raspberry was tart and the chocolate flavor creamy and satisfying. I would absolutely go back here, though it was pricey.
The following photos are just a smattering taken from my explorations and wanderings of the city. Interesting buildings I saw or charming cafes, gorgeous views or memorable streets.
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| This bakery was INSANE. I have never seen anything like it. Literally every single free surface was COVERED in sweets. Cookies, cakes, muffins, marzipan desserts, coconut chocolate balls, danishes, etc. It was a sweet lovers dream. I purchased nothing. Just took a few photos and looked around in awe. So cool!! |
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| The name of this little bakery drew me in... ;-) cute. |
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| And true to its name, the Muffin Bakery was all muffins!!! HUGE muffins, the size of a softball, in all manner of flavors. I couldn't not snap a photo. |
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| As soon as two women finished their muffins, these little birds swooped in, feeding excitedly on the crumbs. And calling their little friends over to join ;-) |
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| Loved this building. Gorgeous. |
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| Another totally awesome door. |
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| The entryway/building conjured up something out of a creepy haunting in my mind. It looked like an old, haunted institution of sorts. Stately and...dark. |
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| Whoa, talk about a dream house. Gorgeous. Love the lighthouse-like section of the home, the banister leading to the front door which looked like a tree branch. |
I was very drawn to these boats, sitting in the harbor of Stockholm. Rustic, antiquated, worn but romantic and enticing. I could partially imagine myself packing up and moving here once I reach retirement age. Hosting dinner parties on the deck, candles casting a warm glow on the food and faces of my friends, laughter and silverware against plates sparkling in the air, a warm breeze rustling over us as we sat outside. I would love this.
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| This was such a neat looking restaurant! It had a very southern feeling to it for me. I imagined it being somewhere in the South within the US, like Savannah, Georgia. |
Alrighty then, folks. That would conclude the photos from my solo trip to Stockholm, Sweden. I would highly recommend visiting this city. I loved every minute of it. So many neat things to discover, taste, see and experience here.
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