Flew into London Heathrow from Miami and then straight away on to Stockholm; meeting Frida, Jiri and Alexander at the airport.
We went on to our hotel which was well located and then had a wander around trying to find somewhere to eat (which with a push chair in tow wasn't easy but we eventually managed). I enjoyed my first Swedish food (Reindeer)
Wandered around Stockholm the next day going to a place where they had a lot of old Swedish buildings from various parts of the country; was great weather. In the late afternoon we picked up some drink to take back to Lulea (better selection in Stockholm) as Sweden has a state run monopoly on selling alcohol.
Lovely dinner at Operakällaren, their main chef created the menu for the Swedish Royal wedding recently - Frida and I had the same menu as they had at the wedding with a few nice bottles of wine... mmm
Just to rub it in a bit (sorry Jiri - who got babysitting duty)... it was
- Langoustine tail from the west coast served with truffle caviar, lemon marinated cod in flowers with cucumber jelly and cold green peas soup with “Kalix löjrom”
- “Landö” char served with fresh herbs, poached quail egg, green asparagus, beetroots, nettles and wild garlic from “Gotland”
- Fillet of veal from “Stenhammargård” with a roasted shallot crust, potato and “Allerum präst” cheese gratin, tomato terrine, thyme scented carrots wrapped in white cabbage flooded with a taragon sauce
- Strawberry mousse with a rhubarb center accompanied with a vanilla and white chocolate icecream
- Yellow Bourbon, Lot 6 Fzenda Brazil served with pastry delicacies
Next day we got a taxi to the airport to go up to Lulea - typically a small taxi; I don't Frida travels light normally but with the addition of Alexander and all his things (push chair, cot) it was a real squeeze in the taxi. Luckily a short journey.
The flight was an easy hop to Lulea and Alexander behaved well with no crying so pretty uneventful; Jiri cooked a good BBQ - he's a bit of a wizz with the old BBQ.
Lulea's biggest claim to fame was the sweet shop; although there were a few too many liquorice choices for my liking
Next we drove up maybe 4 or 5 hours from Lulea going above the artic circle where we would be staying in lodge type accommodation - stopping off for lunch in a very scenic spot where Frida's sister is due to be married.
The lodge was amazing - great wilderness and tracks; near a lake where we did more BBQing (or Jiri did...); really enjoyed myself. Got some great photo's and the sunset on the first night was spectacular (sadly no Northern Lights)
When back in Lulea had a final big dinner and myself and Jiri polished off most of a bottle of whisky - I didn't have a very fun onward flight (or car ride to the airport) the next day
Thanks Frida and Jiri was great seeing you (and Nikolai and Alexander)
