More notes only, though this one loaded with less swearing at least.
Day 0 = Sun 29 Dec
- Train to Stockholm
- Got to Stockholm Centralen
- Tiny old slow lifts that took 2 people at a time
- Long distance train station that doesn't seem to think people have luggage
- Found our T-Banan station - Another lift
- Off at Gamla Stan (1 stop) - yet another lift
- Geez people, get some decent lifts
- Found our accommodation about 70m from train station
- Warren of a flat on the ground floor of a townhouse
- Very high ceilings (12 foot at least)
- Ceiling height on this trip averages out to "normal" after Örebro cellar.
- Monkbrogatan (Monk bridge street) near the corner of Yxsmedsgränd ("Axesmiths alley")
- Back to Munksbrohallen supermarket at T-ban station for supplies
- Then back again when my attempts to feed my family were rebuffed with extreme prejudice by all concerned
- Falcon Bayersk
- "darker than a light lager but lighter than a dark lager"
- Quite nice
- Pågen Limpan bread and Maasdamer cheese, yum
- Swedens TipTop but with rye and possibly molasses?
- "Classic Swedish loaf is baked using wheat and sifted rye flour together with sourdough and syrup"
- Went for my usual walk by myself
- Through Stortorget
- Markets closed after Xmas, but stalls kind of clogging up the place and possibly wrecking the view - will see tomorrow
- To harbour near "modest" Xmas tree
- Walk around towards Skeppsbron to see Gamla Stan across the harbour
- Back to Kungsträdgård to see the ise skating and lights
- Around past the water rushing out of Malaren, to Drottningsgatan (Queen St) mall
- Restrained myself from going into pub, rewarded self with another Falcon Bayersk later
- Back past Riksdagen, bought glögg
- Along Västerlånggatan to Järntorget and then around past Slussen.
- Past "Mazzarini" cafe, sadly closed for the Xmas season
- and back to supermarket for more supplies and then home
- Soup for Carl
- Turns out he was hoping for carrot soup(?!?)
- Told off by Erica as she ate the Caesar salad she'd complained about me buying in the first place.
- Bedtime
- Big foldout couch in living room
- Sensor light
Day 1 = Mon 30 Dec
- Solo walk
- Riddarholmen and lake
- Stortorget
- Harbour
- Group walk
- Södermalm towards Mojang
- Couldn't find Mojang but photo out front
- Up Skinnarviksberget
- Granite outcrop in Södermalm with nice view of lake, Stadshuset, Gamla Stan
- Past Chicago dance studio
- Home via "beach" at Slussen
- Emma and Chris off to see Gamla Stan after lunch and before sunset
- Followed later with the kids
- Stortorget has been half cleared of little Xmas market cabins/wooden shipping containers
- Hot chocholate and cinnamon buns/blueberry pie + alcoholic glögg in [Kaffekoppen](https://cafekaffekoppen.se/en/gallery)
- Girls went off souvenir/art shopping
- Took Carl home via circuitous route involving Harbour, Järntorget+CoopSoup
- Went off alone to shop at Munksbrohallen
- But detoured back via bridge to Södermalm and Munkbrohamnen "beach" on other side of Gamla Stan T-banen
- Ladies jogging gloves OK but a bit of stuffing about with two sets.
- Catching Erica's cold
Day 2 = Tue 31 Dec
- Nyårsafton (NYE)
- Cold
- Frost on ground
- Quick walk to check layers - too many
- Went to Slussen and back past playground on Prästgatan
- Gamla Stan triangles within triangles
- Skansen
- Got 82 ferry from Slussen to Djurgården
- Lovely views of the harbour and Gamla Stan
- Walked up to Skansen
- Erica wanted to see the otters
- Memories of Lone Pine - "Wanna see the emus"
- Found seals and an otter
- Also Wild Boar + piglets
- European Bison
- Moose enclosure empty
- Carl cold hands and a bit miserable (despite new Goretex gloves)
- Mine too - thought I'd packed my new Goretex gloves but hadn't
- Found toilets and washed hands in warm water and dried under warm air
- Found warm tent for lunch
- Wood fired stove
- Reindeer burger
- Actually beef burger with fried reindeer slices on top like bacon
- Still really nice with cloudberry cream cheese and lingon BBQ sauce
- Animals were more awake after lunch
- Saw Moose (älg) and Arctic Fox (fjällräven)
- Erica excited
- Walked back via some old Sami buildings
- Baba-Yaga storehouse on chicken-like legs (treetrunks)
- Setting up for Nyårsafton På Skansen
- Annual New Years telecast
- Ferry home, more views of Gamla Stan but this time in the evening
- Coop soup for Carl
- Walk by self to check out souvenir shops
- Identified NYE spot for fireworks if we're still keen by midnight
- After dinner I watched some "Doobidoo Nyårsspecial" while everyone got ready
- Walk after dinner
- Found a good spot at Munkbrohamnen "beach" to watch fireworks lit over Mälaren
- Got text from Emma they were ready, so went and got them but they just missed a burst of fireworks. This was my fault somehow.
- Waited and saw a few fireworks and then walked past Riddarholmen and over to Slottsbacken and the harbour side
- Saw a few more fireworks going off on that side, climbed statue plinth for a bit
- Walked home via Stortorget
- Dropped everyone home and went back to my banana lounge at Munkbrohamnen.
- Went home about 11:30.
- At home
- Discovered that we had a good (warm) view of the same Mälaren fireworks thorough the living room window
- Put on "Tolvslaget På Skansen" on SVT Play
- Watched fireworks out the window and filmed and took photos (and Emma did moreso)
- FB post
- The fireworks here are a bit more DIY "light it and run", with no apparent organisation or geographical pattern, though with often impressive results. So they've been going off stochastically all night with increased activity around the hour and at midnight. But our window happened to point in roughly the right direction to view those lit over Lake Mälaren in warmth and comfort.
- Ring Out Wild Bells poem
- Erica ate 12 grapes in Spanish tradition, I jumped in the ait at midnight in Danish tradition
- Very late to bed.
- Still got cold, bad night's sleep again.
- Would kill for some pseudoephidrine (or even real ephidrine, just not the pseudo-pseudopehidrine)
Day 3 = Wed 1 Jan
- Snow still on ground outside
- Feeling pretty rubbish from cold
- Should isolate but nobody else does so would only be robbing myself of sightseeing
- Wore a mask most of the time though
- Souvenir shopping with Emma
- Walk with Erica
- Over to Normalm to see the water flowing out of the lake (Strömmen?)
- I wanted to walk down Prästgatan, Erica wanted pizza.
- I thought she wanted takeaway so went past pizza buffet on Stortorget
- Ended up in Sally's Pizza on Västerlånggatan
- Took longer than I'd hoped, but lovely meal with Erica
- Talked about Year 9
- Back later than planned and Emma and Chris tapping feet waiting to go out themselves
- Bit of a rest then out with Carl
- Carl wanted to spend his money from G&G
- Nice little Finnafallet-esque figurine
- And some fridge magnets for Mummy
- Walked the length of Prästgatan and saw playground behind Tyskkyrkan
- Off to Supermarket
- Munkbrohallen closed so off to Coop one last time
- Wrestled with blog
- Dinner and packing for early trip to airport
Day 4 - Thu 2 Jan
- Up at 4am
- though up most of the night with my cold
- Missing pseudoephidrine, best I could get were fishermans friends and Vicks lollies
- Packed and in the cab to the airport
- 40min ride throughg snowy pre-dawn
- Airport
- Most bags between 23 and 24kg, which guy waved through
- Emma's bag over 27kg, so she had to wait in another line to pay for excess luggage
- She reckons it was cheaper than you'd think
- which is good enough for me, as an inverse Bogart "I don't mind the money leaving, I just don't like to watch it walk away"
- Not enough time to redistribute things to my bag last night (late and I was sick and already in bed)
- "Priority boarding" was weird
- "Priority" people boarded the bus to the plane first
- Which meant they were the last off the bus and last onto the plane
- Took off
- Got to see the archipelago, as the land disintegrates towards Finland
- Listened to Ghost Notes podcast and enjoyed a free coffee
