Stockholm

By Pete
I had been driving the camper for a few weeks and Bea felt It was time to test my competence. As we approached Stockholm, she suggested we try a campsite smack bang in the middle of town called ‘beautiful, idyllic parkland, serenity campground’, or a name to that effect. Sounded too good to be true, especially as I had done some research the night before and hadn’t found it! Anyway, after months on the road, you have to trust the misses, so into Stockholm we headed. Through the outer suburbs, through the inner suburbs, through the outer CBD, into the CBD, into the one way system of lanes and into the 3.5m wide cul-de-sac ending next to a shop called ‘beautiful, idyllic, parkland, serenity, outdoor store;, or a name to that affect. Something got tested that afternoon.. and it wasn’t my driving! With a can opener and a set of stilsons I extracted the van from the CBD and head back to the outskirts to a pleasant enough Stallplatz, close to the city train.

Originally the plan was to head into the city and check it out...but my mood had changed and needed an alcoholic beverage immediately. I found there was a local bistro, The Orby Bar and Kok (Kitchen), not far from where we were parked up, it turned out to be very local and very enjoyable. The beers were cold and food was homely, the plank steak was tasty and very retro-perfect.

Stockholm is a city of culture and the next morning we dove into the heart of it - The ABBA Museum, sad but Bea loved it. It’s actually quite a fun museum and very interactive, tracing the band history from solo artists on the folk festival circuit through the heady years post Eurovision and then explored their achievements post ABBA. And Bea even got to sing & dance with the hologram ABBA.

Fotografiska is one of the world’s largest meeting places for contemporary photography. Four unique large exhibitions and about 20 smaller exhibitions are presented annually.
Vincent Peters, Light within- a collection of his best portraits
Refit Anatolia, Latent History- an amazing digital collage history of Stockholm using algorithms and 150 years of photographic history.
Mandy Barker, Sea of artefacts- images using waste plastic collected from beaches around the world, as well as
Scarlet Hooft Graafland’s, Vanishing Traces and James Nachtwey’s Memoria
https://www.fotografiska.com/sto/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIoJqlhcOP5AIVA6MYCh2kgAmiEAAYASAAEgIwTfD_BwE

It was late afternoon by the time we finished viewing the exhibitions so we headed into Gamla Stan and wondered the streets of the old city before heading to dinner at Pelikan.
Pelikan is a 110 year old beer hall restaurant serving traditional Swedish dishes in a fantastic setting.

We shared “gubbrora”- anchovies, eggs, parsley & dill on sweet brown bread and marinated reindeer with mustard cream, horseradish, sea buckthorn or entree. Bea ordered the roasted reindeer, potato croquettes and smoked pork belly red wine sauce while I went all out on a traditional pork knuckle. Delicious!

The weather was bright and sunny the next morning so we spent the day wandering the city. We visited city hall and the Palace, We had lunch on the wharf area of Skeppsholmen, the ‘art island’ then checked out Pride Park.

It was pride week in Stockholm with many events through out the city. It was wonderful to see how the city embraced the event, not just cafes and clubs, the buses ferries and public buildings flew the rainbow flag.. even the pedestrian crossing signs got into the spirit!

At dusk headed back through Gamla Stan, where we happened upon the navel band performing in a wonderful old square, then on to Ivar lo’s Park, a fantastic little community park with great views over Gamla Stan.

Late that evening we had reservations at Ekstedt, a starred restaurant that only cooks over wood- no gas, no electricity. The 6 course degustation menu was amazing and included Blackened scallops with girolles and sugar kelp, Hay flamed lamb with Jerusalem artichokes and yellow beetroot and wood fired oven roasted oats, raspberries and sorrel. Every dish was enhanced by the subtle smokiness of the wood fires but never overpowered. This was my kind of food, refined rustic!

We really enjoyed Stockholm. It is an elegant, yet down to earth city with a scale and texture that makes you feel at ease. Being spread over 18 islands with 50 bridges makes it an enjoyable city to walk and the waterways offer views from almost anywhere. The cobblestoned streets and terraces of the older quarters give an air of history without impeding its very modern outlook. The thriving art and culture scene fits comfortably within the city with pockets of art, community interaction, social and culture activities throughout. We’ll be back!

We left the Stallplatz relatively early the next morning and, avoiding the CBD, headed out along the very picturesque ‘Route 66’ toward Oslo, Norway.