Catching Up
Trip Start
Nov 02, 2006
1
10
44
Trip End
Dec 19, 2007
Stockholm,
Sweden
Friday, February 2, 2007
2 weekends ago, we got our 1st snow in Stockholm - probably 4-5 inches. The Stockholmers were right - it really does make the city even more beautiful and it is significantly brighter - day & night. It snowed a little more & stayed cold for another 4-6 days (I even wore my parka), but now it is back to 0-3C, so the snow is all melting and the sidewalks are either icy or this brown mush.
The snow was really fun - I went to a nearby park & all these little kids were out sledding. They are really quite cute. They wear these snow suits & matching helmets so they look like the little mushroom things from Super Mario Bros
01 - Fresh Snow
. Many of them also have these little sled/bike-looking things that look pretty fun. I think the kids were happy to finally have some snow.I was also very excited since I've never lived somewhere that has snowed. I also wanted a little ski bike of my own. Of course, now that I've experienced snow, I'm ready for summer...Too bad it is a long, long way off. On a positive note, there is more sunlight every day & it does seem to be increasing at an accelerating rate. I think the sun did not set until 4pm today!
Last Sat, I took a quick trip to Copenhagen to visit my friend Liz, who just moved there for 6 months. Copenhagen is a few degrees warmer than Stockholm, so what little snow they got was complete brown mush. It also drizzles there a lot. But, the city was still fun. We had 2 meals that I recommend, though it was really pricy.
Koriander at Store Kongensgade 34
Indian fusion - super yummy. In fact, I think it was the best meal I've had in the Nordics so far. Very creative. Plus it was nice to finally have some ethnic food. In Stockholm I've mostly been having Swedish or Italian food. I also eat sushi quite a bit, but have to stick to salmon (tuna is not as high quality here so far). A friend has recommended an Indian restaurant here in STK, so I'll have to try it some time.
Anyhow, Koriander was good, but very expensive. We ate a la carte, but there is also a 7 or 9-course tasting menu w/ wine. For a la carte & wine, we spent about US150/person and the meal lasted about 3 hours
02 - Sledding
. The interior was all white & kind of space-age-y.Bastionen & Loven - Christianshavns Voldgade 50
Traditional Nordic brunch, which was buffet-style. Really nice owner/manager & good food. After brunch, we walked around Christiana, which is a hippie enclave in Copenhagen. Basically, in the 60s/70s, a group of people took over these empty military buildings in some key real estate in Copenhagen & no one has ever kicked them out even though I don't think they paid rent or utilities or anything. Now they seem to have some kind of self-government, though supposedly it is still a place to buy drugs. Its pretty interesting to walk through as the buildings are very different & most of them have cool graffiti art. I think it will be worth going back in the summer, when it is not raining & people are out & about selling their wares and the place is just more lively.
My last tip for Copenhagen is to always make reservations if you want to eat out - dinner, brunch, lunch. Its a bit of a weird concept to me to not be able to eat ANYWHERE by just walking in - including brunch. But that has been my experience on every visit & that is what others have said too.
