Wedding Anniversary in Stockholm

…for our first wedding anniversary a romantic getaway was a must, and since we are still in the celebration phase…off we went to Stockholm! The only sore point is that the anniversary fell right at Easter and consequently travelling in that period was a bit too expensive! The flight + hotel package (Norwegian + Scandic Park Hotel) cost one thousand euros. On the plane we met an Italian professor who has been living in Sweden for years now, an extremely delightful person who 'delighted' us with his brilliant company and also told us that, besides Norwegian, Ethiopian Airlines is a good low-cost carrier for Sweden. We arrived at Arlanda and took the Arlanda Express (tickets booked online cost 480 kronor and in 20 minutes we reached T-Centralen).

On the day of our return to Rome we went to the airport by coach…it always leaves from the central station, takes about 40 minutes and costs half as much...definitely more convenient! The hotel is located in a lovely, quiet residential area of the city, very clean and well kept; it 'saved' us thanks to its excellent breakfast, since for lunch or dinner we had to make do with not very inviting meals…and decidedly expensive ones!. The very convenient Stadion metro stop could take us in two stops to the central station (T-Centralen), where the heart of the city is, and the third stop leads to the old district of Gamla Stan. The Stockholm Card is useful: the 72-hour one, I think, costs 395 kronor and lets you use all public transport, plus there is free entry to various museums/parks.

It wouldn't have been worthwhile for us…usually we prefer to wander around the city on foot, so we bought a book of tickets for 180 kronor; you can make a total of eight metro journeys and the ticket lasts 60 minutes. The weather was wonderfully beautiful! Sun every day, and on the morning of our departure a beautiful snowfall took us by surprise!! I definitely recommend a day in the wonderful Skansen park, where you find the real Sweden (entry without the funicular 140KR – in my opinion you can easily skip the funicular…it's a truly harmless climb!)…little red wooden houses that were physically taken from various places in Sweden and brought to this great open-air museum/park.

You find people dressed in the costumes of the past, there's the baker where you can buy delicious cinnamon buns, there are those working with ceramics, the printer, those simply at home knitting…truly very characterful. Then there's the part where you find bears, reindeer, bison, seals…we were lucky enough to meet two little squirrels that cut across our path! A shame that the camera batteries gave out right at the park entrance! We didn't go to the Vasa Museum…given the good weather we preferred to stay outdoors and enjoy the view along the canal, partly frozen (navigation resumed after 9 April…Sigh!), the beautiful walk along the canal at Norr Malarstrand (opposite the equally lovely walk of Soder Malm), before reaching the City Hall, the Town Hall building.

One evening from Ostermalm we walked down to Gustav Adolf park and then on to Nobel Park (practically opposite Skansen), an area full of period buildings housing various embassies…a paradise! In summer Stockholm must be a triumph of green and colourful flowers!! …It deserves another visit!!