Europe 2025 | Stockholm, Sweden

The Beaver's are off travelling again...it feels like its been a while between (big) trips, but this one's one to remember!  We're off for ~8 weeks travelling through Europe and Indonesia on what is being called our 123 Europe Trip (well I am calling it that and no one else is)...its the sum of our birthdays at the moment (following from our 95th US Tour).

First stop (after a short rest in Doha, Qatar) was Stockholm, which allowed us our first experience of walking along cobblestone laneways to get to our hotel, which was a quaint hotel - The Lord Nelson in Gamla Stan (the old-town of Stockholm). It was also the introduction to the cold which will follow us for the next few weeks, with a daily temperature hovering between -5°C and 0°C.

Our first dinner was at Operabaren, quite a luxe restraunt in the main part of town (which appears to be the old bar area of the Opera building.  Here we enjoyed our first köttbullar  (outside of IKEA), as well as some Reindeer fillets, and Surströmming.

We then spent a couple of days acclimatising, getting over the jet lag from the 30 hour trip from Sydney, and generally enjoying the place in all its Christmas time beauty.

We made sure to try all the best Swedish delicacies we could find...  Smørrebrød, focussing on the Surströmming (preserved fish), Gravlax (smoked salmon) and Skagen (shrimp).

 

When in Sweden, we couldn't miss a trip to IKEA, and so we went to what was supposed to be the biggest in Europe (only smaller than one in Korea)... Bit underwhelming really - but at least we visited a real IKEA in Sweden!

Some Sweden inspired artwork - and the artist herself.

We found our first Beaver souvenir of the trip... hand made in Sweden!

On our last day we awoke to a light dusting of snow, allowing us to experience the town in all its winter glory.

"I need to travel to purge Sweden and Swedish stupidity from me."

Next stop, Tromsø, Norway.