Although I loved Gothenburg, we woke up and it was time to move on. This trip, I booked two nights in each of the cities plus one night in Hven. I would have been happy staying on the West Coast of Sweden but I had FOMO if I shortened our time in Stockholm. I admit, there were several travel blog posts from the time Volvo was promoting its European Delivery that made a trip up the coast to the islands very tempting but ultimately, I resisted that particular temptation.
After another A+ waffle breakfast, we walked over to the Trädgårdsföreningen to see the gardens more closely than we had been allowed to during the GARDENfest. The flowers were absolutely beautiful and I took a lot of pictures. It was a quiet morning with beautiful light and it was really a delightful time.
Afterwards, I decided we needed snacks for the train and we accidentally came across the downtown Saluhallen, which was awesome because I had actually meant to visit there at some point during the trip but then forgot. There were multiple stands with the most fantastic looking food. We bought some nuts, bread, cheese and the world’s tastiest crackers. The cheese tray also included two macarons for dessert. Yay! The merchants were really nice and it was a great stop. I’m always a little superstitious about buying nice food for the train since I have a childhood memory of when Mom and Dad splurged on a really nice grocery haul for an overnight train to Norway and the bag was left in the train station. TBH, I think it may have been partially my fault since I was usually entrusted with stuff as the oldest kid but regardless, in the fluster (cluster?) of getting six people with luggage on the overnight train, the food was left behind.
This time, however, the food came with us. The train took us through the green countryside and forest across the country to Stockholm. We walked from the central train station to our hotel, Downtown Camper. It took about 5 minutes and it was very convenient. The hotel was great but much bigger than I expected, with big tour groups as part of their main clientele. It was fine but based on the website, I thought it was going to be much smaller and boutique-y. No matter, it was still great.
We walked towards the Kungsträdgården where the Smaka food festival was going on. We checked it out and decided to come back later when we were hungrier. We headed back to the hotel and had a drink in the 9th floor bar that had an exceptional view of the city. After our happy hour, we went back to the Smaka and had a few small dishes, including reindeer!
We walked towards the Gamla Stan (old town) and walked towards the Riddarholmen Church, which has a beautiful wrought iron spire. It’s the burial ground of all the Swedish monarchs with the exception of that Catholic convert who went to Rome, Queen Christina. She will show up again in my Uppsalla recap! Back to the church, I wonder what it’s like to be a young royal heir and know exactly where you will be in several decades?
Then, it was back to the hotel and to bed, gearing up for tomorrow’s full day in Stockholm!