Anne’s last hoorah - in Stockholm!

To continue my Scandinavian exploration, I headed to Sweden over the weekend. Stockholm was and remains my favourite European city. Why is it my favourite city? Well, it is rich with history, it has plenty intriguing architecture and stunning waterways and the people are friendly and welcoming. I think, however, the main reason I like Stockholm is that it reminds me of Sydney, albeit just a tad older.

It was great to return to a place I have enjoyed before and to introduce my friend Anne to the city. It was my last weekend of travelling with Anne who is about to head back home after her four year stint in London. [Bye Anne – we’ll miss you!!]

I’m always keen to do something a little different in the cities I visit. I was pleasantly surprised by the sunny blue skies we had on the Saturday. Although it was still cool, the sun brightly shone above the old town buildings. With the days getting shorter in the northern hemisphere, it was well and truly dark by 3:30pm. With recommendations on hand, we enjoyed different aspects of this fabulous city including:

• Walking around the Old Town, looking at the architecture and drinking some glogg (Swedish mulled wine) at the Christmas markets;
• Seeing the city from a variety of viewpoints, including Monteliusvagen;
• Joining the locals for an evening of Jazz and local cider in the Old Town;
• Taking a canal tour around the Djugarden island; and
• Finally, watching a local derby ice hockey match at the Globen venue. We were close to the action with centre field seats behind each of the teams. It was an exciting match, even if we didn’t know the rules!