One Year and Dozens of Visitors
I can’t believe we have been in Stockholm for over a year. What a whirl-wind year it has been (evidenced by this post being so late!)! Covid must be over because we have had a constant stream of visits and trips this summer. After not seeing friends and family for several years, it has been a blast. I felt like a part-time tour guide, part-time travel planner, and part-time logistician.
I wrote about my parents’ visit previously. Shortly after their departure, we hosted our friends from San Francisco, Pamela and Robert. They were only in Stockholm for a short time, but we enjoyed taking them to our favorite local ramen shop, Tengu. It was a lovely evening and great to catch up with old friends. Here we are after some bubbly at our place:
Next up was one of Mrs. CB’s work mate from San Jose. Grace and her husbandRuss were in town for a wonderful weekend, and we enjoyed taking them to Gamla Stan, Djurgården, and our local neighborhood. We ended their tour with a dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Broms. They do a great köttbulle (meatball) entré.
Next up were Rebecca and Alvin. Rebecca was the Cinnamon Sticks nanny for three years prior to our relocation. She actually drove the girls and I to the airport on our way out of town. Think of her as Marry Poppins with a rocking Instagram account. Her husband Alvin is equally marvelous and recently opened Hella Strength gym in Willow Glen. All of you in California should check it out. Alvin is deathly allergic to cats, so they stayed nearby at the fantastic Hotel Kung Karl. It is a lovely hotel and right down the street from us.
Here we are on our first outing to Drottningholms Slott (The Royal Palace):
We also took a rainy tour of Gamla Stan and visited the nearby island of Fjäderholmarna. It’s the nearest island in the Stockholm archipelago by ferry. They have several nice restaurants and a brew pub, which was handy on a rainy day. There are artisans on the island and you can see glass blowing and black smithing.
Here is Rebecca and the Sticks enjoying their lunch at the Röda Villan (Red Villa) café.
Rebecca and Alvin got married just over a year ago. I still think they have a lovely glow:
One of the best parts of their visit, they got to overlap with our NEXT guests, Mrs. CB’s parents, Grammy & Pappa Jim! We had a wonderful dinner with the grand parents and Rebecca and Alvin. My brother made it over as well. It was a lovely time:
It was tough to say goodbye to Rebecca and Alvin. But Grammy and Pappa Jim took the sting away by walking the kids to school!
They also got to see some of the Sticks school events and their end of year concert!
It was a wonderful visit. Grammy and Pappa Jim were at the end of a long journey involving a European river cruise, so they had just a few funtastic days with the Cinnamon Buns!
Next up, shortly before school ended, I got to take the girls away with a friend of mine for a Daddy-Daughter’s weekend in Hudiksvall. Our hosts have a lovely cottage on the sea. We had a great time frolicking in the water and enjoying good food and good company. Plus they have a lovely dog named Milou.
That’s it for now. I will catch you up on the rest of summer on the next post!