Early in the summer, the Cinnamon Buns returned to Sweden. Our departure from Sweden was a bit rushed, so we promised the Cinnamon Sticks that we would visit again to experience some of our favorite things. Eighteen months seemed about the right amount of time, so in early June, in time for Swedish Midsommar, we hopped on a flight back to Stockholm!
Our plan was to split our time between Stockholm, Öland and Copenhagen. We planned a full two weeks, which is exceptional for American standards, but a bit short by European standards. In Stockholm, we ended up staying in an Airbnb in the Östermalm neighborhood. Our place was a 10-minute walk from our old apartment (I miss that apartment)! Our Airbnb was nice, and except for a spell without hot water, it was great!
Being back in Stockholm was a bit surreal. On one hand, it felt like being back home. On the other hand, we didn’t live there anymore! It is the first time we’ve vacationed in a town that we lived in previously, and the upside was that we knew exactly what we wanted to do - spend time with friends and family …and eat! Our first night in Stockholm, fresh off the plane, we spent the evening with old family friends. Jet-lagged or not, we all wanted to get together, and summer plans being what they are, that night was the only time we could do it. It was so fun, I didn’t take any pictures!
Catching up was so fun. And we realized this family was the first family we met when we moved to Sweden. We met at Rosendals the summer we first arrived, before our kids even started school together!
The theme for Stockholm was definitely catching up with friends and family. Our youngest Cinnamon Stick even got to spend the night at one of her school friends’ houses. And our oldest got to bomb the last day of school and go out for sushi with her former friends and classmates. We spent the day with more family friends in one of our favorite spots: Rosendals Trädgård.
We also got to catch up with my brother and sister-in-law. They have a new apartment that we visited for the first time. It’s beautiful and feels like they are settling in nicely!
They served a nice Swedish-style grill-up!
As is customary for an early Swedish summer, the weather wasn't always cooperative. No worries, we brought jackets and still have all our Swedish layers! We did hit up some of our favorite eating spots:
Here’s just a small sampling of the goodies that inspire this newsletter:
We also visited Skansen, the world’s oldest open-air museum, and one of our favorite haunts. I think we spent hundreds of hours here, and it didn’t disappoint this time either.
Since it was cold and rainy, we nixed our plans to go “wild swimming”. Instead, we went to one of the many (not-too-warm) Swedish public pools. We picked Eriksdalsbadet because it is the largest public pool in Stockholm, AND of course, it boasts saunas, hot tubs, and a water slide!
We even caught a fun movie (The Devil Wears Prada 2) at one of our old movie theaters.
All too soon, our trip to Stockholm ended, and we were whisked off to our next destination on our favorite mode of transportation - trains!
Our youngest Cinnamon Stick summed things up nicely when she said:
“I miss the Stockholm that was. I know that if we still lived here, everything would be different. A lot of my friends have moved or switched schools. I would be in a different school building. But I miss the way things used to be when we lived here.”
Wise words from a twelve-year-old…
Stay tuned for part two, where we visit Öland and Copenhagen!
To be continued…
So glad to see you, even if for just a minute!! The old Stockholm misses you too 😊
Love this, thanks for including us on your family adventures!