Stockholm ~ Day 1

Hubby and I boarded a plane in Sioux Falls on Sunday to Chicago to Helsinki (Finland) to Stockholm (Sweden), arriving around 4 PM on Monday.  OFD had arrived several hours earlier and scouted the neighborhood for food and shopping before our arrival.

We had enough time at the Helsinki airport to complete two Adventure Labs for geocaching before switching to a smaller plane and flying to Stockholm, our destination for two nights, before embarking on our cruise.

 

That was sort of how we felt after about 12 hours on airplanes!

airport welcome

home for the next two nights

The first order of business was finding a geocache near the hotel, just around the corner. 

Not having seen anyone use these stairs, we surmised the metal ramps are for bikes or rolling suitcases. The narrower metal ramp would certainly be wide enough for bike tires. 

colorful buildings in the neighborhood

mural

8:10 PM, not even close to sunset

loved the balconies on the corner

businesses on street level, apartments on the other levels

We found an Italian Restaurant nearby for dinner on our first night. Bottom row, second from left, the appetizer: GARLIC BREAD WITH OLIVE TAPENADE; second from right, the adult beverage: TRENTINO FIZZ - VODKA, ST-GERMAIN ELDERFLOWER, LIME, SODA; dinner entrees, top row left to right: LA CARBONARA (HOUSE MADE RAVIOLINI FILLED WITH CARBONARA CREAM, CRISPY GUANCIALE, BLACK PEPPAR, PECORINO ROMANO FONDUE), LINGUINE AI FRUTTI DI MARE (SEAFOOD PASTA WITH SHRIMPS, MUSSELS, SQUID, GREEN MUSSEL, GARLIC, CHILI, TOMATO, WHITE WINE & PARSLEY), and bottom row, first photo FETTUCINE ALLA INVECE (FRESH FETTUCINE, BEEF, TRUFFLE CREAM, SPINACH, PARMIGIANO REGGIANO AND A DASH OF MASCARPONE). It was all so very delicious, but more than we could eat. We had a great conversation with our server, who told us two of his staff called in sick, so he and the barman were serving all the people who came to eat, inside and out. The place was not large, but all the tables were full, and most tables held from 4 to 8 diners. The wonderful meal was a fabulous beginning to our visit to the countries around the Baltic Sea.