Stockholm
The beginning
After spending a few days of the trip doing business visits we were given the gift of a free day on Saturday, June 3rd. Thankfully, Dr Myhr and Mario knew what we were going to encounter the day before at karaoke so the free day timing was perfect. Unfortunately, the timing was not so perfect for Rutha. Rutha woke up on Friday the 2nd with two swollen eyes and was having an allergic reaction. We woke up in the morning on our free day and decided it was time to go to urgent care. We walked over to the urgent care by the hotel where we waited for two full hours in a room with screaming babies and sick children. There were numerous people sitting there waiting for their turn at the hospital. We felt that this was the first part of our cultural immersion in Stockholm since we had never been to the hospital here before. Unfortunately, a doctor never came to see Rutha and we had to run to the pharmacy to get a prescription. The pharmacist was so kind, experienced and incredibly helpful. After we received the prescription we were well on our way to finally begin our free day.
Real Start
We had finally gotten away from the hospital and pharmacy and spent our time walking around Stockholm. It was important to us to have a true authentic experience of the cuisine in Sweden so we did exactly what we felt the people would do: eat Italian food for lunch. We had walked over to Stockholm and walked around the Old Town. We were surprised to see the number of designer stores and restaurants that were existent in the area. Because of how hungry we were, we wanted to find something great for us to eat. Fortunately enough we stumbled on some of the best pizza, tiramisu, and Aperol Spritzes we’ve ever had.
After lunch, we wanted to purchase some souvenirs and complete our souvenir shopping for the trip. Instead, we decided to save that for the latter part of the day and join our friends at the amusement park called Gröna Lund. While on our way there, we were distracted by the Stockholm Marathon that was taking place. It was so nice to see such camaraderie exist between the runners and those that were in the audience watching them. Both of us have never been to a marathon in person and we couldn’t help but be so excited for those that were participating and running in the marathon. The Stockholm Marathon had taken over a majority of the city and the runners were having the time of their lives. We spent some time there just people watching and had so much fun witnessing all the joy and chaos that was taking place around us. Both of us felt that everyone in Sweden was so kind and supportive of one another. It felt like such a large and powerful supportive community.
The Later Half
Once we were finished with lunch and watching the marathon, we made our way over to the ferry. This ferry was going to take us to Gröna Lund. Since the Stockholm Marathon was going on it was absolute mayhem as we approached the ferry. We first got on the wrong boat as it was very difficult trying to find which one was going to the amusement park. Right when the boat was going to leave, we were told by the employee on the ferry to get off as we had boarded the wrong one. As we were left there stranded on the dock, Rutha then asked a nice gentleman which ferry we should actually board. We were told the correct one was just about to leave and then we were on our way. It was about a 10 minute ride over to Gröna Lund where we met up with a couple other people from our group. Once in the park, others were determined for us all to ride one of the scariest rollercoasters at the park and this coaster was called “Insane”. Based on the title, we should have not got on the coaster, but we did. I have not been on a rollercoaster in over 10 years and after going Insane I will not be going on another one for the rest of my life.The roller coaster is known for its intense speed and sharp vertical turns.
After going on Insane our group had the brilliant idea of going on another one of Gröna Lund’s scariest coasters. The second and final ride of the day for me was called “Monster”. I stated before that I was not going on another roller coaster for the rest of life, this did not last long as I was peer pressured into going on the ride. This coaster is known for its corkscrew turns and fast speed. This ride was truly my last one for the day at the amusement park. We walked around the rest of the park for a little and then we made our way back to the ferry to get over to Old Town. We had a mission to get to the souvenir shops before they closed and as we got off the ferry we caught the last runner of the Stockholm Marathon which was a pretty cool experience!
We made our way back to the hotel after finding a lot of good souvenirs for ourselves and our family. Stockholm is a beautiful city and is fairly easy to get around whether you take the metro or walk. When we got back to the hotel we had to get ready for our dinner reservation at TAK. This restaurant is known for its incredible views and great cuisine and I can confirm the view was better than the food. There were five of us who walked over to TAK for dinner and we were able to share all of the different plates that were ordered which was the perfect amount.
Conclusion
From starting our free day at the urgent care to ending it at a rooftop restaurant in Stockholm, it was a good day! We were able to walk around 20,000 steps throughout Stockholm and experience the city. Stockholm will be missed, but we are ready to take on Copenhagen!
