Sweden 13/10/06

We spent the weekend in the land of Absolut Vodka, The Nobel Peace Prize and Skinny Jeans. Terry decided it would be a great idea to join the Shakes on their two-night stay in Stockholm Sweden. They were supposed to be having a gig at the Vice magazine bashon the 13th of October, but unfortunately after we booked our flights we found out the event was re-scheduled for November. Thankfully for us, we had already arranged to meet up with Terry’s very good friend Tomei in the icy city, so the trip was not going to be a total waste.

We boarded our bargain Ryanair flight from Stansted at approximately 1pm on the Friday and had a very pleasant flight, admiring the views from above. (I must note that the first time I visited it was covered in snow, so it was very interesting to see it from a different slightly greener perspective). When we arrived at the Skavska airport, we hopped on the Flygbussarna to Stockholm city centre where we would meet Tomei, who would be keeping us up in his penthouse apartment in the centre of Stockholm. Think Trafalgar Square and that’s just how central we were to everything.


It was a great first night as Tomei took us on a quick local tour of the area from the trendy East restaurant/bar which was totally booked up for the night, to the bar with its snazzy outdoor drinking area where we ended up for the night.

In terms of food, the first night gave us a clue of what was on offer most readily in this trendy city. Sushi, sushi and more sushi seemed to be the staple diet for the diners choosing to eat out in the centre of Stockholm. After a twenty-minute search we ended up eating at Rice, the only place left that had some seats available, the sushi was great and they had a good choice of platter selections.



The next day brought some photo opportunities as Tomei led us on a little tour of the surrounding Islands that make up the city. We walked through the equivalent of Bond St and then took a boat to Sodermalm, where we tried another of Stockholm’s delicacies, Pizza. No it’s not a traditional Swedish dish but a remake of the Italian, with a slight twist. As well as the option to have traditional toppings, you also have the choice of slightly different flavours such as, Curry pizza, Banana pizza or even Doner Kebab pizza. Not for the faint hearted these pizzas were, FATTY! However they were without a doubt absolutely delicious.

Sadly even a visit abroad could not escape me from the premiership. Tomei is an avid Chelsea fan and he had arranged for us to go to an American Sports bar to watch the game against Reading. After tucking in to my nachos and blackberry cider, the game actually got quite exciting with both goal keepers getting knocked out by Reading players Hunt and then later Sonko. I don’t condone violence, but this was just too ridiculous to be un-entertaining. Still full from the Pizza we headed back to the flat to prepare for a big night out at the Rock bar and Bar/Restaurant East. Both venues were very posh in design, but the first played tracks like Guns n Roses and Bon Jovi, whilst the other played Hip-Hop. The night was ok, I loved the venues but spent most of the time arguing with Terry, so never really let my hair down.


Our final day was fairly relaxed as we just went around the shops looking for bargains on Skinny jeans, which are so hot right now. I managed to get a few good buys.

When Tomei left us to it in the centre, Terry persuaded me to make a visit to Taco Bar, a chain of makeshift Taquieras across the city. At first I was keen on the idea, but as soon as I saw the food I was very disappointed. We decided to walk around the centre just killing time till our bus arrived to take us back to the airport. We stumbled upon the walkway to the city hall, which hosts the Nobel Prize every year. The views of the river were very tranquil and we chilled there for an hour just taking in the Swedish scenery. We even stumbled upon a restaurant on the side of the building, which for about £100.00 serves up the actual Nobel Prize menu from the previous years awards. That will definitely be something I will try in the future when I go back to Stockholm, as this time we didn’t try a single morsel of Swedish cuisine, even though we saw a couple restaurants, such as a Viking boat café and Windmill restaurant. I think that was down to Tomei, who although Swedish, claimed to dislike like the cuisine.


I had a great time over the trip and will definitely come back for another visit, but possibly in the summer time as that is when the city is most vibrant, and when the parties on the islands further out to sea really come alive.