Scandinavia Part II

Having had our taste of Scandinavia in Norway, we knew Sweden had a lot to live up to and Stockholm didn't disappoint in the scenery and weather stakes, unfortunately it was on even par with the cost!

It is no wonder that the Scandinavians are all fit good looking people as the price of eating out and drinking is so high that you are almost forced to look for outdoor activities to keep you entertained.

We arrived very late on Fri night and did our normal wandering around aimlessly looking for our hotel trick (no thanks to me who happens to be terrible at navigating - no sense of direction!) Fortunately Stockholm gives off an air of being an extremely safe city and at no stage did we feel nervous about being lost in the early hours...probably because no one can afford to be drunk in the city so there is no late night fools looking for a bit of trouble.

Being so high up north we quickly noticed that it gets light extremely fast so we were both awake at the crack of dawn ready to sight see. After wandering into town, it seems that other tourists were also affected by the light as we started to form a queue outside the information centre. Obviously the Swedish were well used to the light and liked their sleep ins as we had to sift around waiting until 10am for the doors to open.

After an impressive charge through the doors (reminiscent of a rugby scrum) we were quickly armed with our required info and on our way deep into the archipelago of islands that surround Stockholm (making time for a quick try on of the local costume).

There is a reported 24,000 islands in archipelago but as time was limited we just visited one that was renoun for scenery and bird life. Much to the disgust of Chris we quickly discovered that we could have camped the night on the lovely island but seeing as we were on a weekend mission we had much to see back in the city and no time for relaxing.

We charged around the island at full pace slowing only to take photos of fighting ants, admire stunning scenery, perform a handstand or two (don't ask...), pat a sheep, skim some stones and get a little lost in the forest (did I say I am bad at navigating?) fortunately we made it back to the ferry in time to get back to the city for our planned night of fun.

As with anything that is planned, it usually doesn't end up being so easy. After a cheap feed in town (all we had to do was follow the hoards of students and young people and viola - cheap eats) we had intended on going to Stockholm's Ice Bar. As the name suggests, it is a bar completed carved and made out of ice, even the drinks you get are served up in ice cups and you are equipped with warm clothes and gloves as the bar has to stay a constant temperature of -5C.

We knew the price was hefty as we had been warned, but we were soon to discover the price had gone up and for the entry plus a drink we were looking at around £18 each (that is NZ$50 or so - eek, sometimes you have to convert back to NZ dollars just to give yourself a reality check about what you are doing!!). Not only that but we were also informed that there are so many people willing to part with this amount of hard earned cash that we had to book...so no ice bar for us that night.

As it was a lovely evening we didn't let our disappointment get us down so we strolled through the pretty city and took in a lot of the old town at night with its lovely cobbled streets and gorgeous buildings.

Sunday bought another lovely day and another early start due to the brightness (and super thin curtains). We had a lot to pack in though so we motored straight towards Skansen which is a big outdoor park complete with zoo animals, historic buildings and demonstrations about old style techniques like shoe and furniture making. Not liking when animals are caged up in a zoo too much we didn't spend a great deal of our day there, although we did pause a little longer at the brown bear enclosure to snigger like school children at their mating attempts - and yes we had to take photos.

As we had only seen the old town by night we wanted to soak in the daytime atmosphere so strolled around the waterfront back into the cobbled myriad of streets and shops. Seeing as we had missed out on the ice bar we had read about an ice sculpture museum which could satisfy our need for all things icy right in the heart of old town. Yep, as fate would suggest it was no longer there...we could only do one thing, dig deep into our pockets and try our luck with a daytime mission to the ice bar. Having downgraded our drink option to a juice we knocked the price down to only £12 (boy did we savour those juices) and it has to be said it was an experience I am glad we didn't miss out on. The bar was carved to look like a stereo and there is something to be said about leaning up against a bar made purely from ice.

Satisfied with our attempts to take in as much of Stockholm as 2 days would allow we left feeling lighter in the wallet but transfixed with the beauty of Stockholm and wishing we had more time...I think this could be the motto of our adventures so far.