Vacation
Im going on vacation this afternoon and will be back on July 21
Choice hotels buys Nordic hotels
The norwegien Choice chain have bought the Nordic Hotels chain including Nordic Sea Hotel, Nordic Light Hotel and Nordic Blue hotel in Stockholm.
Restaurants of the beaten track
Delicious food and charming atmosphere is served att Fräcka Halvpannan, off the beaten track on the island of Södermalm just a couple of blocks away from SoFo. Tried it out a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed it fully. This particular block offers at least four good restaurants and priceworthy
Matkultur + bar El mundo, Erstagatan 21 (food from all over the world in a restaurant with a local charm)
En ful och en gul, Erstagatan 22 (chinese an sishuan food)
Fräcka Halvpannan, Bondegatan 57 (serves classic food)
Spa bar opens at Clarion Sign
Hotel Clarion Sign opens a summer bar on the roof by Selma City Spa with a great view over the city area. Champagne, coctails and small courses will be served. The summer bar is open until end of august.
Long distance transfer to and from Arlanda airport
Great family hotels and apartments
Photo: Rica Talk Hotel
Travelling with children to this year? Then Stockholm can be a good option. Several hotels are offering special childrens menues and activities this summer.
The brittish chef Jamie Oliver have made a special kids menu for Scandic Hotels and the children stay for free at Scandic. The new kids' menu offers five main courses, a salad that you mix yourself and a dessert that really tests your creativity. Every dish is a two-part recipe for success, one serving of balanced and healthy food topped with a large dollop of playfulness. check out the menu here
Rica Hotel Talk in Stockholm launches a concept: Check in with Alfons Åberg. Alfons Åberg is a popular swedish children book caracter and Rica Hotel Talk have launched a playground for children in the hotel. The children get a surprize upon arrival and Rica offers priceworthy rates for families.
Photo: Stay At Lindhagen
The Stay At-chain specializes in Hotel Apartments. All rooms come with a fully equipped kitchen and rooms for up to 6-8 people. They have four hotels in the Stockholm area, the newest being Stay at Lindhagen in Stockholm City.
Volvo Ocean Race Stopover in Stockholm
The Volvo Ocean Race Stopover in Stockholm was inaugurated yesterday, Sunday.
Stockholm is hosting the Volvo Ocean Race, one of the world's most well known sailing competitions. From the start line to the finish line, the Volvo Ocean Race will pass through 11 ports, each with its own special culture and history. It will be the biggest event in Sweden in 2009, and more than half a million visitors are expected to visit Race Village and the festivities on Skeppsbron.
Read more on Stockholmtown
Green wedges of Stockholm
The lush green wedges is a characteristic of Stockholm. The most wellknown being the National City Park which stretches some 24 kilometers through the city. The City of Stockholm has all in all 398 parks divided in the four city districts.
Södermalm
Långholmen
Tantolunden
Vitabergsparken
Östermalm
Djurgården
Humlegården
Norrmalm
Observatorielunden
Kungsträdgården
Read more about parks at Stockholmtown
Kungsholmen
Rålambshovsparken
Visit the charming Sigtuna
Swedens oldest city Sigtuna is a lovely and picturesque town one hour from Stockholm by train. The city offers plenty of nice shopping, cafées and some good sightseeing opportunities as well. Dont miss out on the historical sites and The Rosersbergs Palace, which is the only royal palace that you actually can stay at. Here is an itinery:
- Start at the Tourist Office on Storgatan (beautiful building and great souvernirs)
- Visit a café! Tant Brun is an exellent choice but there are some 10-20 cafées to choose from
- Lunch at 32 rum & kök or the top class 1909 Sigtuna Stadshotel
- Stroll along Storgatan-street and along the shore and do some shopping.
- Learn more about the findings, vikings etcetera at Sigtuna Museum
- Visit the historic sites, the ruins, the runestones and the town hall..
- Rosersbergs Palace
Me and my colleagues visited Sigtuna yesterday. And this is our story...
We met up with the Managing director Camilla and Sofia who works with PR at Sigtunaturism outside their tourist office situated in a garden with a view of lake Mälaren. What an office!
We started with some morning coffee and a "kanelbulle" (swedish cinnamon roll) at Tant Brun a café in beautiful red cottage from the 1700's. (Johanna and Camilla in the image). Look at the size of that bun - it tasted lovely!
The name Tant Brun (aunt brown) comes from the children book author and painter Elsa Beskow's books about two children (Petter and Lotta) who grows up with three sisters (aunt green, aunt brown and aunt lavender) - if i remember correctly. Mrs Beskow lived in Sigtuna. The book Petter and Lottas Christmas have defined christmas for many swedish children.
Here's a live aunt Brown... serving buns and coffee in an authentic setting.
This is the city landmark, the Sigtuna Town Hall, is the smallest one in Sweden - and maybee the smallest in Europe. Anyway, its surely its the cutest in Europe! Never has a history lesson been so fun. Our guide Karin made everything come alive...
'She told us that the inhabitants of Sigtuna could enter the town hall whenever they wanted. Behind one of the shutters you could find the key. Karin vivedly told us about intoxicated inhabitants that used the key when it was too far to walk home....
Sigtuna was founded some 1000 years ago and is one of the first christian cities. There are plenty of churches, runestones and churchruins in the city. The Saint Mary church is a red brick church built in the mid-13th century and the parish church of the town. (Saint Olafs ruin in the image). Visiting the museum Sigtuna museum is definately a must. We met up with an archaeologist, Anders, at the museum and it was really interesting to hear of his personal findings. Wow.
The city is very picturesque. Here are some typical Sigtuna houses...
We ate lunch at the newly opened "32 rum & kök" restaurant, hotel (32 rooms) and conference 15 metres from Lake Mälaren. They offer a really nice atmosphere and good tasty food. I hope to get back to try the hotel part. Its a family business with the wife in the reception, the husband serving, the brother in the kitchen and the father that can do a wedding ceremony if needed. They have just opened a out door terrace viewing the water...
We took the car to the Rosersberg Palace, which is one of HM the Kings own palaces and went for a guided tour. A visit to Rosersberg Palace means taking a step back into an authentic royal milieu from the turn of the 19th century. The permanent interiors have been untouched since 1860. The best of all - you can stay here!
The hotel lobby is in the right wing and the rooms are in the left and right wing of the palace. Rosersberg Hotel & Konference offers really nice rooms and conference facilities viewing the beautiful park. In the morning they serve breakfast in a breakfast basket delivered to your room - I great idea. They offer 58 rooms 43 of them being single rooms at the moment. The rooms are newly refurbished (images on the site does not do them justice) and they are adding new double rooms.
We enjoyed an afternoon tea with the general manager of the hotel, Pär Hernell. The café offers a great view of lake Mälaren...
Time to go home...
Skansen nominated the most beautiful park
The open air museum in Skansen is one of the ten finalists in the competition "Swedens most beautiful park 2009". (swedish webiste) Criterias like accessability, architecture, management and commitment. The ten parks are chosen by a jury.
Underwater path opens in the Archipelago
Swap the green grass walk to the sea grass walk! The encouragement comes from Skärgårdsstiftelsen who will open their snorkeling path on Nåttarö island in the southern archipelago on June 27. This is a new way for swimmers and outdoor lovers to explore the amazing archipelago. The path is marked with information rocks and signs describing the flora and fauna along the path. A rope is also tied between the rocks to lead the way. The "snorkel path" stretches from the beach north of the steamboat jetty. The Stockholm Archipelago consists of 30 000 islands and islets.
Read more about Nåttarö on Stockholmtown
Active vacation in Stockholm
Design exhibitions
Swedish design company OFFECCT exhibits their current collection. World renowned designers: Eero Koivisto, Jean-Marie Massaud, Karim Rashid and Monica Förster. Shop and exhibition. The film OFFECCT the Story is shown every hour. July 1 - August 14
Tramline expands. Opens next summer
Image: Dagens Nyheter
The tram line from all the attractions on Djurgården to Norrmalmstorg in the citycentre will expand. Next summer the line will continue on Hamngatan and up to Sergels Torg Square (the line on the right).
Fase two (the dotted line) will include a tramtrack from North western Kungsholmen to Stockholm Central which is due to open in 2011. Fase three will include a line from Djurgården to värtan and Ropsten.
Svenssons i Lammhult opens in Stockholm
The furniture store Svenssons i Lammhult have specialized in selling furniture from Scandinavian producers such as Swedese, Kasthall, DesignHouse Sthlm, Artek, Louis Poulsen etcetera. The company have their head office in the small village of Lammhult close to IKEA in the county of Småland. They are now opening a store in Sickla Köpkvarter, in Nacka Stockholm this autumn
ABBA The Museum becomes ABBAWORLD
The exhibition that will take the legendary Swedish pop group ABBA's story on a world tour is changing its name from ABBA the Museum to ABBAWORLD. The ABBAWORLD exhibition will have its world premiere in Europe later this year.
The website, http://www.abbaworld.com/, will be launched this summer and it will provide visitors with an appetiser for the exhibition.
"The site will make it possible for the audience to plan their visit, to record and play back selected interactive features such as dancing, singing and performing with ABBA, and to share their visit at ABBAWORLD with friends and family in a truly unique way," said Danielsson. "We are working with some of the most talented people in the business to create a new platform for international, touring exhibitions which integrates seamlessly with the Internet."
Görel Hanser, spokesperson and business manager of ABBA, commented: "The exhibition ABBAWORLD will ensure that the legacy of ABBA will live on, for old and new generations to experience far into the future."
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ABBAWORLD is a unique touring exhibition filled with music, original costumes, history, images, instruments and never-before-displayed memorabilia from the group's recording and performing heyday. ABBAWORLD is an interactive experience featuring the latest technology in sound, visuals, multimedia and communications. It is the only exhibition of its kind, with memorabilia approved by ABBA. Most of the items have been supplied exclusively by the quartet: Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, and Agnetha Fältskog.
ABBAWORLD - The Music * The Memories * The Magic
http://www.abbaworld.com/ (due September 1)
