We were there first

That was the phrase on our tickets to the new ABBA Museum and also on the expensive, limited edition T shirts which were piled high in the shop there.

We'd read about the opening of the new museum sometime last week and were enthused enough to go online and buy a couple of tickets for Wednesday morning.  Arriving there to see this low key entrance, we wondered if we were in the right place - but yes, there was a small sign by the door.

Sweet of them to put the red carpet out for us, don't you think?  ;-)

I'd read mixed reviews, but went with an open mind and felt sure that it would be fun, at the very least.  I didn't expect to feel so uninvolved, however.

Entering through the shop, which serves both the ABBA exhibit and the Swedish Music Hall of Fame didn't feel quite right - surely, one exits through the gift shop?  But let's not quibble - though our tickets were for 11am,  we were admitted early through the bright and shiny doors to the flashing lights and...a concrete staircase.  Two floors down, we're there!

Woohoo!  A bright and cheery staff member welcomed us and spent just a wee bit too long explaining something complicated about our tickets, which have some kind of barcode on them.  I was champing at the bit, wanting to get in there, but had to be patient!   Eventaully, we were let go, through the doors into a video room with a huge screen.  WELCOME!

But all was quiet.  "Just a short wait".  "It's about to begin"

Suddenly, the place came alive as the film began and we were immersed in Waterloo, Does your Mother know?, Voulez Vous? and so on.  Wow!  In an instant our feet were tapping, we were singing along and carried away by the sheer power and familiarity of the music.

..which finished as abruptly as it started.

The first few scenarios concern the early days of the four musicians and how the band came to be.  Fairly interesting but ultimately, a lot of reading on the walls and not really a great deal more - though that wallpaper brought a few memories back!  Whilst we wandered through these rooms, we could hear snatches of songs coming from elsewhere in the museum  "Gimme gimme gimme....chiquitita...ring ring..." but no single song, just a muddled soundtrack of bits of familiar words and tunes coming from various videos and from other rooms nearby. 

Video screens showed the band in performances from different stages of their career and yes, there were several fun activities too - we could have been filmed dancing to their music, done a karaoke recording or done some kind of virtual costume trying-on.  We could even have auditioned to become the fifth member of the band and this, of course, was where the barcode on our ticket came in.  Scanning the barcode before trying any of these features would mean we'd be able to access the recording from our computers once we were home and could input the code.  Had there been any kind of atmosphere at all, had we been fired up by the music as in the first room, we might have been tempted to give it a go, to have had a laugh and make a fool of ourselves.  But the place lacked any sense of fun or spirit on this morning at least, that there was no chance of either of us feeling anything like that.

Had we but had a pair of earphones with loud "Mamma Mia" or "Dancing Queen" in our heads, we'd have been away!

The memorabilia was fascinating.  Oh my goodness, did we really live with platform soles? (yes).

There were interesting room sets with videos to put them in context - here's the costume designer's studio.

A dressing room from the World Tour 1989 with my perfume amongst the stuff on the table - another thing to date me!

All very interesting, but what was needed was music!  A few blasts of the songs which stick in all of our minds would have brought the place alive, for sure.  Sadly, there was an overall sense of rather gloomy nostalgia which seemed to be summed up by the photo in the newspaper we'd picked up on Tuesday.

Of course, ABBA are no more.  Instead of sending us out with a blast of "Thank you for the Music", the final scene in the museum is this

A reference to the film/stage show Mamma Mia. 

Oh well. We were there first!

Now, where were we?

Oh yes, one or two minor glitches prevented me from posting the full story of Tuesday, but now we are back home, let’s return to that gorgeous afternoon in Stockholm, shall we?

I had one or two ideas of what to do after lunch. Originally, I’d wanted to go and see the huge Carl Larsson Midvinterblot which hangs in the National Museum, but sadly, the museum is closed for renovation right now. Considering the many options available as I walked back to our hotel (photo above), the answer was staring me in the face.

Take a boat!

I bought my ticket and waited patiently whilst a few European scores were settled in the boarding queue ;-) It was a “hop on hop off” ticket and I decided that I’d hop on and hop off as the mood took me.

But scoring a comfy and very good seat on board, I was going to need considerable persuasion to hop off!

The first stop was the Vasa, the Swedish MaryRose if you know what I mean. Hmm. It was tempting to go and take a look – it’s years since we were first there – but on such a lovely afternoon it seemed sad to go indoors.

And my seat was very comfy.

Actually, spending the afternoon on the water was exactly the right thing to do. I was enjoying the fresh air and watching the world go by. Who needs to hop off anywhere?

Prins Eugens Waldemarrsudde looked gorgeous over there on the little peninsula. We went to a great exhibition of Carl Larsson’s work there on a previous visit and loved the location of this beautiful house.

Oooh, for once it’s not our ship which looms over in the cruise terminal! The hop on hop off boat emptied suddenly though, as it seems most of the folks on board are returning there. Suddenly, not only do I have a comfy seat, I have the boat (almost) to myself!

The old town – Gamla Stan – looks lovely over there across the water. Perhaps I will get off there and have a walk around, take some photographs and catch a later boat back to the hotel?

Much as I love the old streets and the ochre and terracotta coloured buildings which line them, on Tuesday afternoon it seemed very touristy and there were some noisy people around.

The beautiful views were still there of course, and the narrow streets were pleasantly cool and shady.

I spent a few minutes admiring the runestone on the street corner – I love coming across things like this!

But actually, I had had enough of mooching. Time to return to the waterfront and watch the boats coming and going. This one, about to arrive, isn’t mine, but a ferry going to a different set of islands. I was amused by the speed and efficiency of the procedure which followed

In less than five minutes, the passengers had got off, and as there was no-one waiting to board, the walkway was pulled back, the captain put the engines into reverse and off they went. Like my boat, the walkway is at the same level as the pier, making it incredibly easy to get on and off.

When I did finally board the hop on hop off boat, it seemed as though there had been a catch of the day ;-)

By this time, we were nearly back and there were just a few more minutes to savour the view, the fresh air and the fact that here I was, in Stockholm on a Tuesday afternoon. How neat was that?!

I began to give a little “grrr” at the closed National Museum, but retracted, because if it hadn’t been closed, I’d not have enjoyed such a lovely afternoon out on the water. Anyway, Midvinterblot will be there next time I’m here, won’t it?

I’d had a great afternoon – well, a lovely day, actually. As my hero had spent most of it indoors in his meeting, it seemed a little churlish to wax too lyrically about everything. But I had to tell him all about the cherry blossom of course – and fortunately, the service at Prinsen was so slick, we finished dinner whilst it was still light and he could see for himself.

Under cobalt blue skies

When he read yesterday's blog post, someone not too far away from me said "but you didn't say that you're in Stockholm". Well, I'm sure I did somewhere, and anyway, I told him, those who read my blog are clever enough to know these things!

Anyway, here we are. The weather forecast had been promising, but waking up to a white sky this morning, we feared that it wasn’t going to turn out quite as we’d hoped. How wrong we were.

Whilst my hero went off to his meeting, I decided to take a stroll around the city, taking photographs and generally enjoying being here.

By the time I’d reached the square where I knew I could find Marimekko, the sky was almost as brightly coloured as the things in the store there.

I browsed around the department stores, made a couple of purchases and looked at my watch – gone half past twelve and definitely time for lunch.

On such a beautiful day, I couldn’t think of sitting indoors, so my plan to visit the little bistro at the back of the Opera House was shelved.  I walked back past the NK sign and headed for the Kungstradgarden, a little urban park where I knew there were cafes with outdoor seating overlooking the gardens.

I passed this couple of letterboxes, which reminded me of when some of our postboxes were similarly divided into two sections.

 

By now, it was so warm and whilst some were wearing T shirts and sandals, others were still in boots and heavy coats.  There seemed to be a lot of folks around here and I began to wonder if coming to such a popular lunchtime venue was a good idea after all.

But then I realised why everyone was here.  When we walked across the end of the park last evening, we commented that the trees were still in bud and there was not much sign of Spring.  In the short time since then, the cherry trees have exploded into a riot of pink blossom and the whole of Stockholm has come to see them!

It was a remarkable sight.  To think, at the end of February we saw the first few blossoms open in Okinawa, Japan and here I am, some two and a half months later watching the same thing in Sweden.  Am I lucky or what?

The last time we were here, for Bo’s party in November 2011, they were just creating an ice rink here for the Winter season.

Those who aren’t sitting under the blossom are relaxing on the perfectly manicured  lawn  astroturf, enjoying their lunchtime break in the sunshine.

 I simply stood and watched, marvelling at the abundant blossom and the clear blue sky above.

Oh, and watched how almost everyone took out a camera or phone and took a photograph.  I wonder how many pictures were taken in this spot today?

The professionals were there too.

I was able to find a table at the small cafe across from the blossom and sat for an hour in the sunshine, taking it all in.  I could have sat there all day, for sure, but every so often, I’d see someone looking for a table and eventually, I had to say “I’m just leaving”.

I took one last look at the blossom

took one last photograph of one of the photographers and went on my way.  As I did, I accidentally bumped into a young woman pushing a baby buggy and apologised to her.  “Don’t worry”, she said, “everyone has their eyes on the blossom right now.  It’s such a special time because it will last only one or two days.  Please, enjoy it with us”.

I took her advice and went back for another five minutes!

Now, how shall we spend the afternoon?  Out in the sunshine, for sure.  Stick with me and we'll find something amazing to do!

Going places

Another example of it taking a day to arrive somewhere just a two hour flight away.  Not that it matters – we were up and about anyway, had breakfast in the British Airways Lounge at Heathrow and our flight left on time at around 10.30am.  Add the hour difference to a two hour flight and we’re into early afternoon, then add another hour or two for collecting luggage and getting ourselves by the Arlanda Express into the city and then to our hotel.

You’ve got to love a city where, on the walls of the baggage reclaim area, a few local inhabitants are introduced, especially when those closest to us included the glamorous CEO of a local company alongside Dag Hammerskjold and Povel Ramel, described as “Word Wizard”.

Except that I misread it first as “World Wizard” and looked a little closer, thinking that he defied the person with a long white beard and flowing robes of my imagination.

Moving right along…

Arriving at our hotel in the late afternoon, we were pleased we’d decided to come back to the waterfront, forgoing a little contemporary styling for the view and the sense of place.  When we were greeted with a cheery Hej Hej! followed by the magical phrase “we’ve upgraded you to one of our suites”, then our wise choice was confirmed.

How long do you think before one of us said "I vont to be alone" ?

First impressions were “Ooooh”, followed by a more considered “lots of space but the bathroom’s tiny” and “no desk?”

(ungrateful so and sos aren't we?)

But there is a very comfy looking bed.

A large, round sitting room with rather a lot of “stuff” in it, to reinforce the theme.

And the travelling companions have made themselves at home.

Though they aren't too sure if the lampshades bite!  (Neither are we....)

Anyway, having explored what will be our residence for the next 48 hours, we decided to take the air and headed off for a short stroll to get our bearings.  Though we’ve been here several times before, it takes a while to rediscover old haunts.

It was a glorious afternoon though the contrast between the bright sunlight and the deep shade was tricky to manage at times.

We couldn’t resist popping into NK, the large department store, where the Dala horses were lined up and looking shiny

Last time we were here, this area of the store was completely covered with Christmas decorations.  Now, in the early Summer, there are more traditional offerings.  We didn’t really intend to shop right now, so drifted through the store and out into the pedestrianised area on the other side.

We did buy chocolate, though – my hero loves the salt licorice here, and the strawberry chocolate I chose was pretty good too.

Oh, and I might just have stopped in Gudrun Sjoden to see what’s what.

And yes, something might have been purchased, too!  (I know, we weren’t really shopping..but when one sees something, one has to take the opportunity, don’t you agree?)

It was gone 5.30pm when we returned to the hotel, a little weary and certainly hungry!    What a good job we had a reservation at an old favourite, then.

My starter.  Terrine with pickled vegetables.  Delish.

My hero had herring, three ways, served with swedish cheese and potatoes.

My main course.  Sea bass, smoked and baked.  Even more delish!

Raspberry and elderflower mille feuille to round it all off in the sweetest style.  How good was that?!

It was still pretty light as we walked back to the hotel around 9pm, with the rotating NK sign standing out on the skyline.

We are so glad to be back in this beautiful city, which is looking at its best in the sunshine!

Seen in Stockholm

A flavour of the season last weekend, in the shop windows and around.

So many Scandinavian touches in the beautifully arranged displays.

The red, cream and grey is such an elegant alternative Christmas palette, isn’t it?  We spotted those felted beads immediately and went in search – only to find them rather beyond our price range, beautiful or no.

Inside, it was fascinating to see how the traditional Christmas theme predominates here with a strong red-white-grey-black palette.  It was also interesting to see how between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning, the Christmas department of Ahlens store was virtually stripped bare!

Tablewares, small household items all with a seasonal touch – all very tempting and so attractive.

 

The beautiful Littala tableware of which I’d have a complete set just for use at Christmas if I could.

 

Of course, there’s always cute, isn’t there?  Not particularly my taste but clearly someone loves them!

Oh, and the scarf in the department store window which was worthy of a return visit.  Would we find it inside?  Well, no – but the assistant knew where they were.

Sadly, only in black!  Somehow, I felt that the stark contrast between the black knitted section and the cream lace was just a little too much.  The young sales assistant looked puzzled and said she felt sure there were cream ones still available if only she could find them.

But no worries…she stepped into the shop window and took the one from the model for me.

Hooray!

(I’ve even got a red lipstick this season, too, though I might be a little more restrained than the dolly in the window)

What a fun weekend we had, but for sure, it’s good to be home.  Until Friday, at least ;-)