Are we nearly home?

Thankfully, no-one uttered those particular words though I’m sure they were in many minds as we flew back yesterday afternoon.  Having checked in and made ourselves comfortable whilst waiting for our 3pm flight home, we spotted a red flag on the departure board, alerting us to a 45 minute delay.  Ho hum.

Going to the gate around 3pm, noticing that the later flight had been cancelled altogether, we waited for news.  Sure enough, an announcement came to say that there was likely to be a longer wait on the plane because there was fog at Heathrow and fewer planes than usual were being granted permission to land.  Nevertheless, we boarded as instructed, settled ourselves in and summoned up all patience.

That’s when the Captain came on the loudspeaker to say that we were likely to be there waiting for another four hours.

ooo.

What does one do?  Play solitaire on the laptop, do a puzzle or two, read a magazine…for someone like me with the boredom threshold of a gnat, it’s no problem to find some kind of activity in my bag – but going nowhere makes settling to anything rather a challenge.

We were getting hungry too.  As a result of the cancelled flight ours was completely full and space was not exactly available to wander around, to stretch legs or anything else.  We simply sat and waited.

From time to time the Captain issued updates and one or two folks decided to get off the plane, so permission was sought, luggage offloaded and the rest of us settled back for a while longer.  Our inflight meal of a sandwich was served, a round of drinks brought and remarkably the baby in the row in front of us was happily entertained by his doting parents and didn’t make a sound.  A chap across the way asked if he may buy a giant Toblerone from the inflight shopping catalogue but was advised that since we were still on the ground, nothing could be sold.  A pity that…I can imagine BA could have made a killing on those chocolate bars! 

His request reminded me that I had a little secret stash of peanut M&Ms in my bag – we thought about rationing them out so they would last the full two hours remaining but actually scoffed the lot in one go!

Thankfully, with about an hour to go, the Captain reported that we had been given a slot and we were taking off as soon as everyone could get themselves seated and belted up – within five minutes we were all there, ready and waiting, the safety demonstration was done in superfast time and we were off.  An uneventful (and snackless!) two and a half hours later, we were back at Heathrow, where the fog had thankfully lifted but list of cancelled flights reminded us of how lucky we were to have arrived home tonight.

A fun party!

Much as it’s fun to simply “be” in Stockholm, we came to join in the celebrations for a special birthday to be held at the Jewish Museum here.  Rather than offer a minute by minute report, just picture the scene…

A room full of elegant friends and family, here to celebrate a special birthday in style.

A delicious Kosher meal with all the traditional specialities

Sitting in the fascinating and atmospheric museum alongside our host, listening to friends and family offer warm recollections of his life, mostly spoken in English because of our presence.

Listening to lively Klezmer music with a generous (and continually refilled!) glass of Israeli red wine in hand

Frequent toasts of “L'chei-im, le'chayim!”

Interesting conversation with charming guests who made us feel warmly welcomed

A fond slideshow of our friend’s life, presented by his three daughters which brought tears to several eyes

and to finish…

A fantastic tap dance by the birthday boy himself – complete with encore!!

Such a memorable occasion and how honoured we felt to have been included in the celebrations.  We were truly amongst friends.

OK, ready to go again?

Fortified with the grogg, let’s wander around the market a little more.

As we go, remember to look up and see the beautiful buildings in the square.  Set off by that bright blue sky, they really are lovely.

We browse the stalls, accompanied by a loudspeaker rendition of “When a Child is born” which somehow detracts from rather than enhances the experience!  Strangely, in this Christmassy place, we don’t feel we’re in the spirit of it all yet.

So, let’s move on towards the Kungliga Slottet – the Royal Palace.  We’re treading a well worn path here and the voices we hear are speaking many languages – German and Russian predominate, it seems.

Oh, look – those guardsmen appear to be putting out some rope barriers for crowd control.  What’s happening?

Funny how, no sooner than a rope is assembled, a crowd forms behind it!  Shall we join them?  It’s almost 12 noon and perhaps they’re going to change the guard?

Hmm.

It’s now 12.15 and my feet are getting cold.  Was this a good idea? 

Ohoh, there’s a man about to say something!

He’s reading – in both English and Swedish – some information about the guards, the palace opening hours and what there is to see.

The crowd are restless.  We didn’t come to listen to announcements!

Oh, look, there’s a flag in that corner, surely it can’t be long now!

A drum and a bugle call heralds the arrival of around twenty guards who march out into the yard, breaking into a peculiar trot as they form an opposing formation to greet the incoming bunch.

I have to say, it’s not very exciting, is it?  But we’ve stood for a long time and we can’t go now – we might miss the fun part!

A surprising number of the guards are young women, though of course, it’s not easy to distinguish one gender from another until they march past.

We’ll stay until the main ceremony is over, listen to one or two bugle calls and then let’s go and warm our feet by walking a little.

Ouch – these cobbled streets don’t make for comfortable walking, do they?

Taking the Riksbron over the river, we have a decision to make.  Shall we go straight ahead and wander up the Drottningsgatan shopping street or turn right and head for the Opera and the Kungstradgarden?

Let’s leave the shopping till later and see if we can find a bite to eat.

Now we’re talking!  The little Bakfikan at the rear of the Opera House suits us perfectly.

What to choose?

Easy peasy!  Delicious smoked salmon with dill cream potatoes.  Perfect.

From here it’s just a step into the garden, where families are out for an afternoon stroll and the ice rink is being prepared for the winter.

Over on the far side of the garden is another small Christmas market where this chocolate stand is creating a little hubbub.  Shall we take a look and see if we can work out what’s going on?

Looks like people are buying tickets for a draw to win a huge bar of chocolate.  Each pays some money and places their ticket on a number from 1 to 100.  Most buy a strip of five numbers and because the electronics aren’t quite working, the woman operating the stand uses her imagination and covers the numbers with anything she can find under the counter – a plastic box comes out, a few pens and pencils, a notebook…none of this is making it very easy for us to work out what’s going on, is it?

But there’s a sudden hiatus as she calls time and starts the wheel going.  The punters hold their breath and wait…the wheel slows and stops at number 98.

The women in front of us sigh and shuffle off as the smallest boy at the other end gasps as he realises he’s won the most enormous bar of chocolate!  What a result! 

His kind and devoted friends help him carry it off…

At the end of the gardens there’s a small brass group playing Christmas carols.  Do you feel Christmassy yet?  Me neither.

The workmen are still putting up the street lights for the holiday season here.

But the shops are definitely in full swing.  Look at this huge tree in NK department store!

One of these little chaps might join us on the way home.  Shall we pick out a cheeky one?

It’s mid afternoon now and our feet are beginning to complain.  How are yours?

Suddenly the crowds of Drottninggatan hold little appeal and my hero decides he’s had enough.   He’s going to head back to the hotel and enjoy a little peace and quiet before tonight’s party.

Will you go with him or stay with me?

I’m glad you decided to stick around, although I’m not sure I’m going to spend much longer here.  The Saturday afternoon crowds make it difficult to meander, don’t they?

We’ll take another look in a Christmas department, browse a little in Ahlens department store before doing a last bit of window shopping along the street.

It’s 3pm and the sun is already going down.

Suddenly the sight of the hotel with the sun shining on it makes me feel rather weary!  Come on, let’s head back.

I think we’ve earned dessert, don’t you?

(sadly it’s a normal size bar and because I didn’t win a draw, I had to buy it from the newsagent!)

Walk with us in Stockholm

The day has dawned fine and there’s a bright blue sky.  The waitress at breakfast said that it’s “quite warm” outside, but we suspect these things are relative.  Might be a good idea to put on comfy shoes and a few layers of clothes.

Heading out of the hotel and through the Central Station, people are beginning to go about their business, though it’s already 9.30am.

It’s hard to see where we’re going though, because the sun is so bright.  We didn’t think to bring our sunglasses with us.  Did you?

Be careful crossing the road here – there are cycle tracks and bus lines as well as several ordinary roads crossing.  We pedestrians are the forgotten ones in this city it seems.

We’ll cross over the Vasabron (Vasa Bridge) here, over towards the old town but admiring that matching pair of small houses in front of the Riddarhuset as we go.

It seems rotten to say how relieved we are to find a little shade – walking with that bright sun in the eyes is not easy!

Here’s the back of the Riksdagshuset – the Parliament building.  We’ll walk past the other side later, perhaps.

We’re headed for the Old Town, the Gamla Stan, where we’re hoping there won’t be many people around yet.  We came up here last night for dinner at Den Gyldene Freden and we’re looking forward to wandering around these little old streets again.

Hmmm…for sure, there are not many people about yet, but that’s because few places are open.  But ooh, look, there’s Gudrun Sjoden with lights on, shall we take a look?

Ta dah!  There’s even a large and very comfy armchair there for someone to sit in whilst someone else tries things on.  I must say, the staff here are utterly charming and very attentive and I think it was half an hour well spent?

The lovely thing about the old town is that almost every little alley has a beautiful view.  Please, remind me to keep looking up now and again, as well as in shop windows (oh, and where I’m walking too, because I don’t want to trip on these slightly slippy cobbles)

Across from Gudrun Sjoden is another shop beckoning to us.  Shall we go in?

Happy Color is a delightful place and I think we can spend a few minutes pottering about.  Not only is there an interesting selection of yarn, there’s also a few bits of jewellery, some funny softies and a great room out there at the back filled with comfortable furniture for a sociable knit and natter.

Outside things are revving up a little.  I think we’d better make on up these rather touristy streets, though there’s still time to take a look at some of the souvenirs on sale.  Many have a seasonal theme now – red and white are definitely the colours of the season.

This is a pretty display hanging from a birch branch in the window of Indiska, an interesting “lifestyle” store but I think I spotted a little market just down that little street.  Shall we go explore?

Sure enough, there’s a small Christmas Market in the square outside the Nobel Museum and this stall is selling Reindeer meats I suspect.  No place for that in our bags, so let’s move on, because there’s quite a crowd next door.

Aha!  The Glogg stand – no wonder!  They’re doing a brisk trade selling small cups of this delicious hot drink laced with raisins and almonds.  Come on, we’ve earned a break, haven’t we?

Here we are.  See you in a while…

Friday 4pm

We’re here in Stockholm, for a friend’s birthday party.