After having a wonderful visit with (many but not all, unfortunately) friends and family for 2 weeks in the U.S., we packed up our bags and closed up our house and headed to the airport in Cincinnati on Sunday, the 5th to fly back to Stockholm. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans for us. We spent more than 7 hours in the airport, only to have our flights cancelled and rescheduled for the next day.
The next morning, our flights were cancelled once again and we were sent home to try again on Wednesday. This gave us a few extra days to visit with friends and spend time with Quincy, but the weather was so unbelievably cold and snowy that we couldn't do much.
On Wednesday, we were finally successful at flying out of Cincinnati and through Chicago to arrive in Stockholm this morning at about 8 a.m. We didn't make the kids go to school today due to jet lag but I was determined to make it to my walking food tour that I had organized with a group of 12 friends last month. After arriving home at 9:20, I freshened up, changed clothes, grabbed my subway pass and headed back out the door. Fortunately, Josh and the kids took care of things at home, including picking up Coco and buying groceries so that I could meet my tour at 10 and be out for the next five hours.
The 45 degree temperatures made the day even more perfect after suffering through -18F in Batesville on Monday!
The food tour was fantastic! Led by Francisco, teaching us some Swedish and Stockholm history while introducing us to a variety of local foods and treats!
We started out at Hötorget's jam shop, P&B Delikatesser where we tried locally made truffles, cloud berry jelly and chocolate dusted licorice. We then moved on to Chokladfabriken where we thoroughly enjoyed wonderful hot chocolate followed by cardamom and hazelnut chocolates.
From the chocolate shop, we walked over to the famous Östermalms Saluhall. The beautiful building houses some of the best food available in Stockholm and offered us the opportunity to try some wonderful cheeses, produce and even some smoked meats. Beer went well with the smoked reindeer and I even picked up some smoked elk to bring home.
We then walked several blocks to a wonderful restaurant called Pontus, where we had the opportunity to sample some of Stockholm's best toast skagen. Excellent!
Our bellies were certainly getting full but we still had places to go and talking to do so we next walked into Gamla Stan. In old town, we were able to try some of the handmade Swedish candy that made Gränna famous. I had actually been in this shop several times because polkagris is a favorite in our family!
Our final stop was for fika (I have missed fika!) at a beautiful little cafe/bakery in the heart of old town, under a chestnut tree.
Coffee and kanelbullar were enjoyed by everyone before we all went our separate ways to pick up kids or to move on with our afternoon. A fantastic day to get back in the swing of our beautiful Stockholm!
Tomorrow morning will come quickly I am afraid and then it is back to school for the kids and to work for Josh. Our 72 hour flight delay caused the kids to miss their first days of school but they will get right back into it quickly enough! It's supposed to be snowy tomorrow!
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