Goodbye 2014

Another year nearly gone, they certainly whizz by faster as you get older. This year has been a quiet one for me really. I purposely did not do much travelling as I knew I'd need money for the next U2 tour. I did miss going away, I still get itchy feet once I've been home around three months and so have had cabin fever a few times this year! But the two short breaks I did have were lovely, I ticked something off my bucket list when I visited Stockholm in the summer. It was a place I've wanted to visit since my mid-teens and it didn't disappoint, such a beautiful city. The other short trip was to Bordeaux to celebrate my friend Debbi's official 50th birthday and we had a wonderful time and got to learn lots about wine making (and drinking) too!

The First Photo I Saw of Seamus

The highlight of my year was getting my new dog Seamus. I'd decided I wanted another dachshund and twice nearly got a rescue dog and, through no fault of mine, both times it didn't happen. The day after the second rescue fell through I saw lovely dachshund puppies advertised and I reserved one. I picked him up two weeks later and he has been a joy, very laid back and confident and rarely barks, unusual for a dachshund, but good as my other dachshund Pepsi can bark for two! Seamus makes me smile every day and is a sweet, loving boy and I now have a lovely canine gang.

Another highlight was my longest and closest friend got the all clear from breast cancer which was such a wonderful day and a huge relief. Health is everything really. You can have all the money in the world but if you haven't got your health that doesn't matter. I am lucky in that I am healthy, got minor problems like anyone my age would have, but nothing serious and I thanks heaven for that.

Biggest excitement was the new U2 album, Songs of Innocence and the tour announcement. It was a long time coming but worth the wait, U2 did what I've always wanted them to do - go back to their own Irish roots to look at how that formed them as people and as a band. I've always hoped for an album like this because I feel that the very fact they are Irish (or to be more accurate in the case of Edge and Adam) grew up in Ireland, is what makes them a special band. The result is a deeply personal, and at times moving, album that often lays Bono's soul bare as much of the lyrical content relates to his experiences. I always admire people who can do that, it's not an easy thing to open up innermost feelings like that to the

wide world. Lyrically too it is fantastic, some of the best for a long time. I was so glad that this album captured my heart again as the last few albums have been good but nothing special and I was drifting off a little, thinking they were past putting out an album would be able to excite and capture my heart again. But I was proved wrong, U2 can still surprise and delight me and I feel this album is very much for longtime fans like me, we understand where they are coming from with it. Now I can't wait to hear the new songs performed live because they always grow and develop in that setting. People have moaned about it being put in their Itunes purchases, but they didn't have to download it did they? Also, I have just got a new android phone and in the music app were quite a few songs that I had not put there that I could download if I wanted and had to delete, so it is a common thing.

Next year will be a busier one for me travel-wise, already got trips to London and Glasgow organised to see U2 and will be going to Dublin for shows there when they are announced. I will also be having a short break in Scotland with my cousin in the spring so lots to look forward to and I'll be writing about much of it here.

Thank you for reading my blog, and I wish you a happy and healthy 2015!

Hotel Review - The Lord Nelson, Stockholm, Sweden - Small, but Perfectly Formed

The Lord Nelson is a small hotel situated right in the middle of  Gamla Stan, Stockholm's Old Town. It has the distinction of being the narrowest hotel in Sweden at just under six metres, but it does stretch a long way back. It is a very unique family run hotel, first opened in the mid 70's and now run by the children of the original owners.

The hotel is jam packed with naval memorabilia, much of it relating to Nelson. Each floor is named after a ships deck and the rooms after a ship. On each floor are beautiful grandfather clocks. On the first floor, overlooking Västerlånggatan, is a small library with comfy leather seating and a computer. It is a lovely place to sit and watch life pass by on the busy street below. There is also a roof terrace, again with comfy seating, tubs of flowers, blankets for when it gets cool and views over the roof tops of Gamla Stan. 

The Library

The rooms vary in size, (and are accessed by a real key!) but many are very small, like ship's cabins, with wooden floors and a port hole in the bathroom door, mine had a picture of a ship on the wall, a small desk an old fashioned wooden chair, a TV, and a few books and a narrow but comfortable bed, very homely. The bathroom was very clean and had all the modern fittings people expect, the water was always hot. The free WiFi worked very well. Note that there are no tea/coffee making facilities in the room, but on two nights when we arrived back at the hotel the receptionist happily made us coffee for no charge which we drank in the dining area.

Dining Area

Breakfast was taken in a small dining area beside reception. It had everything you could want including Swedish specialities such as herrings in a creamy sauce, crispbread and pink caviar. Everything was very fresh and constantly topped up by staff. They even had two baskets of boiled eggs, one containing three minute eggs and one six minute one, all wrapped in linen cloths to keep them warm. There was also a very good selection of bread/rolls.

The staff were delightful, very friendly and all spoke excellent English. They were very helpful with suggestions of places to eat and ordering taxis and the suchlike, nothing was too much bother for them. 

The location of the hotel right on the middle of Gamla Stan was perfect, in minutes you can walk to the Royal Palace, The Nobel Museum, Riddarholm Church, Storkyrkan and Stortorget. The centre of Stockholm and the main railway station are just a ten or fifteen minute walk away (depending on how fast you walk!) So if you are going on any organised trips the pick-up places are all within an easy walk.

Finally, the price for this hotel, considering its location (and the fact this was expensive Sweden) was very

Getting Acquainted with Lord Nelson

reasonable, I paid £200 for three nights bed and breakfast. If you want big, spacious rooms this hotel is not for you (though the same family run two bigger hotels in the same area, details on their website). But if you want a quirky, friendly, personal hotel that is well located and reasonably priced I have no hesitation in recommending the unique Lord Nelson Hotel.

Address:  Västerlånggatan 22, Gamla Stan, SE-111 29 Stockholm, Sweden.
Website: Lord Nelson Hotel

Stockholm 4 - Storkyrkan and Fika

The Silver Altar, Storkyrkan

Our last day in Stockholm, I had to leave at noon for the airport so we wanted to make the most of the morning. After breakfast we walked the short distance to Storkyrkan (Great Church) which is the city's cathedral. A church is reputed to have been built on this site in the mid 1200s by the founder of Stockholm, Birger Jarl. The oldest part of the present building dates from 1306. One side lies beside the Royal Palace and many royal ceremonies have been held there.

I was surprised when I entered to find that it was, unlike Riddarholm, very ornate and Germanic in style, but apparently the church was Catholic until 1527 when it became Protestant Lutheran. Unlike us in England they did not have a Henry VIII to destroy much of the Catholic ornamentation and so it survived.

The altar was very beautiful, it was made mainly of silver, so different to anything I'd seen before, it was donated by a Stockholm councillor in the 1650s To it's left was a massive (fourteen feet high) wooden sculpture of St George and the Dragon by Berndt Lotke of Lubeck in Germany dated 1489. There was also the largest Torolf Engstrom and has been in the church since 1972, it was a very beautiful creation and we both bought a candle and added it to the globe.

The Candle Globe, Storkyrkan

St George and the Dragon, Storkrykan

One of Gamla Stan's Quiet Alleys

After looking around Storkyrkan we separated for a while and I went for a general exploration of Gamla Stan. The main roads - well that's the wrong word really as most of the Old Town is made up of narrow cobbled alleys and there is no way cars can enter which is rather nice! So, the main alleys are quite touristy, but it is so easy to find quiet alleys and lanes off the tourist track. I wandered through a few of them and was intrigued to see people working on their computers inside these ancient buildings, old and new living side by side. I thought that was wonderful, these old places are still very much part of Stockholm's day to day living.

I went back to the hotel and met up with Yvonne and we checked out and left our cases at reception. We headed out in search of fika. Fika is a Swedish institution, basically it is a break where you have coffee and cake which sounded good to us and we were keen to follow the tradition!

We found a nice looking cafe called Schweizer Konditori just down the road in Västerlånggatan. Yes it sounds more Swiss than Swedish but inside it was full of Swedish delights. The fayre on offer at the counter was amazing and beautifully presented, but we went for fika, coffee and cakes, I had a raspberry tart and Yvonne had what they called a princess cake. Both were delicious and it felt a very fitting way to end our short stay in Stockholm.

Part of the Counter at the Schweitzer Konditori

Our Fika Cakes

  All too soon we had to leave. We went back to the hotel, reception ordered a taxi for me, I said my goodbyes to Yvonne (she was leaving later in the day) and walked down the road a little to get the taxi. The cab got stuck behind the changing of the guard for a while and the relatively short trip to the railway station ended up being the most expensive taxi journey I've ever had, but hey I was on holiday!

Soon I was on the Arlanda Express once more hurtling at 200kph through the Swedish countryside towards the airport. I had really enjoyed the few days in Stockholm, it is a gorgeous city and its people are welcoming. I could have done with a week there though as there were things I didn't have time to see and I would have loved a trip outside of the city. It was a kind of life journey for me too, that wish to visit Stockholm was planted in my mind as a fifteen year old girl and it took a long time, but I've finally been there, so this felt like the end of two journeys for me.

Stockholm 3 - Under the Bridges and Saying Hello and Goodbye to a Queen

Again we were up bright and early, had breakfast and out into a overcast Stockholm, mind you, even in that weather it looked beautiful. We were heading to nearby Stromkajen where we were joining the Under the Bridges of Stockholm boat tour. This tour passes under fifteen of the bridges that link some of the islands that make up Stockholm.

Gamla Stan from the Water

The boat was barge-like and chugged along at a leisurely pace. We passed by the gorgeous Grand Hotel . and then Djurgarden and had a good view of the Vasa Museum and the Grona Lund amusement park.  We passed Gamla Stan and then passed through a lock that separates Lake Malaren and the Baltic Sea. We then skirted the north shore of the island of Södermalm. There were some gorgeous turreted buildings built up on a hill facing Gamla Stan, they were very Germanic in style which is something I noticed with many of Stockholm's old buildings. We passed many residential areas, the apartments all had large balconies brimming with colourful flowers and there was lots of greenery. There were also many houseboats lining the shore.

We passed the island of Langholmen and then looped around Lilla Essingen and south of the small island of Reimersholme. There we passed a huge wooden barrel on the shore, this marks the site of the original Absolut vodka factory founded by Lars Olsson Smith. We continued on and followed Sodermalm's southern shore. We passed a huge hospital that had dozens of allotments on the slope below it all with brightly coloured sheds.

The Grand Hotel

On our way back to the berth we passed the spot where the Vasa sank all those years ago, it was very close to the museum where it resides now. And that was it, I really enjoyed the boat tour and we saw more of the city than we would have any other way. Being built on many islands you often get the best views from the water.

Before I go on with the next part of my trip as promised I'll let you know what drew me to Stockholm in the first place. When I was around fifteen I read a book called Desiree by Annemarie Selinko. It was a novel based on fact about a silk merchant's daughter called Desiree Clary from Marseilles in France. She was engaged to Napoleon at one time and married a French general called Jean Baptisite Bernadotte. In 1810 Jean-Baptiste was asked by the elderly, childless Charles XIII of Sweden to be his heir. Eventually in 1818

he was crowned King Charles XIV John  of Sweden and Desiree became Queen Desideria and to this day the Bernadotte dynasty is still Sweden's royal family. Since I read the book I have been fascinated by Napoleonic times in France and how a silk merchant's daughter from Marseilles ended up as Queen of Sweden and I wanted to see Stockholm for myself one day. I waited a very long time but now I was there.

We then went to The Royal Palace (and saw another changing of the guard up close) which is the royal family's official residence and place of work. It also houses royal departments and state apartments where visiting world dignitaries stay. We went in and climbed marble steps with diagonal lines across them into the palace proper. We wandered through the rooms that ranged from very opulent to oppressive, beautiful and homely. It varied a lot, there was even one very modern room which was the present king's homage to Swedish design (no it wasn't furnished by IKEA!) Apparently there are over 600

Me Outside the Royal Palace

rooms in this humongous place!

There were a few portraits of Desiree and her family, mostly from before she actually lived in Sweden - she moved there permanently in 1823. She had been very unhappy in Sweden, she hated the cold, never learnt the language and always longed for France and she became increasingly eccentric as she grew older. Unfortunately no photos were allowed in the palace which was a shame, but I suppose flash can damage old paintings and tapestries.

There were several museum's within the palace but we didn't have time to see them all so we decided go to The Royal Armoury. It is the oldest museum in Stockholm and was founded by King Gustav II Adolph in 1628 and is now situated in the vaulted cellars of the palace. Upstairs was an exhibition called Power Games which housed costumes from TV and film such as Elizabeth the First and Game of Thrones. To be honest I wasn't at all interested in that so I went further down to another lower floor to see the real historical things.

It housed royal belongings going back to the 1500's, there was a beautiful blue velvet cape with golden crowns on it from very early times. Gustav II Adolph's horse, Streiff, which he rode at the battle of Lutzen in 1632 was stuffed and put on display here. Clothing of various kings and queens, swords, crowns, even

Riddarholm Church

ornate carriages and amazing sleighs. The latter reminding me that  this is a Nordic country with lots of snow and the waters around Stockholm's islands are frozen in winter. It was very interesting and I enjoyed looking

round the museum.

We had a snack of cakes and coffee and then again went our separate ways. Yvonne wanted to go to the Photographic Museum and I wanted to go to Riddarholm Church. which was only a short walk from the cafe. It is one of the oldest buildings in Stockholm with parts of it dating back to the thirteenth century. It has not been a functioning church since 1807 but was reserved as the burial place for Sweden's monarchs until 1950. It's distinctive cast iron spire replaced the original spire that was destroyed by lightening in 1835.
Nowadays the church is primarily the resting place of royalty and also a museum and in summer it is the venue for classical music concerts.

The church is a typical Protestant type with little ornamentation. It has various chapels along each side where the various royal families tombs lay. The floor is stone with some ancient patterned slabs. I was especially

Tombs of Karl XIV Johan and Desideria

interested in the Bernadotte chapel which was dominated by the huge marble tomb of Karl XIV Johan. In front of it was Desiree's tomb, with her royal name, Desideria, along the front. I was surprised that I found it quite moving to view her tomb. This was the last resting place of a

woman from history who had an amazing journey from a French silk merchant's daughter to a reluctant Queen of Sweden and who had captured the imagination of a schoolgirl in the north of England many, many years before. It felt like the end of a journey for me and I said hello and then goodbye to her, it felt like it was something I had to do.

I went back over the bridge to Gamla Stan and looked round some shops and ended up in the beautiful square of Stortorget.  The Nobel Museum was bustling and my Stockholm Card gave me free entry so I went in. It was busy but also fascinating, it was a very interactive museum. By now though I was getting tired and though I would have liked to have spent longer there I didn't stay that long.

Nobel Museum

I went back to the hotel and freshened up and by time I was ready Yvonne was back from the Photographic Museum which she has enjoyed very much. Before going out to eat we went to the library in the hotel and finished our bottle of wine watching the action on Västerlånggatan

When we left the hotel we soon noticed a restaurant called Gasgrand 4 (Goose Alley) in an alley of the same name close by. It looked nice so we went in, we had the choice of a table upstairs or one downstairs in the cellar, we went for the latter. It was small and very atmospheric, reached by curving stone steps, it was quite dark and had stone walls, I liked it.

Gasgrand

My Elk Burger

I decided to go Swedish and had the elk burger which was lovely, surprisingly more like beef than venison. It came with saute potatoes, pickled cucumber (which they seem to love here), lingonberry jam and salad.
And seeing it was our last night and we had money left, we splashed out and had a bottle of wine and a delicious dessert too. We took our time and had a lovely, relaxing last evening meal in Stockholm.

I felt sad that it was our last night, I loved Stockholm and there was so much to see and not enough time.

Stockholm 2 - Island Hopping and a Doomed Warship

We were up early and went down for breakfast. It was lovely, a good choice of typical Continental breakfast fayre along with more Swedish things like herrings in a creamy sauce, caviar, crispbread and pickled cucumber. They even had a choice of 3 minute and 6 minute boiled eggs wrapped in linen cloth to keep them warm. A member of staff was constantly checking and keeping everything topped up.

After breakfast we walked through the

arches of the government buildings and over the bridge. It was a beautiful morning and old Stockholm looked so lovely with its spires and gorgeous historical buildings. We walked on into the modern city centre.

We saw a lovely chocolate shop on Drottningsgatan (Queen Street) and just had to go in. We saw an interesting shop full of chocolate and other delights so we just had to go in! There were some chocolate things

called skumtopp which made us smile, they are marshmallow covered in chocolate and much more delicious than they sound. They also sold Swedish crispbread which was circular with a hole in the middle and dozens hung on a pole above the counter.

We walked on to the Tourist Information to pick up my Stockholm Card that gave discounts on trips and museums. We also booked the Under the Bridges boat tour for the next day.

Then we caught the hop on hop off bus. We had decided to do a circuit first and then get off at places we wanted to see more of. We toured the centre of the city, passed the City Hall its three golden crowns on the tower gleaming in the sunlight. 

The Opera House which was beautiful, and, like a lot of the buildings, it had a Germanic look about it. We skirted

The Royal Palace

Gamla Stan with its narrow roads it was impossible for the bus to enter properly. 

We passed the huge Royal Palace and saw the changing of the guard. We then crossed a bridge onto the green island of Djurgården   which is Stockholm's leisure place with amusements and parks and also where many of the city's museums are. 

On the second circuit we got off the bus at the Vasa Museum which houses the Vasa warship. The building itself was spectacular with the "masts" soaring out of the roof of the building. The Vasa was built in 1627 and sank on its maiden voyage 1300 metres from where it set sail. It lay on the seabed until it was recovered in 1961. It was in an extremely well preserved state and put on public display. 

We got our tickets and went in and immediately are in a huge room dominated

The prow of the Vasa

by the Vasa, it was stunning, so much bigger than I expected. There were galleries at different levels to the side of the ship so you could see all levels. To the other side were exhibits of articles found in the wreck and videos about its history. 

The ship had a huge, curving prow and highly decorated stern, the masts were massive. Looking at it I wondered how this huge ship floated at all! 

The highly decorated stern of the Vasa

We had a snack in the museum's restaurant before leaving. I had wanted to go to the Nodiska Museum close by but it was closing. I pondered on going to the Abba Museum further down the road which only opened the previous month, but decided against it as it was extremely expensive and we got no discount with our Stockholm Card. 

We caught a tram back to the centre of town and then went our separate ways as we wanted to see different things. I headed back to Gamla Stan and crossed a bridge and onto the small island of Riddarholmen. I wanted to see Riddarholm Church, now a museum and burial place of Swedish royalty until the 1950's.  Unfortunately it was closed, so I headed back to our hotel, popping into some shops along the way. There were some beautiful old buildings in Gamla Stan with ornate carvings around many of the doors. Its so good that it has been preserved for us all to enjoy. 

Before we headed out too eat that evening we had some wine (that I had brought with me knowing how expensive Sweden is for alcohol!) in the lovely little library area of the hotel. It is on the first floor and looks out over Västerlånggatan. It has a comfy leather suite and books to read, very relaxing.

We walked the short distance to Stora Nygatan to an Italian restaurant called Rodolfino's. By coincidence we had both noticed it on our way back to the hotel earlier, it was a bit away from the main tourist area and was therefore a little cheaper than some we'd seen. It was decorated in the red, white and green of the Italian flag, basic, but comfortable and friendly. More importantly, the food was delicious, we shared some wonderful garlic bread then for mains I had a ham and mushroom pizza and Yvonne had seafood pasta and we both ate the lot. 

It was after 11pm when we headed back to

the hotel. It was still light and ahead of us the tower of the cathedral, Storkyrkan, rose above the other buildings and the usually busy main streets were quiet. Already our first full day in Stockholm was over and we were both loving the city. 

Stockholm 1 - A Quirky Hotel and Heavenly Spires

I felt a thrill as the plane descended into Arlanda Airport near Stockholm, I looked down on a landscape full of forests dotted with countless lakes. I always get that feeling when I arrive at a new destination and wonder what experiences lie ahead of me, don't think I'll ever lose that thrill of travelling. And Stockholm is a place I've always wanted to visit, I'll tell you one of the reasons why later.

Before I knew it I was on the Arlanda Express train shooting through the Swedish countryside at 200 kph. It was brilliant, fast - 20 minutes and you were in the centre of the city - clean, roomy, ran every 20 minutes, WiFi. It was also expensive, but there is a bus that takes longer but is much cheaper. However two tips for the Arlanda Express - they have a two for one ticket offer in the summer and pensioners always can get half price tickets.

I stepped out of the Central Railway Station into a strangely quiet Stockholm. We later found out that it was the Midsummer national holiday over the weekend we were there, it didn't affect our trip, just meant the roads were quieter and many general shops were closed.

I decided to walk to the hotel as I knew it was not far away. I savoured my first views of the city, it was beautiful with its islands, water, bridges, historical buildings and tall church spires soaring up into the blue sky. I crossed the Vasabron and to my left saw the Royal Palace, it was huge! I was now in Gamla Stan and soon was struggling with my wheelie case on the cobbles, not a good mix! Eventually I came to Västerlånggatan, a long narrow street on the western side of the island and that used to follow the line of the old city wall. This is where our hotel, the not very Swedish sounding,  Lord

The Lord Nelson Hotel

Nelson Hotel was. It is a hotel like no other, less than six metres wide, full of naval memorabilia much relating to Nelson, the rooms are small, named after shifts and inside like ship's cabins. Its very quirky and absolutely delightful! I will do a separate full review about the hotel soon.

My friend Yvonne was already there and we met up and had a chat. Then we headed out to a nearby restaurant specialising in Swedish food that had been recommended by  the receptionist.  It was called Tradition on Österlånggatan near our hotel and it was a lovely walk through the cobbled streets and lanes of Gamla Stan. 

It was a pleasant place with modern minimal Scandinavian design and served traditional Swedish cuisine with a modern twist. It was expensive so we decided too just go for mains. I had mustard marinated beef with sauté potatoes and pickled cucumber. The meat melted in my mouth and there was lots of it so we didn't have room for another course. We had a glass of wine each, mine was £11.00!! But we both thoroughly enjoyed the meal despite the prices. 

We had a leisurely walk back in the late evening sunshine (love the northern lands long summer days), via Stortorget, the beautiful small square in the middle of Gamla Stan. I was looking forward to exploring the city more in the next couple of days.