Tuesday 7 October 2014

weekend in Stockholm


For hubby's birthday I surprised him with a classic afternoon the at the Cadier bar and dinner at Mathias Dahlgren's Matbaren. We left Elsa with a friend and checked in at Grand Hôtel for a our mini vacation. The afternoon tea was just as excellent as expected, they offered a great selection of gluten and lactose-free options including an assortment of sandwiches, scones with lime curd, whipped butter and cream, homemade jams and tasty pastries. And of course hubby enjoyed a glass of Champagne from Pol Roger to all the goodies. 

After the tea session a nap was on the agenda and after that we took a stroll around Skeppsholmen and Kastellholmen. The weather was just perfect and the views idyllic. Stockholm is just  so very beautiful and breathtaking with its mix of nature, water and grand architecture. It amazes me everyday how this bustling city can be so tranquil. We had a cinnamon bun/kanelbulle at af Chapmans (it's not a coincidence that hubby's birthday is at the same day as the annual cinnamon bun day...) and drinks at Långa Raden at Hotel Skeppsholmen. After more of the breathtaking views we had to fill up our energy with amazing drinks at Lydmar, one of my favourite places which hubby had never been before!  For your information I'm on my bikram yoga-period, so the whole weekend was free from alcohol (and will be for the next month). The drinks was of course great, I love Lydmar! 

After a quick change we had a lovely evening at Matbaren, the staff was of course very attentive and the food good to great. Matbaren is awarded with one Michelin star, so of course we always expect a little bit more. The idea is to select one dish at a time, the portions are small to medium-sized and you will need at least three dishes to feel satisfied. And if you are my husband you will need five or six. He had the best dessert ever and was very happy with the whole setting, I on the other hand felt that there were limited options - I had a salad that was good, but it was only a salad. And I was recommended the herring, the waiter said that the chief could make up something new, but would rather stick to the menu. So my meat, lactose and gluten-free options was a bit limited, the bread was delicious though, I forget to ask if it was home-baked. The herring was also good, not great, As a Swede you eat lots of herring and this dish was beautifully presented, but did not charm me. And the great part was when the staff said that they wanted me to leave the restaurant with wonderful memories,  so the waiter apologised for "tricking" me to choose the herring. Of course they could make up something new and they did - I had a fantastic cod that really left me speechless. Okay, but only for five seconds, then I continued with words such as "ooh" and "aah". We fell into bed at around 2 am, satisfied and happy.

We woke up 5 hours later with such energy, dressed in our plush bathrobes and comfy slippers we headed to the spa and floated around in the stillness for an hour before diving into Grand's giant breakfast buffet. We ended our fantastic staycation with a fika in Old Town with Elsa. More of that next week!

belliewin, old town, gamla stan, stockholm tourist







2 comments:

  1. Härligt! Vad kul att överraskningen blev så lyckad. Det är en lysande idé att semestra på hemmaplan ibland.

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    1. Ja, verkligen! Vi kunde koppla av på ett helt annat sätt, ingen stress över saker man måste se eller göra - helt enkelt väldigt skönt :)

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