Well, that was a longer break than planned. Let me explain.
We took ourselves off to spend a few days in the Swedish capital, which I'd started to write about.
But then the laptop reacted badly to being dropped (yet again), it had to spend a week being nurtured back to life in laptop hospital and the blog post disappeared.
So, Stockholm. It's a beautiful city, spread across 14 islands with over 50 connecting bridges, so open water is never far away. There are a number of distinct districts and neighbourhoods, each with its own particular flavour and all easily walkable. Much of our time was spent wandering (and getting lost in) the narrow, twisty, cobbled streets of Gamla Stan, the medieval centre and location of the Royal Palace, the parliament building, the Nobel Museum, the cathedral and much more.
Whilst the Danes have hygge, in Sweden it's all about fika, that serious business of taking the time for, and truly savouring, a cup or two of good coffee and an accompanying sweet treat – a cake, a pastry or my personal favourite, the often vegan chokladboll. With an abundance of coffee shops across the city (it's clear there's no such thing as too much coffee), we were more than happy to wholeheartedly embrace the tradition.
It was cold, very cold given the sub zero temperatures, with lingering piles of snow on pavements and the occasional snow flurry. But, as the locals say, there's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.
I love layers, me.
