Destination STOCKHOLM
Between 2 projects or 2 sales, we may find ourselves daydreaming of a few days or a week away…
and I think STOCKHOLM.
At 2h30 flight from Paris, no jet lag and heading north which makes a change from the overriding impulse to head south.
I had the idea of a super clean city, at the forefront of ecology, and while this is not completely true it is nonetheless light years in advance compared to many other capitals!
On the edge of Lake Malar not far from the Baltic Sea, Stockholm is made up of 14 islands linked by some fifty bridges, and what struck me the most was the omnipresence of water and greenery.
Stockholm is a big city, larger than Paris, and with inhabitants who seem to take full advantage of its magnificent natural environment. Particularly after 5 p.m. (the working day ends much earlier than at home, it seems) I came across joggers, cyclists, swimmers, boaters or paddlers in the city centre.
When I went in the middle of summer, the weather was lovely and the temperature ideal – none of the stifling heat waves that we are increasingly experiencing in southern Europe.
Traffic is less intense than in most other capitals, which is great for pedestrians.
I chose to stay on one of the ships moored in the city; a magnificent 19th century 3-master transformed into a youth hostel (but with no age limit and frequented by families…); delightful and relatively reasonable in a city where the cost of living is significantly more expensive than in Paris.
To eat out, there are many excellent restaurants as well as a good number of more affordable, more health-food orientated establishments – especially on super-trendy Sodermalm island. My best memory will remain an outdoor dinner (earlier than at home) on an ultra-chic boat serving a typical Swedish menu based on herring (in all shapes and sizes) accompanied by a beer (wine is very expensive and the locals mainly drink beer). To be honest, more memorable for the setting than the food!
For culture lovers there are numerous museums and monuments;
I would recommend the 1920’s Town Hall where the Nobel Prize ceremonies take place, as well as the Vasa Museet, a magnificent 17th century ship that was shipwrecked almost as soon as it was launched, and picturesque Gamla Stan Island – the equivalent of the Ile de la Cité in Paris and the oldest part of the city.
Take a trip to Stockholm! You’ll love it!
Sophie PICHAUD / District
