Scandinavia in the Summer (Finally)

At the start of the flight, the pilot mentioned we would angle more northward so we could avoid Hurricane Erin - indeed all week we felt the winds and the rain in NYC and along the coast. The flight was uneventful and we arrived in Stockholm on time.

After grabbing my bag, I hopped on the Arlanda Express train which leaves pretty often from the airport and brings you to central Stockholm. They display the speed and at one point, we were traveling 187 km/hour or 116 miles causing my ears to pop, but in about 20 minutes we were out of the suburbs and downtown.

I initially thought I’d take a tram and waited, but decided to walk down the shopping street of Hamngtan through Sergels Torg plaza to my hotel. Department stores, various retail including luxury stores lined the street with many Swedish flags:



The weather is a little colder and windier than I expected at around 60° and this morning it felt like 48° according to my weather map. Good thing I packed my vest and scarf, and repacked before I left with some long sleeve shirts! It’s also technically my first time in Scandinavia in the summertime as I went to Iceland in January (2017) and Denmark in November (2022), so I’m hopeful for warm sun despite the colder than expected weather and rainy forecasts.

After walking around 15 minutes, I arrived at Nobis which is a Design Hotel in the Marriott portfolio. My room wasn’t ready when I arrived at around 10 am, so I headed to the sauna in the fitness gym and enjoyed the steam room and took a shower. Afterwards I sat in the lobby / lounge area:



I finally got into my room and after napping the afternoon away, I headed out to dinner. I’m definitely in a popular neighborhood, with people enjoying eating and drinking outside and with many well-known stores. I headed east toward Ingmar Bergman plaza named after the famous director which was lined with restaurants:



I had reservations at Bar Astoria which was recommended to me by two Swedes, one colleague and one friend of a friend. It’s part of the Frantzén restaurant group and I had tried to get into fancy Frantzén, but forgot to book right when the reservations opened so was waitlisted. They sat me next to the kitchen which was well-run and busy:



I ordered a gin and tonic, which is not my usual but for some reason I wanted the quinine and for appetizer, I got the Astoria Toast which was topped with super fresh shrimp and king crab. Apparently, the restaurant is famous for their table side Caesar salad so I ordered it which came with both chicken and pork belly as toppings. It was delicious!



Afterwards, I took the long way back to the hotel and the sun was out even around 9 pm. I look forward to the next few days solo in Scandinavia as I hadn’t been alone on a trip in awhile!