My Solo Exploration: Day 1 Sodermalm

Today's the first day of my week going solo in Stockholm. Still fighting against jet la; the weather makes you feel like sleeping in - rainy, overcast skies, cold.. I missed my California sun!

View of Stockholm city from our hotel room




After a hearty breakfast at the hotel (strange but I remember the buffet breakfast @ Hilton to be much better when I was here in May), I headed back to the hotel room to - you guessed it - sleep! Took another short nap and by the time I headed out, it was almost noon. Ah, the blissful life of the unemployed - get to sleep in, fly to big cities in Europe, stay in good hotels and galavant European cities all week long.
Given that the weather was so crappy, no point wasting the day at Djurgarden, which was my original plan. I headed out to Sodermalm instead. I was surprised by how close it is to our hotel. Actually we are on Sodermalm island - Slussen, where our hotel is located, is on Sodermalm island. The main area in Sodermalm - or Soder as the locals call it, is just a few steps away from Hilton Slussen. Start strolling south on the main street: Gotgatan. As you head uphill, the street is lined with extensive array of shops - men's and women's fashion, housewares, great cafes, bookshops and plenty other eclectic stores.

I bought some accessories at Glitter - a Stockholm chain store similar to Claire's back in the States. What's great about Gotgatan is that there're many stores for you get to wander in and out so that you continue to stay warm. ;-)

The main departmental store here is Bruno which has a bar & restaurant right in the middle of the courtyard. Other major brandname stores on Gotgatan include Miss Sixty, GinaTricot, Crumpler, etc. and what with Swedish coffee cultures, you can find a cafe perhaps every other store or so! I came across Tully's Coffee and wondered if it's the same as the one back home? Probably not.


This Swedish store sells black & white homegoods. Love the Swedish simplicity and sensible functionality!



This Swedish store showcases items from over 200 Swedish designers. This is where I bought my USD 7+ cupcake liners which I'm going to use for my own birthday cupcakes!




Ultra chic retro cupcake liners:





Anyway, keep going on Gotgatan pass Medbogarplatssen station


You'll see Sodermalm Square (Saluhall) to the right.

Continue on the same street and stop by Coffeehouse by George for coffee and Swedish pastries - yeah, enjoying Swedish kifa or coffee break. The Swedish way of life! I had the best lemon pastry ever!



After an hour of "resting" and people-watching (Swedes are trendy), I continued on Bondegatan. Here's the street with the key Bohemian-themed stores but they're quite off-the-beaten-path so you've got to really look for it. Tjalla Malla is a great clothing store that stocks only one-of-a-kind item. You buy it here, chances are you won't find it anywhere else in the world (so I've heard). I had to take a raincheck on Tjalla Malla today; would have to wait till later this week. I started heading back, northward to Slussen. Take a left on Horngattan where you'll find rows of jewellry galleries. Unfortunately, it was past 4pm and the stores were already closed. I intend to come back here sometime later.



Overall, a slow but not a bad start for my first solo day in Stockholm.

D and finally had the chance to eat together at Tapas. Unfortunately, they don't serve my fav pasta for dinner (lunch-only menu item) but we had a great meal, nonetheless.
D's salmon salad


I decided to go "lighter" and tried their tapas menu: chicken skewers and Tapas' take on Swedish meatballs. Yum