Stockholm, Sweden (July 24, 2025)
Arriving in Stockholm it was immediately apparent that I booked too little time in this beautiful city. If I were to distill my time in Helsinki down to a single word, it would be tranquility. The peace and serenity I felt in Finland was like none other. Here, arriving in Stockholm, my first impression was awe-inspired beauty.
And it’s beauty at every level. I’ll get to the buildings and architecture in a minute, but my first impression was that the people in Scandinavia are gorgeous. I had heard something specific about Swedish people in particular, but I had never experienced it directly until I arrived here.
I was conscious that I had to be careful that I wasn’t staring. I was admiring entire families — the men, the women, even the children. It’s like I was witnessing people walking right out of the popular magazines I’d been exposed to all my life — but it was everyone and everywhere I looked. Uncanny. Whatever subliminal unconscious biases I had previously been programmed to respond were blatantly revealing themselves in ways I’d never been conscious of before. I had to check myself and do my best not to stare at people.
Now I know it’s easy to whip scroll through those images, but do yourself a favor and click on one to enlarge it They are STUNNING images. I’m no professional photographer, but even an ameture like me can’t help but capture the beauty of this city. EVERYWHERE you look the beauty is competing for your attention. It’s like the city council got together and held a an architectural design contest and then kept upping the prize money every year and then gave the remainder of the money to maintain the OUTSIDE of the buildings each year. Insanely beautiful, historic and they all look brand spanking new.
Grand Hotel, Stockholm. Where the Nobel Prize winners and families stay.
I mean, let’s just take ONE of the many shots I included, the Grand Hotel. This is a five-start deluxe hotel. Granted, you’ll spend anywhere from $290 to over $2,000 a night to stay here (depending on room type and time of year), but damn! You are facing the waterfront overlooking the Royal Palace and the old town, Gamla Stan. The views are stunning and you’re right out front where you catch the ferries to go island hopping which we’ll pick up and discuss in tomorrow’ post.
Are you hip to “Green Kayaks?” Use the QR Code to set up your account.
Another incredible discovery was Green Kayak. You know how you go on vacation and spend a ton just to rent a kayak? I certainly do. I’ve been on many a trip and spent hundreds just to get my wife and/or one or more kids out on a kayak for a few hours. Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could do that for free?
The non-profit team at Green Kayak totally agree. All they ask is that while you’re out there having a great time you proactively pick up trash. Yep. That’s it. You get to kayak for upto 2 hours for free in exchange for picking up garbage and keeping our waters clean. Brilliant. Vacationers get access to boats and non-profits get voulenteers to help clean up our water. Win-Win.
Now, to end the first night in Stockholm, I wanted a truly Swedish meal. But what I found were all your big city standards: Sushi, Italian, Mexican, Burgers, Pizza, and many chain restaurants. I saw a few fish restaurants, but without a local, I couldn’t be sure they were truly Swedish. What’s a new tourist to do?
Oh YES I DID! It turned out NOT to be Ikea’s Headquarters (Damn!) But It Worked!
I was literally thinking of THIS moment when I walked into Ikea. What would I share on this first night’s blog post. Seeing all the non-Sweedish food options, what did I decide?
“Meat”balls were plant-based, so overall very health meal for about $8
I believe this was by far my least expensive meal on my trip so far. It was hot. It tasted great and because the meatballs were plant-based it was overall on the healthy side. Mashed potatoes, a special non-cranberry berry from here in Sweden, firm peas and yes, gooey chocolate cake for dessert. It was so good I spent the extra $0.90 for an ice cream cone. Yes, it really was 90 cents. Thank you, IKEA. I owe you one!
Had to get back to my hotel and get some rest as I had a very big day planned for tomorrow with two coach friends and we’re taking a ferry to visit an island. This is a very Swedish Summer thing to do — think New Yorkers visiting the Hamptons, Bostoners visiting Martha’s Vineyard or Cape Cod, or other New Englanders going up to Maine for the summer. Everyone has their “get away” spots and I’m going to see where many Swedish go to summer. Woo Hoo!
