May 2009
Monthly Archive
The Work For You - MP’s expenses
Posted by Suzi on 24 May 2009 | Tagged as: Politics
For those of you interested in getting some figures regarding MP’s expenses - try They Work For You. They also have details on MP’s saleries and other useful information.
Stockholm, the city museum and a desire to return
Posted by Suzi on 23 May 2009 | Tagged as: Museums, Travelling
There wasn’t much time before we caught the train back to Gothenburg but we did manage to pay a quick visit to the Stadmuseum, which is free and well worth a visit. Like all the museums we saw there is a handy room full of free lockers and coat hooks, as well as the free toilets - which makes them very convenient places for travellers.
To sum up Stockholm in a few words - it’s a compact city, very traveller friendly, it’s a bit touristy and some areas are busy as you would expect in a capital city but there are some really pretty areas. Skeppsholm was my favourite place but wandering along the Strand is also nice, as is walking around Djurgården. I can’t wait to go back and explore the city more.
Rosendals Trädgård, Moderna Museet and Arkitekur Museet in one day
Posted by Suzi on 22 May 2009 | Tagged as: Art, Cafés, Museums
K and I hopped on the ferry to get to Djurgården today and walked up past the theme park Gröna Lund Tivoli which was heaving with massive queues outside. We walked up to Rosendals Trädgård and wandered around the gardens, orchard and the ‘castle’. We stopped at the cafe to sample their carrot cake recommended by Karin and it was as delicious as promised.
We walked back along the strand in the drizzling rain and on to Skeppsholm to the Moderna Museet which has a fabulous collection of modern art. It cost a princely 80 sek to get inside but the adjoining Arkitekur Museet is free on Fridays between 16.00 and 18.00 so we got to wander round that for free. The Moderna Museet provided free audio guides in several languages and these are well worth taking advantage of.
Another day in Stockholm
Posted by Suzi on 22 May 2009 | Tagged as: Art, Cafés, Museums
Yesterday we spent the morning walking along the waters edge on Södermalm and through old wooden houses and cute gardens. You can get great views of the Stockholm skyline from there. We found our way down to Tantolunden - a large park on the west of the island - and wandered amid the allotments, frisbee golf course and past the Zinkensdamm youth hostel (which looked very nice). It was then on to Gamla Stan and to Kaffe and Annat on Österlånggatan - which is a tiny little cafe with friendly staff and ancient wooden beams.
We wandered past the National Museum (entrance fee required) to Skeppsholmen where there are three more museums (fees also required) before walking down Strandvägen - a wide street on the waters edge to Djurgården another island complete with theme park, large open air museum and lots of green space.
Arrival in Stockholm
Posted by Suzi on 20 May 2009 | Tagged as: Cafés, Places to visit, Travelling
K and I got an early train to Stockholm this morning so we were here in the city by 9am. We walked through Gamla Stan (Old Town) to the island of Södermalm where our hotel is. Scandic hotels rock - the standards are great, the breakfast buffet huge and they even had our room ready at 10am in the morning. After a look around the room were heading back into the center down Götgatan and across the bridge to Gamla Stan. We stopped by Sundbergs Konditori in Järntorget to sample their coffee and cake - it was delicious of course. Sundbergs Konditori is one of the oldest cafes in the city and it was wonderful munching cakes and imagining people 200 hundred years ago doing the same thing.
Refreshed we made our way to the Riksdagen (Swedish Parliament) and although they no longer do tours during the week we were allowed into the chamber to see the MPs talking. The parliament is now in the old bank building and the area the MPs work in is modern and relatively low key.
We then rushed up to the Royal Palace to see the Changing of the Guard. It was a trifle terrifying because the guards had machine guns with bayonets attached. The whole experience was cheered up by a marching band which played a variety of songs including one by ABBA.
We stayed in Gamla Stan for lunch and then crossed the river to the new center of Stockholm and spent some time in the Kulturhuset where we had a good look at the library, the photos on display and the various cafes there. The building also houses a cinema and a theatre. After a bit more wandering we hauled ourselves back to the hotel for an early night.
Now or Never - latest edition
Posted by Suzi on 11 May 2009 | Tagged as: Papers and magazines, Politics
It’s a typical April day stuffed full of sunshine and showers that seems to have wandered into the wrong month. I’ve managed to squeeze in a whole lot of spring cleaning, washing and general tidying up as well as a walk with Karin and Ted. I am now sitting down to a well deserved break with the latest copy of Now or Never and the laughs are flowing.