For one reason or another, Scandinavian countries always seemed like excellent places to visit and live in. It was many years before I actually visited any of them, but they are renowned for quality of life & quality of output, professionally and artistically.
So naturally I was thoroughly excited when we received an invitation to a wedding held in Stockholm. Don’t get me wrong, two of my good friends getting married was most excellent news, but, as is common these days, we knew about their plans well in advance, so there was no surprise when the official invitation finally reached us in Singapore. The excitement was about the location.
We decided to spend 5 days in Stockholm, so we could have some time to spend with some of the other friends who were also attending the wedding and explore the city, instead of partying and disappearing in a trail of jet fumes the next day.
Here’s a list of impressions I collected from those 5 days in Stockholm.
Stockholm is beautiful, plenty of old architecture and streets to appreciate, many leading to the canals with even better views. A boat trip along a canal is an excellent way to appreciate the cosy wooden vacation houses lining the shores, some perched on a side of a cliff, some on a bright green lawn, but all with a access to a small pier, for naturally every true Swede owns a boat.
The city is very child-friendly. Walking around the centre is easy, wide and clean pavements meant our kids could run around without undue supervision. Numerous small parks and playgrounds scattered throughout the city provided an opportunity to stop and enjoy the surroundings. There’s nothing worse than a child bored of city sightseeing, so a stop at the playground to exert their limitless energy was a regular part of the day. And of course it served as a tea break for the parents. Our elder even managed to make a couple of friends, as there are so many children in all playgrounds we visited, regardless of the time of day or day of the week. I presume that’s a sign of modern parental leave culture, parents actually raising their own kids, as opposed to relying on nannies or grandparents.
All of Stockholm was notably clean, it was rare to see rubbish lying around, even in some of the areas further away from the city centre. Yes, we live in Singapore and that’s known for being ultra-clean (in multiple meanings of the word), but Stockholm was easily on the same level.
Vast majority of the bars and clubs seemed to close rather early. I realised later that there are plenty open till late, just in several specific parts of town; many with amazing views of the city too and usually full of young and old being merry. The general population seemed genuinely happy and healthy; we experienced lots of smiles and friendly interactions.
Swedes make good use and aren’t afraid of using lots of colour. Its not just what they wear, which are often stylish and lively garbs, colour permeates both the indoor decor and outdoor cityscape as well. The bathroom in the hotel that has the famous Ice Bar attached to it (and which is good fun by the way), and it was all red. You’re probably thinking all red means a red colour scheme, but no, there was no colour scheme, because absolutely everything was single colour - red. Not just the tiles on the walls and the floor, but doors, the sinks and the urinals too and even the soap dispensers. And the lights too. It was an immersive experience, not something you ever expect from a visit to the bathroom, but what a great idea.
A word about the quality of standard Scandinavian houses - while this wasn’t the first time we visited a Nordic country, its worth mentioning again how well-built their houses are. The place we stayed in, a block of flats built in the 70’s, had thick and solid windows, that actually closed tightly and with a sense of solidness you simply don’t come across outside of Scandinavia.
Finally, the language - my ears found it near-impossible to grok everything spoken, but reading was easier, as I find with most Germanic languages. My favourite word - tunnelbanan, you can probably guess what it means.