Week 5 - almost Week 6!

Hej Hej from Stockholm!

Royal Palace - Stockholm

We are now coming to the end of our 4th city in Sweden and so far it has been lovely and flippin' freeeeezing! Since leaving Malmo we have made our way steadily more North, visiting Gothenburg, Karlstad and now Stockholm. Our plan is to continue heading North until we cross over into Norway in a few weeks time.

Keeping warm in the snow was a little challenging but we are managing it...

Malmo was great fun, we had a couple of exploring days as well as some chill out time and visited an IKEA!! We initially went in for some storage solutions for our van cupboards but as usual... left with much more stuff. The van cupboards resemble something adjacent to organised compared to chaos that reigned before. We also bought ourselves a new duvet which is much thicker than the previous one and is a kingsize instead of a double. GAME. CHANGER. As it has been so much colder (today it is 1C compared to the -10C we have been living in; practically tropical) the new duvet and blankets etc have come in very handy.

New sheets!

Cupboard organisation

Gothenburg had a more rural feel to it than other cities we have been to and has lots of green spaces. Our highlight from there was visiting Haga Nygata, the old town which had lots of cool little shops, cafes and restaurants. We spent the day there and had lunch, mooched around the shops and bought this beautiful teapot. This might seem 'unnecessary' living in a van but I am not here for that negativity. The Swedes are big on a concept called Fika; both a noun and verb to mean take a coffee break, most often with a sweet bun. It encourages a slower way of life and spending time catching up with friends and having a break with something tasty. We have had a LOT of Fika and have exactly zero regrets about it.

After we left Gothenburg we drove through Karlstad and stopped at the best free park up for the night on a lake. The night and morning views were great and it was a lovely and restful place to stop before we moved onto Stockholm. More like this please!

Stockholm has been great fun and a bit like Gothenburg, it has lots of green spaces and nature to enjoy. We have spent a lot of time in the centre, particularly Gamla Stan where we bought matching wool jumpers!! They have been a treat for the eyes and keeping us warm. We also took a quick boat ride to one of the Stockholm Archipelago islands, Vaxholm and walked around the island, visited the Vaxholm Kastell and enjoyed the sunset from the boat.

Although there have been lots of nature stops Stockholm is still a busy city. Although it isn't the last city we will be going to I am now definitely ready for a slower pace and a quieter life with more wild camping, lakes and mountains and wildlife. The days after our city excursions are always quiet whilst we decompress from the sensory overload you get from being too social or around too much noise and commotion; so I think that time in the wilderness will be good for both of us.

We still have a few weeks left in Sweden, visiting the outskirts of Uppsala moving north until we reach Kiruna and Abisko National Park, hopefully to see some Northern Lights! After this, we then cross over into Norway. So far, Sweden has been good to us! Despite the cold we have had a lot of fun playing in the snow, wrapping up warm in adorable jumpers and taking any opportunity for Fika.