Eilidh explores the frozen landscape surrounding the Artipelag arts centre.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Why I went to\u00a0Stockholm<\/strong>
\nMy partner has had family living in Stockholm for a while, but we’d never made a trip out to see them. Learning about their plans to relocate to the sunnier climes of Australia finally gave us the kick we needed to book our flights and visit. Stockholm’s network of islands, gorgeous snowscapes and reverence for fika<\/em> (relaxing\u00a0moments usually involving coffee, cake and chat) all made it an attractive destination for us. And the prospect of temporarily trading Scotland’s grey and drizzly winter for an unapologetically, well, wintry one was quite appealing too.<\/p>\n

My highlight of the trip
\n<\/strong>The cuisine wasn’t initially high on my list of reasons to visit Stockholm, but it turned out to be an unexpected delight. Every time the cold was beginning to wear us down, a new and wonderful place to eat would come into view like a mirage. Our stand-out dinner was at Pelikan, a restaurant in a grand hall that has been a Stockholm institution for more than a century. Our group was served hearty Swedish classics including meatballs, potato dumplings and cheese pie. Everything was very heavy on the cream sauce and butter, but the setting felt like a justification for our indulgences.<\/p>\n

Our daytimes were punctuated with coffee and pastries, including a semla<\/em> (a traditional cream bun) big enough to make me feel slightly ill for a\u00a0couple of hours afterwards. And that was a small one.<\/p>\n

What else I love about\u00a0Stockholm<\/strong>
\nStockholm’s fragmented nature – it’s split across a series of islands – means just going to a museum often feels like a bit of a day trip. One day we took the regular shuttle bus from the city centre to the wonderful Artipelag contemporary art gallery, which sits next to walking trails through peaceful woodland. The exceptional permanent collection of the Moderna Museet, on Skeppsholm island, was another highlight. But some of our most memorable times in Stockholm were spent just wandering: browsing the second-hand shops of S\u00f6dermalm or exploring the museum-filled and bizarrely quiet island of Djurg\u00e5rden, where we ended up at the spectacular Nordiska Museet, dedicated to Swedish culture.<\/p>\n