Day 13: Mayo, Salmon, Lebanese!

With one full day in Stockholm only, we had a full itinerary!

Tony wanted to get a lift in, so we found the nearest SATS gym, and had a good bench day together.

NOTE from Tony: kudos to the staff at SATS Odenplan for their professionalism and general level of awesomeness.

I observed many of the trainers working doing some lovely things with their clients. Frankly, it was a breath of fresh air to see the bulk of them utilizing the free weights area and having their clients deadlift, perform KB swings, and perform a plethora of movement/mobility drills.

A hearty slow clap to you:

Afterward, we were in search of breakfast.

Did you know that Swedes eat sandwiches for breakfast? Did you also know that Swedes are obsessed with mayonnaise, and other creamy condiments? We didn’t know! So after popping into and back out of 12 different cafes, we decided we had to just do as the Swedes to, and have a sandwich for breakfast.

Tony found a “chicken Caesar” sandwich, which is essentially the American salad classic, between bread. I wanted to try something Swedish, so I got a Skagen. An open-faced sandwich with lots of little shrimp. Here’s our breakfasts:

I was not aware of the Swedish love for mayo! There was a freaky amount of mayo underneath those shrimp. I spent about five minutes taking globs off the bread.

For me, it was a little on the gross side. I couldn’t help but laugh, thinking of my best friend Susie, who is horrified by mayonnaise… I think she would have had to sit at a different table!

We popped back to the hotel for a shower. It was much cooler and overcast today, so once we had on some layers, we were ready for our day!

We decided to hop on the Hop On Hop Off Boat, which scoots all around Stockholm:

We made our way over to the Vasa museum.

The Vasa was a MONSTER ship that was built early in the 17^th century. The ship made it a little over a mile before capsizing and sinking in the Stockholm Harbor, and sat in the bottom of the harbor for 333 years (until 1961) before being rescued, restored, and placed into it’s very own museum.

Both gorgeous and fascinating, the Vasa is still actively being restored and preserved. Here are a few pictures:

We hopped back on the boat and enjoyed the scenery as we made our way over to Gamla Stan:

Once in Gamla Stan, we made our way to the central square, and then found a little place for lunch.

Tony had some Swedish meatballs, and I had the BIGGEST and most delicious piece

of Salmon ever! Check it out:

Lunch was amazing.

We explored Gamla Stan a bit more, and then spent the afternoon in the Royal Palace. First, we walked around in the Royal Apartments, checking out the gorgeous surroundings:

The large collection of Clocks:

And then finally some of the grand bedrooms and meeting rooms in the royal apartments:

Then we took a tour of the old, medieval part of the palace. We were the only two who booked the tour! So we had a private tour with a lovely Swedish woman, who spent almost an hour with us, describing the history of wars and the difficult ways of life, and the legit Game of Thrones that used to go on.

It was fascinating.

The lighting was very low, but Tony took a few pictures… take a look:

We then took at look at the museum of Antiquities, which housed a collection of Roman art that one of the princes of Sweden put together and then made public:

After some more walking around, we made our way back to the hotel.

Tony had enough of Swedish cuisine for one day, and had a hankering for some Mediterranean food.

After some Google map and TripAdvisor searching, we found a Lebanese (my favorite) place up the block.

It was AMAZING!

The restaurant was called Underbar and I highly recommend to anyone. Here’s my dinner, complete with grilled meat, salad, and plenty of meze:

After dinner Tony went down to the lobby to use the Wifi and get some work done, while I packed up and got ready for tomorrow’s travels.

We’re off to Copenhagen!

Can’t wait… talk to you then!

Lisa (and Tony)

Day 13: Mayo, Salmon, Lebanese!