Rolling Stones in Sweden

11-15 of October 2017

I've always been to Stockholm, either for a day cruise, or just passing by flying somewhere through Arlanda. This time,  as we were already there for a concert, yes the legendary Rolling Stones, we decided to discover a bit as well.

Way to start the trip, participate on a music cruise on the ship and win it. MKKM.

Do look up and around when in metro in Stockholm, the stations tend to look quite artsy. 

The main reason for the city break was Rolling Stones, a band whose music I have been listening on and off for 20 years. Many thanks to my relatives as well. I am so grateful and still a bit blown away to have seen them play live. 

We thought we're clever if we go to the Friends Arena area earlier, grab dinner there and chill before the concert, apparently everyone thought that. Still we beat them with time, got a spot at a Vietnamese place and enjoyed local beer and some Bibimbap. 

We were quite early to the concert hall as well and grabbed decent spots to stand. 

"Some" people. It was the biggest indoor concert I've been to. Friends Arena holds 70 000 people and it was pretty much sold out. 

The organization was excellent. Even after the concert, tho they did make us walk around the block in the rain for 20 minutes, the time we reached the metro station, we fit into the first train that came and got to central. Other option would have been all these tens of thousands of people walk straight to the metro, form a hu-u-uge line and stand there in the rain for hours?! There were many extra trains and all worked out just fine. Street vendors sure took advantage of the event, everything was sold on every corner. 

Our getting home was still an adventure. It took us 2 hours from the central, running around from platform to platform, figuring out what still goes, what takes us closer and what are options from there. Without the City Map app we would have been a lot more lost. 

Fun fact: when in our suburb we almost got locked into the station as we were busy with the vending machine and the guard did not notice us at first. When he finally saw us and yelled at us to get outta there, he had already locked up all the exits. 

The Rolling Stones itself were as great as I imagined them to be. Probably a tiny bit less crazy and scandalous as in their glory days in the 60's and 70's, but still made you feel like in their era. Amazing energy, tune, selection of songs, show and all. I'm a fan so I might be biased, but I absolutely loved it. 

Moves like Jagger! Love his dance moves/being possed by evil spirits.

And why not end it with indoor fireworks. Not the usual casual burning fountains and all that but the ones you usually send to the sky outdoors.  

We stayed at Scandic hotel. Got a bargain thanks to Keiu's work connections, but the hotel was a bit out of town, in the suburb of Kungens Kurva. Right next to it was an Ikea, so at day time a free bus by Ikea took us straight home or to town in 25 minutes. 

PS: The Ikea Kungens Kurva is the biggest Ikea store in the world. It is a maze of futuristic household goods and flat-pack furnishings on five floors. A member of staff from the store has called it the “labyrinth’s web”. It kind of explains it.

Lunch at Ikea. Traditional Swedish meatballs. Super cheap and tasty. The portion with coffee and a chocolate mousse under 5 euros. 

Entering Gamla Stan island. 

Stockholm is a fascinating city with a history of over 750 years. It is spread across 14 islands connected by 57 bridges, and each neighborhood has its own unique character.

Gamla Stan is a pretty medieval city center with lots of touristic shops and cafes, narrow streets and clourful squares. 

The narrowest street. 

On the route to Södermalm - the hip district where Stieg Larsson lived. 

Södermalm is a perfect area for dinner or after work drinks. Especially at happy hours. 

On Saturday the weather decided to cherish us with a beautiful, sunny, windless weather, made for long walks at the waterfront. Before heading back to the boat, grabbed an early dinner at 'La Neta' - an affordable, authentic underground taco restaurant.