Overly detailed mid-trip update (thanks to
jisak74,
HenrikO,
Odesseiron,
Ryan_G and
Dunt for the recommendations):
We arrived in Stockholm mid-day on Saturday, checked into our hotel, and walked over to Flippin' Burgers for lunch and a beer. Very cool spot - great greasy American style burgers (veggie burger in my case) and fries, solid beer list, and awesome vibe (the theme is kitschy American burger joint, and there are pictures of, and decorations from, classic American burger places all over the walls). After a quick nap at the hotel, we walked to Gamla Stan for some drinks and snacks at Pharmarium. The drinks and the people-watching were phenomenal. After that, being pretty pooped from our flight, we walked around Gamla Stan and then back to our hotel.
On Sunday (after a long sleep), we walked to Omnipollo for pizzas and beers (really cool spot, beers and pizzas were great, and 90's rap playlist was on point - at one point, they played Wu-Tang, Eric B. and Rakim, Gang Starr and EPMD in a four song sequence - and the service was very friendly, which is really something I could say of every place we have been so far on the trip). We then strolled over to the Fotografiska and took in the exhibits (several of them highly intense and depressing, but all very well done in my completely uneducated opinion). After that, we walked over to SoFo/Nytorget, strolled around, and hung out in the park with all of the hipsters. Then we walked back north, grabbed a beer at Moseback Terrace (which had a very cool few) , and then grabbed a few more beers at Akkurat (including Super Blend and Stormaktsporter Raspberry). The bartender at Akkurat was extremely helpful and friendly and made our experience extremely enjoyable. Then we walked back to Nytorget and got dinner at Urban Deli.
On Monday morning, we got up early and caught a train for Mora, where we met the Inlandsbanan (the inland railroad line (
http://inlandsbanan.se/,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inland_Line). We spent the rest of Monday on the train up to Ostersund (a very pretty town with a charming downtown area), and we spent all day today on the train from Ostersund to Gallivare. While the Inlandsbanan experience certainly isn't for everyone, we had an absolute blast taking in this beautiful country (which we never would have seen otherwise), meeting locals and other travelers, and eating at some "unique" establishments (including a wonderful lunch today overlooking a lake in Vilhelmina) - I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Tomorrow we return to Stockholm, and I can't wait to explore for the next few days. I know, TL
R - sorry!