Stockholm | Vasa Museum

by Wen Sweden

It’s a must see in Stockholm! Even if you have little interest in ships, this is definitely worth seeing. The Vasa is the most well preserved 17 century warship in the world. More than 98 percent of the ship is original, and it is decorated with hundreds of carved sculptures. Vasa never made it out of Stockholm harbor. It sank on its maiden voyage in 1628. Nearly 400 years later, it is magnificently displayed to light your imagination.

The museum is well designed to allow visitors to experience the ship at different levels. To maximize the visit, do a guided tour (about 30 minutes) and also watch the movie in the auditorium. It will bring you even closer to the whole story.

The food festival occurs during the first week of June (1 – 6 June 2017) in the King’s Garden Park. Many of Stockholm’s local restaurants serves food during the festival and cover everything from traditional dishes to international cuisines around the world.

After visiting the food festival at King’s Garden Park, we took a stroll along Standvagen. It was also on the way to the Vasa Museum. This seemed to the center for cruises, buses and water taxis. From here you will get a European city feel. Beautiful view of fine architecture on one side and the seaside on the other.

The course is regarded as one of the world’s most scenic marathon routes. Runners pass buildings such as the Royal Palace, the Royal Opera, the City Hall and the Houses of Parliament.

This was our 2nd time to visited the old town, strolling down the various cobblestone streets and alleys is a must. Lots of nice souvenirs shops and cafes around. If you have time you might as well explore the Noble Academia Museum. Changing of the guard is also well worth seeing in the royal palace.

Fäviken Magasinet | Jämtland, Sweden

by Wen Sweden

We flew from the States and committed 2 days out of our 10 days in Scandinavia for this experience. We had 6 months of anticipation after the initial booking to begin our journey. This was my second visit to Fäviken. With very scenic drive through the countryside, we arrived Fäviken around 5pm.

In June the weather here was still cold. It was snowing for about 5 minutes after we arrived. You can’t tell! The sky looks so blue!

At dinner time all guest gathered outside and inside the restaurants lower level to start the dinner at 7pm. Didn’t get to see chef Nilsson at the door this time. We were seated downstairs to share a big table (8 people total) where the appetizers and the rest of the dinner was served.

All ingredients came from this region of Sweden or Norway. The scallop is the dish chef Nilsson is most famous for. It had been cooked in its own shell without any seasoning over burning juniper branches. The texture of the scallop was so good not to mention its delicate sweetness.

The food came with exciting flavors and big contrasts in modern presentations meeting traditional ingredients. I felt it was like the future of food steeped in the past.

From a bone marrow brulée, a savory meat pie (so good!!!) , a box of candy, to duck egg liqueur and homemade snus. These will be an experience I will not forget!

Outside, there is a tipi complete with a bonfire burning inside. At the end of dinner, you are offered cigars that you can smoke in a fire lit tipi. It was my first time to smoke cigar inside a Tipi. What a special night!

People said this was a “once-in-a-lifetime” trip, and we were lucky enough to experience it twice! I would have loved to have done it all over again, will have to wait for another season for different ingredients.