We visited friends in Sweden for Midsommar, marking the start of summer in mid-June.  Our trip began in Stockholm with the sun never seeming to set and temperatures closer to the South Florida winters I experienced growing up.  Even with the cool temperatures, we had a great time with great company and loved the city.

We were very lucky to be visiting Swedish friends on their holiday that are still living in that last city we called home — Budapest.  They made wonderful tour guides!  Thanks N & T! Of course Miss H was super happy to see her best friend from Budapest too.

The city was pretty, modern, well-connected by public transit and people were nice and helpful.  The food was fresh and healthy, even at the deli down the street where we picked up most meals.  We find it easier to pick up food and bring it back to eat at the hotel when traveling with Miss H.  That way we don’t have her trapped at the table for too long. I think Mr. F must have had salmon twice a day for three days from that deli. All of this made travel with a young child easy and stress-free.

Throughout the trip, we couldn’t get over how much daylight there was.  We had gotten familiar with long days in Warsaw over the last month, but the sun really never seemed to set in Sweden.   If you look closely on the image above you can see the sun is out and well at 9:15 pm!  Thank goodness for black out curtains.

A child’s library and artist studio  –The Kulturhuset Building in Stockholm is pretty amazing.   An open-design building with one full side of windows, that showcases theater, dance, art and has multiple libraries.  It is publicly funded, and has 3 million visits a year. It made me think of the Palace of Culture in Warsaw which I recently toured.   It was built for a similar use albeit more for the PARTY and is a massive Soviet structure towering over Warsaw with many small rooms and walls throughout the interior.  It also houses concerts, films and other cultural activities.  I have a few pictures from that tour that I will post at a later date.

Anyway, back to Stockholm.  We went to Kulturhuset for the Rum för Barn (Room for Kids), which is a children’s library and artist studio targeted to 0-9 year olds.  There is another library for 10-13 year olds.   Entrance is free for the library which has books in both Swedish and English and has great reading and play areas.  Our girls were most fascinated by the house they could climb and the tunnel they could hide in.

 

In the library area, there is staff to offer up a board game or other activities — in Swedish or English. There is also a fantastic artist studio.  It is fee-based and has easels and teachers at the ready to help children make their next masterpiece.

Public spaces and some free time – Since Miss H starting refusing to sit in a stroller around her second birthday, we have found our way of travel had to change.   Exploring major cities by day-long walks and leisurely meals is not an option any more.  At the end of the first day we did want to see a bit more of the city though.  Fortunately, there were a few nice public spaces to stop and let the girls run free.

Stay tuned for pictures from our next few days in Sweden which include a visit to Junibacken, Pippi Longstocking’s house and Midsommar celebrations.  Miss H is still talking about when she was “in the story”!