Stockholm - Day 2

We managed to get to breakfast just after nine and we were on our way to the Tbana by ten. We decided to take a walk through the city suggested in the guide book and exited the underground to Sergels torg, a two tier square with a pedestrian area below and a traffic roundabout above. The traffic circulates around an amazing crystal tower fountain which apparently sparkles in the floodlights at night. We left the square via the pedestrian street Sergelgatan and followed the walking tour all the way to the Odenplan before turning back towards the centre. We came through the market at Hotorget, looked for the elusive Greta Garbo exhibition in PUB, then passed the concert hall with its interesting sculpture of Orpheus. Just round the corner we had a view of the Kungstornen, which reminded us of the non simmetrical Moskva Hotel in Moscow. But who said they should match!
There were many interesting Art Nouveau and Art Deco buildings on our route; including August Strindberg's last dwelling place in Stockholm, being in a building known as the Bla Tower, a fine shade of ochre with gold highlighting. We called in at the National Library - a Functionalist building, designed by Gunnar Apslund. There are many treasures inside, but we only saw the interesting water fountain with its intriguing tap in the shape of a person. Lots of these buildings are in varying shades of yellow, orange and rose coloured paint. The church, Johannes Kyrka, is a nineteenth century neo-gothic building sharing its ‘garden’ with a late seventeenth century wooden bell tower. Eventually we were back at the Sergels torg and Alan had the idea of finding the Ostermalmshallen for lunch. This is a wonderful food hall where one can buy all sorts of meat, fish and veg to take home, but also there are eating places serving full meals as well as sandwiches. We stopped by a small cafe for open sandwiches - Alan had laks with dressing and I had prawns with mayo. Yummy. Then we strolled through Gallerian and on to Ahlens City to see the shops. We also stopped by the Orrefors shop and found a candle holder for the kitchen. In Ahlens City we found the Moomin range from Arabia and couldn't resist a turquoise mug with Snufkin and the lilac Hemulen mug!
As we were close by the T-Centralen, we took the underground to Gamla Stan to suss out a couple of restaurants for dinner, but nothing inspired us, so we trudged over the bridge at Slussen and walked back to the hotel for a rest. The lads in reception recommended a local place for dinner - Bistro Sud, and booked us in for dinner at 19.30.
Bistro Sud is a tiny place absolutely crammed with folk. This is because of its delicious food. We crowded round a tiny table and immediately were helped by local diners to understand the menu on the blackboard - with their recommendations. We chose the following:
Tuna sashimi with artichoke puree; crab soup with king crab leg.
Fiskqueneller m vitvinsas, rakar and kokt potatis (quenelles of white fish in a white wine sauce, shrimps and boiled potatoes)
plommafylld grissida, kamben,choucroute, art.och potatispure (pork stuffed with plums, choucroute and artichoke puree)
The Montes Pinot Noir was delicious with this wonderful food!
One of our neighbours was very chatty - a man dining with his son who was off to US the following morning. We had a great time chatting to them. But the rigours of the day took over and we had to leave before falling asleep in the dessert! A cup of tea and bed awaited at Rival.