🥦Mizuo's Travel Blog🥦No.26 - Gamla Stan, Stockholm with friend, Aug. 2022

August 2022 · 6 min read · Sweden

Aifur, Viking restaurant - https://aifur.se/

Reunion after a long time

It's really nice to reconnect with like-minded friends.　I think again that it is only with friends that we can instantly forget the period of time we have not seen each other, talk about the old days, and instantly return to the person we were then, even though it has been a long time since we last saw each other.

A friend of mine who works in Germany contacted me to say that he was going to visit Stockholm now that the Corona restrictions had been relaxed, and we met again for the first time in many years.

Swedish pizza bigger than my friend’s face. — Swedish pizza bigger than my friend's face.

On the first day, we first took a break to eat pizza at a restaurant, as it was late afternoon when we arrived.　What would you like to eat?" The answer was, "Swedish food, of course! I took my friend to a pizza place, which was also very Swedish in a sense.　In Sweden, it is not easy to eat traditional Swedish food in restaurants.　So, I decided to introduce Swedish pizza.

What's Swedish Pizza? You may be thinking, "What is Swedish Pizza?" but in Sweden, Swedes have their own idea of what they call pizza.　Hawaiian pizza is seasoned with 🍍 pineapple and curry powder, for example.　Kebab pizza is a pizza with a lot of kebab meat on it.

At any rate, they seemed to enjoy the kebab pizza, although they were surprised at the size of the pizza.　But still, it is a big pizza, isn't it?

Bird nest boxes on a tree helps lots of birds when they raise baby birds.

After eating pizza, we decided to take a short walk.　In the suburbs of Stockholm, where I live, there are many lakes near my apartment, and walking paths have been built along them.　Depending on the season, you can see migratory birds such as geese, swans, and ducks relaxing on the lakes, and swallows nesting in nest boxes built in the trees along the lakes.

I met my friend in Tokyo and we always hung out at clubs in Shinjuku, Harajuku, and Shibuya.　Of course, many of my memories with friend are of drinking until morning at those clubs and bars, but walking around the lake with friends like this, we talked about how we felt a little older, saying, "Back then, I never thought that we would enjoy walking around the lake more than going to clubs. I felt a little old.　LOLOLOL!

Gamla Stan, Old Town of Stockholm

Aifur

There is a restaurant that I always take to when my friends come to Stockholm.　It is called Aifur, a restaurant that recreates Viking-era Sweden and is especially popular among tourists.　It is very popular among local Swedes because its authentic atmosphere the restaurant creates. And the Viking drink they serve there, mead, which is made from fermented honey and has been drunk since the Viking era, is very tasty.

It seems that other Hivers also visited Aifur, let's take a look what @nenad-ristic wrote about Aifur~~ I hope they had a good time there too!

https://ecency.com/sweden/@nenad-ristic/aifur-the-viking-restaurant

We met this cute dog in the restaurant. He was soooo sleepy and put his chin on my leg and started to sleep. Adorable!! 😆👏

There are several reasons why I particularly like Aifur: on weekends they play Viking-era instruments and there is a very lively atmosphere in the restaurant.　And before they show you to your table, they ask, "Where are you from?" the server will ask you, and when you answer, you will be surprised by all the customers in the restaurant welcoming you to the restaurant. Well, you'll know what I mean when you visit there! You've got to go there!

We also had a glass of mead there, took a short break, and went to the next bar.　We got drunk on mead while listening to music from the Viking era.

The Secret Garden - Stockholm

The Secret Garden - http://www.secretgardensthlm.se/

The next bar we went to was The Secret Garden, one of the oldest bars in Stockholm's Old Town, located in a building that was built in 1800.　It is an LGBT-friendly bar, but it is what is so-called a "tourist bar", and it is a very popular bar that has the atmosphere of a bar where everyone, both straight and LGBT+, can hang out together.

There is also a dance floor in the bar, which was quite crowded and lively, probably due to the fact that we were there on a weekend.　Next to the dance floor, there was a large space with lots of tables. It was a typical bar where you could talk with friends, have a drink, and then go back to the dance floor to dance.　What I enjoyed was that they were playing a lot of songs by Swedish artists ABBA and Miss Li, which I think gave it a Swedish club atmosphere.　I even got to meet a drag queen, which was also a great experience.

We also had some pleasant encounters.　I met a young man with a "kamona" carving around his neck.　I was curious about "Kamona," and when I talked to him, he was a very nice person and we had a lot of fun talking.　He is going to study in Japan, and I hope he will be a bridge between Sweden and Japan.

I met a cool Viking in Sweden - 08132022

https://ecency.com/hive-148441/@mizuosemla/88234fbed823c

3AM in the morning

So, we stayed in Gamla Stan till 3AM lol!

After talking with my friends, we ended up hitting three bars, and before we knew it, it was 3:00 in the morning.　Still young, aren't we?!　We had a lot of fun. LOL!

久しぶりの再会

気の合う友達に再会するのは本当にいいですよね。　久しぶりに会ったのに、今まで会っていなかった期間をすぐに忘れ、昔話に花が咲き、瞬時にその当時の自分に戻ることが出来るのも友人がいるからこそできることだと改めて思います。

ドイツで仕事をしている友人が、「コロナ規制が緩和されたしストックホルムに遊びに行く」と連絡が入り、久しぶりの再会をしました。

初日は到着した時間が昼過ぎだったこともあって、まずはレストランでピザを食べて休憩しました。　「何が食べたい？」と言う答えに、「もちろん、スウェーデン料理！」と答えた友人に対して、連れて行った場所がピザ屋と言うのもある意味、スウェーデンっぽいかもしれません。　スウェーデンは伝統的なスウェーデン料理はなかなかレストランで食べることが出来ません。　そこで、スウェーデンピザを紹介することにしました。

スウェーデンピザって何？！と思うかもしれませんが、スウェーデンにはスウェーデン人が独自に考えたピザと言うものがあります。　ハワイピザは🍍パイナップルとカレーパウダーを使って味付けしていたり。　ケバブピザはケバブの肉をピザにたくさん盛りつけたピザなどがあります。

とりあえずピザの大きさにびっくりしていましたが、ケバブピザを堪能したようでした。　それにしても、ピザ大きいですよね。

ピザを食べた後は、すこし散歩をすることにしました。　わたしが住んでいるストックホルム郊外は湖がアパートの近くにたくさんあり、それにそって散歩道が作られています。　時期によっては渡り鳥である雁や白鳥、鴨などが湖でくつろいでいる姿や、湖の木々に作られた巣箱には燕が巣を作っている姿なども見ることができます。

友人とは東京で知り合い、いつも新宿、原宿、渋谷などのクラブで遊んでいました。　もちろん友人との思い出はそういったクラブやバーで朝まで飲み明かした思い出などが多いのですが、こうして湖を友人と歩いていると、「あの当時、まさか自分たちがクラブより湖近くの散歩のほうが楽しく感じるって思いもしなかったね」なんてちょっと年を感じる話もしながら散歩しました。

ストックホルム旧市街を散策

私がアイフルを特に気に入っている理由はいくつかあります。週末にはバイキング時代の楽器を演奏しており、店内はとても賑やかな雰囲気に包まれています。　そして、テーブルに案内される前に、サーバーから「どちらからいらっしゃいましたか」と聞かれるので、答えると、店内のお客さん全員が歓迎してくれて、びっくりしますよ。まあ、行ってみればわかるんですけどね～。ぜひ行ってみてください!

わたし達もそこではミードを一杯飲んで、少し休憩して次のバーに行きました。　ヴァイキング時代の音楽を聞きながら、ミードを飲むといい感じに酔ってきました。

The Secret Garden 秘密の花園

次に行ったバーはThe Secret Gardenと言うストックホルム旧市街で老舗のバーで、なんと建設は１８００年に建てられた建物の中にあります。　LGBTフレンドリーなバーではあるのですが、俗に言う観光バーと言うバーで、ストレートもLGBT＋も皆が一緒に遊ぶことのできるバーと言った雰囲気があるとても人気のバーに行きました。

バーの中にはダンスフロアもあって、わたし達が行ったは週末だったこともあってか、かなりの人がいて盛り上がっていました。　ダンスフロアの横にはかなり広いスペースをとってテーブル席がたくさんあって、友達と話して、お酒を飲んで、そしてまたダンスフロアでダンスすると言った、典型的なバーでした。　楽しかったのが、スウェーデンのアーティストであるABBA、Miss Li の曲がたくさんかかっていて、スウェーデンのクラブの雰囲気があったと思います。　ドラァグクイーンにもあえて、これもいい経験になりました。

楽しい出会いもありました。　首に「かもな」と言う彫り物をいれた青年に会いました。　その、「かもな」がどうしても気になり、話しかけるととても感じのよい人で、色々と話が盛り上がりました。　日本にも留学に行くようで、スウェーデンと日本の懸け橋になってほしいなぁと感じました。