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| Arrival at Arlanda Airport |
Traveling to any location is always exciting, especially
if one loves to explore, experience the culture and meet new people. We – Latha
and I are just that and this one was long pending – our trip to Scandinavia. The
kids were counting down from days to the hours and why shouldn’t they be. We
expected the trip to be overwhelming but it turned out to be even more than
that – a dream come true.
Day 1 - April 12, 2016
The trip we had all been waiting for was on April 12 to
Stockholm. A morning flight that took about 6 hours to reach Stockholm Arlanda airport. A
small airport in comparison to Dubai. The tough part was the long queue at the
immigration, we spent over an hour to get through and then to claim our
baggage. But all that didn't matter much because our enthusiasm was too high to
even bother about any problem.
We could immediately sense the low temperature as we came
out of the airport. It was about 5c and a cool breeze was hitting our faces. It
took us about 30 mins to reach home from the airport. Devi had baked a
beautiful cake to welcome us.
We had plans to nap for a while so that we could stay awake for the long night,
but that didn’t happen, because all of us were so happy to see each other, the
time was spent chatting all the way. The weather was perfect, sunny and not too cold, ideal
for a Barbeque. My brother, Saju inaugurated his new BBQ machine.
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| BBQ at the backyard |
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| Angus beef quarter pound |
We brothers and of course the kids are meat lovers and there was virtually all types of
meat to hit the hot grill. My personal favorite was the Angus beef quarter
pounders (Angus grass fed beef-tastier), they were juicy and yummm. Daylight was
until 8:30 pm and so we had all the time to sit, relax and enjoy the food with my
brother and family. After a couple of drinks…it felt like….life was indeed made
of these. :-)
Day 2 - April 13, 2016
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| Old Town |
The next day Devi took us around the Stockholm city. We
toured the major tourist spots in and around the city center. It spreads out
over 14 islands in Lake Malaren that flows out to the Baltic Sea. We went to
the Old town (Gamla Stan). A typical old European surroundings, cobblestone
streets, beautifully preserved buildings, the Royal Palace, gothic churches and
excellent cafés, bars, restaurants and Swedish design-ware shops.
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| Vishukkani |
We celebrated Vishu in my brother’s home with his
friends. Vishukkani was set by the ladies and all of us saw it, the first thing
in the morning as part of the custom.
We were in our traditional clothes and
had a full-fledged naadan sadya (Kerala feast). A great Vishu with all its
grandeur in Stockholm.
We had plans to nap for a while so that we could stay awake for the long night,
but that didn’t happen, because all of us were so happy to see each other, the
time was spent chatting all the way. The weather was perfect, sunny and not too cold, ideal
for a Barbeque. My brother, Saju inaugurated his new BBQ machine.
The Stockholm City Hall is one of Sweden’s most famous buildings. It is famous as it is the venue of the Nobel Prize banquet held every year. Stockholm like all major European countries is well connected by public transport, be it metro, tram or the bus. A service that would envy any developing country.
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