Stockholm - March 1 - Part III (Shopping)

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was really cold after my visit to the Royal Palace. Even after I had eaten and drunk the nice hot coffee, I wasn't exactly warm. I hurried back to the hotel and added some more layers -- 2 more wool sweaters, wool tights, etc. I would have had a hot cup of tea, but the tea in the room was all caffeinated, and I didn't want to risk that.

Once I felt warm, I decided to go out again. There is another island called Riddarsholm, which is right next to Gamla Stan, so I thought I'd go there. I made it about halfway before deciding it was simply too cold and windy for sightseeing. So I turned around and made my way along the shopping street, stopping in any stores that looked interesting.



My favourite was Ahlens City, a huge department store. This store has all the normal departments: women's wear, shoes, handbags and luggage, men's wear, etc.

These sections had a lot of the same old, same old - Ralph Lauren, Hugo Boss, DKNY, Samsonite, etc.

There were some things that were a bit different, such as the Swedish brand Acne, but on the whole I could have been in The Bay, minus the sales. 

It was still fun to look around -- and of course, to be warm!

But the children's wear department was a little different. There was a corner devoted to the Swedish brand Polarn O. Pyret, with its signature striped clothing. I had a hard time here -- I wanted to get matching outfits for the granddaughters, but everything was quite expensive and I couldn't decide what to get. I went away empty-handed, and now I am sort of kicking myself. After all, it's not everyday I get to go shopping in Stockholm!




Then there was another corner with all Pippi Longstocking merchandise. I'm pretty sure most of it was made in China, but Pippi herself is of course about as Swedish as they come. Here too, I had a hard time deciding and walked away with nothing. 

I liked this Naturkompaniet store, too. I would have liked to find something for Victor here, but again everything was expensive and I wasn't sure what would be good. There was a lot of the same stuff you can find at a camping store here, but also quite a few Made-in-Scandinavia products. Again my indecision meant I left with nothing.

I went into some of the many souvenir shops and saw more souvenir matches. Of course, I liked these, with "Jane" on the box -- but at 99 kroner, or $15.00, I thought it was a bit steep for matches! I was happy to find a Pippi book in English in one of the souvenir shops, so I bought that for the granddaughters.

I bought some Princess Cake at a grocery store bakery. I've seen this in the windows of a few cafes and bakeries and was curious about it. It has marzipan and cream and yummy cake layers and is really quite good. 

But it only came in a 2-pack and that was 2-much! I ate one piece and had to leave the other.

  

And finally, this is a photo of The Queen's Head, a pub on the shopping street (which is called Drottninggatan, or Queen Street.)  Since I was on my own, I didn't go inside, but I liked the building.