Ever since I returned from my last trip of the semester to Iceland, I’ve been trying to make the most of my time left in Stockholm. In fact, I’ve been trying to do something new every day for my last three weeks here. Here’s what I was up to at the end of April:
April 24: Ate lunch at À la Lo, the cutest vegan cafe.
April 25: Met Matilda Djerf! This was hands-down one of the highlights of my semester. Matilda is a Swedish influencer and entrepreneur with over 3 million followers on Instagram. She founded the clothing brand Djerf Avenue, and she’s super popular in the U.S. for her immaculate fashion sense, self-made background, and authenticity. Matilda posted an Instagram story announcing that she would be collecting clothing donations at Djerf Avenue’s office in Stockholm for an hour, so you know I had to go for the chance to meet her. And meet her I did! We had a whole conversation and she was so sweet. Afterward, I took a walk around Humlegården to calm myself down while smiling like an idiot.
April 26: Ate lunch at Gast Cafe, another very Instagrammable spot. Visited Norra Djurgården (read my blog post about it!) on a field study for my Swedish class. Took a sunset walk around my neighborhood.
April 28: Got a kardemummabulle (cardamom bun) from Bröd & Salt. Can you believe this was only my second bulle this entire semester? I was definitely long overdue for a sweet treat.
April 29: Took a yoga class and felt like everyone knew what they were doing except me. Visited the Hornstull Flea Market, which just opened for the season!
April 30: Today was Valborg, a traditional spring celebration in Sweden! I like to think of it as an appetizer holiday for Midsummer. On this day, the main custom is to light a giant bonfire at sunset.
My visiting host family invited me over for dinner, and afterward, we walked to the beach, where the neighborhood was gathered. We watched fifth graders from the local elementary school light the bonfire.
Everything is finally coming alive in Stockholm! I found myself filled with gratitude this week. Everyone else in the city also seems excited and energized as the weather pulls us out of hibernation mode.
Ev in Sweden 