This week’s small pleasures 488

So, here we are in Stockholm, after a smooth and trouble free journey from Hamburg on Saturday morning. We flew business class due to our large suitcases, which gave us time to enjoy a mini croissant in the lounge and rather nice snack on the flight.

Meanwhile, there were so many signs of spring around in Hamburg before we left – below are a few very near where we lived.

Miniatur Wunderland

On Wednesday we went to Miniatur Wunderland, a fantastic world of trains, planes, real and imaginary places, all in miniature. According to Wikipedia, it is the largest miniature railway system in the world. The museum itself is in the historic Speicherstadt warehouse district, so very much in the tourist heart of Hamburg. There is so much to see, from the trains, to a wonderful working miniature of Hamburg airport, with planes taking off and fire engines running to an emergency. Currently there are twelve sections: the Harz mountains with the fictitious town of Knuffingen, the Alps, Austria, Swizerland, Hamburg and Hamburg airport, bit of the US, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, Italy, Rio de Janeiro, Patagonia and Monaco.

There are lots of buttons you can press which trigger things from dolphins leaping in the water to a theatre production of the balcony scene Romeo and Juliet, complete with the Prokofiev music. The system features a recurring day-night lighting cycle which added to the experience – for example, the theatre and all the nightclubs only came ‘alive’ at night, a fun fair’s lights come on and so on. It was such fun and so much to see. You do need to book in advance and it is busy but oh so worth it. Below are trains in the US, the Elbphilharmonie (much better view of it in miniature!), Hamburg central station, then night scenes of Hamburg and Kiruna in the middle.

There are also open areas where you can see the technicians that look after it all and some of the craftsmen building the models which was fascinating to see. Below is Cinq Terre, somewhere in Switzerland and I believe the Italian alps.

A view

I took the two pictures below from a bridge inside the Minitur Wunderland, looking out at the warehouses. In the distance of the picture on the left you can just see the restaurant my cousin and I had lunch in a few weeks ago.

Eating and going out

On Wednesday evening, we went for dinner with Karl’s colleagues to Krameramtsstuben, where they serve typical German and local dishes such as schnitzel and lobscouse (a sort of stew served with fried eggs, beetroot and rollmops – I did not try it). I enjoyed fish in mustard sauce and Karl the schnitzel. This restaurant is situated in an old historic part of town, with houses that were originally built for the widows of merchants in the city. Do look at the chimney in the far right picture – quite incredible.

To fortify us for our visit to the miniature exhibition, we popped into Pamola cafe where we both enjoyed a piadina (an Italian flat bread) with mozzarella, parma ham, lots of salad and dressing and pine nuts. On Thursday I treated myself to a coffee and slice of banana bread with sesame and tahini at Codos Coffee.

For our final lunch, we returned to Das Knuth, where I enjoyed the broccoli and cauliflower tart I had the first time we went there, and Karl their excellent chilli con carne. Our first lunch in Stockholm? These excellent cheese, ham and cornichons sandwiches.

Stockholm Sunday

We walked…and walked…managing 17,234 steps…rewarding ourselves with a cold beer at the end. I’ll do a proper round up in my first Postcards from Stockholm post on Wednesday, but it was a beautiful sunny day, and the featured image at the top of the post gives you an idea of the sky. Dinner was eaten at Bistro Barbro where we enjoyed all sorts of good things from tuna tartar to sashimi to dumplings to a wonderful raw beef dish.

Simple things

• Arriving in Stockholm.
• Enjoying spring.
• Being grateful for the experiences of these past few weeks.
• Catching up with family.
• Finding moments of peace.
• Spotting one final face on a Hamburg building.

What were your small pleasures this week? Sorry I am not linking up this week as I am finishing this post up on Monday morning before we gather our things together to move to the flat we will be staying in while we are here.

Thistles and Kiwis is a Wellington, New Zealand based blog written by Barbara, who likes cats, summer and good food. Thistles and Kiwis can be found on Facebook and Instagram @thistleandkiwis