Tonight, I was supposed to be headed to see Chekhov's The Seagull, at the Lyric. Third night in a row for Up in the Cheap Seats - almost as busy a group as I am a person! So, four things in all I had to cancel this week, without refund, for my stay in Stockholm.. what the hey, I'm saving money here! Expenses paid, after all.
Lunch today was in Burgers & Beer - a longer walk than usual from the office. Glad to see they serve wine, too - but for lunch, I had a Sprite (they don't do 7Up). Served with a wine glass, complete with ice and a straw - and in my case, a slice of lime. We got a table in the corner, luckily - the place was quite packed. My bacon and cheeseburger was served medium rare - since I haven't suffered any ill effects since, I imagine the mincing is done onsite. Actually - once I removed the obligatory tomato slice, to which I'm intolerant - it was delicious. I also ordered onion rings, and got an absolute pile of them - along with an indifferent dip. But we were well fed.
One of our Stockholm colleagues had booked a traditional Swedish restaurant for us for dinner - so we took our first trip on the Stockholm Metro..
..to a restaurant called Tranan, complete with doorman. Inside was busy - she'd been wise to make a reservation - and we were advised to head to the cellar bar to wait. We just had time to get a drink before our table was called, and we headed back upstairs, where we were sat snugly at a window seat, complete with handy window ledge where we could leave our bags. Plenty of hooks were provided, had we wished to use them.
A basket of bread as an appetiser, complete with small, round breads that were recommended to us by one of our Swedish-resident colleagues - slightly spicy, and ever so delicious! Butter, in a small tub, complete with a big wooden spoon. Two tuna steaks, one pork belly, and I had rib-eye steak. Mine was certainly delicious - served with an enormous knob of butter on top, which was nice, but strong; I didn't eat most of that. Dessert was chocolate truffle for me - which was served as a teeny cube on a plate. Very rich, of course. Not the cheapest place in town - but hey, we weren't paying..!
The night was finished off at Theodora's, where we stayed for just the one. Didn't want to stay too late anyway - tomorrow will be our only decent day of sightseeing!
On Monday, I'm finally going to see the show so many people have asked me whether I'm seeing. Ink is showing at the Duke of York's Theatre.
On Tuesday, I'm back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Ballet Boyz at Sadler's Wells.
On Wednesday, back with Funzing (London Speaks Sessions and LDN Talks @ Night) for a talk on Revolution in Iran: Girl with a Gun. This will be an interview with a female Kurdish revolutionary.. on the Battersea Barge, which I believe can get choppy. Never mind. This is one I got for free, for completing a loyalty card with three talks.
On Thursday, Let's Do This are back to St. Martin-in-the-Fields, where London Concertante is performing Bach Violin Concertos. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again.
And on the 16th October, back at Southwark Playhouse with Up in the Cheap Seats - this time, it's for A Day By the Sea.
Today would have been Up in the Cheap Seats and Labour of Love, with Martin Freeman, at the Noel Coward Theatre. Cheapest tickets from the venue, which I'm finding lately has been the norm! But now, of course, I'm in Stockholm.. Lunch today (from which I remembered to take a receipt, for once!) was in another local place - oh, and I remembered yesterday's, it was Stenugnsbageriet L: according to the Monzo receipt, anyway!
Today, we went to an Italian place we've passed every day so far, to and from work - Formaggio is supposed to be downmarket, with fast-food-type décor, but I must say the carbonara there was the best I've tasted. First place I've ever been served it with an egg in the middle.. Portions are massive, and I was stuffed for a long time after - still finding room for a cinnamon bun in the office kitchen in the afternoon.
This evening, we headed - under beautiful, blue skies - all the way across the road to Theodora's, for traditional Wednesday beers. Someone was later saying that this tradition dates to the days of servants, who would have to work weekends, so got their days off during the week - typically on Wednesdays. Anyhoo, we had some confusion over my white wine - "WiFi?" - and took a table in a corner once that was sorted.
We ended up eating there too - a decent menu has starters, seven different kinds of burgers, a selection of other main courses, and desserts. Hunt, and you may find the English-language one! Not that that really helped us in understanding what the "Plank" section was talking about.. Mine was a very acceptable steak, accompanied by onion rings, mushrooms, and very tasty chips. For under £15! You'd be hard pressed to get such value in London. They also do sharing platters, and beer in pitchers, and our group did use up some of those. With a mixture of folks - current and past employees of the company, and others - we had a long night of it, and some interesting conversation, as the place got more packed. A good venue for a night out, this, with plenty of seating along the walls and in the centre. They weren't lying when they said the island of Kungsholmen is good for eating and drinking..
When I called it a night, it was out into pouring rain again. It should have stopped by the time we head out tomorrow, though.
Tomorrow would have been the same Meetup group - headed to see the Company Wayne McGregor, at Sadler's Wells.
And finally! on Friday, I was headed to see Chekhov's The Seagull, at the Lyric. Third night in a row for that group - almost as busy a group as I am a person! So, four things in all I had to cancel, without refund.. what the hey, I'll doubtless be saving money here! Expenses paid, after all.
On Monday, I'm finally going to see the show so many people have asked me whether I'm seeing. Ink is showing at the Duke of York's Theatre.
On Tuesday, I'm back with Up in the Cheap Seats for Ballet Boyz at Sadler's Wells.
Next Wednesday, back with Funzing (London Speaks Sessions and LDN Talks @ Night) for a talk on Revolution in Iran: Girl with a Gun. This will be an interview with a female Kurdish revolutionary.. on the Battersea Barge, which I believe can get choppy. Never mind. This is one I got for free, for completing a loyalty card with three talks.
On the 12th October, Let's Do This are back to St. Martin-in-the-Fields, where London Concertante is performing Bach Violin Concertos. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend again.
And on the 16th October, back at Southwark Playhouse with Up in the Cheap Seats - this time, it's for A Day By the Sea.
