Day 159: [Chocolate] Shopping Break

Being a tourist in my own city can be so much fun. With our friends here visiting from out of town, we have been taking them around to see all of the "touristy" sights and it makes me fall in love a little, bit deeper with Stockholm all over again. Especially with the great weather we've been having (I hope I didn't just jinx it by saying so). Today we did a sort of walking tour of Södermalm and then made our way down to Gamla Stan, which is the Old Town area of Stockholm, full of cobblestone streets and architecture dating back to as early as the fourteenth century.

One of my very favorite past-times is finding unusual or unique gifts for friends and family. Being out and about today, we visited many of my favorite stores and most of them are in the process of, or have just recently stocked up with new, summer arrivals. I found lots of things today that I tucked away in the back of my mind for Christmas and birthday, present ideas. And I even found a thing or two to add to my own wish-list. Shopping is so much fun! Early on in our visit to Gamla Stan, my husband and one of our friends decided that maybe they would let us other girls shop on our own, while they made their way back home to nap and hang out. With strict instructions for us to not come home with [any] bags. Right.

To be fair, we said we'd try to be good and we said our goodbyes and set off on our way. A couple of hours into our shopping excursion we decided that we needed something to drink and perhaps a short rest to rejuvenate so we made our way up to Stortorget, or the main square, and had one of the best, hot chocolates in the city at Chokladkoppen, or "The Chocolate Cup." It couldn't be more perfectly named. As we sat waiting for our hot chocolates my shoulders sat somewhere around my ears but as soon as our server delivered our chocolate decadence I felt my shoulders relax and my neck grow a couple of inches as I melted into my seat. I am not sure if it was the euphoria from the chocolate or simply being in such a nice, relaxing environment with my friend but it was the perfect [chocolate] shopping break.

We ended up walking home with a few, small bags each. And each of us with a gift for our beloveds. 

Chocolate decadence...

Ah... true love...