Stockholm ~ Sweden

The castle

I love the nostalgia when walking past historic buildings and monuments through a city. I’ll tell ya, Stockholm’s old town still got it, with charming streets paving the way with old bricks, walls painted in warm orange and attention to detail of craft work. That made it all so magical. To be truthful, it was hard not to stop taking videos and pictures! There is always something eye catching, which takes your breath away, that makes you curious and excited about what’s next around the corner. You will spot tiny, narrow streets, antique shops and bakeries for a traditional “fika”. The experience was beyond my expectations, a new breath of life fueled me as I made my first touristic visit in Stockholm.

The the eye catching church

As I’m gazing up with awe, these historical monuments leaves me speechless. They remind me that we all share some greatness in us. We only need to take ownership of it and find that drive to show up each day to be our greatest self. That can be as simple as smiling at a stranger, giving thanks, being supportive and loving, living aligned with your purpose and goals so that you unleash your true potential! We are all great, just look back at history and what mankind has been capable of, cause you’re no different. You are significant, you play an important part, remember that.

Feels like being brought back in time!

If you pay attention to details, you’ll stop every second on your way through the old town…

Don’t you want to just step inside by how cute this entrance is presented?!

The city has so much to offer. Look at these classical sailboats at shore, since there is a river running through Stockholm called Söderström. I didn’t get the chance to be out in the waters, but that’s one of the tourist attractions. My recommendation is to go on a boat sightseeing and you will get the chance to see the city from a different view than by land.

So take the trip to visit Stockholm, not easy during these corona times though. But when you do, I hope the magic will spark through you the same way the old town in Stockholm did to me.

With love and care, Melanie x

And stay safe ❤

Advertisement

Murcia ~ Spain

Here you see the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary. It’s absolutely stunning and more stunningly when you take a visit inside. There are so many details to look at, truly a masterpiece. I had my eyes on it while sitting down at the square and watching it when it was sunset. To see the different shades of sunlight striking it, was eye gazing, magical. I sat there at café Valor, eating churros around 5 pm, surrounded by locals who did the same, blending well with their culture and absolutely loving it.

Other plaza spots to enjoy than Plaza Catedral de Murcia are:

Plaza Santa Domingo

Plaza de las Flores

Murcia is small to be a big city, but I love that. And moreover, I love that you can feel and sense the Spanish culture in every corner. You get to see how locals live a relaxed lifestyle without stress despite living in a city. You don’t see people rushed, no you’ll find them sitting at the benches at the plazas or eating tapas. It feels more like a village with not much traffic or noice. This is what makes it so enjoyable spending time in this city, especially during weekend.

So, eager to feel the spirit of Murcia? I got it covered for you:) Here are my favorite things to do when in the city and best places to eat at!

Real Casino de Murcia

The inside interior is amazing!

Monasterio del Corpus Christi Augustinas Descalzas

This reminds me of a miniature version of Alhambra in Granada. Absolutely love the pool and the architecture.

Since the city is known for eating and drinking culture and not so much about attractions, that’s kind of not a downside for me because I love eating hehe. So here is the list:)

Restaurants / Tapasbar ~ Typical Spanish

* Navarros

* Salzillo

* Morata

* La Taverna

Cute café places

* El gallinero

* Cafélab ~ serves toast, coffee, lattes, teas

* Socolá ~ best brunch place in town although the only one haha. But still counts when they serve amazing food! More about the place in a new blog post.

Sweet tooth

* Baklava ~ serving delicious Turkish sweets

* Godis ~ serves amazing gofres / Belgian waffle

* Socolá ~ amazing pancakes and cakes!

Mercado de Correos

A food hall or food heaven, offering all kinds of foods and what an atmosphere there is to sit inside there.

I liked especially the ice cream of course..

After this guide of Murcia, I’m convinced you are as convinced as me, that you need to visit this city in Spain;)

Blending into the Catalonian community

Festa del Passatge Lluis Pellicer

Here I was, last Saturday, surrounded by a Catalan community, eating tapas! I absolutely loved it since I was not with a touristic crowd behind me. Coming here was a coincidence actually, because the night before I got an eye on this party having to pass a truck that was in the way of the walkway. As I saw a scene being set up behind it, I started getting curious. So I asked a woman organizing the party and she said I could join by buying a ticket! And so I did the day after, trying 4 different tapas with one drink included for 12,50€. It was such a nice experience. It was simple and small, where people gathered together in a narrow, short street crossing into Carrer de Muntaner.

They effortlessly made this party so welcoming with a relaxed tone to it. It is completely different to the Norwegian culture I’m from, where everything has to be organized perfectly before it can be executed. That’s why I love traveling and experiencing other cultures because you get a wider perspective about life.

Further exploration ~ Catalonian art history

I had visited the museum once before but never entered inside. When I walked into the entrance I was prepared to pay the ticket for visiting, but by my surprise I got told that on Saturdays after 3 pm it’s free entrance! It was perfect timing! Although there were no audio guides available or tour guides, I still got a historical sense by witnessing the artworks by eye. Being inside, was like entering a palace with its majestic lamps and old interior. Furthermore, you feel like you are traveling back in time.

And so I did, by watching the art and crafts work of the Romanesque and Gothic period. Below there are two examples of medieval Gothic artworks. These artist have achieved spectacular details with their art pieces. The paintings, sculptures and woodcarving-works you find inside the museum, are in my eyes mind blowing. Looking at what these amazing artists have executed, makes me feel I can create anything I put my mind into too.

Virgin of the “Consellers”

Artist ~ Lluís Dalmau

Medieval Gothic art

Virgin of the Angels

Artist ~ Pere Serra

Medieval Gothic art

Feeling adventurous

But before you get on with your adventure, you need to start the day well by eating good food right? And so I did with eating a delicious brunch this Sunday at “Federal Café”. As you can see, I ordered poached eggs, with avocado, spinach and bacon, together with toasted rye bread, mmm. Oh, and when in Spain you can’t miss freshly pressed orange juice!!!

The café is located at Passatge de la Pau 11 in Barcelona. I must be honest, it was not easy to find, but that’s why the café lies in a quiet area, away from the tourists and the city traffic. You feel tranquility, and you forget you are in a busy city like Barcelona.

Next time when I come back, I want to try the French omelette with kale, mushrooms and ricotta, and their matcha brownie! It’s sounds really interesting, plus it’s gluten-free, I have a feeling it’s a good one…

I sat on a pillow at the window, it was such a cool spot to eat. You should try to get that spot too when you eat here;)

After a solid brunch, I was ready to take on my adventure, which was leading me to “La Donuteria”. Walking around can be such a good therapy, and strolling around the less busy streets of Barcelona was even better! I had longed for a donut, so I did some research and wanted to try out this place. It didn’t disappoint me at all…

They had so many interesting flavors that it got impossible to choose! I could easily have just ordered all of them, but reality stroke me to having one. After a tough decision, I chose “crema de chocolate y dulce de leche”, dulce de leche is typical Spanish so I wanted to try their take on an American donut. Oh my goodness that was good, too good to be true!

It was a perfect balance of sweet and savory. The coating was salted caramel, already by reading those words you can understand why it’s good;)

I wanted to try “crema de chocolate con mango”, which is dark chocolate with mango flavor, but they didn’t have more of it. However, it’s a good excuse to come back and try it next time! Other variants which were also strong candidates were white chocolate and raspberry flavor, vanilla and café latte, plus chocolate donut with matcha flavor. You can understand why I struggled in the first place.

La Donutería

Carrer del Parlament 20, 08015, Barcelona

http://ladonuteria.com

From there I took the bus D20 at stop Paral•lel – Marquès de Campo Sagrado to Creu Coberta – Plaça Espanya.

Barcelona amazes me, there is so much to do here and there are endless discoveries to take on. One I had long wanted to visit was the “Palau Nacional”. It’s Catalunya”s national art museum. Even though I didn’t get inside this time to see the 250 000 different artworks, you can’t always get it all done at once right? But for a first time, walking around this amazing building was more than good enough.

What better way is there to enjoy the donut on top of the Palau Nacional building! Eating with a view, and walking to the top after all those stairs, yup that was something! Ps: they have escalators on the way up there if you are too tired to walk all the stairs up! I did cheat a bit, I must be honest I was one of them who were too tired to walk all the stairs. After all, I was kinda happy they had escalators. But at the same time, it felt weird when looking at an old and historical building and taking the escalators! However, I got reminded by that we live in modern times now haha.