Karen Barlow

A city break to Copenhagen

I recently wrote about our city break in Stockholm which you can read here and here.

After three nights in Stockholm we boarded the train to Copenhagen, which was a 5 hour journey through the pine tree covered Swedish landscape. The country is vast with so much open land, dotted infrequently with the traditional Falu red painted wooden and corrugated metal houses, that are so familiar in Sweden.

As you approach Denmark and copenhagen the train crosses the Oresund bridge, which connects Sweden and Denmark and was made famous in the TV crime drama The Bridge.

Disembarking in Copenhagen central station, it was a short underground journey to Fredericksberg, the upmarket residential area of Copenhagen, where we’d booked our Air bnb for 2 nights.

We actually had 3 nights in Copenhagen, which was broken by 2 nights on the coast, and I’ll link the hotel where we stayed for our last night further along in this blog.

The Air bnb was absolutely perfect for a short stay in the city. Seven minutes walk from the underground station and around the corner from one of the main roads running through Frederiksbeg, with plenty of restaurants, shops & bars along it.

The interior was bright and spacious, with patio doors opening onto a small front garden, a large open plan lounge and kitchen/dining room perfectly equipped with everything you could want for cooking and a great coffee machine, a double bedroom, with a really comfortable bed and those crucial seperate single duvets I mentioned before and a bathroom with a large walk in shower & washing machine, should you be staying for longer and travelling light.

Frederiksberg is often described as a city within a city. It’s central to Copenhagen and so is a great place to be located for a short trip. It’s full of restaurants, bars, cafes, shops, parks and has a weekly flea market every Saturday morning starting at 9.00am. I’ll break down this blog as always into where we stayed, ate, shopped and what we saw. As my main focus of any trip is often food lets start with where we ate.

Eat

Vaernedamsvej

 One of the areas within Frederiksbeg which we walked to on our first evening and was a short 15 minute stroll, is called Vaernedamsvej or locally known as “little Paris” for it’s very French influence. It’s one street which has been pedestrianised except for the many bikes that are ridden by everyone in Copenhagen and it’s lined either side with restaurants and pavement cafes, some of the cities hippest shops, florists and specialist food shops. It feels very different from the rest of Copenhagen and has a village vibe. We ate take away pizza in a cardboard box with a couple of beers outside the pizza shop just watching the world go by but there are some fine dining restaurants on this street, the most popular being Les Trois Cochons.

Refshaleoen

Refshaleoen is a former industrial site in the harbour of Copenhagen and is now one of the hippest areas in Copenhagen for great food, craft beers, festivals and music. If you live in any big city you’ll recognise the formula of industrial containers housing various types of food vendors with communal eating areas and live DJ sets, but this place felt much bigger than any I’d been to before and the fact that it’s set beside the water and the sun was shining definitely made if feel very relaxed. There is a make shift beach with deck chairs facing the water front as well as lots of other areas to eat, a Mikkeller brewery and bar, if you like craft beer and just a great atmosphere. Word of warning at busy times you will wait a looong time for your food order to be prepared and you don’t get given a buzzer to take away with you while you enjoy your drink. You literally have to stand in a queue and wait. We waited for over an hour for 2 burgers and fries so don’t go if you’re absolutely starving hungry and can’t wait that long. I’d highly recommend a visit to La Banchina which is a bar and restaurant with an outdoor pool for wild swimming. It’s one of the first restaurants you’ll see as you enter Refshaleoen and next time we go we’ll eat there. This time we just had a beer and watched the sun set. It was so peaceful and beautiful. If you cycle there as we did, make room in your ruck sack for your swimming clothes, you can thank me later.

Refshaleoen

La Banchina

Absalon Vesterbro

Absalon in Vesterbro district is a former church which has been converted into a social space for the residents and visitors of Copenhagen. A popular meeting place for the locals, it’s open from breakfast through to dinner, with a licensed bar, table tennis, bingo and movie nights. We called in for lunch which is a casual affair. There were two home made dishes of the day served canteen style straight from the pan, along with hot dogs and an assortment of cakes. Dining is at long communal tables which makes for a very friendly atmosphere. It’s a hang out for the creative community and families of Vesterbro and is a cheap and cheerful alternative to the many other more expensive eateries in the area. The place to truly feel like a local rather than a tourist.

Absalon

Meatpacking District

This area is the former meat packing and abattoir area of Copenhagen in what was once the run down area of the city, Vesterbro. This area has now become the hippster part of the city and the white meatpacking area, which is huge and spans over 800,000 square feet is now home to restaurants, bars, galleries, artists studios and bowling alleys and crazy golf hang outs. The distinctive blue and white 1930’s buildings, many still complete with their tiled interiors for hygiene purposes, made the area feel slightly imposing for me. Maybe that’s because I was a vegetarian for 10 years and am an animal lover? However, it was an interesting place and is very popular with gastronomic trendsetters,so don’t let me put you off. It’s definitely worth a walk around though. We stopped for a drink in one of the many bars and there’s lots of outdoor seating for the warmer days and there’s so many different styles of food to choose from. The area is now a protected area and is one of the national industrial memorials in Copenhagen.

Copenhagen Meatpacking district

Breakfast

If you’re not staying in a hotel and are in an Air bnb I would definitely recommend eating out for breakfast at least once during your stay in Copenhagen. Every cafe and a lot of the bakeries with in house cafes, serve the most delicious home made offerings. From fresh fruit and yoghurt, to over night oats with peanut butter and the most delicious omelettes with fresh bread, it is all amazing. In Frederiksberg the area we stayed in there is a very popular bakery called Hart Bageri who have grown their popularity in Copenhagen due to their exceptional sourdough bread and pastries. They have branches around Copenhagen. Opposite Hart there is Meyers Deli which we ate in and was amazing and also Pollys on the same street is fabulous for breakfast through to dinner.

Shop

This might surprise many of you, but I don’t really like shopping that much and when I do go shopping, I always prefer to be on my own. So as I was with Mr B on this trip we didn’t really look in a lot of shops. What I can tell you though, for those of you that do like shopping is that there are many many amazing places to shop in Copenhagen. From beautiful boutiques to some of the best vintage and second hand clothes shops you’ll find anywhere in Europe.

Some of the shopping we did do, which will come as no surprise to any of you that know I have an online antique shop, was vintage, antique shops and flea markets. As i’ve mentioned before Frederiksberg has a weekly flea market, every Saturday morning starting at 9.00am, which we visited . I’ll attach the link here. There are also lots of antique shops in Frederiksberg. Many don’t have websites and so you’ll have to walk around and discover them for yourselves but there are plenty so you will.

Vesterbro is also a great area for vintage clothes and antique shops. The two main roads where you’ll find the majority of them is Istedgade and Sonder Boulevard. There are also lovely lifestyle and interior stores along here.

One of my favourite shops that we discovered on Istedgade was A door slow living boutique. It’s a lifestyle and clothes concept store and beautifully curated.

Another fantastic clothes shop we went in located on Istedgade was Donn Ya Doll. They have so many Danish and Scandinavian casual street style clothes and I did try on a few items, but they were all a variation on a theme of items I already have in my wardrobe and so trying to be more ethical and minimal in my buying, I didn’t purchase anything. If you’re looking to add to your wardrobe though, this shop is not to be missed.

Have you even been to Copenhagen if you don’t visit Hay? As an interior designer and stylist I’ve loved their colourful and practical designs for a long time but being in the UK I have only ever been able to shop at small concessions within other stores. To visit the Hay department store, which is over three floors, was an absolute treat for the senses. The only thing we bought, having only hand luggage to take back on the plane with us, was a neckerchief for our sons dog Ruby, but that’s the type of product that they have here and no where else other than Copenhagen. She’ll be the envy of her dog training class i’m sure 🙂

Hay Copenhagen

See

Nyhavn

If you’re going to visit Copenhagen, the most photographed area is Nyhavn. The famous colourful painted buildings which line the waterfront are now mostly bars and restaurants and quite touristy, but the area is lovely and although busy, not to be missed.

Just around the corner from the waterfront are some of the early houses built for the shipping merchants of Copenhagen. Built in the style of the brown stone buildings in New York, they are now listed and protected and are absolutely beautiful if you manage to find them.

The Little Mermaid

Carry on along the water front and you’ll eventually come to The Little mermaid statue, probably the most famous landmark in Copenhagen. It was Commissioned in 1913 by the head brewer of the Carlsberg factory who fell in love with the character, after watching a ballet performance of the story. It’s quite underwhelming when you find it as it is literally hidden from view on the banks of the waters edge and much smaller than I anticipated, but never the less, if you’re in Copenhagen it feels almost obligatory to visit it. From across the water you’ll see the site of refshaleoen if you’ve not already been. Unfortunately we were hoping there was a water taxi to take us across, but there’s not, so we grabbed a Bolt electric bike and cycled around the peninsula which took around 40 minutes. I’ve mentioned how to use the elctric bikes dotted on virtually every street in Copenhagen, further along in this blog.

Carlsberg Factory

As I’ve already mentioned Carlsberg “Probably the best lager in the world” (giving my age away here if anyone remembers that famous line from their adverts?)

I would also recommend a walk to their factory which was built in 1847 and is a beautiful building with an imposing entrance flanked by two carved stone elephants. You can take a tour of the factory and are rewarded with a freshly pulled pint of their lager at the end. Also within the factory building is Aire ancient thermal baths which is a spa experience in which you bath in the thermal baths and then have a massage of your choice, from hot stone to relaxing or intense. We didn’t visit the spa or do the factory tour as our time was limited, but after walking around the building, we definitely will do next time we visit.

The Carlsberg Factory

Finn Juhl House

As an interior design student I really enjoyed studying and researching different periods of design and architecture and became fascinated with the early to mid 20th Century designers. So it was such a delight to visit the house of architect and furniture designer Finn Juhl. He isn’t really a household name in the UK but is very famous for his Poet sofa design in Scandinavia and apparently Japan. His house is located in a park in Ordrup, an upmarket residential area outside of Copenhagen which is a 1/2 hour train ride out of the city and then a bus journey to the park. I became aware of Finn Juhl’s house from the portrait painting of his partner, Hanne Wilhelm, which he commissioned from Danish artist Vilhelm Lundstrom. It’s striking in it’s colour palette and very contemporary in it’s style for the time and I’ve always loved it. I won’t go on too much in this blog about the house, as I’m aware that this is a blog about visiting Copenhagen, but I will dedicate a seperate blog to it another time, as it deserves that. What I would say if you love design or architecture and have the time during your visit to Copenhagen ,it’s well worth the effort to visit. I’ll attach a link here so that you can check the opening times.

Finn Juhl House

Ordrupgaard Gallery

Within the park where Finn Juhl’s house is located you’ll also find Ordrupgaard gallery which houses the largest collection of post impressionist French art and Danish art in Denmark. The gallery is housed within a period Danish country house built between 1916-1918 and many of the rooms are furnished in their original Gustavian style, my favourite room being the traditional Danish country kitchen. There is a modern extension designed by architect Zaha Hadid which contains a cafe and gift shop and substantial parkland around the building to walk and picnic in the summer months.

One of my favourite artists, Vilhelm Hammershoi art exhibited in Ordrupgaard. 

Tivoli Gardens

When I told an art director, I was working with, that I was visiting Copenhagen she said “you must visit Tivoli Gardens, it’s magical.” Not being a fan of theme parks or fairground rides, I wasn’t entirely convinced but as we have very similar interests and tastes I trusted her judgement and visited and she wasn’t wrong. Built in 1843, it inspired Walt Disney after his visit in the 1950’s, to open Disney land. Because of it’s age and history, which has been preserved in many areas of the park, it doesn’t feel tacky or gaudy like many more modern theme parks do. There are pretty lights in the trees, so visiting in the evening makes it even more magical,there is a boating lake with boat houses, upon it, that now house quality restaurants, giving it a Central Park feel, there’s a band stand with live music events and a beautiful 5 star hotel modelled on a moorish palace. Traditional hand painted carousels twinkle in the dusk and fountains grace the manicured lawns. We walked around and had a beer while we listened to the live music event and although it’s not our usual choice of an evening out, we definitely enjoyed our few hours there and we’re glad we went. It has an old school charm about it and is utterley enchanting.

An ice cream cart in Tivoli Gardens 

Getting around

The quickest and easiest way to get from Copenhagen airport to the city centre is on the underground, which takes around 15 minutes, depending on the district you’re staying in. The underground network is regular and efficient. You’ll need a zone 3 ticket. They don’t operate a tap in and tap out system for travellers, like the underground in London. The best way to buy tickets is on the Dot app or from the ticket machines in the stations. We used the app which was really easy. there is a link here.

If you’re staying in Copenhagen for more than a couple of days, I would definitely consider hiring a bike as it’s the mode of transport everyone in Copenhagen uses. You can hire them for a few days from many of the bike hire companies online. I’ve attached a useful link here. If you just want to hop on and off a bike occasionally during your visit,there are multiple electronic bikes located on many of the streets which you can just pick up once you’ve downloaded the app. The most popular in Copenhagen are Lime or Bolt.

So after two nights in Copenhagen we broke up our stay up with 2 nights on the North Zealand coast, staying at a seaside town called Tisvildeleje. I’ll keep this blog post to just Copenhagen and write a seperate post about Tisvildeleje, as I realise it’s maybe not relevant for most people travelling to Copenhagen.

After two nights on the coast we returned to Copenhagen for another day and half, as I didn’t want to be too far away from the airport as I wasn’t sure at the time of booking how regular or reliable the trains from the coast back to the city were. I needn’t have worried as they were regular and efficient and it was only a 1.5 hour journey back to the city. I’m glad we did choose to stay for our last night at Grand Joanne Hotel as it was very central, right next door to Tivoli and gave us the time to visit there and spend our last day of our holiday at Finn Juhl house and Orprudgaard gallery at our leisure. The hotel was also excellent, beautifully designed and good value for such a central location. The breakfast was amazing and there was also a restaurant and rooftop bar. A definite recommendation from me if you prefer Hotels to self catering options. One word of warning though, we booked a cosy room to keep the price to a minimum as it was only for a one night stay, but the room was very small and restrictive, so I would definitely not go for anything less than a standard next time. The cosy room would be perfect for a solo traveller but not ideal for a couple. Other than that though it was faultless.

Grand Joanne Copenhagen

So to summarise Copenhagen, i’d say it’s the cleanest, safest city I’ve ever visited in Europe. The people are very friendly and English is spoken by everybody. The food is expensive but delicious and great quality everywhere, so no complaints at all. It’s stylish and interesting, with lots of open spaces which make it feel expansive. It’s a city of bikes, beer benches and roses. Roses were everywhere, around every door way, making it super pretty and I can’t wait to go back.

48 Hours in Stockholm Sweden

So in my last post I wrote about our stay at Ett Hem in Stockholm which you can read here.

After spending 24 hours ensconced in Ett Hem we decided we needed to explore the beautiful city of Stockholm more. This blog will cover what we did, saw and ate in the next 48 hours that we were there, before moving onto Copenhagen, As I always point out, this is not an exhaustive list of what there is to do in Stockholm. This is a big city, made up of 14 islands and we only scratched the surface. There are so many things to do, that I don’t even think a week would cover it, but here goes.

Ostermalms Saluhall

Ostermalm is an upmarket residential neighbourhood known for it’s green spaces and shopping district. It is also home to one of the oldest foodhalls in Stockholm. Ostermalm’s Saluhall was originally built in 1888. Although some changes have been made since then in the name of food hygiene practises, much of the original exterior and interior remain. Here you can shop for food or take a seat at one of the many food establishments, both inside & out, for a bite to eat and a drink. Fish and seafood, as you would imagine in Scandinavia, feature heavily and it’s definitely worth a visit if you are in the area. The surrounding streets are also great for shopping, including Biblioteksgatan, a street full of clothes shops.

The original interior of Ostermalm’s Saluhall

One of the restaurants inside Ostermalm’s Saluhall

Sodermalm

For the best vintage shopping head to Sodermalm and in particular the area known as SoFo or “South of Folkungagatan” Second hand shopping is a definite trend that is on the rise in Sweden and there are so many amazing vintage, second hand designer clothes and charity shops all worth exploring. I won’t list them all here as it would be impossible, but two of our favourites were Judit’s and Herr Judits, two seperate shops for men and women very close to each other. There are lots of lovely second hand clothes shops, designed and dressed like high end boutiques, a real pleasure to shop in. 

Judits Second Hand Vintage shop

Herr Judit’s Vintage Shop

One of the best shops for antiques and vintage homewares and furniture we came across was Brocante Second Hand who have 4 locations in Stockholm. It was frustrating to say the least for me, as I only had hand luggage, due to the amout of travelling we were doing from place to place, but if you had a large suitcase or even better had driven over, you could literally fill it with the amazing bargains in these shops!

Sodermalm was once a slum area of Stockholm but as with all cheaper areas they provide affordable housing for creatives and bohemians and this area is now one of the most aspirational areas for creatives to live with many hipster bars and restaurants and cultural activities. Slussen is a great area to go in the evening for food and bars, with views of the water. We ate one night at Haktet which serves a selection of sharing plates in a courtyard, if the weather is good, with a DJ. Our favourite bar was Mosebacketerrassen which is an outdoor bar overlooking the water front with live music or a DJ set. The perfect place to spend a summers evening.

Haktet Restaurant Sodermalm Stockholm

The lovely courtyard at Haktet restaurant where you can eat or drink and listen to the DJ set in the summer

The lovely streets in Sodermalm Slussen area

Sodermalm Slussen area

Mosebacketerrassen photo credit Thatch Travel

Abba Museum

Sweden is most famous for 2 things Ikea and Abba so yes I did try meatballs and yes we did go to the Abba museum. Now I’ll start by saying I am not a huge Abba fan but I can appreciate their music and being the age I am I can also remember vividly the night they won the Eurovision Song Contest with Waterloo. I went out and bought it with my pocket money, first thing on the Monday when the shops reopened. It seemed therefore, rude to be in Stockholm and not visit the museum.

It was a really great surprise just how good it was and how nostalgic I felt. I was really emotional seeing their costumes and videos and there were lots of other Abba memorabilia, song booths where you could record your own vocals singing along to a backing track of theirs and a stage where you could dance with holograms of the band. It was really really good fun and I would definitely recommend a visit.

The fab 4 in wax inside ABBA The Museum

Gamla Stan

This is Stockholm’s original city centre dating from the 13th Century with many other buildings from the 1600 & 1700’s. It’s a charming warren of cobbled streets with buildings rendered in warm paint washes of ochre and falu red which is a Swedish tradition ordered by the king Gustav III and is still continued today. Although it’s the historical centre there are lots of restaurants, shops and bars within the labryinth of streets, making it a great area to base yourself if you’re only visiting for a short time. I tried traditional meatballs, boiled potatoes and lingon berries here and let me tell you they were absolutely delicious, nothing like Ikea’s and it was really reasonably priced compared to the rest of the city despite being in the historic centre.

The historic streets of Gamla Stan

Gamla Stan is one of the oldest best preserved medieval quarters in Europe so walking around it is such a visual and architectural treat. Look out for “Alley of Marten Trotzig” (Marten Trotzigs grand) it is the narrowest street in Stockholm & consists of 36 steps, which get narrower and narrower as they lead to the top of the alley. You’ll also find the official palace of the Swedish Royal family in Gamla Stan. Built in Baroque style, the 18th century Swedish Royal Palace (Kungliga Slottet) is the official residence of the Swedish monarchy still today. We didn’t visit it as we were only in Stockholm for a limited time and there were other things we prefered to do, but if you love ornate palaces then this is one for you.

The main square in Gamla Stan

I have this thing with doors & there are so many great examples in Gamla Stan

One of the oldest traditional Swedish restaurants in Gamla Stan, opened in 1722, Gyldene Freden

Fotografiska Contemporary Photographic Gallery

As Stockholm is built across 14 islands you are surrounded by water pretty much where ever you are and there are boat trips and water taxi’s zipping about everywhere in the summer. We took Fotografiska‘s own boat, which operates throughout the Summer months over to the contemporary photographic museum, which is housed in a former customs house right on the water front. The boat trip was lovely with chilled music and a bar available on board. You arrive at the front of the museum which has a veranda serving food and drinks and often a DJ playing a set, so you can literally spend a good couple of hours once there. We saw the photography exhibition by designer Shepard Fairey who launched the skate label Obey which was excellent. Other recent exhibitions have included Cindy Sherman, Peter Lindberg & Terry O’Neil. There is also a really good and well stocked gift shop. If you’re there on a Saturday or Sunday, they famously serve a sharing brunch with a glass of bubbly from their Green Michelin star award winning bistro, which has been named as Swedens most sustainable restaurant.

Taking to the water to travel to Fotografiska

Fotografiska Stockholm photo credit Travel Cow

Some of the works on display at the Shepard Fairey Obey Exhibition including Manchester’s own Ian Curtis

Fika

Fika meaning to take coffee and cake, is a tradition in Sweden and a daily occurence, the most famous pastry of choice being the cinnamon bun. There are coffee and cake shops everywhere but some of the most famous and best are:

Fabrique was established in 2008 baking quality bread, buns and pastries from the best and freshest ingredients and they have branches all over Stockholm so you’ll never be far from one.

Cafe Pascal

Gast Cafe 

photo credit Lynda Gardner

So to summarise Stockholm has so much to offer and it’s a big city. Fortunately it has a great underground system for getting around quickly, that’s cheap, clean and efficient. Bikes are ridden by everyone everywhere and you can hire them easily for longer periods or for short rides by using bikes on the streets by Lime or Bolt and downloading the app to access them. The easiest and cheapest way from the airport to arrive in the city is on the Arlander express which runs from the airport approx every 20 mins into Stockholm centre. Don’t bother taking currency with you as Sweden is an almost cashless society and cards are accepted everywhere, even by taxi drivers. Sweden doesn’t have Euros so it’s not worth taking a currency that you can’t spend anywhere else if you have any left over. English is spoken by the swedes fluently and they are so friendly, helpful and polite. It’s a really safe country, so don’t be concerned if you’re thinking of travelling there alone.

The one question I’ve been asked by most people “is it expensive when you’re there?”

The answer to that it’s not cheap but it’s no more expensive than London is now. To give you a better idea of prices, I always like to compare how much a drink was and how much it was to eat out.So for a G&T and a beer it was the equivalent of £20. For two large sandwiches & 2 cans of San Pellegrino sat at a pavement cafe it was £20. For an average meal in the evening of 3 small plates each & one alcoholic drink each it was around £70-£80. I hope this helps as the horror stories of how expensive Scandinavia was put me off going for a long time and in truth it’s so expensive now in the UK that we’ve probably caught up. 

We will definitely go back to explore more of this stunning city. leave me a dm on my Instagram if you want to ask me anything else or leave me your recommendations for my next visit. You know I love to hear from you x

A Stay at Ett Hem Stockholm designed by Ilse Crawford

I have wanted to stay at Ett Hem ever since it opened in 2012, after a 6 year renovation, which transformed this Arts & Crafts house into a 12 bedroom hotel, so please bare with me while I gush and try to paint a picture of why this small hotel is so special and has been given a “Worlds small luxury hotel” award.

Let me also give you a little background info into why I so wanted to stay at this hotel. One name Ilse Crawford! Ilse Crawford for anyone who doesn’t know her is a half Danish, British born interior designer who launched Elle Decoration in the UK in 1989 as it’s editor. That incidentally was the year I bought my first house with my soon to be husband and Elle decoration quickly became my bible and everything Ilse recommended the gospel to me. She is the sole reason I later studied Interior design at University and qualified as an interior designer.

In 2003 she established her design business Studio Ilse, which designed the Soho House hotels and clubs at that time. Opening Babington House and Soho House New York amongst others. She’s also designed a hugely successful iconic Sinnerlig range for Ikea and pieces for Danish silversmiths Georg Jenson.

Soho House New York

Sinnerlig range for Ikea designed by Studio Ilse

So after listening and learning from everything Ilse Crawford has said or done for the last 35 years you can imagine when it came to celebrating a very big birthday this year, the place I wanted to visit was Stockholm and to stay at Ett Hem.

Ett hem is very hard to describe in words, as it’s all about atmosophere. The name means “A Home” and the owner Jeanette Mix employed Ilse to work her magic making the hotel feel very much like you are staying in a private house. Each room is decorated differently with an eclectic mix of contemporary designs and vintage Scandinavian furniture. There are bright and bold textiles, beautiful lighting and candles giving an ambience to every room, music being played everywhere and a baby grand piano and guitar in one of the lounges which guests are encouraged to play. There is no formal reception area, bar or dining room. Guests pour their own drinks from honesty bars dotted around the house and can eat where ever they choose. In the garden, in the kitchen watching the chefs prepare the food, or in any of the lounges or informal dining areas.

The bedrooms are well considered too with electronic canopies outside which react with the sun to keep the room in shadow, complimentary luxury skin care by Verso and the house perfume created by Fueguia are left in the bathroom for guests to use. There is a yoga mat and dyson hairdryer, linen robes and slippers in the wardrobes and a yoga room, gym and sauna located in the basement for guests use.

The little touches I appreciated, as an interior designer myself, were the simple but thoughtful elements such as a traditional fold away travel alarm clock by the bed and a Georg Jenson silver vacuum jug of iced water placed by your bed in the evening. Both are, I presume, to encourage you not to look at your phone or open the fridge in the room in the middle of the night and disturb your sleep with strong light hitting your eyes.

There are menus available in the hotel, but the chefs can make you anything you fancy eating, providing they have the ingredients, and there is a seasonal menu of small plates which we chose. Every course was prepared using seasonal and local produce, including strawberries and rhubarb which were used in both sweet and savoury ways, lots of fish, some cured, come cooked and meats. Both the bread and butter were made on the premises. It was sublime and I’m still thinking about it now!

Our bedroom and all the public rooms had a wide range of coffee table books to read, including some of Ilse Crawfords design books, art, fashion and photography books. There are bikes you can take out to explore Stockholm and later in the evening, after dinner, there is a garden or glass houses you can sit and take your drinks into and wait to see the midnight sun. In the summer when we were there, the sky gets ever so gradually duskier until just after midnight when it goes dark for a few hours until the sun starts to rise again. Summer in Stockholm is endless light skies. The staff light fire pits and there are baskets of cosy blankets dotted around to keep the midnight chill from you. The glass houses twinkle with festival lights strewn across the ceiling and candles twinkle on the table tops.

We took breakfast in the garden which is in the centre of the two houses the hotel owns. The Arts & Crafts house next door was bought in 2022, extending the hotel to twice the size, but still intimite enough to feel like a beautiful home from home.

Again breakfast was healthy seasonal and local. Great home made yoghurt with fruit, fresh salad, meats and cheeses, home baked bread with eggs, fresh juices, good coffee and any type of tea you prefer.

I dream of going back in the Winter for the Christmas markets in Stockholm. I can only imagine how cosy the hotel will be with all the open fires lit and a multitude of candles burning and the Winter seasonal menu would be amazing.

If you would like to read more about Ilse Crawfords design philosophy, she has a few books available. Some that I have had for years and return to time and time again are Sensual Home & Home is Where The Heart is. Available from resale sites.

A more recent book which is more readily available is A Frame for Life.

The Creative Studio of Visual Story Teller Alejandra Sinclair

I can’t remember how long I’ve been following Alejandra on Instagram but she was definitely one of the first people whose images captured my imagination and after many years of online chat and commenting on each others images, we finally met when Ale came over to my studio one day and captured me at work. We instantly connected over our love of travel, antiques, work, me as an interiors stylist, Alejandra as a visual fashion stylist for a large High Street retailer.

When Ale sent me the images of our day together, I couldn’t believe how perfectly she’d captured me on her camera. I really dislike, ok then hate, having my photograph taken and I never think any of the images look like me somehow. “I know” I can hear you all saying, “that’s what I think too” but to truly capture the essence of someone is a very difficult thing to do and yet she did. To this day it is still my favourite, dare I say only photograph of myself that I’m happy with. She is a rare talent indeed and part of that talent is that I didn’t really even realise she was taking my photograph, so at ease did I feel as we chatted away.

So when she told me excitedly that she had moved to a new studio in a beautiful historic windmill and she wanted me to come and see it, I didn’t need to be asked twice. I knew it would be something special and romantic. Romance and beauty are at the core of Ale’s work and everything she looks for in her inspirations. It is a wonderful building in a lovely part of Lancashire and I wanted to share it and Ale’s work with you.

Originally from Argentina, Alejandra moved to the UK in 2017 after meeting her husband Phil who was in Argentina for work. As well as falling in love with her husband, Ale also fell in love with the UK and the beautiful country side around her new home. Nature has been a constant source of inspiration to her and is the very essence of her work as a photographer.

Having been gifted her first reflex camera whilst still living in Argentina, she took a short course to learn the very basics of how to use it and immediately became obsessed with the medium of photography and how she could express her romantic nature through it’s lens. She further developed and honed her style, influenced by her move to the UK and it’s changing seasons and rural landscapes, so different from her country of birth.

“My curiosity has been a really helpful tool to discover and learn more about photography” she says.

Further inspired by her love of the Dutch masters paintings, who used flowers and nature in their work, Ale has developed a style of photography which is formed in a similar way, using pockets of light and shade and a depth of colour which is both nostalgic and romantic.

Ale’s first small studio was located at Cedar Farm in Mawdesley Lancashire, where she was encouraged to exhibit her work in their gallery space and then in late 2023 she was given the opportunity of her own studio, in an disused part of a windmill, in Parbold Lancashire, which is also home to an art gallery. Bordering the Leeds/Liverpool canal the studio is as romantic as Ale’s work and the perfect space for her to create her story evoking photography and for her to meet and chat with new clients.

“The first time I saw the windmill, I knew it was the perfect place for me without even seeing the inside” says Ale. “I fell completely in love with the history of the building, the period windows and the surrounding bucolic views. What I love most about my studio is the light, everything starts from there and the seasons I see unfolding are always at the heart of the story I’m telling with my camera. The surroundings through the window of my studio and the inspiration I get from them are endless.”

The windmill was built in 1794, 20 years after the canal was first opened and was originally part of the flour industry in the area. Built from local sandstone and 5 storey’s tall, Ale’s studio is housed on the ground floor with sweeping views of the canal, which she likes to call her little Venice, and the perfect place to watch the changing seasons which inspire her styling.

The interior has been painted white to maximise the light and the deep window recess holds all the incidental props Ale needs to hand, with mother nature providing the rest.

“The props used are antique or vintage treasures sourced from charity shops, flea markets or online dealers. I love elements that have a story behind them and I am particularly drawn to objects that have texture and irregularities created from time passing and continued use over many years” The majority of the props Ale uses are flora or fauna, seashells and feathers gathered from her walks. “I always find something wherever I go.” She says.

To add further texture and interest to Ale’s shots, simple fabric backdrops are hung from a pole across a trestle table on which her expressive creations come to life. 

Since moving to the UK Ale has become a mother to her son Benjamin and although she works part time in retail her photography work has been gathering pace and she has a portfolio of both wedding and portrait photography, is awaiting the publication of a book she has been commissioned to take the images for and has held exhibitions and sold prints of her work to private customers.

As nature and flowers are such a huge inspiration Ale has worked on creating a photography and floral styling workshop with her friend Annabel of The Contented Mole which has informed Ale’s current exhibition at Cedar Farm, a series of framed pressed flowers layered on ephemera, combining all of her greatest passions, nature, beauty and nostalgia.

Memories of life growing up on a ranch in Argentina and the people she was surrounded by there who she holds dear, together with the new landscape of her adoptive country are woven throughout Alejandra’s evocative and expressive work.

You can see more of Alejandra’s work and contact her for commissions through her website below or via dm on her instagram

All above images are by Alejandra Sinclair.

 

Visiting malaga & Granada – Where to visit, Eat & Sleep

Last year we spent a week in Malaga and took a 48 hour road trip to Granada. I don’t know why it’s took me so long to write a blog post about our trip, as it was fantastic in every way and I can’t recommend the city of Malaga enough for a holiday. It has everything that, I personally, could certainly want from a city. A few friends who are visiting this year have asked for my recommendations and so this pushed me to write this post for them and anybody else that might be thinking of visiting this Andalusian city.

Malaga has a beautiful old city centre full of wonderful architecture, lots of museums and galleries, great and affordable food and a beach for that all important RnR.

This blog post will mainly focus on Malaga, as we only stayed overnight in Granada. But we did have a walk around the city, albeit in 42 degree heat, we visited the Alhambra Palace and we ate in a fantastic authentic established tapas bar, so I’ll share all that here with you too. Granada is easily accessed by public transport from Malaga and takes approx 2 hours. We took the bus which skirts the Sierra Nevada area of spain and so is a lovely scenic journey. You can also get the train and of course hire a car. The bus’s and trains are a couple of times a day and booking your tickets ahead of your trip is advisible and I’ll add a link below to how we booked ours.

Alsa bus’s run from malaga to Granada.

Stay.

So first things first where to stay in Malaga? I can’t recommend our hotel enough. H10 Croma Malaga was built in 2022, so everything was almost brand new & was very stylish. The bed in our room was the hugest bed I’ve ever slept in and so comfortable. The walk in shower and bathroom were beautifully designed and the balcony overlooking the city was a lovely place to sit after a day sight seeing, before going out for dinner. There was the added extra of a pool on the roof, which was small but adequate and just a lovely area to sit for an hour or two, have some lunch, or a drink, and relax. The only down side was that we were there in July, so the busy season, and there were only 10 sun longers for sunbathing, which we were never lucky enough to grab in time. In the evening there was often a DJ set and it was so nice to come back in after dinner in the city and relax on the roof with a drink and listen to some music. The breakfast was also fantastic. Around £20 per person but as much as you wanted to eat, all very well cooked and lots of choice.

The Tiled shaded balcony in a our room, with views over the city.

Walk.

The historic city centre is stunning. Plaza de la Constitution is surrounded by large colonial type old buildings, with weathered wooden shutters opening onto a large square,flanked by palm trees. Off this square run many charming pedestrian roads full of tapas bars and shops. You can spend hours wandering these streets.

You’ll find Malaga Cathedral or Catedral de la Encarnación de Málaga as it’s correctly known,in this historic area. I can’t show you in my photographs how huge and ostentatiously decorated it is. You will have to see it for yourself but it is magnificent.

Playa La Malagueta beach is a short walk from the historic centre and although it’s not the prettiest beach I’ve been to, it is worth a visit. Hire a sun lounger and umbrella for around 10 euros a day and watch the locals, drink some sangria and have lunch or dinner in one of the many Chiringuito’s lining the beach. I’ll recommend a couple under the eating section which specialise in seafood and sardines cooked on a lartge charcoal BBQ.

Image via Agoda.com

On the walk from the centre of the city to the beach, you’ll approach the port of Malaga. This is a pleasant place to walk as it’s been covered with a concrete canopy which is both necessary to shade you from the sun but also lovely to look at. Along the promenade there are many places to stop and eat and as you get nearer to the beach, there is a stage erected where there’ll often be bands playing live music and a permanant market selling crafts and clothes. There are also a selection of more modern type restaurants such as a branch of The Hard Rock cafe.

If you want to see some ancient history there are some roman ruins in Malaga. The Teatro Romano de Malaga are small but worth a look and the area around it has been paved and pedestrianised and you’ll find lots of upmarket restaurants and bars around here, including El Pimpi a famous restaurant now owned by actor Antonio Banderas who was born in Malaga.

Visit.

As Malaga is the birth place of Picasso, there are quite a few art galleries in the city.

As you might expect, there is a gallery dedicated entirely to the work Malaga’s most famous son.https://www.museopicassomalaga.org/en

You can also visit the birthplace of Picasso and his home which is on 3 floors and houses some of his early works and that of his fathers, along with some of Picasso’s ceramics, with a research library on the third floor.

As it would have been Picasso’s 100th birthday in 2023 and so there were lots of smaller exhibitions of his work in the city. We visited one at the bullring near to Malagueta beach.The photography exhibition consisted of Picasso and his friends, various wives and lovers at the bullring which opened in 1876 and which he frequented regularly. Many of his works feature bulls. Surprisingly, the bull ring is still open and active & if you are interested in the culture of bull fighting and matadors, there is a permanent exhibtion dedicated to this at La Malagueta Bullring, which was dedicated a historic artistic site in 1976. It’s definitely not something I’m interested in or condone although the photography exhibition was excellent.

The Carmen Thyssenn Museum features a permanent collection of historic art housed in a beautiful 16th Century renaissance building. There are a series of regular changing exhibitions of more modern art. Recent exhibitons at the time of writing include Man Ray photography and emerging modern art in Spain before the civil war in 1936.

If modern art is your thing, there is a small Pompidou centre down by the port of Malaga. This summer’s exhibition is Breton and surrealism.

After all that sight seeing, culture and food, you might just need to relax? Book yourself into The Hammam Al Ándalus. These hammam baths are built on the site of an ancient 16th Century Roman baths and for 1.5 hours you can emerse yourself into the waters and have a deep or relaxing massage. Booking ahead during the busy summer season is advisable.

Shop.

The shops around the historic centre are a mix of traditional and modern. You’ll find shops dedicated to just hats or fans, amazing food shops where you can choose the finest Iberico hams, or some very cool clothes & shoe shops. One of my favourite brands sold in independant shops in the UK is Paloma Nice Things but as it’s a Spanish label, there is a store in Malaga and it’s much cheaper to buy here than in the UK. We also visited Mosaico vintage shop and found a few bargains. there are several other vintage clothes shops if that’s your thing. Peninsula and Flamingo Vintage Kilo are two more and there are department stores and shopping centres further from the centre. As an antique dealer, I also try and find the local antique shops. Malaga has a couple but the best one,Antigüedades Los Remedios, was closed on my visit, even though it was supposed to be open, so I think opening hours are a bit hit and miss with the dealers here?

Eat.

I can honestly say we never ate a bad meal in Malaga. I don’t think you can go wrong with the Tapas particularly as competition is so fierce, they are all excellent and so reasonably priced. But some of the best meals we ate & where we ate them are mentioned below. Booking is highly recommended as these are very popular with locals and visitors to the city.

El Pimpi is currently owned by actor Antonio Banderas although the establishment is a very old . This restaurant serves traditional tapas with some very unusual dishes which I’ve never tried before. The restaurant is large and bustling, with a large terrace for alfresco dining at the front. Diners who haven’t pre booked can queue at the front of the restaurant and wait for a table. We had to do this as we hadn’t pre booked and we got a table quite quickly inside as there were only 2 of us.

El mason de crevantes is very unassuming from the outside but this very popular local restaurant is much bigger inside than expected and the food is amazing. Most defintely the best meal we ate in the week we were there, which is a huge statement as everything we ate was so good. More expensive than most other restaurants, around £100 for two, but worth it.

Casa Lola has 3 establishments very close to each other in Malaga. Always busy, very hard to get into unless pre booked but great and very reasonably priced food.

If you can’t book any of these restaurants, just walk around the historic centre and choose any of the busy tapas restaurants and you will be very happy with what you get served.

Mercado Central de Atarazanas is the food market on the outskirts of the old town, very close to the hotel we were staying in. If you aim to get there around 11.00am you’ll be just in time for lunch to start being cooked by the various stall holders. Grab a seat outside and order freshly cooked seafood with a beer or sangria or the huevos rancheros which I ordered and was delicious. You can literally eat here for around 10-15 euros each with drinks!

Chiringuitos are beach side restaurants and there are lots of them in Malaga. One of the best on Malagueta beach is El Tintero where the waiters walk around with large trays of ready cooked food and you just put up your hand if you fancy the look of the dish. The dishes you’ve had are then written on the paper table cloth and that’s your bill to pay at the end of your meal! Simple and delicious.

For other popular chiringuitos in Malaga I’ve added a link below.

Granada

Granada is a beautiful city, only 2 hours on public transport from Malaga. We got the bus from Malaga central bus depot and booked it in advance through Alsa.

We booked a hotel very close to The Alhambra palace as we were only staying for one night, with the sole purpose of our trip to visit the palace. We stayed at Hotel casa Morisca. Hotels in Granada are very cheap compared to other cities and this was around £80 for the night for two of us. It was an old thick stone walled building, keeping it naturally cool, very traditional with an inner courtyard and surrounded by shops, restaurants and bars in the old quarter. The bus stop up to The Alhambra was a short walk in the morning and they run regularly up and down the hill to the palace.

When we arrived in Granada it was July and Spain was in the grip of a heat wave. So the 42 degree temperatures really stopped us exploring the city as much as we’d have liked to. We dropped our bags at the hotel, went into the city centre to get some lunch and then took the bus up to The Alhambra Palace.

The Palace is stunning and everything I imagined it would be, but due to the intense heat we didn’t really explore the gardens as much as I would have liked to. A word of warning if you’re visiting, security is intense! You have to take your passport and we must have been asked 7 times by security if they could look at it. You are allocated a time slot for your visit when you book and pre booking is essential, and if you’re late for your slot, you are refused entry. I know this, as the group in front of us in the queue to go through the final security check, were refused entry and left in tears. Be warned!

You can pre book your tickets for entry here

The view of Granada from The Alhambra Palace.

Saying all of that, it is the most stunning building with views over Granada and beyond and the cratsmanship in the detailed carving of the stone, which is the full script of the Quran, has to be seen to be believed.

After our visit to The Alhambra we changed for dinner and then went to one of the oldest tapas bars in Granada,Bodegas Castaneda, recommended by a friend. Out of season,when she was there, you’re given free tapas for every drink you have, if you stand at the bar. Obviously as we were there in July we couldn’t do that as it was packed to the gills, but we managed to get a table and ordered the mixed platter of tapas and with 3 drinks each, still only paid 45 euros! Highly recommended, full of atmosphere and fantastic food.

Our plan was to spend the rest of the second day in Granada exploring the city but as it was so hot we changed our plans and got the early 10.00am bus back to Malaga where it was slightly cooler due to it being by the coast. The roof top pool was never more welcome when we returned back to our hotel.

Image via H10 Croma Malaga

If you’re staying in Granada I would recommend taking in a Flamenco show in the evening. In the old part of the city you’ll find lots of booking offices for the shows. Granada is the home of Flamenco and is a serious art there. There is even a museum dedicated to it and the lifestyle of the gypsies that created it. https://sacromontegranada.com

I’d also recommend a visit to an amazing perfume shop we visited which was on the road leading to our hotel in the historic part of the city. This historic renaissance 16th Century palace is now home to a perfume distillery, patio de los Perfumes, where you can buy off the shelf blended scents or have your own created. You can also buy incense and oils to burn and really good facial oils. It’s a beautiful environment to shop and the scents are stunning. We are still burning the heady incense sticks and myrrh we bought there.

Image via patio de los Perfumes

So in a nutshell Malaga is a city I’ll definitely be revisiting. There is much to offer, it’s a short flight from the UK, prices are still very reasonable compared to many other European cities and there is a beach for an added mix of relaxation in with sight seeing.