How Do You Say "Sale" In Swedish?

Christmas is coming to an end... now comes the time that Swedes call Mellandagarna, meaning "middle days", which is the time between Christmas and New Years. It is the big shopping week here in Sweden and all types of stores drop their prices to get rid of excess stock brought in for Christmas. Wherever you go in Stockholm you will see signs that say REA! which is Swedish for "sale", or perhaps MELLANDAGSREA!

Where to go for the sales? The best place is the downtown area which has the highest concentration of stores. A great place to start is the NK Department Store which is located at the head of Kungsträdgården park. A beautiful store, here you will find everything from food to bedding to clothes to interior design. Across the street (kitty corner) you have the Gallerian Shopping Center with loads of stores. If you exit NK at the basement level you come to Sergelgången, an underground passageway lined with stores and leading to the Sergels torg square. At the far end of the square you come to a street that bisects the square called Drottninggatan (Queen's Street). This pedestrian street is a shopping mecca... heading north you'll first find Åhlen's Department Store and a couple of blocks later the PUB Department Store which is on the corner of Drottninggatan and Kungsgatan (King's Street). Heading east on Kungsgatan, you come to a high concentration of electronic stores like On/Off, Siba and Elgiganten. At the end of Kungsgatan you come to the posh district of Stureplan. Right on Stureplan square you have the Sturegallerian Shopping Center. This whole area, including the street Biblioteksgatan, is where you will find the high-end designer shops. To the east of Stureplan is Östermalm, a great place to find interior design stores... like Svensk Tenn.
That pretty much gives you a good overview of the downtown area. If you think it's too cold to fight the crowds in town, then you can find some great shopping closer to the Rival Hotel. Within a 10-15 minute walk of the hotel we have the pedestrian street Götgatsbacken, the shopping center Skrapan and the hip neighborhood of SoFo... all of which I have written about earlier.
Happy Shopping! For more shopping tips, click here!
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Merry Christmas!

Lots of snow out there! We are having a cozy, white Christmas here at the Rival Hotel!

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and safe holiday season... lots of winter travel disruptions out there, hope everyone gets to where they are going safe & sound.

Don't forget to join us on Facebook for more hotel information and deals!
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Merry Christmas!!!

A picture of part of Stockholm's annual holiday light display... this one located at Sergels Torg. I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

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Christmas Mass in Stockholm 2013

EDIT: These times are from 2013. For current information, click here!
Almost all churches (of all denominations) have some type Christmas Mass this weekend. Close to the Rival Hotel we have two churches one Lutheran and one Catholic. The Lutheran churches will have services almost exclisively in Swedish, while the Catholic churches offer services in several languages.

Katarina Church (Lutheran) has a late night mass on the 24th at 11.30pm, otherwise they have a Christmas prayer at 5pm. On the 25th they have Christmas Mass at 11am. These services are in Swedish.

The main Catholic church in Stockholm is called Katolska Domkyrkan and is just a 10-15 minute walk from the hotel. They have the following mass times:

December 24th
8am- Swedish
9pm- Italian
10pm- Croatian
12am- Midnight Mass (in Swedish or Latin I assume, no language given on website)

December 25th
8:45am- Italian
11am- High Mass (in Swedish or Latin, I assume)
2pm- Spanish
3:30pm- Maronite Rite
5pm- Polish
6:30pm- Swedish

If you are looking for a Catholic Mass in English, you will have to head to the downtown area... to St Eugenia Church. They have a midnight mass on the 24th and a mass at 6pm on the 25th and 26th. All three in English!
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What to do on Christmas Weekend?

Edit: note the no swimming sign!

If you need a little help in planning in what to do while in Stockholm over the Christmas weekend, here are some options of things that are open & running day to day...

Friday, December 24th

Museums- Skansen is open from 10am to 2pm. Free entrance! The Stockholm Jewish Museum is also open from 12pm to 4pm. All other major museums are closed.
The changing of the guards at the Royal Palace in the Old Town: 12:15pm
Tours- Strömma offers the Hop-on Hop-off bus tour, Panorama bus tour as well as the Winter boat tour everyday all weekend.
Restaurants- Plan to eat at a hotel restaurant, any other restaurant of quality will be closed. The Rival Bistro is open!
Stores- many open, with shorter hours. NK Department store open 10am to 2pm. Gallerian shopping center open 10am to 2pm. Skrapan shopping center open 10am to 2pm.

Saturday, December 25th

Museums- Skansen, Fotografiska and the East Asian Antiquities Museum (where you can see the Terracotta Warrior Exhibition) are all open.
The changing of the guards at the Royal Palace in the Old Town: 1:15pm
Tours- Strömma offers the Hop-on Hop-off bus tour, Panorama bus tour as well as the Winter boat tour everyday all weekend.
Other activities- Ice skating at Kungsträdgården from 11am to 8pm. Hammarbybacken is open for skiing 11am to 4pm.
Restaurants- Besides hotel restaurants, a few other restaurants open for business. Especially in the Stureplan neighborhood.
Stores- Most are closed, including NK, Gallerian and Skrapan.

Sunday, December 26th

Museums- all major museums, including the Vasa Museum, are open for business.
The changing of the guards at the Royal Palace in the Old Town: 1:15pm
Tours- Strömma offers the Hop-on Hop-off bus tour, Panorama bus tour as well as the Winter boat tour everyday all weekend.
Other activities- Ice skating at Kungsträdgården from 11am to 8pm. Hammarbybacken is open for skiing 9am to 6pm.
Restaurants- many more restaurants are open for business, but it is a Sunday... so restaurants that are generally closed on Sundays will be closed today!
Stores- Open for business again! NK Department store open 12pm to 5pm. Gallerian shopping center open 10am to 6pm. Skrapan shopping center open 11am to 6pm.

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Church Services on Christmas and New Year's 2013

Storkyrkan at the top...

And finally, after info about restaurants, museums and shopping during the holidays, church services! The two main Christian denominations in Sweden are Lutheran and Catholicism. There are, of course, many churches spread throughout Stockholm... but I will concentrate on the larger churches (more likely to have services in languages other than Swedish). If you are staying at the Rival Hotel and are interested in other churches or religions (Judaism, Islam, etc;), come speak with us directly.

Storkyrkan (Lutheran)- Located in Gamla Stan.
-December 24th: 4:30pm Christmas music and prayer. 11pm Midnight Mass (in Swedish).
-December 25th: 07:00am traditional early morning service called Julotta. 11:00am High Mass (both in Swedish).
-January 1st: 11:00am High Mass (in Swedish). 4:00pm New Year's Concert.

St Jacobs Kyrka (Lutheran)- Located next to Kungsträdgården.
-December 24th: 5:00pm Christmas service ("with lots of music and singing. No communion").

Katolska Domkyrkan (Catholic)- Main Catholic Church in Sweden. Located on Södermalm. there are plenty more service times, the ones listed below are "highlights".
-December 24th: 8:00am mass in Swedish, 9:00pm mass in Italian, 10:00am mass in Croatian and a midnight mass with Bishop Anders Aborelius (at midnight!).
-December 25th: 8:45am mass in Italian, 11:00am Pontifical High Mass with Bishop Anders Aborelius, 2:00pm mass in Swedish, 5:00pm mass in Polish and 6:30pm mass in Swedish.
-December 31st: 5:00pm Thanksgiving Mass with "Te Deum".
-January 1st: 11:00am High Mass (language?), 12:30pm mass in Croatian, 2:00pm mass in Spanish and 6:30pm mass in Swedish.

St Eugenia (Catholic)- Located next to Kungsträdgården. Below are also just "highlights", many other days and times for masses. But the good thing to know is that St Eugenia is the place to go for Catholic mass in English.
-December 24th: 7:30pm Christmas prayer, 8:00pm open house, 10:00pm Christmas mass (Swedish) and midnight Christmas mass (in English).
-December 25th: 11:00am High Mass (Swedish) and 6:00pm High Mass (English).
-December 31st: 4:00pm Year's end mass (Swedish).
-January 1st: 11:00am High Mass (Swedish) and 6:00pm High Mass (English).

I am now off for a week... spending the holidays with family in northern Sweden (Luleå). I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Riddarholmen Church- no services, but pretty to look at!

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Stores and Subways on Christmas & New Year's 2013

NK with holiday decorations!

So far I've covered restaurants and museums during the holidays... now on to stores and public transportation! Stores and boutiques all, of course, have their own individual opening hours. But you can generally say that they close early on December 24th & 31st and are closed on December 25th and January 1st. There are always exceptions to the rule! Here are the special holiday opening hours for some of the larger department stores and shopping centers. Take a look at their websites for information about other specific dates.

• NK department store: open from 10am to 9pm on the days leading up to Christmas. 10am to 2pm on December24th, closed on December 25th, open from 10am to 5pm to December 31st and closed on January 1st.
• Åhlens City department store: open from 10am to 10pm on the days leading up to Christmas. 10am to 2pm on December24th, closed on December 25th, open from 10am to 6pm to December 31st and closed on January 1st.
• Mood shopping center: 10am to 2pm on December24th, closed on December 25th, open from 10am to 5pm to December 31st and closed on January 1st.
• Gallerian shopping center:  open from 10am to 8pm on the days leading up to Christmas. 10am to 2pm on December24th, closed on December 25th, open from 11am to 5pm to December 31st and closed on January 1st.
• Sturegallerian shopping center: open from 10am to 8pm on the days leading up to Christmas. 10am to 2pm on December24th, closed on December 25th, open from 10am to 2pm to December 31st and closed on January 1st.
• Skrapan shopping center: open from 10am to 8pm on the days leading up to Christmas. 10am to 2pm on December24th, closed on December 25th, open from 10am to 4pm to December 31st and closed on January 1st.
• Barkarby Outlets: closed on December 24th, 25th, 31st and January 1st.
• Systembolaget (state run liquor stores): They are closed on Sundays, December 24th, 25th and 26th. On December 31st they close at 2pm and are completely closed on January 1st. So... plan your shopping wisely!

The days in between Christmas and New Year's are called mellandagarna ("middle days") and are some of the biggest shopping days of the year. This is due to the sales! Keep your eyes open for signs saying rea ("sale") or mellandagsrea ("middle day sale"). Buying electronics is especially popular during these days.

Public transportation runs a little differently during the holidays... several days on a Saturday schedule (less frequently) or Sunday schedule (even less frequently). Of specific interest is the night schedule for the subways. Here are the subway's hours on specific days:

• December 24th- 10 minute traffic until 3pm, half hour traffic in the evening and no traffic at night.
• December 25th- "Sunday schedule" starting at 6am, including the night (25-26th).
• December 26th- "Sunday schedule" all day, however no traffic at night (26-27th).
• December 31st- "Saturday schedule" all day and all night (31-1st).
• January 1st- Regular "Sunday schedule". 

One note for busses: they cordon offthe area around Slussen from motor vehicle traffic starting at 8:30pm on December 31st (until after midnight). This is because of the fireworks and that people tend to congregate there. This means that several bus lines going through Slussen will be rerouted. If you are out at night and there are no subways and you don't want to deal with busses... you can take a taxi. But be aware of which taxi you take! We recommend Taxi Stockholm. If you are staying at the Rival Hotel, contact us if you need help in organizing a taxi. It is notoriously hard to get a taxi late on New Year's Eve and the taxi companies don't accept pre bookings on this date... so you might want to plan on walking or taking the subway (just in case). 

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Countdown to Christmas- Part 3!

Christmas tree inside NK...

I had a wonderful weekend showing visiting relatives around a Christmassy Stockholm. We visited several Christmas markets, saw the window displays at NK, ate a Christmas smogasbord (julbord) at Mr French and took in a Lucia concert at St Jacob's church. All that was missing was some snow!

Lucia procession in St Jacob's church.

I am not writing this just to brag about my weekend... but to pass on a little tip! We did manage also to visit the gingerbread house competition/display at the Center for Architecture & Design. This is an annual competition where three categories of contestants can participate: children under 12, amateur bakers as well as professional designers, bakers and architects. This year's theme is "future forms" and it was great to especially see how some children view the future (very whimsical and creative).

Speaking of children... this is a popular place to visit if you are in Stockholm with kiddies. Especially as the entrance to the exhibit is free! So you can always drag your kids to next-door Moderna (modern art museum) by bribing them with a visit to the gingerbread house display afterwards. The winners have already been determined (after a vote by the public), but all of the designs can be viewed until January 5th.

The Center is located on the island of Skeppsholmen. You can get there from the Rival Hotel by either a nice walk through Gamla Stan and then across the bridge to Skeppsholmen or by taking the Djurgård ferry from Slussen (10 minute trip). Just make sure you tell them that you wish to disembark at Skeppsholmen as they stop there only on request during the low season.

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AN christmas, design, museum