So we booked the two-night New Year Package arriving down from Dublin Thurs. 31 Dec 2009.  As an extra treat we flew down to Cork with Aer Arann and took a taxi to the hotel.  The Hayfield Manor hotel is a gorgeous manor opposite the grounds of UCC.  Our first impressions were great as we were met by the valet who helped us with our luggage. He was very friendly and helpful as he showed us to our room.  We admired the lovely Christmas decorations and roaring log fires everywhere. 

Sweden is an amazing country, known for its clean streets, successful welfare and great design.  But none of those things are as well-known or as popular as its famous exports – ABBA, IKEA, Volvo & Saab cars, Spotify  …and Minecraft if you’re a gamer.  I’m old enough to remember ABBA’s Eurovision win in 1974 and no Christmas Party is complete for me without belting out “Dancing Queen” 😂. 

But this blog isn’t about any of Sweden’s exports….instead it’s about the country’s gorgeous capital city, Stockholm, which I had the pleasure of visiting several times when I worked for Sunrock (the Japanese Aircraft Leasing Company).  On one particular business trip in the Autumn of 1996 I was treated to a memorable walking tour of the city by our business partners during our “down time”.  Poor Sven pulled the short straw in having to show me around….but I’ll be forever grateful for the day we spent exploring this gorgeous city.  This is what we saw that day (and apologies for the quality of the photos, I didn’t have a smart phone back then).