A Castle Staycation - Stockholm, Sweden

The Ulfsunda Castle Hotel is located in Ulvsunda, and is Stockholm’s nearest castle close to the buzz of the city, nature, and cultural attractions. The hotel’s nearest neighbours are Bromma Blocks for shopping and Bromma Airport. With 54 uniquely designed hotel rooms and 10 individual conference and banqueting premises, spa, as well as a restaurant, you have everything you need for a complete hotel stay and your dog is welcome too.

The castle dates back to the 17th Century and was built during the thirty years war 1644-1647, by Lennart Tortensson who was one of Swedens leading generals. The castle was built in a Dutch-German renaissance style, the facades decorated with fresco paintings and the original roof would of been pointed and made of copper. The castle sits on the banks of Ulsundaviken, from where the castle got it's name, ornamental stone staircases lead down to the waters edge where a dock would of once stood welcoming guests who had crossed lake Mälaren by boat. The Torstensson family owned the Ulfsunda Castle until 1727 and fell into the hands of many owners who made the castle their home including Baron von Essen who sadly removed the original copper roof and painted over the facades frescos following the trends of the 19th Century.

Today the castle's exterior features have remained unchanged since those glory days and the stone staircases still remain that lead you up to an open courtyard terrace that is flanked by two wings of the castle, each containing hotel rooms. The front of the hotel is painted in a rich ochre yellow and features white windows topped with greek style pediments and a solid oak front door.

With a study push of the front door you are welcomed into the entranceway with flag stones and an ornate vaulted ceiling. A grand stone staircase leads you to various rooms, including conference rooms, if you want to relax or play a game of pool you’ll find the elaborately decorated music room on the 2nd floor. There you can unwind over a game of chess or even a book while sinking into the comfortable leather sofa, by the intricately carved marble fireplace or admire the ceilings of 17th Century renaissance inspired motifs.

On the entrance floor, you’ll find the restaurant. The restaurant consists of several smaller rooms that gives the feeling of sitting in different chambers. Here you a tasting menu is offered which is well composed and varies depending on the season, think venison, lobster soup, carpaccio fillet beef, rainbow salmon and of course dark chocolate mouse, passion fruit cream with roasted white chocolate. Champagne is the hotels focus and the dishes are created to be enjoyed with the combination of bubbles.

The not to miss hotel breakfast offers a generous buffet with cold and hot dishes. Enjoy baked bread, yogurt, granola, fresh fruits, cold meats, eggs, bacon, and a lot more. The perfect way to start your day in the city of Stockholm.

The hotel room was located in the east wing (Östra Flygeln) a studded wooden door opened into a corridor with rooms running down one side, one swipe of the key card opened the door to the 'Space Room' it's distinctive feature, a glass wall separating the bathroom from the bedroom. The room felt light and airy decorated in a minimalist style, with exposed floor boards, high ceilings and white walls, details of the room consisted of industrial style lighting, that could be controlled remotely, smart TV, adequate storage for coats and comfortable grey armchairs with a view through a small window overlooking the snow covered grounds.

Whether you come for a relaxing weekend trip, a business meeting, or a party, the hotel wants you to feel like a guest of honour and enjoy a golden night at Stockholms nearest castle. Therefore, they have created a homely environment where you should feel like home and as welcome as possible. The hotel is part of Stockholm Meeting Selection and consists of around eight hotels and castles within the county of Stockholm and all unique with their own personal history and character. You can read more about the wonderful and cosy staycations at Staycation Stockholm.

Riding the T-Bana - Stockholm, Sweden

You sometimes find art in the most unlikely of places and beneath Stockholm city is no exception. Under the Swedish capital lies an intricate web of underground train lines called the T-Bana short for Tunnelbana, it translates to 'Tunnel Railway' with three main lines red, blue and green. It's a distinctive metro of more than 100 stations along a 65 mile tunnel system. The T-Bana is sometimes referred to as the world’s longest art gallery because the majority of the stations have been decorated with amazing paintings, installations, mosaics and sculptures by 150 artists since the 1950's as part of Art in the Stockholm Metro project.

During the 1970's building techniques evolved and sprayed concrete was introduced to construct stations, the bland material and the cave like appearance they became known as 'Cave Stations' and there were actual fears that people would associate these cave like stations with the under world or would find them too gloomy so artists were instructed to transform them as they were the ideal blank canvas. The artist's had a vision to make underground travel an experience, not just commuting.

Ever since I discovered this unique metro system, I have always wanted to explore further and photograph more of these intriguing stations so below you'll find my favourites. Let's ride the T-Bana together as we go on a surreal visual journey through my selected stations, I have chosen these stations because of their individuality, their striking designs and vivid colours. We'll begin the journey on the Red T14 Line into the city, joining the Blue T11 Line and then tracing our route back to take the Blue T10 Line towards Duvbo then back to Fridhemsplan changing for the green line towards Odenplan. We start at Tekniska Högsk station then we head down towards T-Centralen (Central Station) change for Kungsträdgården station and then we head north towards Akalla station stopping of at the cool stations along the way. Ready? Lets go!

T14 RED LINE

• Tekniska Högskolan

• Stadion

• T-Centrale

T11 BLUE LINE:

• Kungsträdgården

• Radhuset

• Västra Skogen

• Solna Centrum

• Akalla

T10 BLUE LINE

• Huvudsta

• Solna Strand

• Sundbybergs Centrum

• Duvbo

T17, T18, T19 GREEN LINE

• Odenplan

RED LINE T14

1 / Tekniska Högskolan

Artist: Lennart Mörk

Opened in 1973 Tekniska Högskolan station is near the Royal Institute of Technology unsurprisingly the station is science themed and a large glass polyhedron takes centre stage hanging in between platforms representing one of Plato’s five elements: fire, water, air, earth, and ether.

2 / Stadion

Artist: Åke Pallarp and Enno Hallek

Opened in 1973 the bright blue and the vivid rainbow serves as a reminder that there is a sky not far above. The artists involved in the creation not only wanted to bring the sky underground but also to remind passengers of Stadion’s significance in sport’s history as a previous host for the Olympics.

BLUE LINE T11

3 / Kungsträdgården

Artist: Ulrik Samuelson

Opened in 1977 the station features relics from Kungsträdgården one of Stockholm’s oldest public parks. Translated it means The King’s Garden and the station was inspired by the area’s royal history and the previous site of the majestic Makalös Palace above. Here you'll discover sculptures, pillars, and painted checkerboard murals. It feels like you have fallen down the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland.

4 / T- Centralen

Artist: Per Olof Ultvedt

Opened in 1975 T-Centralen was the first station to feature artwork, the blue colour dominates the station with beautiful painted blue vines on a white back ground, silhouettes of figures also feature on the walls as the artist wanted to commemorate the workers who built the station and the blue colour was used to provide a state of calmness as it is one of the busiest stations in the metro.

5 / Rådhuset

Artist: Sigvard Olsson

Opened in 1975 Rådhuset station is below the Court House and these huge mock foundations represent the footings. Like other stations on the Stockholm metro the station features organic architecture, exposed bedrock as if based on natural cave systems and the artist has included imaginative architectural finds from different periods in Stockholms history.

6 / Västra Skogen

Artist: Sivert Lindblom

Opened in 1975 Västra Skogen means the Western Forest that was previously called The Nothing Forest after a farm nearby was called Nothing. This intriguing history and myths of the forest inspired the artist and the station is represented by colourful ceramic tiles with various patterns offering the commuter a sense of wonder.

7 / Solna Centrum

Artist: Karl-Olov Björk and Anders Åberg

Opened in 1975 Solna Centrum is one of the popular stations to visit because of the striking red colour that dominates the station it offers a feeling of a nether world. The artists used green to represent the forest and red for the evening sun, setting behind the treetops. Originally the walls were supposed to be only green and red but illustrations were painted by the artists to represent some of the most debated societal issues Sweden in the 1970's; the environment, over logging of forests and the depopulation of rural areas.

8 / Akalla

Artist: Birgit Ståhl-Nyberg

Opened in 1977 Akalla is the final stop on Line 11 of the Blue Line, the station features an ochre coloured walls and the work includes ceramic pictures illustrating ideals, daily life, leisure and work of people.

Now we head back to Västra Skogen and change to T10 line towards Hjulsta.

BLUE LINE T10

9 / Huvudsta

Artist: Per Holmberg

Opened in 1985 the artist was inspired by the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. It offers a futuristic atmosphere with contrasting elements of bold colours, bright steel and converging lines.

10 / Solna Strand

Artist: Takashi Naraha

Opened 1985 blue cubes jut out from the cave like ceiling and the dark concrete platform at Solna Strand station, giving the commuter a snippet of a heavenly sky. This contrast of light and the dark is characteristic of Takashi Naraha’s work, the Japanese artist often uses a Ying and Yang theme in his artwork, a balance between light and darkness.

11 / Sundbybergs Centrum

Artist: Lars Kleen

Opened in 1985 the station is a tribute to the city's industrial history and architectural craft. The bold use of colour for the ceiling contrasts with the exposed bedrock and industrial warehouse inspired roof supports.

12 / Duvbo

Artist Gosta Sillén

Opened in 1985 the station features frescoes of fossils and carvings of archaeological remains. It feels like you have travelled down into the centre of the earth passing through a historical timeline of the world.

Now for the final stop, I'm saving the best till last we're taking the blue line towards Fridhemsplan and changing for the green line towards Odenplan

GREEN LINE T17, T18 or T19

13 / Odenplan

Artist: David Svensson

Title: Lifeline

Odenplan has to be one of my favourite stations to photograph, it's a real highlight of the metro system and a stunning design. The station opened in 2017 and it features a captivating installation designed by David Svensson that is situated at the western entrance of the station. Svensson gathered his inspiration from the birth of his baby son and used his sons heartbeat on the CTG monitor during childbirth to create jagged illuminated lines that travel between the upper and lower platforms the effect is mesmerising, the fluorescent white light ricochets off metallic surfaces and reflective floors it creates a wonderful display and is certainly one of Tunnelbana's most eye catching pieces.

Into the Wild - Jämtland, Sweden

Jämtland is a county in central Sweden well known for its beautiful lakes, vast forests and abundant wildlife. It would be my first time experiencing rural Sweden and I couldn't wait to submerge myself into the stunning countryside that I had heard so much about. We set off on a six hour long drive from Stockholm heading north, into the wilderness.

Day 1 / A Place Beyond the Pines - Kluk, Jämtland County, Sweden

We had arrived in a place called Kluk in Jämtland County, and we had chosen to stay in a traditional small cottage painted in the iconic Falu red which is typical of rural buildings across Sweden. The cottage was nestled in an idyllic location in open farmland, surrounded by vast pine forests with panoramic adjacent views over open snow covered fields as far as the eye could see. It was a beautiful sunny morning, greeted with blue skies that reached over the rolling fields that surrounded the cabin, it was the perfect place to relax and unwind, so quiet you really were away from it all.

Day 2 / Breakfast with Reindeers - Kluk, Jämtland County, Sweden

Waking up it was a cold crisp morning outside, it was our first day and we were eager to go out and explore, just after breakfast we greeted by our host Ulrika, smiling and enthusiastic she was keen to show us her Reindeer. We wrapped ourselves up extra warm and ventured off across the slippery ice covered yard, and over an open field with the sound of crunching snow under foot. In the distance I could see some movement against the leafy backdrop, I could just make out the unmistakable outline of antlers as we walked closer I was actually seeing Reindeer for the very first time and they were so beautiful and majestic it felt like I had walked into a Christmas scene, it was magical. Ulrika opened the gate to the pen and we were introduced to five gentle Reindeer, she handed me some of their favourite food, fresh lichen and we enjoyed an unforgettable moment of reindeer eating from our hands.

A building painted in Falu red. The red pigment first emerged as a by-product of the mining industry in an area of Sweden called Falun, during the 17th century the colour was commonly used on smaller wooden buildings, where it was intended to imitate the more lavish and luxurious homes made of brick.

Day 3 / Frozen in Time - Ristafallet Waterfall, Undersåker, Sweden

A waterfall frozen in time, the mighty Ristafallet waterfall is one of Sweden's most beautiful waterfalls situated in a naturte reserve in Jämtland, Sweden. Ristafallet is easily accessible by walking down a pine needle covered path between winding between the trees they slowly revealed an impressive frozen structure. The winter months gives you an opportunity to see an enchanting spectacle of cascading ice that envelopes the granite rocks. It was a perfect sunny day and the ice, glowed with a blue and green hue, glistening in the sunlight it created the perfect photo opportunity.

Day 4 / At One with Nature - Tännforsen Waterfall, Åre, Sweden

A gentle descent down pine tree lined path way slowly echoes with the deep thundering sound of water and the trees part and reveal Tännforsen waterfall, a very impressive sight and certainly stands up to its title as Swedens largest waterfall. In winter it is wrapped in a beautiful and dramatic ice shroud, torrents of melt water from the lake above roars over the edge and down to the vast lake below. Taking amount to photograph this special location perched on a rock above the water you get a sense of the scale and a deeper connection to your surroundings naturally feeling at one with nature.