Europe 2014- Around Stockholm

Rather than my usual travel review post, this one is dedicated to a ton of pictures that we took while spending an afternoon walking around Stockholm. These were taken as we made our way from the Palace to the Abba Museum. Stockholm is a stunning city with a surprise around every corner.

As we were leaving Old Town, we walked down a narrow alley and saw this unusual Smart Sports Car. As Smart Car owners, we had Smart Car envy and imagined showing up at our local Smart Car Enthusiast club ( the SoCal Smarties) with one of these!

Stockholm has a ton of bridges and Dan took this panorama as we walked out of Old Town.

We walked under a series of enormous arches and towards a performing arts center. The musical Chicago was the current production. I would have loved to have seen Cell Block Tango done in Swedish!

We walked around a shopping district with an indoor mall and a home furnishing store that sold adorable animal themed objects. I want the leather hippo.

One of the prettiest areas was a huge park with a reflection pool, ornate water fountain and a TGI Fridays " American" restaurant. No, we did not eat at Fridays.

We walked through an art college, where we discovered a very cool sculpture garden.

We took a pretty walk near the National Museum of Art ( next visit!), past the Grand Hotel and over a gorgeous bridge with crown sculptures in the center. Crowns are a repeated theme all over Sweden.

We saw guards on horseback parading through the town. So different from home in Los Angeles.

Eventually, we reached the ferry dock.

The dock had a button that we had to push to call the ferry over.

After about twenty minutes our ferry arrived and it was off to the Abba Museum!

Europe 2014- Old Town Stockholm and Michelangelo

We were hungry and soaking wet after our trip to the Junibacken, so we headed to Old Town Stockholm (Gamla Stan) in search of a restaurant for lunch.

Right off of the ferry dock, we saw a Smart Car Coffee Cafe. Since we are proud Smart Car drivers, we had to take a snap!

Old Town is absolutely beautiful, with most of the buildings dating to the 17th and 18th century, though the town dates to the 13th century. Besides the style, I was really struck with the vibrant colors that the buildings were painted. It's so pretty and the colors really popped against the grey sky.

The narrowest street in Stockholm is Marten Trotzigs Grand.

We ate lunch at an Italian restaurant called Michelangelo. It started to rain when we arrived and the restaurant was packed with people escaping the wet. We had a few pizzas and Tiramisu. Good food, but rather average, especially when compared to our other meals on the trip. The restaurant was covered in pictures of what I assumed to be Swedish celebrities and it felt a bit like Buca Di Beppo in style.

Luckily, we were able to return to Old Town later in the trip. Stay tuned for more pictures!

The Automobile Driving Museum

I consider myself a very active person. I embrace everything that Los Angeles has to offer. There is rarely a weekend that I don't attend a local event, visit a museum or go to a live performance. I love perusing Los Angeles Magazine and LA Weekly with a pen, noting everything that I want to do. If anything, living in the city brings an overwhelming amount of choices.

I've spent my thirty-six years living in Los Angeles and I'm still surprised when I discover something new. Dan and I have belonged to our Smart Car club for about a year and half and in this time, we have had some great new discoveries. I feel like the SoCal Smarties are more than just a car club, it's also a community of great people finding new adventures in the City of Angels.

Last Sunday, we met the SoCal Smarties at The Automobile Diving Museum in El Segundo. The Automobile Driving Museum is very unique, as it is the own known museum that allows visitors to ride in classic cars! We met our group just prior to ten and lined up our cars for display in the parking lot.

The museum is free, but is also a non-profit. so make sure to donate! It's worth it! Quite honestly, we were more impressed with The Automobile Driving Museum than we were with the flashier Peterson Automotive Museum. The Automobile Driving Museum is a lot smaller than the Peterson, but the intimacy allows for a superior experience. The docents were great and even though we didn't take a guided tour, they were very accessible for answering questions and pointing out details.

The Automotive Driving Museum allows you to get very close to the cars, giving visitors the ability to admire the interiors and in most cases, all angles of the vehicles. They have quite a large and varied collection.

When we entered the show room, our eyes immediately went to the Hot Wheels vehicles. I was surprised to learn that the pink suffer van (Volkswagen Beach Bomb) has the record for being the most valuable Hot Wheels collectible.

Dan took all of the pictures for this blog post with his new Panasonic Lumix DMC-G5K Camera. He got "artsy" with some of the pictures, but they really turned out great. The cars were easy subjects with colorful, glossy coats and shiny embellishments. The cars of yesteryear are so much more elegant than those currently on the road.

After signing a liability waiver, we were cleared to take a ride in the three classic cars that the museum had out for tours. The cars are different each week and although subject to change, they post the cars in advance on their website. If you are looking for a ride in a particular vehicle, I would recommend calling up the museum. It's run by a great group of people!

Alan, gave us rides in a 1948 Studebaker Starlight Coupe and in a 1946 Packard Clipper. He was a wonderful guide, giving us plenty of information on both cars, including pointing out various features. I was amazing at all of the leg and headroom, especially in the Packard. This was my first time riding in a car that was older than the 1960's. I felt like I was a movie star in a period movie. The classic car ride is a very special experience that The Automobile Driving Museum offers.