Well if you move to Stockholm and hear around people, where to go out and club, everyone will talk about this mystic place Trädgården or also known as "Under Bron" (Under the Bridge).

Basically this is the place to be on a long warm swedish summer night (unfortunately not happening that often this year) 

The place is built more like a constant festival under the bridge leading from Södermalm to Hammarby. The area is quite big and rebuilt every season. In winter the area is much smaller and only inside, while in summer there is a huge open air space with wooden benches, a restaurant, swings and anything your festival spirit needs. 

Quite nerdy are also the pingong tables all around the yard. Swedish people love to play games (some say it helps them avoid talking). If you want to keep this moment forever, you can take shoots in one of the photo boxes. 

If you do not want so socialize at all, you can even play super mario on a huge projected screen. This is super cool, but you have to wait quite long, if a pro is in action until you get your turn. 

In the back, higher area, which you can access through the clubs or by some small side stairs, you can find a number of swings, which are always very busy. Do not swing to much or you will be told of. 

After your pingpong championship, more than one super mario gameover and some swings, you might be hungry. No worries this place features as said a restaurant and 2 Burger grills, one directly by the entrance and one next to the swings. If you want to fill up your alcohol level, you can do that for swedish price (a beer 6€ approx) in any of the bars. 

Well this sounds all super cool and fantastic. Indeed you have to spend a night here when visiting Stockholm, but there is always a dark side as well. I am not going to hide it from you.

If the weather is amazing, you can directly be prepared to wait between 2-3 hours in queue, unless you come at 4pm already. Most people come around 11, but as said if the weather is nice, EVERYONE in town will be here. Basically there is even a queue, when the area is empty. They just pretend it's always busy.
So while waiting in line you can sip your prosecco (or something stronger) out of your water plastic bottle, since it's indeed forbidden here to drink on the streets. (I did not know and got told of by the police, so don't try)

When you finally reach the end of the queue and are about to get in, the entrance price will probably have risen from 0sek to 120sek or 180sek (around 13 or 20€) and this is not including a free drink! 

Then of course after emtying all your precious alcohol (bought at systembolaget, the only shop to access over 3% beverages) you will need the toilet. 

The later it gets, the more disgusting it is and do not wonder if you can see your neighbour while letting go. There are some wooden cabins that are literally only covering your lower parts, so you can grin your neighbour in the face, while trying not to touch the toilet. These toilets are indeed festive. 

If you are fine now, you can swing your leg on the dancefloor, but do not expect any men to approach or even look at you. There will be plenty of nordic beauties around you, but here it is your turn to get them. While the disco ball is turning and the swedish night never ends, you might find the love of your life (Or end up lonely with a hungover dip at 6am in one of the lakes nearby)

When you live and work in a city, you tend to just do your regular things and at the weekend, one is mostly just relaxing, or at least i am. So when my dear friends from Germany came, i had to come up with some entertainment. I had looked up an amazing vegan café on Södermalm, so me and my friend headed there on Sunday.

Mahalo

This café is one of my favourites here in Stockholm, since it's vegan i never need to mind about my allergies. It is located on Hornsgatan, close to Zinkensdam Metro Station. The place is quite big, there is a ground area with cushions and also a small balcony with second floor, where you can enjoy your smoothie bowl or raw cakes. For lunch they offer the most amazing sweet potato fries and other healthy green treats.

Furthermore the cafe has a back terrace, which is really nice to sit on in summer. Me and my friends had breakfast here, so of course we picked some smoothie bowls. I can never get around coffee, so i had a regular latte, although i was quite tempted to try a rainbow one.

Come here and read a book, or do some research for studies, you will love it. As Stockholm food prices are quite high in general, i would not call any place proper cheap. But here you get at least a lot for your money.

Lakritsroten

When walking up further north Hornsgatan, you will find some very nice unique stores.

If you like licorice, you have to come here. Anything that can possibly be connected to this flavour, is available here. My friends boyfriend loves the taste, so we stepped by to get a gift for him.
Anyway the choice was very hard, due to a massive selection. There are not only candies, but also fresh baked products, lemonades, teas and even licorice salt. Not enough, there are even creams and cosmetics with anis flavour: The absolute licorice overdose.

Brandstationen

This is one of the most impressive vintage interiour shops i have ever been to. Here you can find unique decoration for your home, not at all clean scandinavian, but bright and simply amazing. The selection is huge and prices are not cheap, so to say, but you buy these pieces for a lifetime. If i would ever have a home of my own, i would shop here to give my place a character.

Italian Food is just so good! To get into the right mood for my upcoming trip to the Amalfi Coast and Rome, i had some research and got much inspired. I always bought Gnocchi ready at the store before, because i thought they are so hard to make, but suprise, it's actually incredibly easy! Also you can avoid wheat by using an alternate flour.

Level: EASY

What you need (2 portions):

1/2 middle size Sweet Potato (approx 250g)

1 dl Oats

 1dl Spelt Flour 

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt

Peel your Sweet Potato and cook half of it. The other half you can use to make some delicious fries or wedges in the oven, or for Sweet Potato Toasts.

Cook the potato until it nearly falls apart, leave approx 1/2 dl of water with it. Blend your sweet potato until it is smooth, be careful since its quite hot.

Process your oats and add to the Sweet Potato Puree. Fill into a Bowl and add your Flour as well. Knead the dough and add further flour if neccesary. It's quite hard to work out the right amount. Do not overdo the dough, since it gets dry otherwise. Add a bit of Oil and knead until it is not sticking to your fingers anymore. Let it rest for an hour in the fridge. 

Pour flour on a flat surface and split your dough. Make first small rolles and cut these into little pieces. 

Form little balls and give them some structure with a fork. 

Heat up water with salt and a bit oil until it cooks. Now add your gnocci and cook until they swim at the surface. It can take a bit longer than ready bought ones, but they are definitly better!

One of the top attractions in Stockholm is Rosendal's Trädgård. Especially if you are interested in plants, agriculture and eco-friendly living and food, you will find this place extraordinary. I have been there so many times, just because it changes all year around.

Trädgård is a swedish word for "housegarden" and  the area around Rosendal is a huge one. It is located on the museum Island Djurgården, which you can easily access by ferry or tram. Since the garden is located in the center, one has to walk a bit from the station. Although you are quite in the middle of the city, you feel like being in the countryside.

The whole place consists of several huge green houses, of which several are used for a plant market. The other parts are ocupied by severeal guests, enjoying the delicious fresh food.

The dishes variate, since all vegetables and ingredients are seasonal.

In the main green house you can find a buffet with amazing sandwiches (mackas) and different cakes and raw balls (bullar). The daily fresh kitchen serves usually 4 main dishes, one is mostly a soup and another a salad. Fresh water and bread with butter is included when eating here. A main dish costs between 120-140sek.

Drinkwise there is a huge offer of eco lemonades and vines, as well as coffee and tea. You can sit outside between the apple trees or one of the terraces as well.

After filling your tummy, you should stop by the little shop next to the restaurant. They have beautiful handcrafted products and special honeys and sauces, all eco of course. Also you can get fresh baked bread and harvested products from the garden. This place is an oasis to escape hectic city live and approach farmlife in a different way.

Tipp: Watch out for different seasonal events (rose day, pumpkin day) on their website.

This is actually the very first raw vegan cake i tried with some inspiration from different other cakes. A lot of raw cheesecakes are made with cashewnuts, i still have not figures out how to make cashew creme cheese. Instead i used coconut cream for this one, which turned out super nice as well.

 Level: Easy

What you need:

1 Springform 10-15cm

BOTTOM:

100g soft dates

2 Tbsp Coconut Oil

3 Tbsp Cocoa Powder

1 Tbsp Buckwheat

1 handfull cashew nuts

PINK LAYER:

Frozen Rasberries

Lemon Juice

TOP:

2 very ripe Bananas

200ml Coconut Cream

2 Tbsp Almond Butter

Vanilla Powder

Lemon Juice

Blend all ingredients for bottom layer in a blender. Add the buckwheat at last and do just mix under. This gives the bottom a crispy kick. Use a small springform 10-15cm and spread first layer evenly. I had a bit leftovers, so you can make some raw chocolate balls from that. The bottom layer should be around 1cm thick.

For the rasberry layer blend your rasberries with a bit of lemon juice until you get a smooth mass. Spread evenly on bottom layer and put in the freezer until it's hard. You do not want your layers to mix up with each other.

For the big layer blend the bananas and coconut cream (that's the part getting stuck in the can, not the water). Add maple sirup if you like it more sweet and the other ingredients. Blend until creamy and smooth and add on top of 2nd layer. Now you can use some rests of the 2nd layer and draw into your top layer. Freeze!

Remove the cake approx 1h before serving, to have a good consistence. The bananas make the top layer freezing like ice cream.

My grandmother used to do those amazing cabbage rolls, filled with minced meat and different spices, potatoes as a side dish. We always wished for it when visiting her, but she always said it is such a big effort. Anyway the main point is that in our family we always use savoy cabbage for these rolls, so when i bumped into one recently at the supermarket, i could not resist to buy it.

But then i came upon the obstacle to create a nice filling, since it always sounds so boring to have only veggies. I tried a filling with different lentils and chickpeas and it was very delicious, a very good meat free alternative for cabbage rolls.

If you have a bad day or just want to start your day right, here's a perfect bowl to make you HAPPY.

Anyway it's quite heavy and maybe not the healthiest thing to start your day with, but sometimes you need to treat yourself.

I just love, love - ADORE sweet potato. Literally every dish tastes better with this orange super veggie to me. Anyway if you are not a professional cook and want some easy nice dish with sweet potato, here it comes. By the way, i do seriously think sweet potato and avocado is the best combo, honestly if you find something better, let me know!

Here's an easy salad for summer evenings, for a barbecue or just an easy lunch. Basically i had again some leftover food and mixed everything together, but it turned out super delicious.

1/2 Eggplant

Cockail Tomato Mix

Ruccola

Daisys

DRESSING

3 Tbsp Mustard

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Tbsp Herbes de Provence

1 Tbsp Creme Fresh (Oatly)

1Tsp Lemon Juice

1Tsp Honey

Salt/Pepper

EXTRA

Pumpkin Seeds

I guess not many people, especially not tourist thought about Harlem, when going to New York. The Harlem area is lying north of Central Park on Manhattan and many people looked suspiciously at me, when i said we were going to stay there.

This area might not be the fanciest around town, but there are a few small spots, that are worth a trip uptown. It's way more authentic as well.
The blocks are mainly inhabited by hispanic folks and south american imigrants. On our first night the first thing we saw was 116th East Street, when coming out of the Metro to East Harlem.

Huge trash bags on the streets, cheap chinese and mexican fast food restaurants and allover only coloured people awaited us.
We were bright white shining tourists in the middle of nowhere it seemed.

I have to say, that we were first a bit shocked and maybe even frightened, but nothing ever happened to us, even when we walked home late at night. No one approached us inappropriate and there was never a reason not to feel as save as on the Upper East Side.

As said Harlem is still lying close to Central Park, so this is maybe the main attraction to go to from here.  Nevertheless you can see a lot of streetart and more creativity as well in these areas.
Everything is easy to reach with the public transport.
One morning we took the bus west 116th Street to go to a specfic café/cookie bakery my friend wanted to see. Afterwards we wanted to make our way through central park from the north-west corner to the Met museum.

On the way to Central Park, we came across one of the nicest cafés in town.

Caféine
This is a unique espresso bar located in Morningside Heights, Harlem. The coffe is just amazing. (After having some bad experience with a specific big brand in New York, where coffee just does not taste good, but if you need one, these shops are everywhere)

The staff is super friendly and chatty. One of the main important things for me is a milk alternative in a coffee bar. In Sweden it is quite common to offer oat and soy milk, but a lot of places in NY actually did not offer it. This shop nevertheless had 4 different plant-based milks in stock and the Barista really knew his job and made a perfectly scummed almond latte.

Seasoned Vegan
This is one of the best restaurants i have ever been to. The food here was almost as good as on Bali, and that is indeed hard to reach. During the week, they are only offering dinner from 5pm, at the weekend you can also have brunch/lunch here.

As the name says they serve a big menu of quite popular dishes, just veganized. I am allergic to egg and milk, so it was quite hard in NY to find a place where i can have something else than fries or salad (i am a really difficult person to eat out with)
My clever friend found this restaurant with tripadvisor when we were sitting on a bench in Central Park.

While i enjoyed a raw lasagne with spinach, tomatoes, cashew cheese and some spicy curly fries, my friend had a vegan burger that looked exactly as a regular one. I am always quite sceptic if that can even taste, but we were both really content with our food. Unfortunately there was no space left for one of the cute vegan cupcakes, icecream or cake, but next time i'll go to New York i know where to eat!

So when chosing air bnb's one always tries to find a host with a lot of recommendations and when i started looking for a place to stay in NYC, i had a tough time to find something affordable, central and good looking.
I made a great catch when finding Nancy's air bnb, located in East Harlem on Manhattan. She is usually booked out pretty fast almost a year ahead, so if you want to stay at hers, better book about 8month in advance, which i did.

I originally booked only for myself, but it was not a problem at all to add my friend into later. Nancy is really nice and very informative already when you contact her by mail. (for 2 people it was around 580€ for 6 nights)

Anyway there are a few points to mention and this air bnb experience has been changing a lot for me at how looking and accepting other people's lifestyle.

Nancy is a strict vegan, she offers a huge vegan breakfast and asks you not to bring any dairy products in her house, which is not a big deal for me. It was rather a great opportunity, since i had a hard time anyway to get food around town, due to my numerous allergies.

Furthermore Nancy has quite a few rules in her tiny apartment, which she writes about in a two pages text on her profile/description. First you might be overwhelmed, but it is indeed quite basic rules that well behaved/educated people already know.

If you forget to do something, Nancy will make you a little card next day as a reminder (once we accidently did  not wash out the kettle, so next morning she put up an illustration how to do it)

The cosy apartment is also covered anyway with notes and illustrations how to use the lights or how to spread the shower curtain (it sounds now super weird when writing about it, but it did not change the fact, that it was a really nice stay)

Nancy prefers that you do not stay out late, so if you want to party all night, this is not the right accomodation for you. It is fine to stay out longer than 11pm e.g. if you watch a musical, but she likes to be informed, because she really cares for you.

As a host and person, Nancy is just fascinating and really inspiring.
She is around 70 years old, but still as fresh as any women in midage. She is very active and working with tv shows and her own vegan organisation and is really passionate about it. Although she lives alone, she never seems to be bored and she really enjoys having you there. She is trying to learn a lot of languages still, so she has different cards and posters she puts up for your breakfast in your mother language. I would love to be as active and smart at that age.

When staying at different air bnbs, with other cultural background you develop much more tolerance. Some time ago i would have thought "what a crazy, weird woman" but now i see it as a possibility to meet interesting/individual people and learn a lot. THANK YOU!