Today was a huge red letter day for the girls. Not only did they get to experience quite a few buses and a ferry then wander around Stockholm, smelling smells they’d never smelled before but they also ate a bowl of reindeer stew each.
Not that Emma was happy all the time. Her tail went down a few times, in particular on the way to the Nybroplan bus stop where too many feet and noises started to freak her out. But that didn’t last long. As we walked through Gamla Stan, her tail was up and wagging. Freya, on the other hand, seemed happy all day.

Today was our last Stockholm day. We couldn’t get a dog minder, so we decided to take the girls with us. It was obvious really, particularly after Joseph said he was happy for them to come to The Hairy Pig. Which is where we were going.
Often on our Stockholm days (both together and apart) we’ve seen many people out and about with their dogs. For instance, Mirinda saw some in NK yesterday. It’s very civilised and dog friendly in Stockholm. Today we saw one in the front basket of a bicycle.
Of course, our two drew many admiring glances and, at The Hairy Pig, Emma even managed to get herself patted and fussed over by a little girl sitting behind me.
They were very well behaved, particularly sitting at table while we ate.

And, of course, our meal was superb. We are so going to miss visiting Joseph and his Polish chef. The Hairy Pig Restaurant is just amazing and should not be missed when visiting Stockholm. Except by vegans. Vegans would not like it.
And we managed to have a lovely series of long chats with Joseph. In particular about the restaurant quite close to him which is always full. No matter what the day, the hours, the plague, there are always people there.
He was discussing it with the owner of a neighbouring restaurant. They decided the full restaurant must be selling something no one else is. It seemed to me that Joseph and the other restaurant owner should come to a deal with the crowded restaurant. It wouldn’t look as suspicious if some of their clientele spread out across the three establishments.
We’ve been a bit worried about the restaurant, given the general lack of tourists and people dining out. However, Joseph reckons he’s over the worst of it and had been very busy over the last few days. We certainly hope so. It has to still be there when we come back.
After dining and drinking to the usual excess, we headed across to Soder and the long trek to the closest number 4 bus stop. Mirinda took me on a long wander where I could wonder at the many sights and sounds of bits of Stockholm I’d not seen before.

Eventually we stopped at a café where I insisted on having a coffee and a much needed wee. And sit down. Obviously.
The coffee was perfect and worked a treat. So did the wee and the sit down to be perfectly honest. And all three prepared me for the last few miles to the bus stop.
I wasn’t quite prepared for the sight of many pairs of inappropriate pole dancing footwear as we passed the pole dancing studio, but by that time, we were close. It was with great relief that we boarded a number 4 bus and headed home.

It was a lovely day for our last in Stockholm. Possibly not as lovely as Mirinda’s final forest walk earlier in the day but not much beats the wonderful Swedish wild woods. Except, maybe, early dinner at The Hairy Pig Restaurant. And, given the reindeer stew that Joseph gave the girls, it’s possibly their favourite thing as well.