We went to a lot of cities near Stockholm, but there were two we didn't know about. One of them was Söderköping, which is 16 km south from Norrköping. We didn't find much info online except for a tall hill called Ramunderberget where you could see the whole city and something called The Water Locks, which I really wanted to see.
SÖDERKÖPING
We drove for about two and a half hours from Stockholm to Söderköping. When we arrived, we couldn't see much of the city. We checked a big map in the parking area. The map was a bit confusing, but we were sure we were in the right spot. We saw four paths going different ways. We chose a path that seemed to lead upwards. But after a short distance, we saw a shooting field and I thought we were going the wrong way. We turned back to where the paths split in different directions.
PETERSBURG COTTAGE
The air felt cold, like it might rain soon. As we walked from the parking lot, a big cottage appeared on our right side. We thought we could ask for directions there but it turned out the cottage was empty. Luckily, the washroom doors were open. Beyond the cottage, there was a large football field surrounded by forest. We followed a path around the field. About 10 minutes later, we saw two people coming from a forest trail. When they came closer, we asked them, "Where can we find the stairs to go up? We want to see the city from up high." They seemed like tourists because they didn't speak Swedish. The woman told us in English that we did find the stairs after about 30 minutes of walking on this trail.
RAMUNDERBERGET
We walked on the path with orange marks, hoping to find stairs to see the city from up high. After 20 minutes, no stairs came but we reached a really high place. There was a wooden hut with a telescope on it.
It looked amazing! Then we learned there are two ways here, the one we came from, Petersburg cottage, which was easy and another way down with a wooden staircase of about 318 steps.
We went down the wooden stairs after enjoying the amazing views from the top.
GÖTA KANAL
When we reached down to Ramunderberget, we saw a canal with a water gate, but no boats went through while we were there. There was a big line at a restaurant. Inside, it was packed, and there were no empty seats outside. More people were waiting in line outside.
SMULTRONSTÄLLET
My wife told me about this super popular ice cream place called Smultronstället. They have 60 different types of ice cream, served in really cool ways! The portions are huge, so we looked at what others were having before choosing. Some people were happy with small cups but we went for a special called Dolce Vita. A big bowl with brownie, toffee, strawberry, almond, melon and crisp ice cream with fruit and chocolate sauce. Topped with cream, doughnut, brownie cake and meringues. It was enough for the three of us!
But you know it wasn't just about the ice cream. The Dolce Vita came with this awesome smoke thing that made a cool show for the kids. And guess what? They served the ice cream in fun ways, like with dinosaurs and unicorns! The kids were thrilled.
And the staff? They were amazing. There was this really friendly guy who helped everyone. He even cheered up some sad kids! When it suddenly started raining, he swiftly moved us under an umbrella. It turned into a really fun day full of ice cream and everyone left with big smiles!