A very merry movie marathon Christmas

We spent the holidays up north with my sister's family. As soon as the kids had gone to bed we got a fire going in the fireplace, snacks dished up on the table and got seated in the lounge in front of the telly to watch a movie. :-)

Thoroughbred wholesome adult relaxation time, perfect for tired parents in varying stages of colds. :-)

We watched:

• Casino Royale (imdb link) - it gets 8.0/10 on imdb and I have to agree with that, it's the best Bond movie since Sean Connery.
  
  
• Quantum of Solace (imdb link) - also this one of the best Bond movies in years. I like it for the sense of closure, and it's a twist that you actually learn about Bond's "junior years" in these two films. Daniel Craig is not as "smooth" as some (all?) of the previous Bond's, he doesn't have a very expressive acting style but he wins on the blue eyes, the rough edges and the very realistic action scenes (that may be thanks to the director off course but still).
  
  
• Seven Pounds (imdb link) - oh what a film!! It gets ten out of ten from me. It surprised me, it had me crying (just a little) and it had me aww'ing and it's almost too much for a weakened mother's heart to handle. It's awesome and very very different.
  
  
• Hancock (imdb link) - Ha ha! I like this film! It was many different films in one and you go from corny "redemption" type film via love story to a sudden hit of sci-fi to end up with a lot of feel-good. :-)
  
  
• Constant Gardener (imdb link) - Serious stuff this one. I'm not going to theorise about whether or not this is the way it is out there in reality. But it's a frickin scary movie and it makes me want to be a better person. Apart from that I just LOVE the actual filming technique, it's the first time I've actively noticed a technical aspect like that (in a positive way). It's blurry and unsharp at times, but the flow of movement and people, colours and sound is just awesome. And Ralph Fiennes made it again, another beautifully set slightly dry love story under his belt (note: The English Patient being the other).
  
  
• Days of Thunder (imdb link) - a rather sweet and simple minded early 90's film. So close to the eighties that I get the same "embarrassment vibes" as I always get when watching clothes and acting from that time... :-D I'm guessing this is when Tom and Nicole met for the first time.
  
  

I also watched short bits of "Tropic Thunder" (the guys watched the whole of it and absolutely loved it for unknown reasons) but it's so bad I'm not even going to use words to start describing it...

The Spiderwick Chronicles

We watched The Spiderwick Chronicles last night - weeee! I like it! :-) Imdb link. A good, hearty adventure fairy tale. With emphasis on 'fairy'... :-) Got the same good feeling from it as I get when watching Harry Potter films (although it's close but not quite as good).
This film is based on a series of five books with the same title (link to web page here) and naturally I should read the books too, I will have to find time to do some reading soon. :-)

I can't wait until we can watch this type of film together with our son. But in this particular case it possibly would have to wait until he's at least seven, or even older. I thought it was pretty scary at times! :-D

Ding 60!

Glömsk finally made it to lvl 60. :-D It only took some 14 days played to get there, but in real time it would be closer to 3 years... :-D

Pan Restaurant & Night club

After a long day in town we decided to not go to Magnus Ladulås (we tend to always end up there because of the reasonably priced and delicious food) and couldn't get a table at Kryp In (which was fortunate seeing their menu has jumped up a notch price wise). So we went a-wandering along the cobbled streets of Old Town/Gamla Stan to find a restaurant to feed four hungry adults and a one-year-old.

We stumbled upon this seemingly brand new place "Pan Restaurant & Nightclub" serving "South European food". It was very stylish, clean and open (the place triggered some very old memories of "Marble Bar" in Sydney, only not quite as grand). I worried we perhaps wouldn't be welcome in case it was exclusively for smartly dressed night-clubbers and bar-hangers but after a quick scouting tour inside we were made to feel very welcome by the expressive head waiter.

Nothing in our visit to this restaurant was disappointing. My fish soup was delicious. The 28 days tenderized beef served with french fries and fresh veg's was apparently to die for. :-) Service was excellent although the waitress in training forgot to bring us our drinks (something which the waiter could have noticed when bringing us our food) and the waiter charmed Tobias who flirted back rather happily. They heated Tobias food without protests and served it on a really nice plate with his own cutlery. The waitress even asked if we would like to wait with his food until ours was ready to serve and she suggested a straw for his water, a totally unexpected and much appreciated initiative!

The sound level was low even though the restaurant filled up (half full) while we were sitting there, the space was airy and attractive and the food was great. There's absolutely no reason not to go back there! :-)

There's unfortunately only a few traces of this restaurant on the web, old job ads on different websites (link) but I believe it's located on Stora Nygatan 40-42 (on the corner to Schönfeldts Gränd).

Worth noticing is that at the moment you get 20% off for orders placed before 6pm.

WARNING: Café Art

We desperately needed somewhere to break for afternoon snack, cup of warming coffee and restroom needs today and ended up in a previously untested café in Stockholm Old Town.

Holy schmoly it is by far the worst café I have ever visited! I so rarely go in to town nowadays and I so cherish my coffee and "fikabröd" that the quiality of Café Art really put me back. This horrid place should be put out of business and made into an art gallery or something totally different before it has a chance to ruin other people's café experiences!

Review at CINT (in Swedish).

Street Christmas markets

After nearly taking the longest detour ever possible we took a right turn and asked a couple coming from that direction if we were heading the right way (we were) we finally found it - Street Christmas markets.

It was a let-down.

It was small, far from cosy, far from unique and I don't see the point in returning. Except maybe for a thick Thai-silk woven winter shawl on sale for 150 SEK...

My brief visit a few years back, when walking around Södermalm a bright sunny Sunday morning together with J & J was totally different. But then again, this time it was incredibly chilly and my expectations were probably too high. It may also be that the "original" Street actually had to shut down and move to a new location, this was a "quick fix" replacement market if I understand it correctly.

Nhu's Thai

We had lunch at Nhu's Thai restaurant at Hornstull on Söder (Stockholm) today, I say WOW! We climbed off the subway after traveling for 45 minutes to get to town for the Christmas markets today and _needed food quickly_. This restaurant was one of two options close by, the place was nearly empty and we clambered in with stroller and baby no problem.
We ordered food, got Tobias food heated and by the time he was half way through his meal we got our food. And what food it was! :-D Glorious food!

We saw on the window outside that it had been nominated to the "Gulddraken" by one of the main newspapers in town. I can clearly understand why now. :-)

S ordered a fish dish which was beautiful in every aspect. It was crisp, it was colourful with a rich spicy taste and the serving was large. I ordered my classic (seeing my appetite is at rock bottom) Thom Ka Gai (chicken soup with coconut milk, lemon grass, mushroom and coriander) and it was yummy. Perhaps not knocking any socks off, but I refuse to review food in this state of appetite! I read later that they serve Thai fish cakes and I SO regret not having some, they are just generally the most delishious Thai food I know! :-) The menu offered some not so regular Thai choices because of an offering of food from the northern regions of Thailand, I like that.

Only bad thing I can think of was that the restaurant was rather chilly as we were one of the few tables inhabited. It probably gets better as it fills up but I still wish they'd have some form of additional heating installed. :-)

More about Nhu's (in Swedish):
DN's Äta ute - beskrivning och hitta dit
DN's Äta ute - recension (besök)