OK so normally we wouldn’t be so excited by the idea of a “Nordic spa”. In our heads, Scandi beauty treatments scream naked saunas, self-flagellation with birch sticks and lots of snow. But we’re making an exception for the Grand Hotel in Stockholm which opened a subtly different “Nordic-inspired spa”, Raison d’Etre, yesterday.

Yes, they have the birch – harvested from local forests, don’t you know – but they do far more exciting stuff than beat you with it. The Be Rested package is a massage ad “hot birch pack” to make you sleep, while the Be Balanced treatment claims to “gently realign” your bones through the power of, um, mung bean pillows.

They’re pretty pricey

Starbucks might be attempting to create more of a cafe with their concept "15th Street Coffee & Tea" restaurant, but it will simply never equal the awesomeness of truly great, very authentic cafes that still exist and serve up homemade goods around the world. One such spot, which might not last too much longer as the owners grow old, is Stockholm's Konditori Valand.

The cafe, in the Surbrunnsgatan section of town, is run by Magdalena Åström, who has maintained the original interior of the cafe since it was begun and designed by her husband in 1954. The result is a mid-century modern stunner, with well-worn teak furniture and an imported black stone floor from Italy. The cafe is a fixture in German guidebooks and on the lists of retro furniture enthusiasts, but that doesn't mean that a regular old, design-appreciating tourist can't enjoy a coffee and slice of cake here.

This must be the best day ever for all you Herta Müller fans! In case you're not caught up on modern literature, Müller is the 2009 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, announced this morning in Stockholm.

Müller lives and works in Germany now, but grew up in Communist Romania under dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, and many of her books describe the plight of young people in a controlling regime. She revealed in an essay penned earlier this summer for the online magazine Sign and Sight that she is afraid to travel in Romania even now because she believes members of the government are still following her.

We love airplanes, you love airplanes, so let's go look at airplanes! In our Prime Plane Spotting series, we'll let you in on all the best spots to whip out your cameras and binoculars for a piece of the aviation action.

Where is better for plane spotting than actually being on the airport's tarmac...or better yet, in a honeymoon suite on the tarmac? This actually became possible less than a year ago, when the Jumbo Hostel opened at Stockholm's Arlanda Airport.

This decommissioned 747 has had its seats ripped out in favor of installing 25 bedroom suites, complete with free wireless internet access and flatscreen TVs, and, for most rooms, full en-suite bathrooms. Even Singapore Airlines' 787 first class suites can't compare with these, but then the Jumbo Hostel no longer flies, so there's that.

Want a free (and chic) hotel room during your stay in Stockholm, Sweden? If you're a creative—meaning an artist, writer, designer (whether graphic, web, fashion or other) or musician—then the Creators' Inn By Elvine is for you.

A concept from the Swedish fashion brand Elvine, the Creators Inn has taken over a space within the Scandic Malmen Hotel in downtown Stockholm and transformed it into a 3-room suite with interior design and amenities based on answers to two questions:

1. "What are the most important needs of a traveling creator? How do they differ from “regular” guests?"
2. "What would your ultimate room for creators look like? What kind functions, products and services would be

While the name of the Swedish gallery Liljevalchs Konsthall may seem like a bit of a mouthful, its English subtitle "The Stockholmers' own public art venue" explains it pretty well. We can't pronounce it, but we want to go there, because starting this month they have a special IKEA exhibition happening.

We should admit, to be fair, that half our furniture has its origins at the local IKEA, so we're natural candidates for this kind of exhibition. The retrospective looks at the history of IKEA over its 50 years: starting back at the first flat-pack table it sold back in the 1950s and showing how furniture designs changed and developed over the decades.

There are also interesting anecdotes about IKEA life. For example, back in the 70s there was a big spate of denim-covered furniture, but it wasn't really about style – that was because the founder bought up a huge supply of denim at a bargain price from a Chinese factory that was going broke.

The IKEA exhibition runs until August 30 in Stockholm, and getting in will cost you 69 SEK (less than $9). In summer the Liljevalchs Konsthall is open every day except Monday (but on Mondays, of course, you can go shopping at the real IKEA instead).

Related Stories:
· Liljevalchs Konsthall [Official Site]
· Ikea Exhibition Showcases 50 Years of Functional Furnishing [Guardian]
· Stockholm Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: ktpupp]

Scandinavian devotees might very well froth at the mouth over Stockholm’s Clarion Sign hotel — at least if the NYT is to be believed. Declared Stockholm’s biggest hotel, with “550-odd rooms,” the hotel also won Times-er Frank Bruni’s declaration that it’s “quite possibly” the most Scandinavian (based on Bruni’s travels in Norway, Iceland, Sweden, and “Ikea stores in several continents,” that is) — “a sort of overblown diorama of the Scandinavian sensibility.”

But what does that actually mean? Mod Arne Jacobsen chairs and four kinds of pickled herring at the free breakfast buffet, apparently.

At least their handiwork will live on: As the creators of file-sharing website the Pirate Bay head off to prison, a Swedish museum will put its trusty server on display for the world to learn the wages of modern piracy.

The Tekniska Museet or National Museum of Science and Technology in Stockholm has added the server to an exhibit on intellectual property called "Inspiration Imitation," and since it's co-sponsored by the Swedish Association for the Protection of Industrial Property, we're guessing it's going to come out pro-IP.

Sometimes we wonder what convinces stars to get on a boat with their biggest fans and go somewhere. But in this week's Cruising with Celebs, we can see it perfectly: He gets the offer sitting at a sidewalk cafe with one foot in the air. He tilts his remarkably large head to one side and then, with a pucker of the eyebrow, he thinks, Why not? Could be a right pleasant jaunt. At least we assume that's how it went down when Silversea Cruises approached John Lithgow about climbing aboard its Scandinavian-Russian adventure this July.

Hot on the heels of the news that they're letting 3,000 staff go, Scandinavian carrier SAS Airlines is adding another "please fly with us, we really need the money" enticement to the mix.

Passengers who fly into the hip Swedish capital Stockholm during March and April will be given a Stockholm City Card for nix, which will mean transfers from the airport into the city are free, so is travel for at least 24 hours, and there are a bunch of sightseeing discounts attached too.

Usually the card costs around $45, so for a marketing gimmick, we actually like this one. We used to think SAS was a bit pricey, but a quick surf found us London to Stockholm flights for under $70 for March. Of course, with 3,000 staff on their way out, the question is whether or not there'll be any flight attendants left to serve you on your next SAS flight.

Related Stories:
· SAS Offers Passengers Free Transfers and Travel [Business Traveller]
· Thousands to Get the Shaft from Limping Airlines [Jaunted]
· Stockholm Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: ombrelle]