At the turn of the year 2025 to 2026, Google has come up with a gift for its numerous users.
From now on, the pages, tailored to the most common search terms by artificial intelligence and consisting of generic lists and platitudes will no longer appear at the top of the search results.
Instead, the search engine will give preference to pages that have clearly been written by people who have real expertise and present unique and genuinely personal experiences.
And so an artificial intelligence is currently checking whether our texts sound like artificial intelligence to an artificial intelligence. The thought makes me feel slightly dizzy.
The smell of toast and coffee fills me with an incredible sense of warmth. It carries the promise that this day will start off right. It always has.
As a child, I begged my parents endlessly to let me try their coffee. When they finally gave in and allowed me a sip, the disappointment was crushing. It was bitter, harsh and nothing like the comforting aroma I had imagined.
I didn’t touch coffee again for a decade.
I can still picture my parents’ satisfied expressions, convinced they had won a small victory in parenting.
That was long before baristas in suspenders started crafting latte art, before we could choose from five different kinds of milk, before tiny backyard roasteries began popping up in hip urban neighborhoods.
But one thing has never changed - my love for the smell of coffee.
I’m rarely the type to march through the supermarket, checklist in hand, darting from aisle to aisle like a woman on a mission.
More often, I meander through the shelves, half-lost in thought, on the lookout for inspiration.
That’s probably why the shopping cart of the lean marathon runner catches my eye - tofu, low-fat cottage cheese and a suspicious number of eggs.
It reminds me of a story a friend recently told.
In his office, an employee asked to speak with him urgently, in private.
Oddly, the man had skipped both his direct supervisor and that supervisor’s boss, going straight to my friend - the boss’s boss…
“Do you have anything gluten-free? So, no milk?”
“You mean lactose-free?”
“I’d prefer vegan.”
“Well, we have a fruit salad or some of our sandwiches can be made vegan. There’s also a bagel with…”
“I’ll take the scrambled eggs.”
“Ah. Okay. I thought you wanted something vegan?”
“No, just gluten-free. I always say vegan for that.”
“Alright, so we’ll leave out the toast with the scrambled eggs to keep it gluten-free?”
“No, that’s not necessary. Toast is fine.”
Anyone thinking this conversation is made up couldn’t be more wrong.
The late nineties had faded into the past and the enthusiasm of the new millennium was beginning to wane.
I had graduated from the Technical University of Munich as an architect and decided to stash my Buffalo platforms along with the low-rise jeans in the attic.
But slipping into the black turtleneck of the architecture guild in my late twenties didn’t quite feel right.
The creative spark of my studies had fizzled out in the dusty routine of office life, bogged down by liability clauses and dull government regulations.
I couldn’t muster much excitement for the idea of arguing with the building authority.
So my husband and I surprised our parents with the plan to open a café with a concept store.
Everyone knows the saying „A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush“.
In German, this proverbial bird is specifically a sparrow.
It means you’re better off having something little and good for sure than chasing after something bigger out of reach.
The Sparrow Hotel in Stockholm’s Östermalm not only has a plump sparrow as its logo, but is exactly that – a small, really good, charming boutique hotel.
If you're considering staying here, you really don't need to search any further.
The location couldn’t be more central, and the rooms are spacious and furnished in a cool vintage style.
Every corner of the ground floor is cosier than the last, so we love to take short breaks here during our city excursions or even linger a little longer over the delicious breakfast.
Puff pastries filled with custard or red berries, yeast buns with cinnamon sugar and cardamom, meringues, punch rolls or the bright green Swedish Princess Cake, which was invented especially for Princess Margaretha and her sisters in the 1930s – all of these delicacies are temptingly displayed in Bergstrands Bageri.
The tiny shop is known among Stockholmers as a „Hål i väggen“ - a hole in the wall.
This only adds to its charm, of course, as the few seats inside the shop are snug and right in the thick of things.
Outside, there are a few more seats in front of the beautiful old building on the corner of Frejgatan and Västmannagatan.
This little restaurant, tucked away in a cosy basement in trendy Vasastan, describes itself rather well:
“Främmat is a cosy, charming restaurant where the scent of good food and a great atmosphere linger in the air. Our food and drink menus are constantly changing. We have one foot in classic French cuisine and the other in innovative, creative cooking with no rules.”
And we can only add how incredibly welcoming Främmat is, with its open kitchen and friendly team - definitely one of our all-time favourites in Stockholm!
The feeling of snuggling into freshly starched, soft, gently rustling hotel bed linen is simply wonderful.
Outside, heavenly peace, only the rustling of the trees in front of the window – it is hard to believe that the Pillows is not a wellness hotel on the edge of a forest, but a fine, small and supremely comfortable city hotel in the middle of Amsterdam.
Located right on the edge of the canal belt, it is super central yet beautifully quiet with a view of the green Oosterpark – simply dreamy!
Who doesn’t dream of a visit to Japan? To see the snow at the top of Mount Fuji with your own eyes or the delicate cherry blossoms in Kyoto, is surely high on the list for not only us.
But it is also the refined aesthetic of Japanese craftsmanship that is so appealing.
If you frequently travel to Japan with an empty extra suitcase, to bring it back home packed with travel treasures, you might want to stop reading here.
But if you’re longing for a little bit of lovingly curated Japan within Europe, this charming shop in Copenhagen’s Frederiksberg is just the place for you.
Added to this is the Danish talent for hygge interiors, which makes Sakura on Gammel Kongevej a dream shop for those who love beautiful things.
Tulips, windmills, Gouda? Of course - if you want to, you can find that charming cliché everywhere in Holland.
And we realise we’re asking for a leap of trust when we say that our secret tip is located in Amsterdam’s Nine Streets, which are actually anything but secret.
But those who, like us, love good cheese should know that the art of cheese-making has been cultivated in the Netherlands for centuries.
And at De Kaaskamer, the lovely little cheese shop in the old town, the finest local cheeses are stacked right up to the ceiling.
A chef with South American roots, trained in European Michelin-starred cuisine, cooking with local Dutch produce.
The combination is just as exciting as it sounds.
Orlando David’s restaurant, with the unpretentious name R21, won our hearts straight away.
Set in a beautiful historic Amsterdam house on the edge of the Lastage district, it is laid out over three adjoining rooms.
Each is as elegantly furnished as the next, yet the refined restaurant does not feel intimidating.
The welcome could hardly be warmer, and a glass of champagne is served here with French nonchalance as a delightful aperitif to accompany Dutch Zeeland oysters.
The name of this small hotel chain promises us an extra hour on top of any ordinary day.
We all love that wonderful feeling of having experienced so much in a single day that it feels longer than any other.
On the water-surrounded Paper island we look out from our bed at the 25 Hours, over the glistening waves in the North Harbour, the park in front of the modern Royal Opera House, to the green dome of Frederiks Church and the houses on the former naval site, where small boats bob and the first guests sit outside Hart Bageri.
Clearly the perfect place from which we dive into our day in Copenhagen brimming with energy.
Have you tried our tip for Hija de Sanchez, Rosio Sanchez's fantastic taco stands in Torvehallerne or Broens Gadekøkken?
If you like it here, you'll definitely be just as enthusiastic as we are about Rosio's fine dining restaurant Sanchez in Vesterbro.
So far, it has mainly been rustic American Tex-Mex cuisine that has made its way to Europe. But it has never quite won our hearts.
At Sanchez, we learn how finely tuned Mexican food can be.
Upplandsgatan runs straight and steadily uphill through charming Norrmalm to Gustaf Vasa Church with its imposing green dome.
Halfway up, simple wooden benches are screwed onto a classic Stockholm house, adapted to the sloping street.
The people sitting here are relaxed, in good moods and seem to know each other.
So, a cool Swedish bar in a hip neighbourhood? Almost!
