Stockholm went by really fast. I last left off writing a blog until 12am+ ... The blog takes a while to write - especially on an iPhone screen. It's just inefficient.
Waking up around 830 I ate some eggs left by the house host Ruth, another good meal in Sweden. I met up with the other guest and we took off together for the free walking tour. Upon arrival we decided to go to the nobel museum first. We got a guided tour as it opened at 11 o'clock. The tour ended at 12 which gave us just enough time to make it to the palace around the corner for the changing of the guard at 1215. The changing of the guard was cool to see, more a formality obviously than anything, good tradition.
On our walk from the palace in old town we went by the house of nobility and the parliament building (nothing amazing to look at but historical I suppose). At one o'clock we had sandwiches and water in hand as the walking tour started through king and queens streets, library street, kings garden, and ended at another palace. We stopped by the bank that was robbed and the reason for the saying "Stockholm syndrome" as our guide pointed out took place here at this building in front of us in the 70's. there was also a huge reward for the prime ministers murderer who has never been found. It is rumored that the prime minister liked to ditch his guards and was shot mistakenly because he resembled a drug dealer (same height and coat). I don't know if any of this is true but that's what the guide said so I assume its true?
After the guided tour we went to Ericsson globe to go on top of the globe and see Stockholm from above. At the same time we bought tickets for the hockey game- the Sweden game at 8pm was our first choice but of course sold out. Instead we grabbed Czech vs Belarus tickets (I as well as my roommate had tried to prepurchase tickets online months ago but they would only take European cards). They took American cards on sight and I was cheering for Czech but had the teams mixed up for a good portion of the first period.
I left my roomie after the second period, to head to dinner which I had reserved for 5-730 pm at one of the best views in Stockholm. I left the game at 535 and arrived a bit late for my dinner.
The dinner and the view were very nice. I had a beer after dinner at the bar as I was recommended (for the view) and met a few different people sitting next to me. One guy was from Iraq who was with a girl from Russia. Another was a lady that was Swedish. I actually met more immigrants than natural Swedish people - and a lot of Arabic descent.
Nothing notable really happened after that other than trying to find my hosts house which was pretty far away. I had prearranged to stay at a hosts house on their couch to "stay with a local." This was my first time doing anything like this and given as a recommendation from a friend who had traveled Europe before. It turned out to be really nice. I am so glad I did this, as to me traveling is about meeting people.
The next morning I was running out of time fast, I needed to eat and thought eating at a restaurant was the right idea. My host said she would make breakfast but admitted she never really eats breakfast in the city so she was up for the adventure. I thought it would also be nice to have someone to help me through the subway system to the airport. We had a hard time finding a place in Stockholm that served traditional breakfast food: pancakes, bacon, eggs, etc. Most of the people we asked didn't even know a place - I really wish they had a Cracker Barrel !!
I was pushing my time limit and had to get going. My host was so nice!! She walked me to the furthest point like she was sending her kid off on his own for the first time!! It was awesome. People can be so kind, and it just makes me so happy to meet them.
I made it to the airport just in time. I had an awesome cab driver who said "I drive this every day I will get you there on time!" I fell asleep and woke up at the airport with plenty of time to spare. Another nice person.
Looking back on Stockholm I wasn't there for very long but it had generally nice people. The prices were a little high due to taxes - a bottle of cologne that cost 50$ tops in the USA cost 80$ minimum in Stockholm. A beer cost around 10$. Hockey tickets were around 12 dollars but I found that to be pretty cheap. The Ericsson globe to the top was 18$. It was a nice city to fly through and see, it reminded me a lot of Minnesota and I had always wanted to go there.
No comments:
Post a Comment