Last Friday marked the beginning of another whirlwind weekend trip. Kiki, Bee, and I jumped the first train to Chareloi in order to make our flight. This meant a 4:30 am wake up call in order to be on time for the consecutive train to bus to airport to plane. Although we managed a little sleep during travel, believe me when I say it was no where near enough. Thankfully, we had the adrenaline of being in a new country and an exciting new city to keep us on our feet as we started exploring Stockholm.
First thing first. Stockholm has ridiculously short daylight hours in winter and ridiculously long daylight hours in summer. While we were there, we were getting 8 am sunrise and 3 pm sunset. There is nothing more disorienting than trying to catch a late lunch in the dusk. Our first half day was really nothing to write home about in terms of blog writing but it was lovely nonetheless. We checked into our hotel ("Hotel Micro") and dumped our bags. Our room reminded me of being on a ship. No windows, a bunk bed consisting of a double on the bottom and a single on top, a tiny desk, a mirror. The beds touched the wall on three sides and the space between the door and the bed was about 4 feet. However, the beds were unbelievably comfortable but maybe that's the 4:30 am talking. Anyways, we set out on the streets to see what the city had to offer and to get our bearings.
Our first stop was Stadshuset (the city hall) on the island of Kungsholmen. Little did I know, Stockholm is spread out over 14 islands with some 50 bridges connecting them. The city hall is located right on the Riddarfjärden bay and is a massive and aesthetically pleasing building. Kiki assumed that all the water around Stockholm counts as the Baltic Sea so we made an effort to get our hands wet. However, retrospectively, and I haven't told her this yet, Riddarfjärden is part of Lake Mälaren which drains into the Baltic Sea - not vice versa. Hence, we didn't really touch the Baltic Sea. Also, this makes me glad that I didn't taste the water like the other two did. Heaven only knows what sits in bay water...
After more wanderings down streets with incredible names (i.e., Klarabergsviadukten), we hunted for Swedish meatballs. Earlier in the day when we'd checked in we'd asked the hotel receptionists where to go for the best meatballs possible. They looked at each other and unanimously agreed, "Ikea". No kidding. Hence, we got them to recommend other possibilities. After much contemplation, the provided us with three restaurants to try. The first one didn't have them. The second one was too far away. The third one... we got distracted on our way there. We spotted a restaurant absolutely teaming with locals. Upon closer inspection, it was T.G.I.F. and it was indeed a Friday night. To our ever lasting shame and amusement, we ventured inside.
Keep in mind that for the entirety of the last two and a half months I have not eaten a thing from a single North American food chain. But we were tired. We were hungry. We were right there. We were weak.
Streak broken. Deliciously broken.
We took as long as possible to eat.
A) Because we'd waited 45 minutes for a table
B) It was dark outside so sightseeing wasn't really a possibility
C) Stockholm is hugely expensive so going out was not an option
D) The temperature had majorly dipped since the sun had set hours before
After dinner we went back to our hotel and ended up going to bed. We were all in bed by 9:30 pm. Kiki stayed up to read but I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow. I slept unbelievably well. Unfortunately, I was the only one. The other girls didn't sleep well and Kiki got stopped by random French guys in the hostel when she went to the washroom. There she is, PJ pants and all, obviously ready for bed when she passes this group. They greet her, "Bonsoir", and she automatically returns the greeting. Big mistake. They assume she can speak French and launch into it. Kiki, half asleep, tries to pull the, "I only speak English card", and discovers that one of them does indeed speak English. Dang, eh? After some small talk about nationality ("But I thought all Canadians spoke French?" *sigh*), Kiki manages to make a run for it back to our room.
The next morning we set out feeling much better. We stopped in a fantastic café, of which there are hundreds in Stockholm. Literally, from 1-4 pm, the cafés are overflowing as people take a mid day break. They have absolutely amazing pastries and baked goods and a thriving coffee industry. If there is one thing that Liège is missing, it is real hot beverages. Tea, coffee, hot chocolate is all over priced and comes in unbelievably small portions. In Stockholm, it is quite the opposite. I've never seen Kiki (a coffee lover) quite so happy.
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| Sweden is famous for its cinnamon buns. |
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| It looks like it is straight out of a Pirates of the Caribbean movie. |
After the Vasa Museum we went in search of the ABBA Museum. Much to the disappointment of both Kiki and myself, we never did locate it. It became an urban myth of the museum that could've been. I think Bee was a little relieved.
So we walked over to the Old Town and saw the Royal Palace and some fancy churches before heading over to the hip and happening island that is Södermalm. Here we snagged movie tickets before grabbing dinner at one of the places the hotel staff had recommended. Again, we all got meatballs. It was good but way more expensive than the museum for more or less the same thing. Oh well. When in Stockholm...
It is a little hard for me to admit this but we went and saw Breaking Dawn: Part I. I will put the blame on Kiki. She has been super excited to see it ever since it came out and we needed to kill time. We hadn't bothered booking a second night because we had to catch a bus back to the airport at 3:30 am. Sleep is a luxury the young cannot afford apparently. So we caught the latest showing possible, watched some skaters on the rink outside the theater, laughed about the fact that we no longer look at the older kids but instead watch the dads, and went to the hotel to grab our bags. We then spent an agonizing couple of hours waiting in the central station - it was midnight at this point and everything else was closed. Unfortunately, the central station locks up at 2:30 am. We got to stand outside and wait for our bus. Not that pleasant when you're tired and freezing. However, we nailed all our connections home, had some good train, plane, and bus naps, and spent an amazing 40 hours in Stockholm.
Definitely a place I have to go back to... hopefully in the spring when it is a little lighter and a whole lot warmer!
Random notes:
- The cold was more like what Calgary gets around Halloween. It had the same inescapable bite in the air without snow
- The fashion in Stockholm is very free. People have all sorts of clothes, hairstyles, piercings, etc.
- There is a disproportionate number of people that are tall, blond, blue-eyed, and beautiful
- I learned to never trust my camera battery. I turned it on the night before we left, saw that it said full battery and decided against bringing my charger. Of course my camera died after 5 pictures. Hence, all the pictures taken today (except for the Vasa - thank you internet!) are supplied by Bee.
- In one of the cafes we stopped in, I had the most incredible carrot cake of my entire life. I will never be the same
This Thursday, the North American exchange students are getting together to host an American Thanksgiving. We're going to do our best to recreate the familiar dishes despite the complete lack of access to necessary ingredients (like anything to do with pumpkin - makes me want to cry).
Wish us luck!
Jacqueline
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