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Published: December 14th 2009
Yay, I am ALL done with finals and since the tests are FINALLY over, I can finally update this blog which I've wanted to do ever since I got back, but got a little bombarded with the studying. So after Copenhgagen, I arrived in Stockholm around 1pm and was so exhausted, barely able to keep my eyes open until I saw the Swedish welcoming pictures of famous people at the airport. And when I passed Ingrid Bergman's welcome picture at the end, I was snapped awake and really excited to go "tramping" (of the traveling kind, not the sexual...lol) around Stockholm. I headed out of the very small terminal and instantly hit the Arlanda Express to downtown, a little expensive (240SEKs or about $30USD roundtrip), but it got you downtown in just 20 minutes. Then I hopped off at the station and headed out to check into my hostel and ditched my bag. I was staying in the Kongshallen room with 7 other girls who weren't there when I went in. I picked a bottom bunk in the back right corner, threw my stuff in the locker, then set out to find something to eat. I pretty much spent my first
night walking around in the wind and rain and darkness and did a little bit of shopping. It was Sunday after all so I figured it was like Bodo where everything (besides some big shopping centers) were closed on Sundays. Oh was I wrong.
After returning to my hostel, I grabbed a shower and met my other roommates, only 6 for the night -- a nice blonde German girl and five fellow Americans - Katie, Andrea, April (from Spokane), the one girl that loves Alaska, and the other girl (the runner). All of them had a great sense of humor! They went downstairs to watch some Swedish movie in the common room, the German girl went to go eat something, and I snuck out to a small cafe a few blocks away and drank some tea and wrote in my journal a bit. Then I got back and read and talked with all of the girls. It was nice to have so many people to talk to -- especially ones that speak English! I went to bed around 10 or 11 and was so exhausted, but didn't sleep all that great. The runner above me kept fidgeting and shaking
my bed, but I slept enough.
On the 2nd day in Stockholm, I got up just after all of my roommates left and took my time getting ready, marking on my little map the places I wanted to go. Then I went down to the cafe that is also ran by the hostel people and had the continental breakfast: a cup of tea, some Orange Juice, and a sandwich for only 39SEKs, pretty good deal. And I read a Wanderlust magazine while eating which was one of the best magazines I've ever read...ALL about travel! Then I put on my black scarf and headed off out into the world. The first stop - Stadshuset (County Hall). This building was where the Nobel Peace Prize banquet is held and it was very gorgeous located right by the channel (Riddarfjarden). After snapping some awesome pictures of Gamla Stan (Old Town), I headed over to Gamla Stan to go see the Royal Palace. Sadly, it was closed. And apparently, everything big is closed on Mondays. The Kungliga Slottet (Royal Palace) is actually only open for 3 hours Tuesday-Sunday. So I just toured the grounds and outside, snapping pictures of the Swedish Royal
guards before heading over to the Swedish bookstore.
After the bookstore, I was snapping a picture when these girls rushed up to me and asked if I could speak Swedish. I said no but a little bit of basic Norwegian so they handed me their paper and asked what the question was asking. Luckily, Norwegian is very close to Swedish just a few consonants are different. Apparently, it was some kind of cultural assignment and they had to figure out the name of the building that was in the photograph on their paper. We used my street map and found the names of the buildings then they thanked me as they ran off to go turn in it. Next, I headed up to the Old Town tourist markets and looked for some good gift items. I saw this cool sign with a lot of languages on it and this cute little antique shop called Stardust before I headed back to the waterfront. As I was going across the bridge by Riksdag (Parliament), there was a small stand selling glogg, the mulled wine that is a Scandinavian tradition. I bought a small cup for 30SEKs then made my way over
to the National Museum.
Sadly, it was closed too but around the corner was this huge wooden ship that was nice to see. I wandered back to the city area and came across the Jul Markna, the Christmas market where there was an ice rink, more glogg (which I happily drank), and lots of cute little stands. I toured that for a bit then browsed some more stores before heading down another street for souvenirs. Then at the Kulturhuset there were all of these tents with cuisine from all over the world and little trinkets and hats and other things. There was Greek, Polish, French, Italian, German, some glass from Nepal, and so much more. I had a little bit of a cold and congestion so I opted for the Spanish paella to clear up my sinuses and it worked pretty well with all of the spices.
Next it was another stroll down a heavily souvenir shop infested area. Then a walk over to the Central Station to check out a bookstore that was recommended to me. At the Central Station, there was this huge set up and people could play The Beatles Rockband. It was pretty sweet.
Then I headed back to hostel to drop off some stuff I had acquired. The German girl was there so after checking my email, we went and had dinner together. She was a college student studying tourism and was over in Stockholm to check out the city, thinking she might come over here and study for a year. We ended up at this nice little cafe and I had this huge salad for 90SEKs with lots of bread and dressing. And we talked about how traveling alone isn't so bad, but eating alone is a bit of a downer. After awhile, we headed back to the hostel and she headed down to read while I took a shower. The Americans returned and told us all about their day and how excited they were for the next morning as they were taking the Viking sauna tour where they go to a sauna, get lunch and massages, and then earn a Viking certificate when they jump into the freezing cold water. Apparently, it's quite a rush and reminded me of the Polar Bear Plunge we have back in Alaska. After talking some more with them, I learned the one girl was from
Spokane and we talked a bit about it. It's always nice to meet people from home and/or areas that are near where you grew up.
They eventually scattered to go shower and I went down to the cafe to do some reading, writing, and drank my ritual nightly cup of tea. God, what has Europe done to me? Lol. Then the Americans invited me out for a drink, but I went and took a nice walk around the square to see the lights and even quietly sang a christmas song to myself as I walked across this park. I LOVE this time of year!! Can't wait to go back through the airports and hear all of the Christmas music. There was also a nice breeze out and quite a beautiful night even though it had been cloudy and rainy all day. The entire city is actually very cute and very friendly. I never felt unsafe even as I walked all over by myself. It seems like that in almost all of the cities I went to -- I always feel safer than in some American cities.
Well the rest of the night was spent talking and giggling with
the Americans and then some careful planning and packing so I wouldn't wake everyone up. My place to Oslo was leaving at 9am so I had to leave around 7:30am to get to the Arlanda Express and out to the airport by 8am. And that night, after all of the walking around and laughing, I said goodbye to all of my roommates and totally passed out in my bunk and head a really good nights sleep. Sadly, the morning came and I snuck out, a little saddened that I would never see any of those people again and a little sad to return here to Bodo. But, I had two more finals to conquer. I caught my plane and then waited in Oslo for 6 hours and got lost in my biography of Ingrid Bergman I had picked up. I ended up finishing it just as they were boarding for my flight to Bodo. It was quite a good book and there were so many things I didn't know about her. My stepdad used to watch this tv channel called TCM and they would play these old movies which turned me into an old movie buff. Well one day they
had this Ingrid Bergman marathon and played her old Swedish movies which were actually quite funny so I knew who she was. Of course she's most famous for Casablanca which is one of the best but most depressing romance movies of all time. "Here's looking at you, kid." So I was pretty engrossed in the book about her. It was pretty good and I highly recommend it to any and all!
Also while in Oslo, I ate and saw this window pane Christmas decoration with Santa riding a dinosaur. Ha, it was pretty cute. And this other one I snapped a shot of. Then I got back into Bodo around 5:30pm, caught the 6pm bus to Busstorget, the 6:20 bus to Morkved and got back up here around 7:30pm. My last European adventure was quite a blast but like I said, it was kind of bittersweet to return and today is both happy and sad. Another member of my Russian family left today while I was taking my final so I had to say goodbye last night. It's sad but...we're all getting used to it. And as much as I love the friends I've made, I'm excited to go
and get out of Bodo and go see new things. It's been fun and nice and parts of it very exciting, but...it's time. It's just hard saying goodbye to the people here. I wish I could take them all back to Alaska with me. And so, since my last final is over, I must say goodbye and go party with my friends before we all have to go our separate ways at the end of the week. Bye for now...
COUNTDOWN TO MY RETURN TO THE STATES:
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Thanks :)
Im heading to Stockholm in a couple of days. So it has been very interesting to read through your blog so I have some idea what to expect. If you want to see how I get on - check out nealandrochellesoe.com