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Published: January 21st 2009
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"Alone in the woods, the radiant figure appears as a revelation. Like the imagination of the child when it first learns of the heavenly messenger."
- Unknown
I dont know who wrote the above quote but I remember stealing it from a wall in my hostel - City Backpackers . I stayed there for a total of 6 nights.
So before getting to Stockholm I took the boat from Tallin to Stockholm. It was overnight - arriving in Stockholm the next morning. On the boat in my bunker I met Vera. She was orginally from Siberia, living in Estonia. But after finding it difficult to find work in Estonia she had decided to make the move to Stockholm (she had lived here once before and really loved it! Anyways we got on quite well - had a tea together and decided to go watch the Cabaret. At the Cabaret - we ended up meeting Andrea and Paul. Andrei was from Russia, living in Estonia but a total Russian patriot. Paul was from Georgia and quite quiet. I had a few dances with Andrei and then he invited both me and Vera for nuts wine and beer back at his
Stockholm 02/09/08
statue of Stringberg by Carl Eldh. room. Vera politely declined. I didn't mind. Shortly thereafter we headed for bed.
After a nice sleep on the boat I awoke shortly before disembarkment and quickly got my things ready. We both must have looked a sight me with all my suit cases and Vera with all her moving things - i tell you its not fun to travel with lots of stuff. So after mucking about with the bus for a while - they only accepted coins in the machine and the bus driver didn't sell tickets on the bus and we only had coins - whew - well we finally made it on the bus. I eventually got off at Doisden (with Vera) and we said our goodbyes. I had gotten off to early so it was a bit of a walk to my hostel which was located on Uppslangaten. Well not too bad, but then not too good with all the stuff I had. I was staying at City Backpackers hostel and it wasn't too bad I should say. They didn't provide breakfast in the charge - I paid about $35US per night for a 4 bedder girls dorm. But it had a sauna which
was cool. And a nice big kitchen to socialise and Internet also. Anyways I didn't stay at the hostel long after checking in I went and revisited the old town (well revisited from 2 years ago briefly). As it was starting to get dark I walked along the harbour and watched the sun go down.
The next day the 3rd, after a job interview, I came back to the hostel and met Bjorn. He was from Germany and looked quite Swedish. His name also meant bear in Swedish. Together we went to
Skogskyrkogården. From Swedish its translated as The Woodland Cemetery is a cemetery located in southern Stockholm, Sweden. Its design reflects the development of architecture from national romantic style to mature functionalism.
Skogskyrkogården came about following an international competition in 1915 for the design of a new cemetery in Enskede in the southern part of Stockholm, Sweden. The design of the young architects Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz was selected. Work began in 1917 on land that had been old gravel quarries that were overgrown with pine trees and was completed three years later. The architects' use of the natural landscape created an extraordinary environment of tranquil
beauty that had a profound influence on cemetery design throughout the world.
The crematorium, with its remarkable Faith, Hope, and Holy Cross Chapels was Gunnar Asplund's final work of architecture, opened shortly before his passing in 1940. In 1994, Skogskyrkogården was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Me and Bjorn walked around there for a while then caught the metro back and walked around the
darlandanden old houses, and up towards the palace. The walk was about 14km - with this guided book of walks Bjorn had of Stockholm but really nice. Some really pretty sights along the way (including a cool Pippy longstockings museum along the way - which we didn't go into as it was a bit pricey - but would have been fun for the kids.
The next day I was in the EPRA conference. In the evening we had the dinner in City Hall.
The Nobel Prize
Every Year since 1901, the Nobel Prize has been awarded for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology of medicine, literature and for peace. the award is administered by the Nobel foundation in Stockholm. Each prize consists of a medal, personal diploma, ad a cash
award.
The Nobel Banquet has been held in the Blue Hall of the city Hall since 1934. The banquet entertains 1,300 guests, and follows the Nobel prize Award ceremony which takes place each year on December 10. It's considered the event of the Swedish calendar. The diner we had was traditional and exactly the same as the royal guests receive at the Nobel dinner.
Menu:
Lobster aspic with dill baked halibut and Kalix bleak roe, cauliflower
creme and apple salad Nobel roll
WINE Chablis Premier Cru Secher 2006, France
Cockerel from Skane with sage seasoned cock sausage, Lappland potato
and celeriac terrine, silver onion puree, artichoke and red wine sauce
WINE Chateau de Bel-Air 2000, Lalande-de-Pomerol, Bordeaux, France
Rasperry and black currant terrine with pistachio biscuits and vanilla
ice icream
WINE Coteaux du Layon Raymon Morin 2003, wal de Loire, France
Coffee
Ramlosa Mineral Water
The 05 of September saw more conference and work stuff. The next day the 06/09/09 I met Paulo - a guy from Brazil studying in Bordeaux France. We went to the royal palace and watched parade. I remember doing this with B, Min soo, Ace and Winston and Tim 2
years ago. After this me and Paulo check out the state apartments then the treasury which I had not been to last time I was there. Then we went to the kulturhausen and were infatuated with Being Mammy. We nearly did a run. Then when I got back to the hostel I went into the sauna, naked of course cause that's how they roll here. I ended up being joined by 6 other guys, from Germany (Thomas and Christoph) and Juan from Mexico and Will from England and another English dude. Thomas suggested we rub salt into each other for an exfoliant. Trouble was he only found garlic salt in the kitchen so we used that. Well i say ill try most things at least once so I did and ended up stinking out the sauna, and my towel in the process. Good times!
So the next day (07/09/09) I went to Skansen with Will and Juan. Skansen is the oldest open-air museum in the world. Skansen is also a zoological park. It is located on the island of Djurgården, a royal park near the centre of Stockholm, and open every day of the year, except Christmas Eve. It
was really fun to walk through. Juan ended up leaving us as he had a plane to catch. In the evening with alot of difficulty I had to sneak into the hostel to stay the night as they were fully booked out. IT wasn't easy and I ended up having a disturbed sleep on the couch.
The next morning the 08/09/09 I got up about 9, had some breakfast then was joined by Will for the bus. Got some money exchanged after comparing some places. Got to the airport around 12:40pm. There was alot of frantic repacking as i realised I could only take 15kg when i had 30kg. I ended up wearing alot of the clothes that i had with me - no joke like 7 pairs of pants and like 5 jumpers and 3 shirts and 3 jackets. I felt morbidly obese it was so hard to move. To make it worse I had to take off the jackets for security. They were having a ball - it was such a hoot for them - they kept saying to me are you cold? Lucky the girl was helpful at check in. I think she was sick of
people blaming Sweden for ryanairs poor customer service and strict rules. She knew that i had too much clothes on but she let me through. And ended up letting me board with 19kg woohoo! When I flew into Eindhoven i decided to stay and check out the town.
The last few photos are a tribute to the 2006 4 week spring break tour I made of Sweden with Paniyotis, Min Soo, Ace, B, and Tim.
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