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Published: February 27th 2012
Gamla Stan
One of fourteen islands that make up StockholmWell I should have seen it coming - friday the 13th (June). Only one day after I arrived in Sweden, it all went horribly wrong. There I was killing time on the internet at Central Station in Stockholm while waiting for my train to Rättvik, when suddenly I realized that my wallet - which I had foolishly left either on top of my bag or on the desk beside the keyboard - had been stolen. Money, credit cards, everything. And since there wasn't much I could do about it once I knew it was gone, I hopped on the train anyway - cursing myself for not being more careful.
So I arrived in Rättvik (in the province of Dalarna - which is famous for it's elaborately painted wooden horses) with no money and nothing to eat - though thankfully the receptionist at my hostel was quite understanding of my situation and allowed me to check-in without being able to pay - and spent most of the afternoon on my mobile phone to Mastercard trying to arrange an emergency cash advance and replacement credit card. I guess the highlight of my day was watching the Netherlands thrash France 4-1 in the
Storkyrka in Gamla Stan
Old church in the Old Town Euro2008 football championships!
The following day I was straight downstairs tucking into the breakfast buffet (my first meal in almost twenty-four hours - which thankfully I had pre-booked before I lost my credit card), before heading off to the local Western Union office - which was actually more like an ice-cream stand/newsagent than a bank - to collect my 5000 kroner ($900AUD) cash advance. I was told by the lady there to come back an hour later because she didn't have enough money at the time, so I walked all the way out to the end of the wooden pier that stretches over 600 metres into Lake Siljan - and wouldn't you know it, the rain started getting heavier and heavier the further I got away from dry land!
So I ended up hiding out under the shelter at the end of the pier - soaking wet - for about twenty minutes while the rain passed, and then made my way back to the Western Union office to fill out a money transfer form - only to this time be told by the lady that she would not give me any money unless I could provide her with
Stockholm seascape
View across the water to Strändsvagen the name of the person sending me the money! And no matter how many times I tried explaining to her that it was Mastercard who was sending me the money, she wasn't having a bar of it!
It all became quite farcical at one point when she was on the phone to Western Union speaking in Swedish, while I was on my phone to both an American woman and a Swedish translator at Mastercard at the same time! Thankfully though I eventually got my money, unfortunately though due to the infrequent public transport services it was too late to actually go anywhere or do anything or I would not have been able to get back to Rättvik until the next day. So another day ended without having seen any of the sights or attractions around Lake Siljan, the highlight this time being watching a very close contest between Spain and my newly-adopted Sweden in the Euro football championships!
So due to my lack of funds, the infrequency of local buses and trains, and the absence of decent weather, the high point of my two days in what is known as the 'heartland of Sweden' was getting on a
The Royal Palace
Konglige Slottet, Stockholm train and heading back to Stockholm - and even then I was asked to move three times in ten minutes because apparently I was sitting in someone else's seat(?). So the rest of that (sunday) afternoon was spent wandering around the old town of Stockholm and then checking out Skansen - which apparently is the world's oldest open-air museum.
Of course by the time I got there all of the buildings were closed for the day, but I still got to see my first ever wolf, wolverine, lynx, fox, bison and brown bears in the animal enclosures - so that was pretty cool; especially watching the three bear cubs terrorizing the resident fox! And all of this was topped off by a magnificent comeback by Turkey to beat the Czech Republic 3-2 in the football!
Yesterday (monday - my first full day in Stockholm) I did a sightseeing tour of the city by boat, which passed most of the city's fourteen islands and under at least a dozen bridges; before hiring a pushbike for the rest of the day and spending the next five hours riding around every one of the islands... as well as part of the
Sophia Kyrka
Another old church in Stockholm mainland south of the city when I got horribly lost! Naturally by the end of the day I had blisters on my hands, my arse was sore, and my legs felt like jelly, so it was with great relief that I retired to the hostel for the evening, devoured two McDonald's meals and watched Germany beat Austria in the football.
Today I took a train to Uppsala, a city just north of Stockholm, where I spent most of the afternoon wandering around (albeit slightly bow-legged from my cycling marathon the previous day) checking out the castle, cathedral, botanic gardens etc. Meanwhile tonight brings yet another big football match - Italy -vs- France (a replay of the last World Cup final) so no doubt I will be planted in front of a television screen somewhere - quite possibly with a beer in my hand - for that. And then tomorrow I'm off to Göteburg on the west coast for five days, where I hope to meet up with Karin and Tove from the Courthouse Hotel in Cairns.
And not only will there be massive football matches on every night, with Sweden playing their final group match tomorrow night and
then the quarter-finals being played over the following four nights; but the Midsummer festival to celebrate the longest day of summer (which apparently is huge in Sweden) will be on saturday night - the same night that Sweden are due to play in the quarter-finals of the football if they win tomorrow night! So it definately promises to be a massive week over here - don't be surprised if you don't hear from me for a while...!
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