A Year in Sweden: December 2007

Sorry that this post is really late, I have been busy with school. It is now Winter break, so hopefully I can update my blog for once. I will begin with my trip to Stockholm, which is the next noteworthy European experience following my Oktoberfest experience.

Well, it all began in Lund when I bought some train tickets to Stockholm. I sensed a small break in my studies in which I could fit in some traveling. A Swedish friend, Emma, who I met in California because she was studying abroad in Davis last year, where I go to school, has been in contact with me, and we agreed that I should go to Stockholm before it got any colder up there, so this seemed like a great opportunity to do so. I had not been there in over three years, so I was excited. I bought return trip tickets to Stockholm, and thus my journey was set in stone.

This was the first of my European voyages so far where I have been able to take a sleep-train to my destination. The Germany trip was a little less comfortable since I had to attempt to sleep on the train while only occupying a seat. The Stockholm arrangement worked out much better, and I was able to wake up in Stockholm Central Station, ready to take on the city. It was refreshing to walk into a city fresh for me to explore. Although I had been to the city before, I had not paid much attention to where everything was, since I did not have the foresight to know that I would venture to the city again in the future. So I had to rely on my sense of familiar landmarks, an intuition for direction, and a touristy handout map of the city. I explored the square where the central metro station is, then ventured forth to Gamla Stan, the historical part of town.

Gamla Stan is without a doubt my favorite part of Stockholm. Once one crosses the water via a bridge, passing the Royal Theater along the way, one enters into a nostalgic district that invokes feelings of something like 16th century London. The streets are all cobblestone, and it is rare to find a street that is just for cars. There is a maze of pedestrian streets to explore, and after circling around the small island, I attempted to voyage through as many as I could, until I was contacted by Emma who instructed me to meet her in an entirely differently part of the city. My destination was where she goes to school: Hersby Gymnasium. Even though it is called a gymnasium, it translates into a school in Swedish. So I traveled to a metro station, and traveled across one of the main shopping streets in the city along the way there.

Eventually I met up with Emma in an entirely different part of town. I sat in on one of her classes, which was a cool experience, because I was able to see what a typical school day was for a Swede. There was no English to help me understand anything, of course. I doubt that many tourists get an opportunity to sit in on a class in Sweden, so I really appreciated the experience. One interested thing that I noted about this school was that apparently guys who had motorbikes were supposedly cool. Very few people drive in Sweden, most take the bus, the metro, or a bike, so a motorbike is supposedly classy. In Lund it is pretty similar except there is no metro and there is not as much emphasis on motorbikes. After Emma got out of school, we went to downtown Stockholm, where she showed me some of the highlights of the city, including Konserthuset, the building where the Nobel Prize is awarded (I actually recognized this square from 3 years before, I think my family saw a movie at the theater located there), as well as the mall where their late foreign minister, Anna Lindh, was stabbed. Things like that never happen in Sweden, so it was quite a traumatic experience for the Swedes. There were many other places to see in Stockholm, so Emma and I went to a coffee shop and she was kind enough to map out some places that I should see. Emma had to leave after giving me this advice, and I decided to check in to my hotel. I rested for a little bit, then went out to an area that Emma recommended to see what the Stockholm nightlife had to offer.

The next day, I decided to check out some of the touristy sites that Emma had recommended. After a full day of venturing into various parts of the city, I had another night out on the town. The next day, I decided to go to Gamla Stan once again. I bought a mocha and a piece of white chocolate cheesecake at Kaffekoppen and Chokladkoppen. These bulidings are vary famous and historic, and are located at a very famous square in Stockholm where the
Stockholm Bloodbath occured in which about 82 people were beheaded in 1520. Interestingly enough, it is also the same square where the Nobel Prize museum is located. After the refreshing food from the historic builidngs, I went on to the Royal Palace to witness the changing of the guard. After this ceremony, I went to the Stadshuset, or the city hall of Stockholm. It was here that I met another tourist, hailing from Australia, although presiding in London. She was a keen photographer, and made a good companion to check out the other tourist sites. We went to a great church called Storkyrkan located in Gamla Stan next. It has an impressive statue of St. George and the Dragon, a depiction of St. George slaying the dragon, which I believe symbolizes Sweden breaking free of Denmark's rule, but could just be a purely religious monument dedication to St. George for bringing Christianity to Scandinavia. Perhaps it is a mixture of the two. There is also a magnificent replica of the statue located along one of the many cobblestone streets in Gamla Stan. After scouring around Gamla Stan, we managed to find the narrowest street in the city, which is less than a meter wide. Apparently many of the streets in Gamla Stan are designed to be just wide enough to allow a single horse and carriage to pass through. That makes sense, since I doubt that engineers are planning current road designs to be suitable for transportation 500 years from now. We also met and chatted with an American tourist and her Swedish host while checking out this alleyway or street. Eventually we continued our tourist excursions, and I went my own way to have another night out on the town.

The next day, I decided to take a tour of Stadshuset. I was unable to the previous day because the tours offered in English were already complete for the day. It was well worth the wait, and I was very impressed by the building, especially by the room where the Nobel Prize banquet is held (it is amazing how so many people can fit into a relatively small room) and by the golden room, which glitters with Swedish symbolism. As if the tour wasn't impressive enough, we were also blessed with an intelligent and beautiful blond-haired, blue-eyed Swedish woman as our tour guide. It seems that this is the norm in Scandinavia, however. After touring the Stadshuset, I rushed to a different district of Stockholm to meet with a girl a know from Lund who is a native of a suburb of Stockholm. We met up and had lunch at Kaffekoppen. After lunch, we went out separate ways and I explored more of the tourist sites that Emma had recommended. One of the areas that I decided to visit was an island (Stockholm is basically composed of several islands, there is water everywhere, and it is very beautiful) where famous museums such as the Vasa Museum (featuring a ship that sunk as it left harbor, and which I saw 3 years prior), an open-air museum featuring historic buildings, and more. Most of the museums were closed, as it was getting late, so I decided to head to a relatively near-by radio tower where a great view of the city was supposedly visible. Along the walk to the tower, I passed the United States Embassy, which was a heart-warming experience, since I had not seen American soil for quite a long time. Eventually I reached the tower, after taking a bus, and I was able to see a great view of Stockholm. It was amazing, and there is even a restaurant at the top so one can wine and dine and have a great view of the city. After a breathtaking view, I traveled back to the center of Stockholm to meet up with the Australian tourist I had met previously at Stadshuset. We had dinner at TGIF, which is one of Emma's favorite spots to meet up with her friends before going out. After a good steak dinner, we headed to the Absolut Icebar Stockholm, a bar that is kept at something like -5 degrees Celsius, and which is constructed completely out of ice. It is based on the Icehotel in the northern part of Sweden, or Lapland. The people who construct the Icebar (onc every 6 moths or so) are the same who bulid the famous Swedish Icehotel every year. There are several Absolut Icebars scattered throughout the planet, and they are a very fun place to have an ice-cold drink. In order to enter, you have to wear a big parka which looks like something from a sci-fi movie. The glasses are even hollowed out blocks of ice, and it is just a very unique experience in every imaginable way. After experiencing the Icebar, my Stockholm trip was essentially complete. After the Icebar, I gathered my luggage, and got on the train which would take me back to Lund. I had an awesome time in Stockholm, and it is definitely one of my favorite cities in the world. If I was given the opportunity to go to Stockholm again, I would drop whatever I was doing and head back. At any rate, I went to bed on the sleep-train, and woke up when it was approaching Lund. Once I got back to Lund, I had to continue my regular non-tourist lifestyle, but at least I was still in Sweden, and that is something to be thankful for =).

Stockholm Central Station

A typical street in Gamla Stan

Me in front of the St. George and the Dragon statue in Gamla Stan

One of the major shopping streets in Stockholm

A church in central Stockholm

Emma showing me around Stockholm

One of the main squares in Stockholm

White chocolate cheesecake and mocha from Chokladkoppen and Kaffekoppen

Me in front of Kaffekoppen and Chokladkoppen

Changing of the Guard at the Royal Palace in Stockholm

Me in front of Stadshuset

Me on the narrowest street in Stockholm in Gamla Stan (Old Town)

The Golden Room inside the Stadshuset

The Blue Room inside Stadshuset, so named because the architect planned to paint the room blue, but changed his mind once he saw the nice looking red brickwork. The Nobel Prize banquet is held here every year.