We found out last night that the clocks turned back! That means we had an extra hour of sleep! After our delicious breakfast from the inn, we were out in the rain, heading to Norsk Oljemuseum (the Norwegian Petroleum Museum). This was very interesting. Neither Eugenia nor I knew very much about drilling, so what a perfect place to learn! Norway has a very large drilling industry and they make a lot of their money through their oil. We also found out that Norway isn't part of the European Union because of their oil and the money they make on it (at least that's part of the reason).
After, we had time for one more museum before our train left at 2pm. We decided to explore the Stavanger Museum in hopes of learning more about the city. Not what we were thinking at all. Aside for many animal and dinosaur exhibits, we got to learn a tiny bit about Stavanger.
Went back to the inn all soaking wet from the wind and rain, warmed up our food from the night before, packed, paid and we were out. Made our way to the train station and got ready for a 12 hour train and bus ride back to Göteborg. While we were waiting for the train, our 2 Norwegian boys from the night before came walking up. The train we were on was stopping in Kristiansand on the way to Oslo, so they'd be on our train with us! The train had to go all the way around the coast of Norway. If you look at a map, you can see the route from Stavanger, through Kristiansand (on the southern tip), all the way north to Oslo. that's why it takes soooooooo long!
Arrived in Göteborg around 2:30am, got a cab and was in bed by 3:30am. Long day, but it was well worth it!
I had a wonderful trip and I think Eugenia did, too. It was definitely fun to travel with her and we knew exactly what we needed to do to get the most out of our trip, without any disagreements either. If anyone who's reading this ever gets a chance to explore Norway, I highly recommend touring around the fjords. It is breathtaking and I think the nature definitely pays for the trip!
Monday, October 29, 2007
Saturday, October 27th, 2007 - - Bergen - Stavanger
Got up and out of our hostel after a great nights sleep. Still no one at the front desk, so I don't know what we are going to do about paying.....
We read in a Bergen guide about a funicular and cable car that would take you up a mountain. We really wanted to do the cable car because it goes up a higher mountain, but it doesn't open until 10am, when our boat for Stavanger leaves at 10:10am. We found the funicular close to where we were walking around Friday night and it opens at 8am, so we decided to do that. Ran into 7-11 to grab something to eat for breakfast and got our tickets to go up 320m. Oh, and I never mentioned that it was still raining, so we knew we weren't going to have a perfect view of the city, but we wanted to do something in Bergen, especially since we didn't have much time.
Along with our bags, we rode the 7 minute ride up the track. Got to the top and we could see some, but was really windy and cold, so we didn't stay too long. However, the gift shop opened so of course we did some shopping! Made it back down and headed to the express boat.
Aside for a few choppy areas and an unexpected stop where everyone had to get off and switch to their final destinations, we arrived in Stavanger by 2:45pm. So far it had rained for the first half of the day and thankfully we have been on a boat. Met a woman from Michigan also heading to Stavanger, which was fun. You can tell American accents apart from anything, so there's always questions like "where are you from?" all the time.
We met up with our 2 Americans and the Aussie to find the tourist office. Found the big "I" and to our surprise, it was closed! Closed at 2pm on a Saturday! Isn't that when tourists will come? After that luck, we found our little inn and unpacked. We stayed at Rogalandsheimen, which, if you look online, is absolutely beautiful! Very old and antique-y looking, it was really fun to stay in. All the 3 ladies in charge while we were there were also extremely nice. We had our own room, which was very comfortable and we were really able to relax!
We went out around 4pm, hoping we would find something to do, especially since all museums close at 4pm. We ended up getting some food at "Bagel Buddy" and went around the center of Stavanger looking for souvenirs. However, we hit a dead end: nothing was open! And, to make it even worse, almost every store is closed on Sunday's. Out of luck with that, so we eventually ended up at an Irish pub.
Eugenia and I got Kilkenny and sat around and chatted, even with a couple of Norwegian boys up from a city in the south, Kristiansand, to party in Stavanger. While walking around the city, we found the Stavanger Cathedral, which was beautiful, and Valberget, which is an old tower.
Around 10pm, we made our way to the train station to eat dinner at "Mona Lisa". Good food and even had leftovers for lunch on Sunday. Asked the workers at the restaurant if they knew anything for us to do Sunday because most museums open at 11am. They told us about the Petroleum Museum that opens at 10am. We decided that we would do that right away in the morning.
Went back to the inn, checked our e-mail on the free computer they offer, took showers, and headed to bed. Aside for all the rain, Stavanger is a beautiful city and a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be!
We read in a Bergen guide about a funicular and cable car that would take you up a mountain. We really wanted to do the cable car because it goes up a higher mountain, but it doesn't open until 10am, when our boat for Stavanger leaves at 10:10am. We found the funicular close to where we were walking around Friday night and it opens at 8am, so we decided to do that. Ran into 7-11 to grab something to eat for breakfast and got our tickets to go up 320m. Oh, and I never mentioned that it was still raining, so we knew we weren't going to have a perfect view of the city, but we wanted to do something in Bergen, especially since we didn't have much time.
Along with our bags, we rode the 7 minute ride up the track. Got to the top and we could see some, but was really windy and cold, so we didn't stay too long. However, the gift shop opened so of course we did some shopping! Made it back down and headed to the express boat.
Aside for a few choppy areas and an unexpected stop where everyone had to get off and switch to their final destinations, we arrived in Stavanger by 2:45pm. So far it had rained for the first half of the day and thankfully we have been on a boat. Met a woman from Michigan also heading to Stavanger, which was fun. You can tell American accents apart from anything, so there's always questions like "where are you from?" all the time.
We met up with our 2 Americans and the Aussie to find the tourist office. Found the big "I" and to our surprise, it was closed! Closed at 2pm on a Saturday! Isn't that when tourists will come? After that luck, we found our little inn and unpacked. We stayed at Rogalandsheimen, which, if you look online, is absolutely beautiful! Very old and antique-y looking, it was really fun to stay in. All the 3 ladies in charge while we were there were also extremely nice. We had our own room, which was very comfortable and we were really able to relax!
We went out around 4pm, hoping we would find something to do, especially since all museums close at 4pm. We ended up getting some food at "Bagel Buddy" and went around the center of Stavanger looking for souvenirs. However, we hit a dead end: nothing was open! And, to make it even worse, almost every store is closed on Sunday's. Out of luck with that, so we eventually ended up at an Irish pub.
Eugenia and I got Kilkenny and sat around and chatted, even with a couple of Norwegian boys up from a city in the south, Kristiansand, to party in Stavanger. While walking around the city, we found the Stavanger Cathedral, which was beautiful, and Valberget, which is an old tower.
Around 10pm, we made our way to the train station to eat dinner at "Mona Lisa". Good food and even had leftovers for lunch on Sunday. Asked the workers at the restaurant if they knew anything for us to do Sunday because most museums open at 11am. They told us about the Petroleum Museum that opens at 10am. We decided that we would do that right away in the morning.
Went back to the inn, checked our e-mail on the free computer they offer, took showers, and headed to bed. Aside for all the rain, Stavanger is a beautiful city and a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be!
Friday, October 26th, 2007 - - Oslo-Myrdal-Flåm-Gudvangen-Voss-Bergen
We got up at 6:30am and were out the door by 7am. Overall, the hostel was nice. Wasn't the cleanest place, but was nice to have a toilet and shower in the room. There was even a kitchen, but we didn't use it. Went right next door to the Anker Best Western Hotel to eat a 75NOK (Norwegian krona) frukost (breakfast). As Eugenia now knows, we killed two birds with one stone because we took lots of food for lunch so we didn't have to pay even more! The NOK is extremely pricey compared to SEK. Same prices as in Sweden, but with a worse exchange rate.
Hurried out of the hotel, caught tram 11 and eventually arrived at the train station. Now begins our very busy day.
Boarded the train and we were out of Oslo, on our 4.5 hour ride west to Myrdal. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking that I can't even begin to try and explain it. The early part of the trip was extremely foggy and cold out and there was frost all over the fields and trees. Everything was white. Slowly the sun decided to shine, which of course, made everything more beautiful. Once in Myrdal, we switched trains to the Flåmbana, a very famous railway in Flåm that goes through the fjords. Got to the fjords and by the Flåmbana we were going in and out of tunnels through the mountains and even stopped in areas where we could get out and take pictures.
Next stop was 50 minutes later in Flåm where we had an hour break to look around the city of 450 people. Wasn't much going on, but was amazing to be eating lunch with all of these cliffs surrounding you. By now it was early afternoon and the sun was already disappearing behind the fjords, so it was getting rather chilly.
Now we changed forms of transportation. We boarded a boat to Gudvangen. We had moments when it wasn't too cold to go on top to get pictures, otherwise with the wind it was very cold. Cold enough that ice was forming on the water and snow on the hills! However, the views were amazing and truthfully, it sort of reminded me of our Yangtze River boat tour through the gorges.
Arriving 2 hours later in Gudvangen and we jumped right onto a bus to take us back down some of the 1,000+ meters to Voss. It was now getting dark out (about 6pm) and we had an hour wait for our next train in Voss.
Eugenia and I decided to hang out and get something to eat in the train station because any part of Voss that looked interesting while driving through, was pretty far to walk to. Got hot dogs to eat and stayed warm til the train. About an hour later, we arrived in Bergen.
Found our hostel, Marken Gjestehus, and after a little confusion on where the actual place was, we found our room. The reception desk closes early and opens late, so we really didn't know what we were supposed to do as far as paying goes. Made our beds, once again, and decided to check out the night life.
Bergen is known as a city where it rains all the time and it didn't change for us either. We walked along Bryggen and found a castle tower called Rosenkrantz Tower. It was built by the governor of Bergen Castle (Bergenhus). Bryggen is a series of Hanseatic commercial buildings lining the eastern side of the fjord coming into Bergen. We also walked along Haakon's Hall, which was built in the 1200's.
Continued walking along the wharf and found a bar to grab a beer and chat. Talked and talked til midnight when we left to go back to the hostel. After showers, were in bed by 1am with alarm set for 7am. Today was a fantastic and tiring day. We met 3 students studying in Copenhagen. Two are from the United States and one from Australia. Jeremy is from California and goes to USC and Mark is from Boston and believe it or not, he goes to school in Madison! UW-Madison to be exact! Small world! All 3 are on the same tour as we are, so we saw them all day and will continue to see them!
Hurried out of the hotel, caught tram 11 and eventually arrived at the train station. Now begins our very busy day.
Boarded the train and we were out of Oslo, on our 4.5 hour ride west to Myrdal. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking that I can't even begin to try and explain it. The early part of the trip was extremely foggy and cold out and there was frost all over the fields and trees. Everything was white. Slowly the sun decided to shine, which of course, made everything more beautiful. Once in Myrdal, we switched trains to the Flåmbana, a very famous railway in Flåm that goes through the fjords. Got to the fjords and by the Flåmbana we were going in and out of tunnels through the mountains and even stopped in areas where we could get out and take pictures.
Next stop was 50 minutes later in Flåm where we had an hour break to look around the city of 450 people. Wasn't much going on, but was amazing to be eating lunch with all of these cliffs surrounding you. By now it was early afternoon and the sun was already disappearing behind the fjords, so it was getting rather chilly.
Now we changed forms of transportation. We boarded a boat to Gudvangen. We had moments when it wasn't too cold to go on top to get pictures, otherwise with the wind it was very cold. Cold enough that ice was forming on the water and snow on the hills! However, the views were amazing and truthfully, it sort of reminded me of our Yangtze River boat tour through the gorges.
Arriving 2 hours later in Gudvangen and we jumped right onto a bus to take us back down some of the 1,000+ meters to Voss. It was now getting dark out (about 6pm) and we had an hour wait for our next train in Voss.
Eugenia and I decided to hang out and get something to eat in the train station because any part of Voss that looked interesting while driving through, was pretty far to walk to. Got hot dogs to eat and stayed warm til the train. About an hour later, we arrived in Bergen.
Found our hostel, Marken Gjestehus, and after a little confusion on where the actual place was, we found our room. The reception desk closes early and opens late, so we really didn't know what we were supposed to do as far as paying goes. Made our beds, once again, and decided to check out the night life.
Bergen is known as a city where it rains all the time and it didn't change for us either. We walked along Bryggen and found a castle tower called Rosenkrantz Tower. It was built by the governor of Bergen Castle (Bergenhus). Bryggen is a series of Hanseatic commercial buildings lining the eastern side of the fjord coming into Bergen. We also walked along Haakon's Hall, which was built in the 1200's.
Continued walking along the wharf and found a bar to grab a beer and chat. Talked and talked til midnight when we left to go back to the hostel. After showers, were in bed by 1am with alarm set for 7am. Today was a fantastic and tiring day. We met 3 students studying in Copenhagen. Two are from the United States and one from Australia. Jeremy is from California and goes to USC and Mark is from Boston and believe it or not, he goes to school in Madison! UW-Madison to be exact! Small world! All 3 are on the same tour as we are, so we saw them all day and will continue to see them!
Norway!!
So after my exam was finished on Tuesday for my project management class, I began to get ready for Norway. I already finished my essay for my economics of innovations class, so I felt free and ready to leave for a vacation! I will write separate entries for each day because I wrote on paper what I did each day so it would actually be detailed and I knew if I wrote later, it wouldn't be detailed and I wouldn't have had the patience to actually write nice!
Here goes....
Thursday, October 25th, 2007 - - Göteborg, Sweden - Oslo, Norway
Eugenia and I met at 9:00am and were ready to get to Central Station. Got on the bus at 10:15 and were on our way to Oslo. After a 4 hour ride of gorgeous Swedish scenery and a bit of Norway's, we arrived Oslo at about 2:30pm. We immediately went to find the NSB (Norway train line) counter in the central train station. Got our tickets from Stavanger to Oslo for the way back and our fjord tour tickets as well. We found the tourist office and luckily we did because we had no map or any information about Oslo, aside from our "Things to do in Oslo" list we made prior to going. Got a lot of helpful information on where to go, what time things closed, and most importantly, how to get to Anker Hostel.
Found the hostel, checked in, got to our 6-person mixed room, made our beds (were not the cleanest looking duvets, pillows, or mattresses), made plans for where to go and headed out. Eugenia had read and heard from many people that Vigelandsparken is a must-see, so we hopped on a tram. It is filled with more than 200 sculptures in bronze, granite, and cast iron and is all outdoors. Some of the most famous sculptures are the "Wheel of Life" and the monolith. (I found a great website: http://www.fortunecity.com/westwood/arch/769/Vigeland/ that explains a lot about all of the statues.) It was a beautiful day and most of the fall leaves were still colorful and the sun was shining. We had a wonderful time.
Next stop was Akershus Slott, the Akershus Fortress. Built in the 13th century, we couldn't go into the castle because it was closed, but could go onto the grounds and look around. Saw the small production of the changing of the guards and took a few pics. We wandered around the main street, Karl Johans Gate, and came across many beautiful buildings. Stopped at Hard Rock Cafe for a key chain souvenir on our way to the Royal Palace. It was dark at this time, so we could see the palace all lit up at the end of Karl Johans Gate. Walked onto the grounds and found many "people" in traditional Norwegian dress and many in tuxes and gowns going into the palace. We asked some other gawkers what was going on and they told us it was a government official dinner. There were news cameras and all sorts of photographers there, including us, taking pics of the Prime Minister of Norway as he climbed out of his car! Yes, we got to the Prime Minister from less than 50 feet away!
After the party we weren't invited to started to die down, we hiked it back to the city. Stopped by the National Theatre, which was beautiful from the outside. We were told from the lady at the tourist office that Ekebergrestauranten was a nice place to eat as well as an excellent view of the city. It is southeast of the center on a hill, so we got on a tram to go up the hillside. After missing the stop the first time up, we caught it coming back down. To our surprise, we needed a reservation and they were fully packed.
After taking a couple of pics of the city, we headed back down to find a place to eat. Ended up at a place called Tempest and had a fantastic pasta dish and a drink the bartender made for us. Not sure on the name, but had Bacardi Limon, some Norwegian liquor, Sprite and limes. Very tasty! Roamed around some more and finally found a tram to take us back to the hostel. On the way, though, we stopped at Stortinget, the Parliament, and admired the outside and as much of the inside we could see. Got to our room and much to our surprise, it was full with most everyone sleeping already. Quietly made our way to bed.
Asleep by midnight after setting our alarms for 6:30am. Wonderful 8 hours in Oslo, and even though we couldn't go inside most places (all closed by 4pm), we definitely felt we did as much as we could while we were there. Eugenia and I have the same idea of traveling: sight-see while you can and leave the shopping for home! Perfect travelling buddies!
Here goes....
Thursday, October 25th, 2007 - - Göteborg, Sweden - Oslo, Norway
Eugenia and I met at 9:00am and were ready to get to Central Station. Got on the bus at 10:15 and were on our way to Oslo. After a 4 hour ride of gorgeous Swedish scenery and a bit of Norway's, we arrived Oslo at about 2:30pm. We immediately went to find the NSB (Norway train line) counter in the central train station. Got our tickets from Stavanger to Oslo for the way back and our fjord tour tickets as well. We found the tourist office and luckily we did because we had no map or any information about Oslo, aside from our "Things to do in Oslo" list we made prior to going. Got a lot of helpful information on where to go, what time things closed, and most importantly, how to get to Anker Hostel.
Found the hostel, checked in, got to our 6-person mixed room, made our beds (were not the cleanest looking duvets, pillows, or mattresses), made plans for where to go and headed out. Eugenia had read and heard from many people that Vigelandsparken is a must-see, so we hopped on a tram. It is filled with more than 200 sculptures in bronze, granite, and cast iron and is all outdoors. Some of the most famous sculptures are the "Wheel of Life" and the monolith. (I found a great website: http://www.fortunecity.com/westwood/arch/769/Vigeland/ that explains a lot about all of the statues.) It was a beautiful day and most of the fall leaves were still colorful and the sun was shining. We had a wonderful time.
Next stop was Akershus Slott, the Akershus Fortress. Built in the 13th century, we couldn't go into the castle because it was closed, but could go onto the grounds and look around. Saw the small production of the changing of the guards and took a few pics. We wandered around the main street, Karl Johans Gate, and came across many beautiful buildings. Stopped at Hard Rock Cafe for a key chain souvenir on our way to the Royal Palace. It was dark at this time, so we could see the palace all lit up at the end of Karl Johans Gate. Walked onto the grounds and found many "people" in traditional Norwegian dress and many in tuxes and gowns going into the palace. We asked some other gawkers what was going on and they told us it was a government official dinner. There were news cameras and all sorts of photographers there, including us, taking pics of the Prime Minister of Norway as he climbed out of his car! Yes, we got to the Prime Minister from less than 50 feet away!
After the party we weren't invited to started to die down, we hiked it back to the city. Stopped by the National Theatre, which was beautiful from the outside. We were told from the lady at the tourist office that Ekebergrestauranten was a nice place to eat as well as an excellent view of the city. It is southeast of the center on a hill, so we got on a tram to go up the hillside. After missing the stop the first time up, we caught it coming back down. To our surprise, we needed a reservation and they were fully packed.
After taking a couple of pics of the city, we headed back down to find a place to eat. Ended up at a place called Tempest and had a fantastic pasta dish and a drink the bartender made for us. Not sure on the name, but had Bacardi Limon, some Norwegian liquor, Sprite and limes. Very tasty! Roamed around some more and finally found a tram to take us back to the hostel. On the way, though, we stopped at Stortinget, the Parliament, and admired the outside and as much of the inside we could see. Got to our room and much to our surprise, it was full with most everyone sleeping already. Quietly made our way to bed.
Asleep by midnight after setting our alarms for 6:30am. Wonderful 8 hours in Oslo, and even though we couldn't go inside most places (all closed by 4pm), we definitely felt we did as much as we could while we were there. Eugenia and I have the same idea of traveling: sight-see while you can and leave the shopping for home! Perfect travelling buddies!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
A quick post because I'm not sure when I'll be able to update you for at least a week. It's come to the end of the quarter here at Chalmers and of course that means exams. I had one half of an exam last Wednesday for my economics class and the second half is an essay that is due this coming Friday (Oct. 26th). I have an in-class exam for my Project Management class on Tuesday, so I've been busy this weekend studying and writing.
The fun part of the week is that since I have an exam on Tues and nothing else for the rest of the week (as long as I get the essay done ahead of time), I am going with Eugenia to Norway! We leave Thursday morning for Oslo and will stay over night in a hostel. Then Friday morning we get up and get together with a tour that will take us through the fjords on the western side of Norway. I'm very excited for that and it's supposed to be beautiful! Hopefully we'll have nice weather too! I was just talking to my dad and he said that this weekend in the states should be really good for the northern lights. Apparently here, the northern lights are extremely bright and the farther you go north, they are even brighter! In Norway, they even have northern light tours that go through the fjords! So, hopefully when we are there, we'll be able to see the start of them!
Well...off to bed and early to rise tomorrow morning to do some writing on the essay! I'll post immediately when I get back from Norway and will definitely be taking many pics!
Hope all is well with everyone! Miss you lots!
The fun part of the week is that since I have an exam on Tues and nothing else for the rest of the week (as long as I get the essay done ahead of time), I am going with Eugenia to Norway! We leave Thursday morning for Oslo and will stay over night in a hostel. Then Friday morning we get up and get together with a tour that will take us through the fjords on the western side of Norway. I'm very excited for that and it's supposed to be beautiful! Hopefully we'll have nice weather too! I was just talking to my dad and he said that this weekend in the states should be really good for the northern lights. Apparently here, the northern lights are extremely bright and the farther you go north, they are even brighter! In Norway, they even have northern light tours that go through the fjords! So, hopefully when we are there, we'll be able to see the start of them!
Well...off to bed and early to rise tomorrow morning to do some writing on the essay! I'll post immediately when I get back from Norway and will definitely be taking many pics!
Hope all is well with everyone! Miss you lots!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Not much going on lately...
Sorry all - - haven't written in a while. Truthfully, like the title says, there really isn't much going on here lately. I made a list while sitting in class, which I always do so I remember what has happened.
Nik and I went to the Botanical Gardens on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and the gardens were absolutely gorgeous! We eventually found a path and started roaming around. Before we knew it, we were in the arboretum (connected to the gardens) and more paths were winding all around lakes. At that point, we wanted to get out of there, so we kept walking in the direction of the main road. Finally found it and were way out of the way from the tram and any main road. Walked probably another 30 minutes after we found a sign with and arrow pointing us in the direction of Frölunda Torg. (The botanical gardens are like a 5-10 minute tram ride from Frölunda Torg.)
The rest of this week has been class. However, today, we had a lecturer from Beijing come and speak to us in my Project Management class. He spoke on the Beijing Olympic construction and all of the important buildings like the "Nest" for the main events/concerts and the swimming pool building. Got to see pictures of the building process and the whole planning of all the buildings back in 2001. This guy isn't part of the actual construction project. He is a professor from Tsinghua University in project management. It was a really interesting lecture. I also really want to go to Beijing to see the actual buildings (or the Olympics would be fine too!)!
Getting darker everyday here. We are getting some sun every couple of days, but like every Swede has told me, the winter is all rain and cold. Hardly any sun, so any we get now, I'm going to have to soak it up!
That's all for this time! Planning some trips and final exams for this period are in a week, so I'll definitely be busy, but the boring kind of busy. I'm sure there will be some fun in there somewhere?!?!
PS....don't have a camera right now (or for the past week) so there aren't any new pics.
Nik and I went to the Botanical Gardens on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and the gardens were absolutely gorgeous! We eventually found a path and started roaming around. Before we knew it, we were in the arboretum (connected to the gardens) and more paths were winding all around lakes. At that point, we wanted to get out of there, so we kept walking in the direction of the main road. Finally found it and were way out of the way from the tram and any main road. Walked probably another 30 minutes after we found a sign with and arrow pointing us in the direction of Frölunda Torg. (The botanical gardens are like a 5-10 minute tram ride from Frölunda Torg.)
The rest of this week has been class. However, today, we had a lecturer from Beijing come and speak to us in my Project Management class. He spoke on the Beijing Olympic construction and all of the important buildings like the "Nest" for the main events/concerts and the swimming pool building. Got to see pictures of the building process and the whole planning of all the buildings back in 2001. This guy isn't part of the actual construction project. He is a professor from Tsinghua University in project management. It was a really interesting lecture. I also really want to go to Beijing to see the actual buildings (or the Olympics would be fine too!)!
Getting darker everyday here. We are getting some sun every couple of days, but like every Swede has told me, the winter is all rain and cold. Hardly any sun, so any we get now, I'm going to have to soak it up!
That's all for this time! Planning some trips and final exams for this period are in a week, so I'll definitely be busy, but the boring kind of busy. I'm sure there will be some fun in there somewhere?!?!
PS....don't have a camera right now (or for the past week) so there aren't any new pics.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Stockholm
Well, like I said before, I traveled to Stockholm for the weekend! Was an absolute blast!! I left Friday morning around 8am with Sarah from Milan, Italy and we arrived in Stockholm by train around 1pm. This was where the fun and cluelessness began...
Sarah had booked a room at Formule 1 Hotel, so we knew we had a room, just didn't know exactly where to find the hotel. After trying to find the tourist office in Centralstation in Stockholm (the tour books told us they had one), we finally asked someone where we were supposed to go. In Stockholm, they actually have an underground train system, so we hopped on that after buying our one time tickets and headed to the stop we were told to get off at. We ended up going about 20 minutes southwest of central Stockholm and, after walking through a construction site since we had no idea how to get to our hotel because the street was under construction, we finally saw the sign.
Hotel wasn't terrible. The typical European hotel with the bathroom and shower in the hallway for all to share. Very clean, so it passes my mom's "barefoot test". Also, the hotel was extremely cheap, so that's always a plus.
After unpacking briefly, we hopped back on the subway and found the tourist office in the centre. Grabbed lots of brochures and a 24 hour transportation pass and went out exploring! Stockholm is absolutely beautiful with all of the historical buildings and tall buildings. There is an area that we especially enjoyed. Gamla Stan or "old city" was gorgeous! Narrow streets and older buildings with bright colors! So fun!! Since it was getting to be a little chilly out and getting dark, Sarah & I eventually found a little café. It was truly an adorable place! Right near the Nobel Museum, we split a piece of raspberry pie with vanilla sauce and ordered a coffee and white chocolate (apparently that means warm milk with melted chocolate thrown in - wasn't the best, but Sarah liked it).
Got back to the hotel and Sarah's friend Claudia and Claudia's friend Léa were waiting for us! Sarah had originally planned to meet up with Claudia, also from Milan, in Stockholm. Léa is from Paris and she and Claudia are studying in Norway. Was fun to be with another set of girls!
Got ready to go out to check out more of the nightlife and ended up finding an Asian food restaurant. Wasn't just one sort of food - a mix of Chinese, Japanese and Indian. Had a choice of anything! Sarah and I ordered some sesame fried prawns, Claudia got a garlic prawn salad, and Léa got meatballs with curry sauce and miso soup. The actual service was absolutely horrible!! If I was in the US, I would have demanded the whole meal for free. They brought out 3 of our meals, then literally a half hour later brought out the fourth meal. Aside from our food getting cold, we also asked for our bill, and also a half hour later, they came with it. We did get something out of it, though. We got a dessert buffet thing where you pay for the plate and get unlimited desserts, so we didn't end up paying for that, which was 100kr, but still. It really made me mad!
After that, we walked around the city a bit more. Claudia & Léa headed back to sleep and Sarah & I checked out some more bars. Found a little club, bought some drinks, found a table, and a couple of Swedish guys started talking with us. Before we let them buy us more drinks, we headed out of there and back to the hotel.
Saturday, got up, had our 40kr breakfast of rolls and butter/jam, coffee, tea, and juice. First stop was at the Royal Palace. We got there in time to see the changing of the guards which was fascinating! I have never seen a big production like this was. A drum corp came in along with the representation of the flags. Was about an hour long production, since they have to change every guard around the huge palace. After that event in the pouring rain, we walked through parts of the palace and saw past memorabilia. This palace is currently in use, but only for big gatherings and festivities.
Next up was the Nobel Museum. Definitely a must to just see. Then was Storkyrkan, a big cathedral in Gamla Stan. Beautiful inside and acoustically, would be soooo much fun to sing in!!
After that little bit of sight seeing, the girls were ready to hit the shopping centers. H & M for me and bought a new coat, which is fashionable and very in here. Back to the hotel and got ready for the night.
Watched the Italy-Scotland rugby game at an Irish Pub in Gamla Stan. Sadly, Italy lost, but we got to enjoy some tasty fish 'n chips while watching the game. Got into one club and had drinks and danced, then decided to check out the one Sarah & I went to Friday night, but the bouncers wouldn't let us in. So we left and went back to the hotel to sleep.
Sunday came and we got up and got out by 10:30am - Sarah & I with our bags to put in a locker at the train station - then headed to Djugården for the Vasamuseet. It is a huge war ship built in the 1600's for the war against Poland. Took them 2 years to build and carve many statues on the oak boat. They barely got out of Stockholm's harbor when the ship sank. Actually a funny story and people seem to find it amusing all over the museum.
After taking pics and touring around, went just south of Gamla Stan for a tower that we could see a better view of the city. Gorgeous pics we got there too. Since Sarah & I were leaving (Claudia and Léa were leaving Monday), we headed back to the same coffee shop Sarah & I went to on the first day. Ordered the same raspberry pie and also got an apple cake and carrot cake. Such good desserts here and I don't even like desserts that much!!
Said our hej då's and Sarah & I continued to the train. Riding the X2000 back, was a nice and speedy 3 hour trip. Was definitely a fun weekend and even though it was last minute, I am so glad I went! Will never forget this experience!
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