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!