Fall Break Continued...

Sorry for the delay. Here is Part II…

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Sunday, 21 October 2007

Sunday morning we didn’t really have time to do much before we needed to be at the train station. After checking out of the hostel, we walked to the New Town to explore a bit, including stopping in a very small shopping mall. It might have been a good thing we left Edinburgh when we did; the sky was threateningly gray and I swear I felt a few sprinkles.

We caught the 11:50 train to Newcastle. I spent the majority of the train ride staring out of the window admiring the beautiful countryside. It was all farmland, and the rolling hills were dotted with little woolly white dots. I have never seen so many sheep in my life. Living in London has really made me appreciate the beauty of wide open spaces and greenery.

Upon arrival in Newcastle, we immediately hopped on the Metro. It was an interesting experience. Even though Newcastle is a sizable city, comparing its subway system to London’s is like comparing Syracuse to New York City.

We then had a short walk to the port on the River Tyne, where our ferry awaited. Now, when I think ferry, I think a little boat with paddles. This ship, the M.s. King of Scandinavia, was absolutely huge. It had 11 decks, bottom few of which are just for cars and cargo. The ship holds three restaurants, three bars, a casino, a coffee shop, a kids’ club, and a cinema. Unfortunately, all of these wonderful things were ridiculously expensive. We had stopped at a grocery store in Edinburgh to pick up some bagels, and it was a good thing we did. Otherwise we would have been shelling out €30 (about $45) for a buffet dinner – and that was the cheap restaurant.

We spent a very quiet night on the ferry. After watching the ship sail away from Newcastle and eating our bagel and peanut butter dinner, we browsed through our guides on Amsterdam. We turned in early and let the gentle rocking of the North Sea lull us to sleep.

Monday, 22 October 2007

At 7 a.m. Monday morning, a dreadfully cheery voice announced to the ship it was time to wake up. I, of course, rolled back over, and was just stepping out of the shower when the voice told me we would be docking in 15 minutes. We actually docked in IJmuiden (I don’t know why the I and the J are both capitalized but they are), a port about 30 minutes outside of Amsterdam. The canals and ports in Amsterdam are too shallow for a ship as big as ours.

The ferry company provided coaches to take us to the city center. One of the first sights we saw in Holland was lots and lots of windmills. However, they were not the windmills one usually imagines when picturing Holland. They were the windmills used to generate electricity, massively tall with blades as long as trees. Holland actually gets a comparatively high percentage of its electricity from wind power. There is a lot of debate, both in the U.K. and in the U.S. about using wind power. It is true that windmills are not as efficient as fossil fuels, but new technology is increasing their efficiency every year. Now the main argument against them is that they “ruin the landscape.” To the contrary, I think they are gorgeous and just another symbol of human ingenuity.

But I digress. The bus dropped us off and it took us about 40 minutes to actually find our hostel, but our check-in was delayed even longer. It turned out we needed cash for a key deposit, and having not yet exchanged our money, we se off to find an ATM to get some Euros.

By the time we returned to the hostel, a rather large, rather obnoxious group of Americans had arrived. They didn’t have a reservation, didn’t really know how long they wanted to stay, and kept talking amongst themselves while the poor girl at reception was trying to check them in. After the HALF HOUR it took them to get sorted out, she was very relieved to learn we had a reservation.

We grabbed lunch in a café and set off to explore the city. Amsterdam is a grid of over 100 canals and can be quite confusing to navigate. This was compounded by the fact that, like Sweden, we couldn’t pronounce any of the street or canal names. Also like Sweden, everybody speaks English. In fact, I’m pretty sure I heard English is compulsory in Dutch schools.

One of our explorations was Albert Cuypt market. This was similar to markets we go to in London – a mixture of clothes, produce, meat, and household items – but less expensive. While we had been waiting to check-in earlier in the day, we met two guys from Washington (state, not D.C.) who we spent the evening with, doing absolutely nothing but exploring and relaxing.

Tuesday, 23 October 2007

One of the selling points of our hostel was that it served free breakfast from 8:30 to 10:30 every morning. Rick and I wandered down at about 10:15, only to discover that breakfast had already been cleared away. We shortly realized our phones were still on London time, and that it was actually 11:15. Oops.

That morning we took a boat tour on some of the major canals. It was very sunny out, and the boat provided a great way to see some important points of the city (being an enclosed boat, it also sheltered us from the chilly bite to the air). We saw the wide canal that leads to the North Sea (not wide enough for our ferry though), some historical buildings, and the variety of house boats that line several of the canals. The popularity of houseboats started when Amsterdam had a housing crunch in the 20^th century. In order to live in one, you must have permission from the neighborhood in which you live, and you can then be hooked up to the gas and electricity networks. Some people live in houseboats illegally, and therefore have no power.

Later in the afternoon we went to the “Heineken Experience.” This was the highlight of our Amsterdam trip. It’s funny that a lot of people from home think that Heineken is from Germany, but it was actually brewed right in Amsterdam until a few decades ago. Now the old brewery is used for shameless brand promotion.

This self-guided tour gave a history of the brand and explained the process by which Heineken is made. It also gave us three half-pints of Heineken throughout the tour and promised a “free gift.” Figuring that the free gift would be something cheap, Rick and I had been stealing coasters along the way. So it was a very pleasant surprise when we received a model of the brand’s aluminum bottle which opened to hold a credit card-sized bottle opener.

For dinner that night we went to a tapas bar, not really knowing what tapas was (turns out it just means Spanish appetizers, but they make for good meals too). I don’t know if it was the time of day, day of the week, post-tourist time of year, or a combination of the three, but we were the only ones in the restaurant for the whole meal. The waiter/cook was very nice, and even gave s a card for a 10% discount if we wanted to go back.

After walking around the city some more, we hung out in our hostel’s bar/lounge for a while before bed.

Wednesday, 24 October 2007

Wednesday morning we actually made it to breakfast at the hostel, and had a lovely meal of chocolate cereal and hard-boiled eggs. We then checked out and headed toward the train station in Amsterdam, where we had decided to store our luggage for a few hours, rather than lug it around (we also could have left it at the hostel, but that was the opposite side of the city from where we needed to be for the bus back to the ferry).

We took the long way to the train station so we could pass by the Anne Frank House. For anyone who may not remember, Anne Frank and her family were German Jews who fled to Amsterdam to escape the Nazis. Anne, who was fourteen or fifteen at the time, kept a diary during the whole of their time in hiding, which was on the top floor of a factory (I think). During the day, they could not talk or even move much lest the workers realize people were hiding above them. The family was eventually discovered, split up, and sent to concentration camps. If I remember correctly, only Anne’s father survived, and he decided to publish Anne’s diary after the war. The diary is standard reading in many schools now.

We didn’t actually go in the house – it was expensive and the line seemed miles long – but I was very content to just go to the house and see where it was. Just around the corner there was a small statue of Anne, and someone had recently placed a bouquet of fresh flowers underneath it. Just that little sentiment was very moving.

After stowing our luggage at the train station, we headed just down the road to the NEMO, a science center. Being the geeks that we are, and figured this would be like the Museum of Science and Technology (MOST) in Syracuse, we decided this might be a fun way to end our trip. We arrived to a line of maybe 200 kids under the age of 12 and their parents, but decided to wait anyways because we had nothing else to do anyway. It was in fact similar to the MOST, if you double our tripled its size. Also, I have never seen the MOST as busy as this – we didn’t get to play with all the cool things because there were so many kids. The NEMO also had some exhibits I doubt would ever be found in the MOST – there was one explaining the science behind puberty and giving tips on how to be a good kisser!

We left the NEMO feeling very claustrophobic and having had our fill of small children for the year. The bus back to the ferry picked us up and we set off back to IJmuiden.

Amsterdam would have been nicer to visit earlier in the year, when it was a bit warmer and the tulips were blooming. As much as I enjoyed the city, and especially the canals, I can’t help but feel that we didn’t really do much while there. Being Dutch, I am glad we went – it was funny to see last names even crazier than mine!

If you are not someone who is going to Amsterdam to take part in several activities which are quite illegal in most of the United States, it seemed there was not really much to do inexpensively. It would have been nice to go to some museums, like the Van Gogh Museum, but at $15 a pop they were a little more than I wanted to spend. I think I would have much preferred on one of the days to have seen the countryside and taken the train to Winterswijk, the town where my family is from. Unfortunately, I didn’t find out there was a train station there until our last day.

We were a little more prepared for the ferry on the way back; we had stopped and gotten sandwiches for dinner and some snacks. After spending some time on the deck and eating, we just crashed. We had done so much walking in Amsterdam that it was nice to just sit and stretch out (not that we had a lot of room to stretch out in our cabin).

Thursday, 25 October 2007

We arrived into Newcastle at about 9:30, but the United Kingdom’s stricter customs regulations meant that we had to sit on the ship for a while before disembarking. We took another bus to Newcastle’s city center, and again stored our bag in the train station. Rick and I then went to Castle Garth Keep, the last part of the castle from which Newcastle gets its name (actually the name actually comes from another castle called “New Castle”, but that castle was destroyed and Castle Garth built on the same site).

The “keep” of the castle is the large main tower where the lords and ladies lived. This tower was not as big as those we had visited in York and Edinburgh, but it still had some interesting displays and views from the top. Apparently, the keep is also haunted. There was one display about a professional paranormal activity team which had visited and recorded odd movements and flashes of light.

We spent the rest of our time in Newcastle in Pizza Hut (exciting, huh?). Like most Pizza Huts, it was ridiculously busy and slow, but we had a very good meal and really had nothing else we were dying to do before catching our train back to London.

This was the longest train we took, leaving Newcastle at about 2:15 and arriving back to King’s Cross around 5:45. We spent the time playing travel Scrabble and savoring our last glances into the countryside.

In conclusion…

I am really glad we took the trip that we did. It was nice to not have to worry about getting to airports, and we saw some really cool things. I especially enjoyed York and Edinburgh, and would recommend them to anyone looking for places to go in the U.K. other than London.

I am sorry this is so long. If anyone has any specific questions or anything else – leave a comment on the blog or email me! And remember to look at my pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/deb.oonk.

Now back to the grind. It amazes me that we have less than two months left here! It’s almost November already! As Halloween is not really a big deal here (although it is growing in popularity) and they don’t have Thanksgiving, everyone is already gearing up for Christmas. It’s slightly ridiculous.

Fall Break

After six days of traveling, I have returned to London safe and sound. We had a great week, and you should definitely check out the pictures.

While most of our fellow students were jetting around Europe, Rick and I took a decidedly different fall break trip. Some people I know are doing things like sky-diving in Switzerland or visiting five different cities in Italy. While there's nothing wrong with that, can you imagine visiting five cities in 10 days? I think that eventually all my memories would run together, and I would be so tired that I wouldn't remember much at all.

Perhaps one of the best aspects of our trip was that by traveling by train, we got to see the countryside, which was absolutely beautiful. In fact, I have a very strong inclination to move to Northern England or Scotland and raise sheep and shaggy cows.

Friday, 19 October 2007

Friday morning we woke up at the ungodly hour of 6 a.m. After some breakfast and finishing up our packing, we took the Tube to King's Cross (Yes, the same King's Cross where Harry Potter caught the Hogwarts Express. I hear there's a plaque marking Platform 9 3/4, but I couldn't find it). It was a sunny, gorgeous day (albeit a little chilly), and the countryside was a sight for sore eyes after being in London for so long. We arrived in York around 10:30, and luckily we were able to check our baggage at the station for the day.

Our first stop was the National Railway Museum, which boasts that it is the largest railway museum in the world. It certainly was huge, with exhibits ranging from the oldest steam engines to the bullet trains of today. Part of the museum was an old roundhouse with the turntable still intact. We also got to step inside one of the old steam engines to listen to a presentation on how it worked. Being an engineer or fireman (who shoveled the coal into the furnace) was quite a dangerous job back then!

This museum provided some nostalgia for both of us: Rick's father is a train enthusiast, so he has been to a lot of railway museums and taken the train a lot. As for me, it is amazing to see how much I know about trains from sitting through countless hours of Thomas the Tank Engine with my brother.

It was funny to look at the other people in the museum. There were two distinct groups: young children and senior citizens. But then again, Rick and I are each basically just a mix of those two.

We then headed toward York Minster, the largest Gothic cathedral west of Italy. We walked around the church and through the gardens, but didn't go in yet. Like a lot of big cathedrals, you have to pay to go inside, but you can get around that by attending any services there.

From there we headed to Clifford's Tower, the last remaining part of York Castle. The tower is atop a hill, and at one time the whole castle was surrounded by a moat - now it's a parking lot. The tower had a large open space in the middle with displays and a small chapel. By climbing to the top, we had a great view of the city. There was also a very cute gift shop with toys that modeled medieval times. To anyone in my McCabe family - be happy that the wooden bow with suction cup arrows was too big to fit in my suitcase. I almost bought it for Jack.

In medieval times the entire city of York was surrounded by a defensive wall. Some of it has crumbled away, but much of it still remains and you can walk right on it around the city. We explored the city by doing this and wandering through the many pedestrian-only streets. I don't remember if I've mentioned this yet, but on every major trip we've gone on, we've seen Native American performers. It's very bizarre. We'd seen them in London and Stockholm, and sure enough we came across them in York. They stand in pedestrian areas, playing music and selling CDs. Very, very odd.

At 5:15 we returned to York Minster to attend the Evensong service. As the name implies, basically everything other than the readings and sermon was sung. York Minster proved to be even more impressive from the inside. It was very brightly lit, full of medieval stained glass, and enormous. This provided a perfect setting for the Evensong. The Minster has boys', girls', and men's choirs, and they all performed together. The performance was breathtaking - especially the kids.

Time was a little tight after the Evensong, so we grabbed some takeaway fish and chips and booked it to the train station. There was actually no need to rush, because our train turned out to be half and hour late. Apparently the train in front of ours was having some technical difficulties. We arrived in Edinburgh at about 11 p.m. We were welcomed into the city by the majestic sight of Edinburgh castle just across the street from our hostel.

The hostel itself was really cool. It was quite large, featuring a kitchen, movie room, and lounge with pool and ping pong tables. It is run by backpackers, and has a very young person vibe. All of the rooms are named, and subsequently each bed has a related name. Our room was called "Plant Biology"; Rick got a bed called "Root" and I climbed into "Nice Pear" and fell asleep almost instantly.

Saturday, 20 October 2007

Saturday happened to be my birthday. I'm no longer a teenager - I feel old!

Some geographical information: Central Edinburgh is split into Old Town and New Town. As you may have surmised, Old Town houses old buildings like the castle, while New Town has restaurants and higher-end shops. The Royal Mile is the main route through Old Town, ending at Holyrood Park. Aside from the park, Holyrood also houses the palace that is the Queen's official residence in Scotland - even though she rarely ever goes there.

Along the way down the Royal Mile, we stopped at St. Giles, the High Kirk in Edinburgh (I think that means cathedral, but it's not called a cathedral because it's Presbyterian). The outside was intricately decorated and featured an open, arched belfry. Inside, the 19th century stained glass windows complemented the excellent wood carvings. St. Giles recently got a new organ, which was 15-20 feet tall and gorgeous - but we weren't allowed to take pictures inside.

Our main objective in going to Holyrood was climbing Arthur's Peak, a cliff overlooking the city. There were many rough, unmarked paths to the top, some of which were really steep at some points. After much huffing and puffing on my part, we finally reached the top and were rewarded with a spectacular view. In the distance, we could see the Scottish Sea fade into the horizon. The castle, St. Giles, and other old monuments and buildings poked up through the city.

After heading back down, Rick and I did some quick souvenir shopping, ate lunch, and went to the castle. It sits on a cliff (Edinburgh is very hilly - it used to be a volcano) and is architecturally stunning - how often do you find a castle in the middle of a city? The castle houses several museums; we visited the National War Museum, the war memorial, a museum devoted to a particular mounted regiment of the army, the Royal Apartments, and an exhibit of the Scottish crown jewels. The history between the Scots and English is very complicated. I went in thinking I would know a lot, having done a report on Elizabeth I in 9th grade. I think I left more confused than when I went in.

Although Scotland has been a part of Great Britain for over 300 years, there is a fierce sense of independence. Scotland has its own parliament, which can make laws on things like health and infrastructure. The displays in the castle describe how the Highland warriors bailed out the English in several of their wars. We even saw graffiti that said, "Scottish forever - Never British."

Saturday night was the Rugby World Cup final - England vs. South Africa. As we had been watching the matches right along, we didn't want to miss the final. Rick took me out to dinner at a pub down the street, both for my birthday and to watch the match. The game was dismal - England lost 6-15 - although I guess that's better than 0-36 the last time they played South Africa.

The food, however, was quite good. I was not as brave as Rick - he had haggis, a traditional Scottish meal made of....well no one really seems to know what. It's sheep lung or stomach or something like that, and served with "tatties and neeps" - potatoes and turnips. I figured I was still having something Scottish by having an Angus burger. I also had a traditional Scottish dessert, cranachan. It was alternating layers of raspberries and cream with a whisky (no "e" in Great Britain whiskey) sauce. I think there was something else mixed in with the cream, because it had a gritty consistency that was a bit like oatmeal.

Overall, it was a very busy and very wonderful birthday.
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Okay folks, that's it for now. I will continue this post either later today or tomorrow. I can't type any more and the Christmas music in this coffee shop is driving me bonkers. Christmas music! It's not even November yet!
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To be continued.....

A few last notes before break...

• I forgot to mention something about last Saturday. Rick and I went to the Tate, the museum of modern art in London. Now, modern art is not really my thing, but it was free, so I figured I would give it a go. There has been a lot of hype about the museum's latest exhibit. It is a giant crack in the museum floor, supposedly representing the racial divide in society or something like that. The hype has not necessarily come from the crack itself, but because three people have apparently fallen in it. We walked into the exhibit hall and I was expecting something six feet deep, something worth falling in to. No. At its deepest, it was maybe two feet deep. By "fall in" they must have meant "tripped over" or "got a leg stuck in." Now, as I said, modern art doesn't really do it for me, and the crack was no different. Honestly, I could have done the same thing with a jack hammer on the street. The best part about it was the little kids who were going up to it, looking at it very curiously, and then climbing in.
  

• On Monday, we got to go to Parliament for my public relations class. I had been in the building before, but this time we got to go and sit in on the House of Lords (like the Senate) and on a special committee meeting in the single-market directives of the European Union. It was really interesting, and I found out we can go back whenever we want. Some time I want to go and sit in the House of Commons (like the House of Representatives). Their debates get pretty heated.

• Yay for internet! While we still don't have internet in our flat, a fellow student informed me that a coffee shop about 500 feet outside my door has free wireless! Currently, I am sipping a cinnamon latte and listening to an odd compilation of Bruce Springsteen covers and Christmas music. Their drinks are much cheaper than Starbucks, who also charge 5 pounds an hour ($10) to use their internet.

• So tomorrow starts our trip for fall break. We head to York by train, spend the day, take a train to Edinburgh for a few days, take a ferry to Amsterdam and then ferry back to Newcastle and train back to London. I'm excited to get out of the city for a while. I'll talk to you in a week!
  

Sorry for the delay...

I apologize for not having updated this in a while. Honestly, not much has happened in the past two weeks.

The week we got back from Stockholm, it seemed that everyone at school was sick. Some kids even went to the doctor for some nasty sinus infections. Rick and I were spared the sinus infections, but we both developed a nasty cold that basically knocked us out for the weekend. So, we stayed in for the weekend and watched rugby.

We did happen to venture out on Thursday night because we heard about a free event at the British museum. It was called the Chinese Moon Festival, and promised tea and cake tasting, performances, and calligraphy lessons. Although everything was free, you had to get tickets for some events, which were all gone by the time we got there. The event as a whole was rather lackluster, and we didn't even get any moon cakes. We did, however, get to see a Chinese girl dressed as a shrimp pop out of a Chinese take-out box and perform a "burlesque fan dance." It was very odd.

This past week was filled with paper-writing and preparations for mid-terms, which are this week. On Friday, we took a break from our studying and went on an SU trip to Cambridge. Cambridge is a very pretty town, which is of course centered around the prestigious Cambridge University. The university, like most at home, is split up into several different colleges and schools. However, the schools are very individual, separated by gates and with their own distinct identities. It took us about two hours by bus to get there.

Also on Friday was Eid ul-Fitr, the last day of Ramadan. As we live in a predominantly Muslim neighborhood, there were some very jubilant celebrations. It seemed the whole neighborhood was in the streets, singing and chanting and waving flags. Everyone was dressed in their fanciest clothes and the street was suddenly awash with very nice cars. The police were on hand to make sure no one got too crazy and issued several warnings for loud music and people not sitting properly in their cars. The celebration started all over again last night (Saturday).

Last night we watched the English rugby team win their semi-final match against France. They will play whoever wins tonight's match (South Africa or Argentina) in the finals. This will be quite an unexpected final - everyone was sure New Zealand would win it all. The finals are on October 20 (my birthday!), and we'll be in Scotland then on fall break. We'll have to find a good pub to watch the game.

As I mentioned before, this coming week is mid-terms. I have only have one test, but it's in economics. Pray that the international economics gods are smiling on me on Wednesday. After that though, it's mid-semester break! Rick and I are going to York, Edinburgh, and Amsterdam. We come back on October 26th, so I'll be sure to update everyone on my adventures!

Stockholm!

Stockholm is beautiful.

I just had to put that out there before I even begin. However, let me start from the beginning of our trip.

On Thursday afternoon, we were scheduled to take the 2:30 bus to Stansted airport, an hour and a half outside of London. Rick and Calyn were taking the Tube from school, but I didn't have class that day and the stop is just a few blocks from our flat, so I made plans to walk. I checked a map to plan my exact route before I left, but didn't bring it with me in order to conserve space. That was probably not such a good idea. Long story short, I overshot a turn by about 3/4 of a mile, and no one I asked seemed to know where the street I was looking for was. With the help of Rick on the phone, I finally figured out where I was supposed to go and started sprinting there.

As anyone who has ever seen me run knows, this was bound to end badly. Sprinting in my Converse with a giant backpack on my back was not exactly easy. Needless to say, I missed the bus. Rick had waited for me, but Calyn went ahead to the airport to ensure our spot in line. Luckily, we were able to get on the next bus and arrived in plenty of time for our flight.

We had gotten priority boarding through the travel agency, which with Ryan Air meant we got to board first and pick whichever seats we wanted. This turned out to be a very good thing, as we got the emergency exits seats, which have a huge amount of leg room. The flight was only about 2 hours, and we landed safely in Stockholm at about 9 p.m. local time. Then came another bus ride to get to Stockholm (actually, out total bus time was greater than plane time).

By the time we got to our hostel it was around midnight, so we didn't do anything but go to bed. Our hostel was very nice, with dorm style rooms and a little kitchen. The best thing about it was its location. It was on the island of Gamla Stan (Stockholm is made up of 14 islands), which was very centrally located and made it easy for us to walk everywhere.

On Friday, we went to a little cafe for breakfast. Turns out in Sweden they eat ham sandwiches for breakfast. Works for me. Afterwards, we headed to the island of Djurgarden (don't ask me to pronounce it) to the Vasa museum. The Vasa was a warship built in the 1600s that sank about 20 minutes into its maiden voyage because it was top-heavy. In the 1950s, the ship was discovered in Stockholm's harbor and a long and laborious operation was begun to raise and restore the ship. It is absolutely huge. The ship itself is inside the museum, along with other historical pieces of the ship and skeletons found on it. The ship was covered in amazing carvings that apparently were once painted very brightly.

We then went to the Nordiskamuseet, a museum of...well it's hard to say what it was. It had everything from Swedish fashion to furniture to folk art to amateur collections. It was a little weird. But the building itself was absolutely beautiful. That night, we were starving and ended up at an international food hall, where I had tacos, Rick had Lebanese, and Calyn had Chinese. So much for Swedish cuisine. At that point, we were too hungry to care.

Saturday proved to be the worst day weather-wise. It was very chilly and rained for a few hours - including while we were standing outside to watch the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace. We got soaked, but the changing was really cool and very elaborate. We ducked into a restaurant and all ordered Swedish meatballs. They came with boiled potatoes and lingonberries, small red berries that were quite sweet. Swedish meatballs at home hold no candle to this meal. It was absolutely delicious. We spent the rest of the day walking around Old Town, the touristy section with lots of shops and cafes.

On Sunday, the weather did a complete 360 and it was sunny and beautiful. It was the perfect day to visit Skansen, an outdoor museum and zoo. We spent all day wandering around the old-fashioned village and festivals and petting moose and Swedish goats. The park was on a hilltop and offered fantastic views of the city and the water. It was by far my favorite day of the trip.

Stockholm was a perfect break from the chaos of London. The city was beautiful (did I mention that yet?) and very laid-back. We were also very lucky because everyone we encountered spoke English. We couldn't read or pronounce anything on the menus or street signs, but it was very easy to get around. The only big downside to Stockholm is that it is expensive! I was hoping for a break from the amazing strength of the pound against the dollar. The Swedish currency, the krona, is about 6:1 to the dollar, which looks good on paper. However, everything was upwards of 60 kroner. For example, our one sit down meal probably cost about $24. Yikes!

I'm sorry I have no pictures yet - I forgot to bring my camera cord to school with me. I'll put them up soon and then you can see the beauty for yourself.