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.