The first leg in my end-of-year northern exploration was Stockholm, Sweden. I arrived on Tuesday the 30th and left Friday May 3rd, and I was Couchsurfing this leg. I really honestly have never known all that much about Sweden, and came with very little knowledge or plans. I just wanted to stroll around, spend some time, and see what I could learn and see about Stockholm and Sweden! I'd also never been to Scandinavia at all, so I wanted to see what was going on in this part of the world.
This would be a good time to tell you, if you didn't know, that Stockholm is a city made up of 14 islands, so there are bridges and water galore!
Did you know that Alfred Nobel, who left his fortune to create the Nobel Prizes, was Swedish and invented dynamite? I'm not sure if this is true, but I heard that a newspaper mistook his brother's death for his own, enabling him to read his own posthumous reviews, some of which stated something along the lines of "the merchant of death is dead," which upset him greatly and he decided to leave something more than dynamite as his legacy, hence he created the Nobel Prizes and left the money to start the awards.
waiting for blooms, waiting for Spring!
the Royal Institute of Technology, where my Couchsurfing host works
outside the stadium where the 1912 Summer Olympics were held
same
The next day was May 1st, which is Labor Day in many countries, including Sweden. So my Couchsurfing host didn't have to work and could take me on a tour!
This will be covered in tulips soon! I came just a bit too early.
I just thought this depiction of Churchill was funny.
There was some kind of Labor Day demonstration going on in Sergels Torg (the plaza where this awesome Michael Jackson tribute happened in 2010).
Sergels Torg
Sergels Torg
and again... notice anything?
Those tricksters.
Kungsträdgården
chess players in Kungsträdgården
My host: "Those lion statues are really popular with children. Why don't you go get on one?"
Don't mind if I do.
left: Royal Palace, right: Parliament
We pulled up to the Royal Palace just in time for the changing of the guards at noon, perfect!
Little tidbit about the Royal Family: The firstborn child of the current King Carl is a girl, Princess Victoria. In 2010, she married her personal trainer, just a regular Joe, which I think is pretty fantastic.
Apparently you HAVE to take this picture (with the crown) in Stockholm.
In Gamla Stan, or the Old City - the medieval portion and oldest original part of Stockholm
buildings in Stortorget, the square with the Nobel Prize Museum
the Nobel Museum
tiny baby street
Seriously. Tiny.
All over Stockholm, there are cafés with outdoor seating, despite the fact that it's a cold city. Restaurants just keep blankets on their chairs and people wrap up.
more Gamla Stan streets
Do you see what I found?
Ta-da!
You know.
Gamla Stan as seen from Södermalm island
random Labor Day parades (unions marching for more wages)
view of City Hall & Gamla Stan from Södermalm
City Hall
up close
courtyard
looking across the bay at Riddarholmen
I was impressed by this fancy interactive city guide. Also... I have no idea what fika is.
poor Stockholm
These next few shots are all along the Birger Jarlsgatan, a long fancy street with upscale eateries and stores. It also has fantastic architecture.
Royal Dramatic Theater
looking across at the Djurgården island where you can see the Nordic Museum and the Vasa Museum
The Vasa was a ship that sank 20 minutes into its maiden voyage in 1628. After 333 years, they found it, brought it up, restored it, and here it is!
HUGE
Of course, the day I was there they had some author Texan cookbooks coming to give an interview... I should have stopped by and made it more authentic!
architecture along the Strandvägen (shore street)
more streetside loungin' in blankets
There are tons of charming ships just lining the shores.
Nordic museum
again with the Nordic museum in the background
Nordic museum main entrance
house on the Djurgården island near Skansen
This was from when I got lost trying to find Skansen...
... and here's when I found it! Skansen is a famous open-air museum (I'd heard it was the first, but that's not true! The first was in Oslo and the creator of Skansen visited that one first and got inspired.) Now this one (Skansen) is the museum that other open air museums use as a model.
This windmill (along with all the other buildings here) were brought from all over Sweden to the museum.
my only traditional Swedish meal: meatballs with brown sauce, potatoes, and lingonberries
schoolhouse & bell tower
baby goats!
baby sheep!
this unimpressed pony
owl... if you couldn't tell
two bears playing
lazy moose
I was one kroner short of being able to afford the adult size pancakes... so I asked for the children's size. :)
You know those times when you're just reading your book and a peacock strolls past?
... and then a chicken? Yeah, me too. Happens all the time.
a storehouse partially dating from the 14th century
gate to the Djurgården
And thus ends my Swedish adventure!
... well, almost. Had to stop by a little café I'd found the previous day, run by the nicest Syrian man. Hot chocolate & a good ol' chokladboll, delish. NOW my Swedish adventure is truly over!
What did I think about Stockholm? First of all, the Scandinavian countries are said to have some of the highest standards of living in the world, if not the highest. Stockholm is the said to be the "capital" of Scandinavia (as it's the biggest of the three Scandinavian capitals, which also includes Oslo and Copenhagen) and by many people's opinions, the "best" city of all of these. (I have no idea, I've never been to any of the other ones, so don't blame me for this opinion if you don't agree!) Some say Stockholm has the highest standard of living in the world, and I'd believe it (except for the extreme cold part... I could never survive the winter)!
Stockholm is a very clean, efficient, active city/society. It's much cleaner than any cities I've seen in France (main culprit of dirtiness in France: dog poo). It abides by typical northern European standards of efficiency (see also: Germany). Swedes also may be the most active people I have ever seen. If tomorrow there were to be a zombie apocalypse everywhere in the world, Swedes have a good shot of surviving the longest because these people are READY TO RUN. As I was wandering around the streets to get to the Skansen museum, I decided to count how many people ran past me. I stopped that when I had counted 20 in less than a minute. Go Stockholm go!
As Stockholm has a good economy and high living standards, the costs of living are also extremely high. It is not a budget destination by any means. When I was there, I thought a couple of times "If only I were in Morocco, I could get this so much cheaper..." It's true. This is definitely on the opposite end of the financial spectrum from Morocco on the "Katy's Destinations 2012-13" list. To give you an idea, a hostel, which typically costs anywhere from €12-20/night in Spain/France/Italy, costs about €6/night in Morocco and a minimum of €25-30/night in Stockholm. A hot chocolate, which usually runs about €2-3 in France, is about €5. I bought a book (a solo traveler necessity), which ran me twice the price it would have in the States. (For real. I compared it with the US price printed on the back of the book.) The museums cost €12-15/each. Yikes. Luckily I was only there a few days, and I did Couchsurfing instead of hosteling, which saved me a considerable amount of money (1-2 meals a day & hostel for 3 nights).
A couple last things about the people: 1) Almost all Swedes (especially the younger ones) speak perfect English. The K-12 education systems in Scandinavia are famously on point, and their level of English is one testament to this fact. They're also very matter-of-fact about switching into English; they do it effortlessly and without any drama. Where occasionally you might get an attitude from someone in France about speaking English, you won't get one in Sweden. They've accepted the fact that the world is not going to learn Swedish, so they've learned English. This makes things incredibly easy on an English-speaking tourist, which is good and bad. I would have loved to learn a bit more Swedish, but all I learned was Hej (sounds like hey, which is hello) and Tack (which is thank you). Honestly, English is spoken to the extent that you could live there and not speak Swedish. Signs aren't in English, though, so you do need to to be able to read a little at least. I found it really interesting to see some of the similarities between Swedish and English written out. (For example, hungry = hungrig, here = här, hair = hår) I also saw lots of similarities between some of the few words I know in German and some Swedish words. This is all very interesting as German & English come from West Germanic, where the Scandinavian languages from from North Germanic, and West & North Germanic have been split since around 100 BC. FASCINATING. (If you're a language nerd like me.) 2) Swedish people are very kind. They are not overly affectionate or loud; they're very reserved. However, they're very helpful, and once you talk to them, they will help you even more than necessary with a smile. My Couchsurfing host said that his friend compares Swedes to honey: A bit hard at first but after they warm up, they're soft and gooey. (I can't see that I ever got to the "soft and gooey" stage with them, but they were kind.)
Overall I really liked Stockholm. The architecture is truly beautiful. It's a city built on islands, so there's water everywhere, which I loved. There's a lot of interesting history and great museums (if only I could have afforded to see more). The people are kind. I could never live there (scarves and coats in May?!), but I really enjoyed it as a place to visit. Stockholm was a perfect first look at Scandinavia!
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