Sweden, as you can probably imagine, is pretty great. I’ve been here only for half a day and already I love it. Stockholm is like the best, hippest part of Helsinki, but is the size of a much larger city. Stockholm sprawls across many neighborhoods (much like Seattle if you’ve ever been there - actually this place even looks a little like Seattle in some ways). But Stockholm is even more expensive than Helsinki, if you can believe that. This, I believe, and unfortunately, might shorten my stay. These are just initial impressions. More on Sweden later.
As you know, I took the overnight ferry from Helsinki last night and arrived in Stockholm at 10 AM (local time, +1 GMT). I recommend everyone take a ferry at least once in their lives like this ferry. Viking Lines, this particular ferry operator, makes runs to Tallinn and to Stockholm, and has other routes across the Bay of Finland and Baltic Sea as well, including routes to Germany and Poland. Viking Lines ships run out of Helsinki’s south harbor, the same area that I took my first little ferry out to Sveaborg. After effectively killing time in cafes around Helsinki (I especially enjoyed my Sunday morning coffee and croissant at Bulevardin Kahvisalonki, an excellent cafe, popular with the Sunday morning crowd) I headed back to the train storage to pick up my bags that I had left in the storage lockers that you can rent for the day in the station’s basement level, and then walked to the harbor to check in. I went up to the lady behind the check-in counter and asked for the ticket I had reserved. The cute Finnish girl (I love the way they talk) noticed I had booked the cheapest class of compartment and looked at me and said, “Nei (no), we can do better than that. If you’d like, I can put you in an upper class compartment for 5 euros more.” I said, “Yes, please” and she upgraded my already absurdly discounted ticket. Happy with my good fortune, I took my bags and walked up to the ferry waiting hall. The large open space was filled with all manners and sorts of people. There were several large groups of young people, groups of exchange students on holiday, lots of older couples, solo travelers like myself, people on business. Everyone was either chatting or playing with their iphones. Finally we boarded. This ship is large. It’s about the same size, maybe even a little larger than the Silja Tallink ferry I took to Tallinn. So when I started to board and walked the long gangway through to the ship entranceway, it felt like one of the early scenes in “Titanic” where everyone’s excited and filing in to the ship, waving goodbye to loved ones. It was a cool atmosphere.
I walked onboard, found my compartment, and enjoyed the moment. My compartment was in a premium spot, 6th deck, towards the stern. The hallways looked like hotel hallways (for those of you who have been on cruises - I imagine this is what they look like. This was new for me though...) Red carpeted hallways, difficult to navigate, porthole windows looking out at the sea. My compartment had two fold out bunks that were stowed up into the far wall. The lower bunk folded up into a couch. There was a small table, outlets, and a private bathroom with a shower. And I had the compartment to myself. It was a pretty sweet deal. Since I hadn’t showered since the morning in Rovaniemi, nearly two days ago, I unpacked my bag a bit and hopped in the shower.
Then I wandered around the ship. The entire ship was definitely in a party mood, you could feel it. Three decks of bars, dance floors, duty free shops, and casinos is enough to get anybody in the mood. But it’s also a good way to drop a lot of money. Luckily I’m getting pretty good at avoiding these traps. I brought all my own food and beer. I bought a loaf of bread and had the reindeer sausage from Rovaniemi for dinner and brought a few cans of Finnish beer from the supermarket in town. Much, much cheaper than eating and drinking on board. I brought my own breakfast too. But I did walk around and soak in the good vibes the ship gave off. I took a seat by the windows in the upper deck for awhile and watched the sunset. And I didn’t go crazy with the bars and clubs, I decided to get a bit of sleep so that I’d have energy for Stockholm when I got off the next morning. I think that was a wise decision because when I was up the next morning, ready to disembark, I saw a good portion of the passengers blurry eyed, hanging over their suitcases, barely able to move. I don’t blame them, it was St. Patty’s Day after all, I was just happy I wasn’t in their shoes.
The ship pulled into a terminal along the northern edge of Sodermalm, one of the large island neighborhoods in central Stockholm, coincidentally not far from the hostel that I booked. The hostel was pretty easy to find, I had prepared maps on my iphone ahead of time. I still think I like the hostel I stayed at in Helsinki a little better, but this hostel is by far the second nicest I’ve ever stayed in. It sports a well furnished cafe-style kitchen and lounge room, friendly receptionist, clean and comfortable dorm rooms. And this one even has free, self service coffee and pasta. No complaints here!
I still had most of the day to wander around the city. I’ve decided I was going to do just a brief stay in Stockholm because the prices are just getting way above the limits of my budget (Olso will be even worse), so I only booked two nights. Not wanting to waste any time, I left the hostel and decided to explore Sodermalm, the neighborhood where my hostel is located. Sodermalm is a large island in the southern portion of Stockholm. In fact, there are so many waterways, rivers, and canals cutting through the city, that most of central Stockholm is made up of islands and split into different neighborhoods. Sodermalm is sort of the hipper, more bohemian neighborhood of Stockholm. Most of this large island is centered around two streets that cross each other like a “T”, Gotgatan, running north-south and Hornsgatan, running east-west. Each street has narrow, cobbled alleyways shooting out like branches of a tree. The neighborhood is lined with cafes and shops, design studios and art galleries. And Hornsgatan has some excellent residential areas, good for exploring.
(Sorry, quick writer’s detour. I took a break from writing this post after that last paragraph so that I could go out and look for some food. I saw a food store earlier today so I tried to find that again, it’s near the hostel, and pick up some stuff for dinner. Well, it was dark and snowing pretty hard, and I completely passed the place I was supposed to go. I walked in the wrong direction for an annoyingly long time. Realizing my error, I became quite frustrated with myself and that, plus the big, fat snowflakes pelting me in the face, put me in a bad mood which further exasperated my finding the store. I’d just eat at a cafe or restaurant or something but this city is too expensive for that. I eventually found the food store, much, much closer to the hostel than I thought, but I was still really off edge for some reason - I guess I was hungry. I tried to buy a prepared vegetable salad, a go-to of mine, but instead wound up buying some cheap potato salad because that’s all I found. Then I tried to buy some bread and cheese to go with it but wound up buying knackerbrod, a hardened cracker-like bread, and a wedge of bleu cheese. I don’t know what I was thinking. What a terrible combination of items for dinner. The smartest thing I bought was this cheap Swedish beer. I’m sitting at a table in the kitchen of the hostel, munching on knackerbrod and bleu cheese and eating mayonnaise-y potato salad from a carton. There are two old German women just staring at me from the table next to mine. I’m not looking at them to verify but I know they’re staring, rightly judging me. Ugh.
Actually, writing this down is lifting my mood. Good, okay, back to business.)
I walked the length of Gotgatan and then turned down Hornsgatan, exploring the neighborhoods between the street and the river to the north. I stumbled upon a park in a really old residential area. The park was really just a set of rocks that had been left undeveloped. Apparently, these rocks are the highest natural point of the city and offer stellar views of the rest of the city to the north. These rocks make up part of the Sodermalm island called the Soder Heights, a ritzy set of cliffs, home to wealthy Swedes. Along Hornsgatan are also a lot of the sights that were the inspiration for places in the Stieg Larsson books, the Millennium trilogy (which I loved) and the films thereafter. Stieg Larsson even wrote much of the books in this little cafe nearby. I had to go in. The cafe is called “Mellqvist Kaffebar”, just a truly excellent place. I ordered the best cafe latte of my life, I’m not kidding about that, and a small chocolate pastry. This place was really small but really well done. I watched the barista prepare my latte, an art form the way he was doing it, and took a seat by the window overlooking the street. I sat there awhile and read some of this new book I’m reading: a Danish murder mystery novel, “The Keeper of Lost Causes”, along the same lines as the Millennium books, recommended to me by a friend. It seemed appropriate for the setting. A scattered crowd of Swedes were doing the same around me (reading other things, probably), filling the small cafe.
I finished my latte and headed back out. It was getting late in the afternoon so I walked north towards the city’s main tourist area, touristy for good reason, Gamla Stan, the large island in the center of the city. Gamla Stan is designated the old town (although the whole city looks like it could qualify in that regard), and is home to the city’s main Lutheran cathedral and the Houses of Parliament, intermixed with some really great, narrow, cobbled streets, bordered by tall, Gothic buildings (like Tallinn but much more dense). It snowed these really heavy snowflakes the entire time I was there which made the island look like a giant snow globe. Everyone seemed to be in a chipper mood. The island is ringed by canal locks and river tributaries. It is a very picturesque area.
But I was tired from walking around the whole day. I made my way back to the hostel, an hour or so by foot from where I ended up wandering, and sat down to do some research and some quick planning for the coming weeks. The last I had done any serious planning I had planned up to my ferry ride to Stockholm. That included Helsinki, Tallinn, and Rovaniemi. I’ve started to feel how expensive Scandinavia is becoming so I think I’m going to opt for just a few days here in Sweden, then a few days in Oslo and Copenhagen respectively, before I make my way to Berlin to meet up with friends. I think I’ll take a break for awhile in Berlin. The weather will be changing, getting much, much warmer everywhere I go after Berlin (I’m trying to make it down to Italy, France, and Spain and soak up some sun while I still have some money left), so I’ll need to send some stuff home and change a lot of my clothes. Stuff like that. Anyway, planning is getting me excited. Tim, my friend from Holland, just booked a ticket to meet me and our German friends too. It should be a good time - sort of a Chengdu reunion.
Tomorrow I have the whole day to explore more of Stockholm. There is lots to see!
As you know, I took the overnight ferry from Helsinki last night and arrived in Stockholm at 10 AM (local time, +1 GMT). I recommend everyone take a ferry at least once in their lives like this ferry. Viking Lines, this particular ferry operator, makes runs to Tallinn and to Stockholm, and has other routes across the Bay of Finland and Baltic Sea as well, including routes to Germany and Poland. Viking Lines ships run out of Helsinki’s south harbor, the same area that I took my first little ferry out to Sveaborg. After effectively killing time in cafes around Helsinki (I especially enjoyed my Sunday morning coffee and croissant at Bulevardin Kahvisalonki, an excellent cafe, popular with the Sunday morning crowd) I headed back to the train storage to pick up my bags that I had left in the storage lockers that you can rent for the day in the station’s basement level, and then walked to the harbor to check in. I went up to the lady behind the check-in counter and asked for the ticket I had reserved. The cute Finnish girl (I love the way they talk) noticed I had booked the cheapest class of compartment and looked at me and said, “Nei (no), we can do better than that. If you’d like, I can put you in an upper class compartment for 5 euros more.” I said, “Yes, please” and she upgraded my already absurdly discounted ticket. Happy with my good fortune, I took my bags and walked up to the ferry waiting hall. The large open space was filled with all manners and sorts of people. There were several large groups of young people, groups of exchange students on holiday, lots of older couples, solo travelers like myself, people on business. Everyone was either chatting or playing with their iphones. Finally we boarded. This ship is large. It’s about the same size, maybe even a little larger than the Silja Tallink ferry I took to Tallinn. So when I started to board and walked the long gangway through to the ship entranceway, it felt like one of the early scenes in “Titanic” where everyone’s excited and filing in to the ship, waving goodbye to loved ones. It was a cool atmosphere.
I walked onboard, found my compartment, and enjoyed the moment. My compartment was in a premium spot, 6th deck, towards the stern. The hallways looked like hotel hallways (for those of you who have been on cruises - I imagine this is what they look like. This was new for me though...) Red carpeted hallways, difficult to navigate, porthole windows looking out at the sea. My compartment had two fold out bunks that were stowed up into the far wall. The lower bunk folded up into a couch. There was a small table, outlets, and a private bathroom with a shower. And I had the compartment to myself. It was a pretty sweet deal. Since I hadn’t showered since the morning in Rovaniemi, nearly two days ago, I unpacked my bag a bit and hopped in the shower.
Then I wandered around the ship. The entire ship was definitely in a party mood, you could feel it. Three decks of bars, dance floors, duty free shops, and casinos is enough to get anybody in the mood. But it’s also a good way to drop a lot of money. Luckily I’m getting pretty good at avoiding these traps. I brought all my own food and beer. I bought a loaf of bread and had the reindeer sausage from Rovaniemi for dinner and brought a few cans of Finnish beer from the supermarket in town. Much, much cheaper than eating and drinking on board. I brought my own breakfast too. But I did walk around and soak in the good vibes the ship gave off. I took a seat by the windows in the upper deck for awhile and watched the sunset. And I didn’t go crazy with the bars and clubs, I decided to get a bit of sleep so that I’d have energy for Stockholm when I got off the next morning. I think that was a wise decision because when I was up the next morning, ready to disembark, I saw a good portion of the passengers blurry eyed, hanging over their suitcases, barely able to move. I don’t blame them, it was St. Patty’s Day after all, I was just happy I wasn’t in their shoes.
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| One of the many bars on board the ferry |
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| Mast of the M/V Mariella, under Finnish flag |
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| The main lobby area of the ship, information and reception nearby |
I still had most of the day to wander around the city. I’ve decided I was going to do just a brief stay in Stockholm because the prices are just getting way above the limits of my budget (Olso will be even worse), so I only booked two nights. Not wanting to waste any time, I left the hostel and decided to explore Sodermalm, the neighborhood where my hostel is located. Sodermalm is a large island in the southern portion of Stockholm. In fact, there are so many waterways, rivers, and canals cutting through the city, that most of central Stockholm is made up of islands and split into different neighborhoods. Sodermalm is sort of the hipper, more bohemian neighborhood of Stockholm. Most of this large island is centered around two streets that cross each other like a “T”, Gotgatan, running north-south and Hornsgatan, running east-west. Each street has narrow, cobbled alleyways shooting out like branches of a tree. The neighborhood is lined with cafes and shops, design studios and art galleries. And Hornsgatan has some excellent residential areas, good for exploring.
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| Strussen, the main connection between Sodermalm to the south and Gamla Stan |
Actually, writing this down is lifting my mood. Good, okay, back to business.)
I walked the length of Gotgatan and then turned down Hornsgatan, exploring the neighborhoods between the street and the river to the north. I stumbled upon a park in a really old residential area. The park was really just a set of rocks that had been left undeveloped. Apparently, these rocks are the highest natural point of the city and offer stellar views of the rest of the city to the north. These rocks make up part of the Sodermalm island called the Soder Heights, a ritzy set of cliffs, home to wealthy Swedes. Along Hornsgatan are also a lot of the sights that were the inspiration for places in the Stieg Larsson books, the Millennium trilogy (which I loved) and the films thereafter. Stieg Larsson even wrote much of the books in this little cafe nearby. I had to go in. The cafe is called “Mellqvist Kaffebar”, just a truly excellent place. I ordered the best cafe latte of my life, I’m not kidding about that, and a small chocolate pastry. This place was really small but really well done. I watched the barista prepare my latte, an art form the way he was doing it, and took a seat by the window overlooking the street. I sat there awhile and read some of this new book I’m reading: a Danish murder mystery novel, “The Keeper of Lost Causes”, along the same lines as the Millennium books, recommended to me by a friend. It seemed appropriate for the setting. A scattered crowd of Swedes were doing the same around me (reading other things, probably), filling the small cafe.
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| Iron walkways connecting residential buildings above Bellmansgatan, the red building is where Mikael Blomkvist lived |
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| The narrow streets by Hornsgatan |
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| Menu above the bar |
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| The bar at Mellqvist Kaffebar |
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| An excellent cafe, Stieg Larsson wrote much of the Millennium books here |
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| Touristy areas around Gamla Stan |
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| The most narrow alley in Gamla Stan, one meter wide |
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| It snowed the entire time I spent in Gamla Stan |
Tomorrow I have the whole day to explore more of Stockholm. There is lots to see!
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