I really wish I had more time here in Stockholm. Actually, what I really wish is that this city was less expensive which would then therefore allow me to stay longer. I knew that would be the case though before coming to Scandinavia. The expenses are not a surprise. Oh well, I think a quick trip is better than no trip.
I’ve had just one more day to explore the city. I like it here. Here’s my take. The city maintains its Scandinavian roots while at the same time radiates these very connected, European vibes. Helsinki was this perfect little Scandinavian bubble of a city. Finns everywhere you looked. But you also felt a bit isolated in that city. The sea to the south, the forest everywhere else. You can’t take an overland route to Europe unless you pass well out of your way through the Arctic Circle, and even then, just by bus (in favorable weather). For many, that’s a good thing. Isolated from the rest of Europe, Helsinki is only realistically reached by plane (unless you happen to be taking trains through Russia). And you get a sense of that isolation when you’re there. It’s like everything in the city has a “Made in Finland” sticker attached. But Stockholm is different. It is very connected. You can take direct trains to Oslo or Copenhagen and then easily take trains or ferries to mainland Europe. Stockholm also has very relaxed immigration laws and is probably one of the most relaxed countries in Europe in that regard. So Stockholm has the same, well traversed grit and grind of every other international city in the world. English is spoken almost as much as Swedish here (at least from my impression in the city, probably not the case in the burbs) but other languages as well. I was eating at a small sandwich shop and the manager of the shop was speaking with one of his employees, an immigrant I think, in English and then to his other employees in Swedish. You apparently don’t even have to speak Swedish here to get a service industry job. But being more connected means the city is bigger, the neighborhoods more diverse, and so is the food, fashion, culture, etc. Anyway, Stockholm is great. I could see myself living here someday.
Since I only planned to stay one more day, I made sure to get an early start and see some of the neighborhoods and islands that I missed out on the first day. I walked the length of Gotgotan north through Sodermalm, back to Gamla Stan, and then on towards the heart of the city, an area simply known as Central Stockholm. This is the area you’re likely to find the least amount of Swedes. It is, as I quickly found out, the main shopping center of the city, every known commercial shop is located along these streets. As such, the area draws vast numbers of tourists, and with them, plenty of souvenir shops and hot dog stands. I wandered around a bit. There are some things worth visiting in this area but they are hard to find, buried between throngs of shoppers and billboards. The highlight building in Central Stockholm, I think, is the Konserthuset building, a large blueish building located in a small square where the Nobel Prizes are handed out each December. Central Stockholm also is the location of the city’s main train station where I went to this morning to catch my train to Oslo. But the rest of the area is just brand name stores and chain cafes, not worth writing about.
North of central Stockholm though is the decidedly more Swedish, residential neighborhood of Vasastan, also home to the University of Stockholm and many of its schools and administrative buildings. This area was sort of nice to stroll around. This neighborhood had a more upscale, Swedish home to office feel to it and reminded me a little of London. Classy, after work (or for lunch) pubs, intermixed with small business offices and shops, lined the old, cobbled streets. Cafes and restaurants offering lunch specials written on chalkboards out on the street, only offered the daily specials in Swedish language. So the neighborhood felt more local. I walked up to a park, perched on a high hill, and walked around this little metallic building that I later learned was Stockholm’s first observatory (later relocated when the ambient light of the city became too great). But the park hadn’t been walked on for quite awhile and the pathways were just completely iced over. I sort of had to luge my way down the opposite side to get back to the street (which was kind of fun though). I made my way back towards Gamla Stan, looking for a place to grab some lunch. In Sweden, lunch is apparently the big meal of the day which is why most cafes and restaurants offer lunch specials. They are generally less expensive than ordering “a la carte” and you get a pretty good size meal. I really wanted to find a place that offered a very Swedish meal, like maybe meatballs and lingonberries, served by the Swedish chef muppet, but every place I saw only offered other country’s dishes, mostly Italian pasta. Tired of searching, I got Italian pasta, which was really good, but not so Swedish.
Then I went in to the nearby Alfred Nobel Museum, located in an old building where the prize for literature is decided, in the heart of the Gamla Stan island, buried between beautiful alleyways and tall 17th century buildings. The museum was both expensive and small so I thought it would be worth while to invest in the accompanying audio guide to make the most of the experience, lengthening my stay a little. The audio guide was thorough, walking me through the biography of Alfred Nobel, a Swede from Stockholm, the history of the prize (a gold medal given to the best of the world each year in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, peace, and economics, and prize money of about a million dollars, all withdrawn from Nobel’s vast wealth as indicated in his will), and through some of the many notable winners including this year’s winners. It was a pretty cool museum and inspiring place. I especially liked the prizes for the sciences, some of the stories were incredible - it is amazing what some people have accomplished.
Then I took another stroll around the harbor, to an island I hadn’t been before called Djurgarden, home to the musuem dedicated to Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking (mainly for kids, I didn’t stop in on this one - Santa’s workshop was enough) and several very impressive marinas filled with private schooners and yachts. It was nice to just wander around the docks, admiring the boats. I could see the Viking Lines ferry, a large red ship, that I took from Helsinki a few days ago, across the bay over on the Sodermalm side. But it was getting cold and late in the day so I made the trek back towards the hostel, stopping in on a cafe for a latte and pastry.
I met some interesting people at the hostel last night. An Egyptian living in Milan working as a sailor on a quick holiday to Stockholm, an Afghani guy living and studying in Helsinki, fluent in English and Swedish, two old German women (the ones staring at me eating my ridiculous meal last night), a French mother and daughter combo, probably also on holiday, and two Chinese girls from Henan province, living and studying in Glasgow, Scotland. I was able to speak some Chinese to them - they were shocked the language had followed them this far out of China. I also met a Chilean girl, traveling alone, who just finished up her studies in Holland and is taking some time to travel the rest of Europe before heading back home to Santiago to find some work. I was especially excited to talk to her because she has sort of done the trip I want to do, just backwards. She traveled through southern and northern Spain, southern France, and around Italy before winding her way to northern Europe. She very much enjoyed Italy and had a lot of tips for me on where to go, what to see, and where to stay. She also described how warm it is down there (even now - it will be even warmer by the time I get down there) and how much cheaper everything is. For example, an evening in a nice hostel in Florence costs 10 euros, breakfast included, as opposed to Stockholm’s 35 euros, free coffee and pasta. It seems like if I’m careful over the next couple of weeks, I will be able to make my money last through these wonderful, warm places in the south.
I woke up this morning very early, 5:30, and the sun was already coming up here. I can’t understand why or how, I’ve given up trying to figure that out - changing everywhere I go. I decided the best thing to do is just to sleep when I’m tired and wake up naturally when I can. I’m on vacation.
I just hopped my next train that is currently taking me the six hour trip, same time zone, straight west to Oslo, Norway, the most expensive place I will travel to. I’ve booked two nights, just enough to get a taste of Norway, and then I’ll beam-line it south to Copenhagen and then Germany. I’ve arranged to meet with a friend and colleague of my Dad’s who lives in the city. I look forward to having dinner and some beers with a local (he chose a microbrewery as a meeting place, I’m excited already) and to get some tips on what to do for my full day in the city tomorrow.
For now though I am sitting in by far the nicest train I have ever traveled in. As you know my Eurail pass entitles me to first class seats when available. Well they were available on this train and so I am sitting in a large, plush, cerulean blue chair by the window with its own outlet. I’m sitting in a row of one separated by a row of two by the passageway. I’m surrounded by Swedish (and maybe Norwegian) gentlemen and ladies in suits carrying leather briefcases. And the interior, apart from the blue carpet on the floor, is decorated with wooden furnishings. Clean, Nordic by design, lines made of actual wood. The fold down table in front of me is made from a thick piece of actual wood, as is the attractive siding along the window and on the ceiling above. I’m really, really impressed. TIme to just sit back, relax, and enjoy the wintery views through to Oslo.
I’ve had just one more day to explore the city. I like it here. Here’s my take. The city maintains its Scandinavian roots while at the same time radiates these very connected, European vibes. Helsinki was this perfect little Scandinavian bubble of a city. Finns everywhere you looked. But you also felt a bit isolated in that city. The sea to the south, the forest everywhere else. You can’t take an overland route to Europe unless you pass well out of your way through the Arctic Circle, and even then, just by bus (in favorable weather). For many, that’s a good thing. Isolated from the rest of Europe, Helsinki is only realistically reached by plane (unless you happen to be taking trains through Russia). And you get a sense of that isolation when you’re there. It’s like everything in the city has a “Made in Finland” sticker attached. But Stockholm is different. It is very connected. You can take direct trains to Oslo or Copenhagen and then easily take trains or ferries to mainland Europe. Stockholm also has very relaxed immigration laws and is probably one of the most relaxed countries in Europe in that regard. So Stockholm has the same, well traversed grit and grind of every other international city in the world. English is spoken almost as much as Swedish here (at least from my impression in the city, probably not the case in the burbs) but other languages as well. I was eating at a small sandwich shop and the manager of the shop was speaking with one of his employees, an immigrant I think, in English and then to his other employees in Swedish. You apparently don’t even have to speak Swedish here to get a service industry job. But being more connected means the city is bigger, the neighborhoods more diverse, and so is the food, fashion, culture, etc. Anyway, Stockholm is great. I could see myself living here someday.
Since I only planned to stay one more day, I made sure to get an early start and see some of the neighborhoods and islands that I missed out on the first day. I walked the length of Gotgotan north through Sodermalm, back to Gamla Stan, and then on towards the heart of the city, an area simply known as Central Stockholm. This is the area you’re likely to find the least amount of Swedes. It is, as I quickly found out, the main shopping center of the city, every known commercial shop is located along these streets. As such, the area draws vast numbers of tourists, and with them, plenty of souvenir shops and hot dog stands. I wandered around a bit. There are some things worth visiting in this area but they are hard to find, buried between throngs of shoppers and billboards. The highlight building in Central Stockholm, I think, is the Konserthuset building, a large blueish building located in a small square where the Nobel Prizes are handed out each December. Central Stockholm also is the location of the city’s main train station where I went to this morning to catch my train to Oslo. But the rest of the area is just brand name stores and chain cafes, not worth writing about.
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| Konserthusen, where the Nobel prizes are handed out each December |
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| A look down Vasagatan, Central Stockholm |
Then I went in to the nearby Alfred Nobel Museum, located in an old building where the prize for literature is decided, in the heart of the Gamla Stan island, buried between beautiful alleyways and tall 17th century buildings. The museum was both expensive and small so I thought it would be worth while to invest in the accompanying audio guide to make the most of the experience, lengthening my stay a little. The audio guide was thorough, walking me through the biography of Alfred Nobel, a Swede from Stockholm, the history of the prize (a gold medal given to the best of the world each year in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, peace, and economics, and prize money of about a million dollars, all withdrawn from Nobel’s vast wealth as indicated in his will), and through some of the many notable winners including this year’s winners. It was a pretty cool museum and inspiring place. I especially liked the prizes for the sciences, some of the stories were incredible - it is amazing what some people have accomplished.
Then I took another stroll around the harbor, to an island I hadn’t been before called Djurgarden, home to the musuem dedicated to Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking (mainly for kids, I didn’t stop in on this one - Santa’s workshop was enough) and several very impressive marinas filled with private schooners and yachts. It was nice to just wander around the docks, admiring the boats. I could see the Viking Lines ferry, a large red ship, that I took from Helsinki a few days ago, across the bay over on the Sodermalm side. But it was getting cold and late in the day so I made the trek back towards the hostel, stopping in on a cafe for a latte and pastry.
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| A beautiful schooner in the harbor in Stockholm |
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| The lighthouse ship, Finngrundet, in the harbor |
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| A gathering of swans and ducks around Gamla Stan |
I woke up this morning very early, 5:30, and the sun was already coming up here. I can’t understand why or how, I’ve given up trying to figure that out - changing everywhere I go. I decided the best thing to do is just to sleep when I’m tired and wake up naturally when I can. I’m on vacation.
I just hopped my next train that is currently taking me the six hour trip, same time zone, straight west to Oslo, Norway, the most expensive place I will travel to. I’ve booked two nights, just enough to get a taste of Norway, and then I’ll beam-line it south to Copenhagen and then Germany. I’ve arranged to meet with a friend and colleague of my Dad’s who lives in the city. I look forward to having dinner and some beers with a local (he chose a microbrewery as a meeting place, I’m excited already) and to get some tips on what to do for my full day in the city tomorrow.
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| My train to Oslo left from track 12, Stockholm Centralen |
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| I rode first class on train 52 to Oslo, a look at the car interiors |
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| My train as I departed at Oslo Central Station |
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