We arrived in Stockholm on Friday night and immediately found a bar/ restaurant where we got great food (swedish meatballs included!) and sat and drank beer and cider for the evening. At the end of a long school week, it was the perfect evening casually enjoying a few drinks with friends in a new city.
Our hostel was located in Gamla Stan, Old Town Stockholm. The historic section of the city, it has cobblestone streets, old squares, beautiful churches and architecture, and tons of sites. We started the day Saturday exploring Gamla Stan and the Old Town Stockholm. Sites we saw include...
-The Royal Palace & Changing of the Guards:
-The Vasa Museum: Pictured below, houses the only preserved 17th century ship in the world
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| Vasa Museum, Only preserved 17th century ship in the world
-Stockholm by Boat: Boat taxi around the sites of Stockholm:
-Tyska Kyrkan (Old German Church):
Proabably the highlight of the trip for me was seeing the city of Stockholm from above. The Ericsson Globe is currently the largest globe building in the universe. As a group, we boarded a glass "bubble" that has a track along the outside of the globe. From the top of the Ericsson Globe, you can see all of Stockholm, through the lakes of Sweden, and to the Baltic Sea. It was incredible.
 
Because we devoted all day Saturday to seeing the city (and didn't stop moving for one second), we were able to hit the major sites. We had an especially nice chance to explore Djurgården, one of the many islands of Stockholm. We got to eat a beautiful authentic Swedish lunch in Djurgården and were able to venture off the beaten tourist track of Stockholm.
 
This boat reminded me of The Black Dog Tall Ships. I miss the island and The Dog.
One of the strangest experiences in Stockholm was buying alcohol. To put it simply, the experience was intense. Alcohol is fully controlled by the state and liquor has a tax of up to 70%. Needless to say, I bought wine. No hard liquor for me in Sweden.
Saturday night, we had a reservation at the original Ice Bar of Europe. The Ice Bar is exactly that: A bar made of ice. The walls are ice, chairs are ice, cups are ice, the bar is ice. You're given a cloak and gloves upon entering and a vey strong drink made with Absolut 100. (It was called something appropriate like Wolf's Paw). Ice bar was a hysterical experience. Freezing, funny, and a ton of fun.
Sunday before returning to Copenhagen, we spent more of the day exploring the more modern side of Sweden. Because of some issues with our hostel and inabilty to find anyone who worked there, we had to carry our luggage around throughout the day, which was a pain. We survived.
Generally, Stockholm is a wonderful city. It has a very cozy side as well as an urban-chic feel in its more developed centers. It was a perfect weekend trip with a great group of people.
It's great to be back in the familiarity of Copenhagen. Isn't it wonderful that Copenhagen has become "familiar". I've been here one month and it feels nice to be a part of this city.
I'll be hanging around Koobie (as we affectionately call Copenhagen/København) for the next few weeks. If anything eventful happens, it'll be here. My next travel is to Athens and Milan at the end of this month/ beginning of next. Until then, I'll be enjoying myself here and maybe focusing on classes... or something like that.
Until later... xox
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