Sorry for the delay in posting about my trip but hey, it happens.
We started our journey on Nov. 6 when I spent the morning making sandwiches and snackies for our clan for a full day of travel. The group going was three of my girlfriends here (Kelsey from NC, Meg from TX and Emily from GA) and Steve. We went and got a train at Leuchars to Edinburgh, crossed through Edinburgh to a different station and boarded a train to Glasgow and eventually to Prestwick the airport there. The train ride was uneventful but humorous as we were all trying to navigate our little backpacks and our large packs through various places. The flight was only about an hour and a half from Prestwick to Stockholm, I think we all just napped. We took a bus from the airport when we landed (another hour) into the city itself and found our hostel that we would call home for the next four days. It was called City Lodge and it felt quite safe. We had a room to ourselves and there were three different locks to get into the building so we felt good about that. The first night was exhausting as we had traveled all day and by the time we got to the hostel it was well after midnight, we pretty much just crashed.
Our first day out exploring started around 10am when we paid our fees for the hostel and hunkered down in a little café called FastFoot for some excellently tasty and cheap brewed coffee and crepes. After filling ourselves up for the day, we headed out to wander. We found a big market in a local square that was filled with fruit, veggies, flowers, trinkets and other odds-and-end vendors. I of course bought some nuts, crackers and fruit to munch on during the day. We meandered down a very shop laden street where we popped in and out enjoying the ridiculous souvenirs and everything troll and gnome. It was Scandinavia, and it was Troll/Gnome country. They are also pretty proud of their moose population I noticed. We walked to the old part of the city, and found ourselves at the palace. The girls went to go look at the palace and take a tour, while Steve soon found me entranced walking around the Royal Chapel just down the street. I of course lit two candles, one particularly for Babcie. There was a really neat globe shaped candle orb hanging from the ceiling to put the candles in. I took some video footage of the church as well because it was so pretty hearing the organist practice. I was quite alone for a few minutes walking around which was nice, I had the place to myself basically. The architecture was a bit gothic but modern too which was odd, there were ceiling frescos which were neat as well as a few paintings. There was a HUGE last judgment canvas painting which may be the biggest canvas painting I’ve ever seen – it had to have been 20ft tall by 15ft wide. There was also a really interesting statue of St. George and the Dragon.
After enjoying the cathedral, Steve and I went in search of a hot drink and a snack while the girls were still in their tour. We found a little place that was really cool. It was in a basement and was sort of wine cellar/dungeon like. There were lots of cool antiques stuff, old furniture and lots of little nooks and things to sit in. We had a simple sandwich, tea and hot chocolate, which on a cold day touring Stockholm in November, totally hit the spot. It was nice to warm up, and just relax for a few minutes in a place we ‘discovered’. We then went to a touristy street to do some shopping and just walk and enjoy the day. We ended our day and headed back to base, where we napped for a bit (as it got dark by 3:30pm) then went out to look for some cheap food. Scandinavia is damn expensive, just saying. We ended up eating in a little taco bar, odd to be eating tacos in Sweden, but hey, it tasted good and was cheap.
The second day out, we went back to Gamlanstan (the old part of the city) and finished exploring there. We went in churches, where I spent loads of time enjoying paintings, architecture, sculptures and just the general atmosphere of them. We explored different touristy sites, wandered the shops, and had some food. Once we finished and the sun had practically set, we went to the National Museum for the rest of the afternoon. It was a bit disappointing actually as it hardly had anything. I guess I expected much more, as it was a National Museum. It was still fun walking around with Steve. There were some really great works though, a few wonderful sculptures and some still life paintings I really enjoyed. They were by Jan Davidsz de Heem which were hyper detailed. After leaving the museum we went Ice skating. This was something we had seen the day before and decided to pay the few kroner to go. I can’t even remember the last time I went ice skating! It was soooo much fun, it was an outdoor rink, all lit up and there was music playing. Nothing solidified the idea we were in Sweden than when we were skating, outside in the cold, in the middle of a city and ABBA started to play. So great. We only had a few spills, nothing major, and all hysterical. We spent the rest of the evening chilling out which was nice.
The third day in Stockholm we went to Skansen. Skansen is a historical town/theme park. It reminded me of Williamsburg VA, or even Clarks Trading Post. There were period characters around, old buildings from different time periods in Sweden, all sorts of stuff like that and there was a zoo like element to it as well. There were lots of native animals to Sweden that they had in pens and things. I saw a big brown bear for the first time and a wolf. It was really neat, here is a website to look at of it - http://www.skansen.se/pages/?ID=221 – it’s pretty cool. The pastries were sooo yummy, the straw crafts were pretty, the pottery as well and the hand blown glass was spectacular. The glass from Skansen and Sweden in general is apparently renowned. After spending the majority of the day in Skansen, we walked a short distance to the Vasa Museum, a museum dedicated to a ship (the Vasa) which sunk on its maiden voyage in 1628. The ship was salvaged in 1961 and has been preserved amazingly. The ship is 95% complete. Pictures don’t really pay it justice. It is truly spectacular to walk into a HUGE building, the lights are all quite low, and then there are spot lights on this enormous ship, just chillin in the middle of the room! Dad would have really enjoyed it. I made sure to film some of it so you could really see the detail. Website: http://www.vasamuseet.se/InEnglish/about.aspx After visiting there we walked back to the hostel to meet up with the girls, as they had left early to go do some shopping, and had some fantastically greasy pizza from a kebab shop up the street.
The next day we got up early and hopped on a train to a town to get a ferry across the Baltic Sea to an island of Sweden called Gotland. We were going to a medieval town Visby. {http://www.gotland.se/komverk/forvaltn/tf/hamn/visbyport/index.htm } We only stayed one night but it was worth it I think. Unfortunately the weather was not so great so we really couldn’t see anything while crossing, but I can honestly say it was the biggest ship I’ve ever been on. It was pretty neat. Once we got to Visby, we checked into our posh hotel then went and did a wee bit of exploring. We only had a few hours of daylight left so we made the most of it. Visby is a little town but really cool. Steve and I got up good and early the next morning so we had loads of time to explore and see things before we had to catch the next ferry back. We saw lots of ruins of churches and cathedrals, a few castle things and the really cool medieval wall of the city. We had a really great time going around town together, and I even did some shopping. It was a rainy day but it was still beautiful. We gathered all of our things and boarded the ferry again for our voyage home after a long day of museum going and ruin exploring. There was a bit of a fiasco when we got back to mainland however because it was getting late, but we managed to get a bus back to Stockholm, then a taxi to the airport where we were staying at a hostel right there at the airport for the night. And by ‘the night’ I mean we had maybe three hours sleep by the time we got there.
Travel day again! We flew into London where we would be spending the next few days. Steve and Emily stayed with friends/Bobby Jones scholars who live in London as the reason we were there was because they were having a little event. I stayed with my friend Jess from Wellesley, we played Frisbee together. It was SOOOO great to see her, to see a friendly face from home! Hopefully we’ll be able to see each other a few more times while we are here in the UK. For about three days, Steve and I were total tourists in London. It was so fantastic to have someone who is so patient with me going into churches and museums. We saw St. Paul’s, Westminster Abbey, a load of little churches along the way, the London Tower Bridge, London Bridge, walked by the Globe Theater, spent 4 or 5 hours in the Tower of London and of course enjoyed food out and time with Jess. It was simply superb. The night before we left, we stayed in a hotel close to the train station so it would be easier in the morning for us. I can honest to god say it was one of the sketchiest places I’ve ever stayed in my life. Oi. But hey, it was only one night.
The train ride home was a long one, about 5.5 hours, but the countryside was nice to see, and we managed to get a little bit of work done when we weren’t sleeping. Our friend Dan was actually in our carriage as well. It was a long 10 days, full to the max with walking, exploring and general fun. It took a good week to recover!
So that was my big trip to Sweden during reading week! Hope it entertained you to read this; I certainly liked reliving each moment as I typed this, now a month later. There will be more updates, sorry for the lack of promptness in posting, it’s a bit time consuming to sit and do this, but it’s a fantastic procrastination tool! Well now I’m done and must go do some work, papers to write, presentations to give and exams to study for. Christmas break can’t come soon enough!
Cheers!
Tori
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