I stayed for three days on a pirate ship and then I landed in jail
Shortly following the intense lead-up and project presentations (on Dec 5th), myself and two of my roomates left Barcelona for Stockholm, Sweden! (on Dec 7th)
Sheena, Elyse and I woke up at 6-somethinggawdawful am in order to get to the bus station on time to catch a bus to get to the Girona airport to catch our 10am flight. We just made it to the gate in time.. there are pros and cons when flying with ryanair. The flight was really bumpy, and it didn't help that I was still feeling sick from the party two days before. We finally, and gratefully, landed in a small town somewhere near Stockholm, and by the time we arrived in downtown Stockholm (3:30pm), the sun had already gone down! As we drove into Stockholm, I was suprised at how similar that two-lane divided highway looked to the 401 in Ontario. Rock cuts and coniferous trees abounded.
It sure was colder there than Barcelona! yikes! Plus, my warm fleece was stinky because the humid barcelona air had prevented it from drying fast enough, so I couldn't wear it. I was stuck bundling up in every piece of clothing I had instead. There are some things I don't miss from Barcelona, and non-drying laundry is one of them. We hiked our luggage around from one island to another and eventually found our hostel: the little red boat.
We basically slept in a tiny bunk room in the bottom of a ship floating in the water. The rocking didn't bother me unless I could also see the shore at the same time. It was, however, cold and damp (duh) so I didn't really warm up for the three nights we were there.
While we were there, we toured the Swedish royal palace, went shopping at a couple of christmas markets, visited the architecture and modern art museums, played euchre with an american, ate reindeer stew, and visited a whole island (Djurgarden) that was part amusment park (Skansen), part scandinavian animal zoo (including fluffy linx), and part heritage recreation village (exactly like Black Creek, some of you).
Sheena and Elyse on a bridge about to enter Gamla Stan, the old town.
Along with the scrumptious reindeer stew served with red berry jelly, at other points I also enjoyed a simple bowl of goulash, gingerbread cookies, and glog (a spiced and warmed drink made with wine and served with raisins and almonds). I really liked the food I had in Sweden.. much more than Barcelona. There was too much mayonaise, and deep fried things, and salt, I thought. After a while of eating 'authentic food' I enjoyed eating out at fusion, italian, falafel, and curry places instead.
Since it got dark at about 3pm every day, Stockholm at night was lit up and majestic with christmas lights. It didn't seem as garish as the christmas decorations can be sometimes (no dancing santas or singing plastic christmas trees). Things were kept simple with 7 candles placed together in each of the windows. It seemed special and exciting with still some of the mystery and less of the blatant commercialism. Even though there was no snow, I still got really excited about chrismas!!
Sheena and Elyse both bought wool toques.
Mariefred, Sweden
After three days in Stockholm, and three nights on the boat, Elyse left us at 3am to catch her ryanair flight back to Barcelona and other exciting adventures in Italy. Sheena and I, meanwhile, moved hostels to an old prison on another island. During that day, we did a daytrip outside of Stockholm to visit one of the Swedish royal family's castles called Gripsholm Slott in a town called Mariefred. Here is my short summary of the day:
Palace: closed
Weather: cold but sunny
Town: beautiful and cozy
Countryside: looks like the muskokas, smells like woodsmoke.
Sundown: at 3pm, stores closed at about the same time
Dinner (at 6pm): A result of linguistic barriers and the only place open in town.
Pizza: cheese, ham, shrimp, curry, pineapple, and BANANA It was still good!!
That night, Sheena and I stayed in a cool hostel on an island of its own that used to be a prison!! Our room used to be a cell! I would definetly go back there, and if any of you are thinking of travelling to Stockholm, I would recomend it. They also have hotel-type rooms, and the breakfast in the morning, as well as the short nature trails surrounding the building it were fantastic.
Sheena, Elyse and I woke up at 6-somethinggawdawful am in order to get to the bus station on time to catch a bus to get to the Girona airport to catch our 10am flight. We just made it to the gate in time.. there are pros and cons when flying with ryanair. The flight was really bumpy, and it didn't help that I was still feeling sick from the party two days before. We finally, and gratefully, landed in a small town somewhere near Stockholm, and by the time we arrived in downtown Stockholm (3:30pm), the sun had already gone down! As we drove into Stockholm, I was suprised at how similar that two-lane divided highway looked to the 401 in Ontario. Rock cuts and coniferous trees abounded.
It sure was colder there than Barcelona! yikes! Plus, my warm fleece was stinky because the humid barcelona air had prevented it from drying fast enough, so I couldn't wear it. I was stuck bundling up in every piece of clothing I had instead. There are some things I don't miss from Barcelona, and non-drying laundry is one of them. We hiked our luggage around from one island to another and eventually found our hostel: the little red boat.
We basically slept in a tiny bunk room in the bottom of a ship floating in the water. The rocking didn't bother me unless I could also see the shore at the same time. It was, however, cold and damp (duh) so I didn't really warm up for the three nights we were there.
While we were there, we toured the Swedish royal palace, went shopping at a couple of christmas markets, visited the architecture and modern art museums, played euchre with an american, ate reindeer stew, and visited a whole island (Djurgarden) that was part amusment park (Skansen), part scandinavian animal zoo (including fluffy linx), and part heritage recreation village (exactly like Black Creek, some of you).
Sheena and Elyse on a bridge about to enter Gamla Stan, the old town.
Along with the scrumptious reindeer stew served with red berry jelly, at other points I also enjoyed a simple bowl of goulash, gingerbread cookies, and glog (a spiced and warmed drink made with wine and served with raisins and almonds). I really liked the food I had in Sweden.. much more than Barcelona. There was too much mayonaise, and deep fried things, and salt, I thought. After a while of eating 'authentic food' I enjoyed eating out at fusion, italian, falafel, and curry places instead.
Since it got dark at about 3pm every day, Stockholm at night was lit up and majestic with christmas lights. It didn't seem as garish as the christmas decorations can be sometimes (no dancing santas or singing plastic christmas trees). Things were kept simple with 7 candles placed together in each of the windows. It seemed special and exciting with still some of the mystery and less of the blatant commercialism. Even though there was no snow, I still got really excited about chrismas!!
Sheena and Elyse both bought wool toques.
Mariefred, Sweden
After three days in Stockholm, and three nights on the boat, Elyse left us at 3am to catch her ryanair flight back to Barcelona and other exciting adventures in Italy. Sheena and I, meanwhile, moved hostels to an old prison on another island. During that day, we did a daytrip outside of Stockholm to visit one of the Swedish royal family's castles called Gripsholm Slott in a town called Mariefred. Here is my short summary of the day:
Palace: closed
Weather: cold but sunny
Town: beautiful and cozy
Countryside: looks like the muskokas, smells like woodsmoke.
Sundown: at 3pm, stores closed at about the same time
Dinner (at 6pm): A result of linguistic barriers and the only place open in town.
Pizza: cheese, ham, shrimp, curry, pineapple, and BANANA It was still good!!
That night, Sheena and I stayed in a cool hostel on an island of its own that used to be a prison!! Our room used to be a cell! I would definetly go back there, and if any of you are thinking of travelling to Stockholm, I would recomend it. They also have hotel-type rooms, and the breakfast in the morning, as well as the short nature trails surrounding the building it were fantastic.
posted by Francesca @ 3:44 AM
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