2012.10.03 - Day 13 (Stockholm, Sweden)

On Wednesday, I made sure to take full advantage of my Stockholm Card and went to no less than 7 museums as I familiarized myself with Stockholm’s subway system.  The more memorable one was the Royal Palace where you get to see the Royal apartments and the Swedish crown jewels. I also walked around the old town of Stockholm called Gamla Stan. For my own sanity, I’m listing out the museums I went to:

• Kungliga Slottet (Royal Apartments, Tre Kronor, Treasury) – The Royal Palace
• NobelMuseet  - the Nobel Museum which is part of the same building as the Swedish Academy which decides who gets the Nobel Prize in Literature
• Medeltidsmuseum  - a Medieval museum showing artifacts and history from medieval Stockholm
• Storykyrkan - old church next to the Royal Palace…the crown princess of Sweden got married here a couple years ago. As a random side note, Sweden and it’s progressiveness passed a law so that the oldest child becomes the next king or queen…NOT the oldest son like those Brits J)
• Nordiska Museet  - Nordic Museum celebrating all things Nordic culture
• Spiritmuseum - Museum dedicated to Absolut Vodka which originated in Sweden
• Historika Museet - Historical Museum that has some cool Viking stuff as well and some ancient Scandinavian artifacts

Unfortunately, I couldn't take pictures in most of them, so I only have pictures of the outside of some.

Square in the city center (Gamla Stan) 

The winding streets of Gamla Stan

More street views of Gamla Stan

Me in Gamla Stan

The Royal Palace

Changing of the guard at the Royal Palace

Changing of the guard

Storkrykan - oldest church in Gamla Stan

Inside Storkyrkan

Nobel Museum and Swedish Academy

Swedish Parliament Building - couldn't go in there, but liked the architecture

Outside the Medieval museum

Nordic Museum

Inside the Nordic Museum - Statue of Gustavus Adolphus, regarded as the founder of the Swedish Empire

The great hall of the Nordic Museum

Inside the Spirit Museum. You can smell all the flavors of Absolut Vodka (I personally wanted to taste them all :-)

A Viking Runestone in the Historical Museum which main purpose was "to mark territory, to explain inheritance, to boast about constructions, to bring glory to dead kinsmen and to tell of important events"

Stockholm at night

2012.10.02 - Day 12 (Stockholm, Sweden)

On Tuesday, I had a bit more of renewed energy and got myself out of the house to walk around and explore the city some more. I also braved my first travel haircut of the trip. Not being able to find a reasonably priced place, I settled for a place at the train station...something I was hesitant to do, but I think the haircut turned out ok :-). After some internal debate, I decided to purchase a 3-day “Stockholm Card” which gave access to over 80 Stockholm museums / activities as well as unlimited free public transportation. I hesitated because at 750 SEK (~$115), it wasn’t cheap. In addition, I bought a 3-day bike pass which allowed me to use bicycles located at bike stations all over the city. 

As a side note, I found Stockholm to be one of the most bike friendly cities I’ve probably ever been in only second to Amsterdam. Every street has a separate bike lane that is clearly marked and for the most part vehicles and pedestrians respect bicyclists. Also, for tourists, they have these unmanned bicycle stations where you can swipe a card to unlock a bike and then use and return at any of the other numerous stations across the city. I noticed Oslo had something similar, but it seemed to be on a larger scale in Stockholm.

Riddarholmen Church - one of the oldest buildings in Stockholm and where the Swedish monarchs are buried; Unfortunately, I couldn't go in as it was closed for the season to tourists

Views of Stockholm and its canals

More pics of Stockholm and its canals

Seeing I made my decision to purchase the Stockholm card later in the day and with the season changing to winter hours meaning museums closed earlier, I only went to one museum that day which was aptly named the NationalMuseum (and no, I didn’t make a mistake…I purposely didn’t put a space in between National and Museum b/c that’s how it’s spelled in Swedish). I didn’t stay very long as it was a run of the mill art museum with nothing that stood out in my mind (although I’m not much of an art person).

NationalMuseum

At night, I met up with an old friend, Vidar, who I had met several years ago when I was on vacation in Melbourne, Australia. Vidar, who is originally from Norway, lived in Australia for several years before moving to Stockholm to finish some architecture schooling. We met out for some dinner in the city center and then he proceeded to take me to two bars/restaurants that had great views of the city.

2012.10.01 - Day 11 (Stockholm, Sweden)

Monday was low key with me sleeping in to recover from the previous night. I did meet up with Denver guys one last time at Sweden's probably coolest museum called the Vasa. The Vasa houses a 1600s large warship that sank on its maiden voyage. In the 1950s, they found it in the harbor, raised it and made a museum out of it. The ship was still intact and in pretty good condition. 

The Vasa warship

More pix of the Vasa warship

...and last one. I was playing with my camera settings while I was taking shots because it was so dark (they need to keep it very temperature and light controlled to help preserve the ship)

Pseudo proof that I was there :-). Again, with the darkness, it was hard to get both me and the ship in the picture

After the museum, I said my final goodbyes to Jon, Mike and Aaron and headed back to the apartment where I chilled for the rest of the day.

2012.09.30 - Day 10 (Stockholm, Sweden)

After having been out the night before, I ended up having brunch with the local Swede, Viktor, who I had met the night before. He was kind enough to show me a more traditional Swedish place that wasn’t touristy.



Traditional Swedish Food - lots of fish



Of course I had to throw in some traditional Swedish savory as well :-)


After brunch, Viktor continued his hospitality and we walked around the city a bit to help me get some of my bearings. With Stockholm being built on 14 different islands, it takes a little bit of getting used to J.

After heading back to the apartment that I had rented, I was going to meet up with the 3 Denver guys (Jon, Mike and Aaron) that I had met in Norway on the Bergen leg of the trip who were now also in Stockholm. We were going to meet at a touristy place called the “Ice Bar.” As the name implies, it is a bar made of ice – the seats, actual bar, and even the glasses in which the drinks were served were all ice. Unfortunately, my international phone package still wasn’t working very well and I was only able to communicate with the Denver guys when we were both on WiFi. With that said, I arrived at the Ice Bar at the prescribed time.  To get in, you have to pay an entrance fee which at least included the first drink. After putting on a parka type outfit with attached gloves to keep warm, I entered through a chamber of doors until I was actually in the bar itself. Inside, I found that the Denver guys still had not arrived. I had my one “free” drink and waited for a bit while I made some small talk with another American who was there on business and his Swedish guides. Realizing that the Denver guys were not coming any time soon, coupled with the fact that most people had one drink and then left anyway, I decided to leave.

Contrary to belief, they don't make the ice, they bring it from a river in northern Sweden in the Arctic circle



My ice glass awaits



My ice seat awaits

Ahh...I can finally enjoy

Fish was actually captured in the ice this way when they brought it

From there, I made my way back to my apartment. Trying to be mindful of costs, I went to the local grocery store and bought items for the week.  With everything else being a bit pricey in Sweden, I was surprised that the grocery bill was more in line with a more typical American grocer. Back at the apartment and on WiFi again, I was finally able to communicate with the Denver guys. They had “accidentally” J given me the wrong time for the Ice Bar meet up. I was two hours too early. They proceeded to tell me their bar plans for the night and invited me to join. After cooking dinner and getting on the phone with AT&T for almost an hour to try to get my international phone package in order, I finally made my way to the bar that they were at.

The bar was called Patricia and it was on an anchored boat. While it was normally a straight bar, on Sunday, it was gay. Finally having met back up with Aaron, Jon and Mike (the Denver guys), we mostly took to sitting outside on the upper deck under some heat lamps just talking and taking in the countless ABBA songs J. With liquor so expensive in Sweden (~$15-20 for a vodka/soda), I changed my drink to cider which was still expensive compared to US rates, but still a bargain compared to the liquor. It is worth noting that in Stockholm, they charged by the centiliter of alcohol in the drink. Generally, you were either charged for 4cl or 6cl of liquor. While this isn’t that different from a single or double shot in the US, something like a Long Island iced tea was really going to set you back.

As the night wore on, we went back and forth between the more relaxed upper deck of the boat and the inside dance area. While in the dance area bar, we talked to some friendly kilt-wearing Scots (one of whom showed us that they don’t in fact wear underwear under there), watched or participated in blackjack (yes, in Stockholm gambling is legal and occurs in regular bars), made fun of the droopy, baggy pants look that many Swedish men have apparently taken to, or just talked, drank and just generally enjoyed ourselves. Before you knew it, it was 5 am and closing time. We proceeded to the McDonalds across the street for some preventative hangover food and went on our separate ways home which for me was unfortunately a 30-40 min walk L (and yes, I could have taken a cab, but they were also pretty expensive).

2012.10.09 - Day 19 (Athens, Greece)

So I'm way behind on the blog. I am on day 16 of the trip and have pretty much left out blogging about the Stockholm part of the trip which was last week. I'm realizing I'm being too ambitious with the blog and need to keep it shorter and more frequent. Therefore, I'm going to blog about today. Tomorrow, I will write a catch up piece on Stockholm and Athens (which is where I am now).

Today marks my fourth day in Athens. I got here on Saturday and am leaving tomorrow morning to go to the island of Santorini for a couple days. Since I've been on the go, go, go, I decided to take a couple extra days in Athens to just chill and just relax. I'm also hoping my next two stops of Santorini and Mykonos will provide the same relaxation.

When I woke up today, my intent was to do some final sightseeing in Athens. I was going to see some archaeological "stuff" that I had missed. Unfortunately, the day ended up quite differently. With the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, being in town, most of Athens was out to protest. With all the Greek crisis stuff going on, I quickly found out that many Greeks blame Germany (who knew!?). Needless to say, her visit was not very welcome. With all the protests going on, all the historical sites were closed as the workers were out protesting...ugh!

After having a delightful breakfast, I made my way to some sights to first discover that everything was closed. As I decided to just take a walk around instead, I quickly ran into the heart of the protests. They were mostly peaceful and people were pretty much just standing around talking. However, as I was working my way through the crowds, I could see that some folks were throwing things at the police. Next thing I knew, the police were firing tear gas and people started running. Fortunately, I was close enough to the side of it that I knew I wasn't going to get trampled. I also thought I was far enough away to avoid any effects of the tear gas. However, I was wrong. I quickly started to tear up and my nose started to run. My lungs started to burn a little. I had had my first tear gas experience. I wasn't that bad. I could see people much worse with stuff all over their faces. I now realized that the smart ones had medical masks, some even gas masks on, to protect them. I was able to escape and the tear gas effects lasted only about 15-20 minutes.

I then proceeded to head back to the apartment where I was staying only to have to go along side a protest march that had now started. After that, the rest of the day was pretty uneventful with me just working out, grabbing some dinner and planning for my upcoming days.

Finding out that the historical sites were closed

Greek protests

Yeah...they really don't like Angela Merkel here

Just before some idiots started throwing stuff and tear gas being used

People covering their mouths to protect themselves from the tear gas

More protest pictures

...and the march begins throughout the city 

2012.09.29 - Day 9 (Bergen to Stockholm)

Bergen to Stockholm consisted of some fun flight connections. First I had to fly from Bergen to Oslo where I then had a layover. From Oslo, I had to fly to Helsinki, Finland despite the fact that Stockholm is actually closer. Then finally from Helsinki, I flew to Stockholm, my final destination. Because I was so last minute with some of these bookings, I had to settle for the cheapest flights I could get even if they were inconvenient :-).

In Stockholm, I rented an apartment for the week using airbnb.com. I figured this would be a cheaper alternative to hotels allowing me to not only do laundry :-), but to live more like a local. I found a good deal on an apartment in the "posh" neighborhood of Ostermalm in Stockholm. The woman renting the apartment listed her place on airbnb.com and I rented it the same day. I think she was a bit shocked that it had rented so quickly.

Anyway, when I finally arrived in Stockholm, I took a bus (which was like 1/3 the cost of the ~$40 train, but only double the time). When I got to the Central Station in Stockholm, I took the metro to the closest stop to the apartment that I could find. When I got out of the metro, I wandered around a bit trying to find which way to go. After traveling all day, I was getting cranky and just wanted to find the apartment so I could settle in. To make matters worse, it started raining. I still had not been able to get my international data plan to work on my phone, so I was pretty helpless and had to search the old fashion way. After 20 minutes of looking and now really wet, I finally found the place.

After settling in, taking a nap and cooking my dinner, I was going to meet out with a couple friends who I knew who lived in Stockholm at a nightclub. Long story short, I never ended up meeting out with them (partly because of the lack of being able to communicate with my phone) and I ended up at this nightclub called Zipper in a neighborhood called Kungsholmen alone (which I also couldn't find right way and spent 20-30 minutes trying to find by just wandering around). Fortunately, I found a friendly local Swede who had studied at Washington University in St. Louis who made the night not a complete loss. Taking a taxi back to the apartment, I was finally able to end a long day of travel and local orientation :-).

Living Room Picture of Apartment I stayed in in Stockholm

More apartment

...only one more

...last one :-)

2012.09.28 - Day 8 (Bergen and surrounding area)

It was now Friday and my "Norway in a Nutshell" tour was here. While I was disappointed that there wasn't going to be an official guide, I was still excited about seeing fjords. The day started at around 10:30am when I had to catch a 2 hour train that went from Bergen to a city called Myrdal. From Myrdal, you took another train on the Flam Railway. While the Bergen to Mydral train was just a regular commuter train, the Flam Railway was cool because it's basically setup as a tourist train that stops to let you take in the sights while providing information along the way.

The Flam Railway

Me with the Flam Railway in the background

Inside one of the rail cars

Scenery along the Flam Railway 

Scenery along the Flam Railway

The train stopped and let everyone on board get off to take a picture of a waterfall

Me with the waterfall in the background

More scenery along the way

...and some more

It was here on the Flam Railway train where I met three other Americans from Denver. We ended up cliquing (or at least that's what I'd like to think :-) and I ended up hanging with them for the rest of the tour (and beyond...but that's another story I'll get to later).

Once we arrived in Flam, as we had about an hour and 20 minutes before our fjord cruise started, I was able to get some food as well as purchase and write some postcards for a couple people who had been bugging me for them ;-).

Arriving in Flam

Views in Flam

More views of Flam

We finally boarded the ship that would now take us throw the famous fjords of Norway on a two hour trip to a small city called Gudvangen. The trip, needless to say was breathtaking with beautiful water, high green mountains, plentiful waterfalls and picturesque towns. What I thought might be a disappointment proved to be wrong. It amazed me how many small villages we saw along the way and thinking how people commuted to these remote places still using boats as many roads still do not connect.

Me with Flam in the background

...and the fjords begin.

Me with fjords in the background; Notice it was getting colder...I put my earmuffs on.

Little town on the fjord

Sheep

Fjord town

Waterfall

Another fjord town

Not quite sure how they got that house up there

Pretty waterfall

End of the fjord boat tour :-(

It drizzled now and then and it was a bit brisk at times, but no doubt, anything bad I had to say about Norway was erased by being on that boat for two hours. When we arrived in the town of Gudvangen, we then took a bus to yet another town called Voss. Here we waited for the regular commuter train line to take us back to Bergen. While waiting in Voss, I met a 21 year old Australian from Melbourne who had also been on the fjord tour with us. He was just completing four months of traveling. I liked him because when I told him about my four month sabbatical and working 11 years, he was shocked since he thought I was only 23 :-)...ahh, 21 year olds...

When we finally got back to Bergen, I made arrangements with the three Denver guys to meet out for a drink later. I then proceeded to go back to the b&b to make myself some dinner. As I started to grill some chicken breast, because of a lack of ventilation (my room was basically in a basement), the fire alarm went off. Not only did my fire alarm in my room go off though, but because of the connection, all the fire alarms in the bed and breakfast went off. I soon heard the rest of the guests at the b&b run down from their rooms to outside. Embarrassed, I had to emerge from my room to tell everyone that it was ok. What was not ok was the fact that the fire alarm was not stopping despite my attempts to fan the smoke. The owners of the b&b were not home and eventually a neighbor had to come over to turn off the central alarm. All returned to normal and everyone went back to their rooms. As my chicken breast was only half cooked, I opened up all the windows and proceeded to try to finish. Just as I was about done cooking, the damn fire alarm went off yet again. The guests from upstairs, now looking annoyed, came back downstairs once again. This time another neighbor came to save the day. At this point, I was beyond embarrassed although I was partially upset that I couldn't cook chicken in my room! Fortunately, the chicken was done and I was still able to eat non-raw food.

After I ate, I met up the Denver guys at a local bar. When the Denverites didn't want to continue on, I ended up trying one more bar by myself. When I went to that final bar of the night, I was initially denied the vodka based drink that I had ordered. When I inquired as to why I was being denied, it was explained to me that it was 18 year old night. In Norway, 18 year olds can drink, but they can only drink beer and wine. The bar didn't want me to have the potential to give these 18 year olds hard liquor...ugh. Another bartender corrected the first person who denied me and told me that I could order the vodka drink but would have to drink it at the bar. I should have left then, but decided to have the last drink. 18 year olds and not being able to carry a hard liquor drink around with me was not my idea of a good time :-).

I walked back to the b&b to head to sleep but not before getting drenched with the never ending Bergen rain. While the fjords were spectacular, I had had enough of Bergen and its rain!!