En Reconnaissance de Paris: Stockholm: Cheap flights, free coffee, and negative zero degrees

Hi everyone!

What an interesting weekend it's been. A few weeks ago, on a complete whim, Abbey, our friend Amanda and I booked flights to Stockholm, Sweden. The reason behind this decision was simple: cheap flights. We had no idea what to expect, but now that we're back, we couldn't be happier that we chose to do this.

We arrived late Thursday night. On our short walk to our hostel, we quickly realized that Stockholm is a very unique city. It was only about 11:30, but there were hardly any people out, stores and restaurants were all closed, and the streets were completely cleaned. Unsure of what to do, we found one place to pick up a quick dinner and then got ourselves to bed so we could get out early the next day.

From our hostel window on Friday morning we saw a shining sun and not a cloud in the sky, but we knew that the temperatures were near freezing. As Amanda so delicately put it, the temperature was going to be, "like... negative zero," so we made sure to dress very warmly.

After bundling up, we asked our hostel staff for advice on a good brunch spot and were advised to walk down Drottninggatan street. Here we found an abundance of appealing cafes and shops. We stopped for a very good brunch and enjoyed delicious coffee. In Sweden, coffee etiquette is much like tea etiquette in certain other countries. It is always offered upon entrance into an event or home, and in other places is usually very cheap or free. It was the latter with endless refills with this meal. This was one little bit of Swedish culture that we embraced very quickly.

After eating, we continued to the explore this area. There is a lot of shopping here. Some of these stores are more unique to the region, while others are very common. We were not surprised to discover an enormous H&M-- a company that comes from Sweden and is headquartered in Stockholm. We rationalized that because it was a native company, it was okay for us to go inside for a little bit.

We then decided to explore some of Stockholm's islands. Because it is a city on the water, Stockholm is broken up into several regions and islands connected by part land and part bridges. Each of these areas is defined by characteristics very distinct from the others. Our hostel was in Norrmalm, and on this day, we decided to explore Gamla Stan. This area is where the Old Town is located and is often referred to as the heart of the city. So although this is a comparatively smaller region, we spent pretty much the entire rest of the day in it.

Gamla Stan can be most easily recognized by its cobblestone streets and old buildings. Because it was so cold, we constantly stopped in old-styled taverns for bits of coffee, tea and soup. We also explored a ton of little shops, including a really cool (but creepy) one that sold authentic Swedish made trolls and gnomes. Gamla Stan is also home to the Royal Palace, where we could see the royal guards patrolling the area. Although these guards seemed to be dressed quite like those we had seen in Prague and London, we were interested to note that this was the first time we saw some women doing the job, rather than only men.

Eventually, we made our way back in the direction of our hostel, where we first stopped for dinner. We found a really delicious restaurant where we shared a series of tapas appetizers and a thin-crust pizza for our entree. We left very full, warmed from the inside out, and sufficiently exhausted from our day.

On Saturday, we woke up early to make good use of our last day in Stockholm. We started the day at the same cafe as the morning before. Along with our coffees, I had a delicious and really filling lentil soup. As much as I hate the cold, there is nothing like coming inside, taking off your coat, and enjoying a nice bowl of soup or stew.

We continued our island explorations, but this time we went to Djurgarden. This island reminded me in a way of a New England city. It offered a beautiful view of the boats out on the water and was full of quaint little shops and eateries. Here, we went to the famous Vasa Museum. This is home to an old Swedish ship that set sail in the 1620's only to sink about 1500 meters out in the harbor. It took hundreds of years for the ship to be recovered, but it somehow managed to stay in fantastic condition. The craftsmanship of the boat, detailed woodwork and designs are beautiful, and it was overall very cool to see.

After leaving the museum, we hoped to visit one of Europe's apparently oldest running amusement parks, also on Djurgarden, but we got there to find it was only open in the summer. Nonetheless, we got to peek into the gates and see the game booths and cotton candy stands. The emptiness of the area and old design of it made it look like an abandoned haunted theme park. We were sorry we couldn't go in, but were also relieved to walk away from the goosebumps it gave us.

After leaving Djurgarden, we walked back through Gamla Stan and over to Sodermalm. This was a very long walk, so we had to stop a few times to warm up inside. It was definitely worth it, however, because Sodermalm had some cool things to see. There were more young people in the area and more modern shops and restaurants. We spent a while looking around here before we went into a pub for a burgers-and-potatoes dinner. It was a momentous occasion for Abbey in that she tasted (for the first time ever) veal-- and liked it. Again, it was not terribly late, but we the cold weather and all the walking had really exhausted us. By the time we trekked back to the hostel, we practically collapsed into bed.

We awoke at 3:30 this morning to take the 80 minute bus ride that would allow us to catch our 7:10 flight. While this was exhausting, we agreed that it was entirely worth it. In our short weekend in Stockholm, we got good glimpse into most of the city. Had there been more time and planning involved, it would have been a fantastic place to go skiing or snow tubing, but again, we were happy with our plans. We also learned that it's an ideal summer vacation spot for those who are interested in boating, hiking, biking, and the like.

Now that we're back in Paris, my only real regret is that I didn't get to meet the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I also enjoy being back in the majority as a brunette. (Sorry Abbey-- I hope you enjoyed your once-in-a-lifetime weekend as a blonde in an all-blonde world.)

Now I'm exhausted, and it's time for a nap. Zzzz...