Stockholm '08

Unexpected trip, seeing as to how I booked my flight the week before I went. Of course, I couldn't have done it without the help of all the miles I acquired over the course of my (work) travel. The one thing I'm thankful for. Otherwise, boof (as the French say) to the job.

Stockholm was quite an adventure. I went to visit My, a Swedish girl I met in Cabarete, DR. It was a 5-day whirlwind romance between My, Winnie, Michelle (Aussie girl) and me. And of course, I kept wanting more and flew a quarter-way across the world to see her. haha.

There are no outstanding landmarks ala Eiffel Tower or Coliseum, but is a very cute, neat, pretty town. I was very taken by Gamla Stan, the old town. Cobble stone streets, quaint eateries, and the occasional cheesy tourist shop. But otherwise, really cute. Culinary delights included the famous meatballs with lingon berry, reindeer meat, fish stew... never tried the swedish pancakes/waffles. Maybe next time when I go to the north, Lulea, to snowboard and check out the ice hotel with My.

The myth has been busted though - while Swedish people are tall, they aren't all blonde, blue-eyed or good-looking. In fact, there really weren't many blonde, blue-eyed and good-looking people (My was probably one of the best looking people there - and don't get me wrong, she's gorgeous). It was disappointing. To top that off, Swedish men, especially when they were drunk, had the poorest manners I'd ever seen. I've been ranting all week about it and I really don't want to get into another tizzy so I'll leave it at that. A few other quirky things that I discovered during my short weekend in Stockholm:

- French hotdogs are served everywhere at these food trucks around supper time (i.e. drunk food)
- Stockholm loves their Italian food. We found more Italian restaurants than Swedish restaurants in Gamla Stan
- Tourists are the only ones excited about Abba
- Dr Bombay is Swedish
- Swedish people sing this "Schnapps" song before they do a shot of schnapps. Goes something like, HEY LANG GORRR... lalalalalala. Demonstrations on demand.
- Swedish people are pretty sassy with their "Close" signs, e.g., We are closed because we are not open
- Stockholm doesn't look anything like the inside of Ikea
- Sweden is now all crazy about the Swedish version of that Japanese game show where celebrities contort themselves into funny shapes ala tetris and jump through these big blocks. I watched an episode while I was there.

Of course, there had to be adventure on the trip. My flight to Nice was delayed by twelve hours. It turned out to be a great day, actually. The only minor regret I have is spending the extra money on the Arlanda Express to go back and forth between Stockholm and the airport. Otherwise, I saw more of Stockholm (touristy stuff) that day than I did in the two days prior. Went shopping, walked to Gamla Stan, saw the facades of several more "famous" buildings, including the royal palace, the house of culture, Stortoget (this famous plaza in Gamla Stan), and and Storkyrken (a church). I also sat by the waterway reading my latest book, The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand). Oh, and I also did take a nap at the house of culture because I was so tired from waking up early that morning. There was nothing really specific or outstanding that I did, but I just meandered and let my feet take me wherever suited my fancy at the moment.

Forthcoming: Adventures in the south of France and Italy