My friend Chris has been keeping up-to-date with his blogs so I'm including his link!
http://www.chrisineurope2009.blogspot.com/
It has some great pictures too, take a look and you'll see our last couple of days.
They are his words and I'll make up for them when I return but you can see our Oslo days and Bergen.
Be home soon!
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Almost home
Ok, so this year's trip is not documented as well as last year's.
Several days were skipped over, and they were generally the biggest parts (like the wedding!)
However, I'll be home soon and will just do my best to regale you with details and stories in person.
Basic information:
I'm alive, I'm safe, and I'm in a fabulous robe at the Radisson SAS hotel in Oslo.
We are living it up on my last night.
We didn't mean for luxury but stumbled into it and boy, are we glad we did!
We took the overnight train from Bergen to Oslo last nite after spending the day on the fijords.
Everything they say about the fijords is true. Absolutely stunning.
Upon our fijord boat return, it started to DOWNPOUR in the city of Bergen.
It finally happened, we had skipped it for *weeks* and the rain finally came.
Lucky for us (blessed), it occured after we had accomplished everything we set out to do.
We holed up in an Asian fusion restaurant for a quick late nite dinner before we boarded our sleeping car train.
The rain was shooting from the sky so we made a break for the train station; and arrived sopping wet. I looked my best, as always, as I had 5 layers on, and had tightly rolled up my jeans to my knees so they wouldn't drag in the puddles and be wet for the train ride. Luckily for me, I was wearing my black soccer socks and white heel-less tennies. So white slip-on shoes, black soccer socks, rolled jeans to my knees, 5 layers and the hood bustled around my face; I was the picture of a princess. Looking good is my motto. :)
We got on the train and found our sleeping car, no joke it was about 5 feet wide by 9 feet long.
BUT it came with a sink, ear plugs and 2 bottles of water.
We changed quickly and hopped into bed. The train left at 11:00 pm and was to arrive in Oslo at 6:30 am. Chris fell alseep quickly but I read my book for about an hour (Fried Green Tomatos - never knew it was based on a book before).
We had booked our hotel the night before after deliberating about cost, location and type.
We had seen Radisson SAS hotels ALL over the cities/countries we had visited and so decided to try one. SCORE!
Not only was the hotel pretty much connected to the train station so that the walk was probably less than 100 meters in the POURING rain; but they let us check in early at 6:45 am and they had an AMAZING breakfast spread for us to conqueor.
We are on the 17th floor, overlooking the city, in a beautiful room with a huge bath tub, white bathrobes, heated towel racks and floor, and now lounging until the rain (if) clears.
P-I-M-P.
We had hoped for sun in Oslo so we could wear our sundress and shirts one last time (since for us, Bergen had had nice weather) but this will TOTALLY do.
If it stops, we will take another stroll around town, check out the Vigeland Sculpture Garen.
OR
we'll lay in our robes, watching tv and eating.
How can we lose? :)
Several days were skipped over, and they were generally the biggest parts (like the wedding!)
However, I'll be home soon and will just do my best to regale you with details and stories in person.
Basic information:
I'm alive, I'm safe, and I'm in a fabulous robe at the Radisson SAS hotel in Oslo.
We are living it up on my last night.
We didn't mean for luxury but stumbled into it and boy, are we glad we did!
We took the overnight train from Bergen to Oslo last nite after spending the day on the fijords.
Everything they say about the fijords is true. Absolutely stunning.
Upon our fijord boat return, it started to DOWNPOUR in the city of Bergen.
It finally happened, we had skipped it for *weeks* and the rain finally came.
Lucky for us (blessed), it occured after we had accomplished everything we set out to do.
We holed up in an Asian fusion restaurant for a quick late nite dinner before we boarded our sleeping car train.
The rain was shooting from the sky so we made a break for the train station; and arrived sopping wet. I looked my best, as always, as I had 5 layers on, and had tightly rolled up my jeans to my knees so they wouldn't drag in the puddles and be wet for the train ride. Luckily for me, I was wearing my black soccer socks and white heel-less tennies. So white slip-on shoes, black soccer socks, rolled jeans to my knees, 5 layers and the hood bustled around my face; I was the picture of a princess. Looking good is my motto. :)
We got on the train and found our sleeping car, no joke it was about 5 feet wide by 9 feet long.
BUT it came with a sink, ear plugs and 2 bottles of water.
We changed quickly and hopped into bed. The train left at 11:00 pm and was to arrive in Oslo at 6:30 am. Chris fell alseep quickly but I read my book for about an hour (Fried Green Tomatos - never knew it was based on a book before).
We had booked our hotel the night before after deliberating about cost, location and type.
We had seen Radisson SAS hotels ALL over the cities/countries we had visited and so decided to try one. SCORE!
Not only was the hotel pretty much connected to the train station so that the walk was probably less than 100 meters in the POURING rain; but they let us check in early at 6:45 am and they had an AMAZING breakfast spread for us to conqueor.
We are on the 17th floor, overlooking the city, in a beautiful room with a huge bath tub, white bathrobes, heated towel racks and floor, and now lounging until the rain (if) clears.
P-I-M-P.
We had hoped for sun in Oslo so we could wear our sundress and shirts one last time (since for us, Bergen had had nice weather) but this will TOTALLY do.
If it stops, we will take another stroll around town, check out the Vigeland Sculpture Garen.
OR
we'll lay in our robes, watching tv and eating.
How can we lose? :)
Monday, August 17, 2009
Wow, I need to catch up....but can't
hey all,
i'm alive and well but just haven't had the ability to get online to capture all the day's outings.
highlights:
- copenhagen rocks. no questions. absolutely amazing city.
- danish weddings are crazy and ridiculously (in a good way) long.
- meeting people from around the world is truly one of the best things you can do in life.
- californian city planners suck.
- danes loves their shoes
- oddly, flipflops are a spectacle for locals :)
- 7-11 has taken over the world
- i want to become bilingual
- danish feasts rock my world
- to walk a city is to know a city; to drive...that's a whole different ballgame
- if you can drink beer on the street, there's gonna be glass on the ground
- the people of the farrow islands rock, and so does their dancing
- danes go more out of their way than swedes; but don't stop talking
- don't use the lowest setting on a converter if you want to straighten your hair
i love you all and am in goteburg (sweden) tonite, headed to bergen, norway tomorrow.
pure travel day so probably won't have the internet.
couchsurfing rocks.
best time this evening with our host.
looking forward to the next host in bergen.
love you all!
-
i'm alive and well but just haven't had the ability to get online to capture all the day's outings.
highlights:
- copenhagen rocks. no questions. absolutely amazing city.
- danish weddings are crazy and ridiculously (in a good way) long.
- meeting people from around the world is truly one of the best things you can do in life.
- californian city planners suck.
- danes loves their shoes
- oddly, flipflops are a spectacle for locals :)
- 7-11 has taken over the world
- i want to become bilingual
- danish feasts rock my world
- to walk a city is to know a city; to drive...that's a whole different ballgame
- if you can drink beer on the street, there's gonna be glass on the ground
- the people of the farrow islands rock, and so does their dancing
- danes go more out of their way than swedes; but don't stop talking
- don't use the lowest setting on a converter if you want to straighten your hair
i love you all and am in goteburg (sweden) tonite, headed to bergen, norway tomorrow.
pure travel day so probably won't have the internet.
couchsurfing rocks.
best time this evening with our host.
looking forward to the next host in bergen.
love you all!
-
Friday, August 14, 2009
Copenhagen
(dont have time to finish Stockholm, but just assume we had a great time and ask me questions about the KultureFest we attended).
We headed out early to the train station and Pierre accompanied us on the walk. I asked him a lot of questions about Sweden and he said that its not as snowy as you think. He said in the past 5 years, they havent gotten as much snow as they are known for, and that its only snowed for 2 weeks in their past winters. Interesting info for me, as I picture Sweden to be a frozen tundra during the winter.
We met up with Chris and boarded the train to Malmo, southern Sweden.
The ride was actually really fun, we saw a lot of the countryside and played games with one another. I think we all expected to sleep, but only I crashed out for about 20 minutes. We changed trains in Malmo and were in Copenhagen within 35 minutes.
Reed and I are staying with the wedding bunch at the grooms familys hotel while Crissy/Chris were staying on the Christiana side of town. We sent them on their way and began our walk. Reed had suggested walking to get to know the town instead of taking a cab, so with only a map, an address and our crazy backpacks, we headed out! Anyone who knows me can fully understand the potential peril we were in giving my sense of directions....In my defense, I do a whole lot better when traveling. In our good judgment, we let Reeders hold the map and navigate our way. :)
We walked by amazing buildings and cobblestones walkways and the people are just fascinating. Bikers are bad ass. Had to say it. They FLY by, they cut off buses, they clip each other while trying to pass, they dont care about pedestrians and they carry anything from a dog, to a computer, to groceries, to paintings, to a carpet in their baskets. Everyone says to bike in Copenhagen, but I honestly dont know if I have it in me!! They have one large lane for the bikers and I think I would prefer a child or bunny lane for my skills. Seriously, old men in suits were cutting off mothers with children. Bikers beware!
Copenhagen is a lot easier to walk around and find your way and we found our hotel within 20 minutes. It is right on the canal with boats docked and a beautiful lane of restaurants. We couldnt have booked a better restaurant if we did it ourselves. We are SO lucky. Maries groom, Ivan, and his family are from the Faroe Islands and they help manage the hotel so almost ALL the wedding guests are staying at the hotel. We werent in our quaint room but 5 minutes when the phone rang. The receptionist called her to let her know that we had arrived. How cool is that?!?
I ran upstairs to see her and she was trying on her wedding dress with the help of 2 YWAM Aussie friends. The hotel stay comes with breakfast and dinner (which is incredible bc this place is EXPENSIVE) and we got to meet a lot of Maries family and missionary friends; as well as reuniting with my college roommates.
Dinner was roast chicken, pasta noodles with a yellow sauce, and light salad.
They eat a lot of meat and fish here and their breads are incredible.
Reed really wanted to see the Chile-Denmark game or watch the Mexico-US game so he, Chris and Crissy went to a sports pub to watch while I joined the wedding crew for a trip to Tivoli Gardens.
Tivoli Gardens is a small theme park with crazy rides, music (like orchestra, jazz, blues, and rock) and beautiful gardens. Of course, there are games, food, shops, etc like every amusement park. The rides were crazy. Ivan was kind enough to try to get in as many people free as possible since he had a season pass. He also helped us get our ride bracelets for half price. From there everyone kind of split up; so I hung out with Petra and Seana, Maries friend from YWAM. They are both from Holland and had driven here.
They were great fun and we had a ball.
My favorite ride was a version of the swings.
But it was like swings on steroids.
The tower went UP UP UP into the sky and then they twirled you super fast.
You could see the entire city and it was an incredible feeling of flying.
Thumbs up to Tivoli.
Next morning we joined everyone downstairs again for breakfast.
Marie had planned a tour to see a Danish castle and then take a boat to Sweden; being that we had already been to Sweden, we decided to tour the city instead.
Crissy, Reed and I took off and just began our walk.
Destination: Little Mermaid
We saw a lot of beautiful architecture and statues on the way.
Danes are incredibly proud of their culture and their history so the city is littered with information about their past. Statues galore.
The Little Mermaid was super cute and their were tourists everywhere.
Interesting thing to note is that she is shown with 2 legs that than have fins.
Their portrayal of a mermaid differs from our Disney version.
More to come...
We headed out early to the train station and Pierre accompanied us on the walk. I asked him a lot of questions about Sweden and he said that its not as snowy as you think. He said in the past 5 years, they havent gotten as much snow as they are known for, and that its only snowed for 2 weeks in their past winters. Interesting info for me, as I picture Sweden to be a frozen tundra during the winter.
We met up with Chris and boarded the train to Malmo, southern Sweden.
The ride was actually really fun, we saw a lot of the countryside and played games with one another. I think we all expected to sleep, but only I crashed out for about 20 minutes. We changed trains in Malmo and were in Copenhagen within 35 minutes.
Reed and I are staying with the wedding bunch at the grooms familys hotel while Crissy/Chris were staying on the Christiana side of town. We sent them on their way and began our walk. Reed had suggested walking to get to know the town instead of taking a cab, so with only a map, an address and our crazy backpacks, we headed out! Anyone who knows me can fully understand the potential peril we were in giving my sense of directions....In my defense, I do a whole lot better when traveling. In our good judgment, we let Reeders hold the map and navigate our way. :)
We walked by amazing buildings and cobblestones walkways and the people are just fascinating. Bikers are bad ass. Had to say it. They FLY by, they cut off buses, they clip each other while trying to pass, they dont care about pedestrians and they carry anything from a dog, to a computer, to groceries, to paintings, to a carpet in their baskets. Everyone says to bike in Copenhagen, but I honestly dont know if I have it in me!! They have one large lane for the bikers and I think I would prefer a child or bunny lane for my skills. Seriously, old men in suits were cutting off mothers with children. Bikers beware!
Copenhagen is a lot easier to walk around and find your way and we found our hotel within 20 minutes. It is right on the canal with boats docked and a beautiful lane of restaurants. We couldnt have booked a better restaurant if we did it ourselves. We are SO lucky. Maries groom, Ivan, and his family are from the Faroe Islands and they help manage the hotel so almost ALL the wedding guests are staying at the hotel. We werent in our quaint room but 5 minutes when the phone rang. The receptionist called her to let her know that we had arrived. How cool is that?!?
I ran upstairs to see her and she was trying on her wedding dress with the help of 2 YWAM Aussie friends. The hotel stay comes with breakfast and dinner (which is incredible bc this place is EXPENSIVE) and we got to meet a lot of Maries family and missionary friends; as well as reuniting with my college roommates.
Dinner was roast chicken, pasta noodles with a yellow sauce, and light salad.
They eat a lot of meat and fish here and their breads are incredible.
Reed really wanted to see the Chile-Denmark game or watch the Mexico-US game so he, Chris and Crissy went to a sports pub to watch while I joined the wedding crew for a trip to Tivoli Gardens.
Tivoli Gardens is a small theme park with crazy rides, music (like orchestra, jazz, blues, and rock) and beautiful gardens. Of course, there are games, food, shops, etc like every amusement park. The rides were crazy. Ivan was kind enough to try to get in as many people free as possible since he had a season pass. He also helped us get our ride bracelets for half price. From there everyone kind of split up; so I hung out with Petra and Seana, Maries friend from YWAM. They are both from Holland and had driven here.
They were great fun and we had a ball.
My favorite ride was a version of the swings.
But it was like swings on steroids.
The tower went UP UP UP into the sky and then they twirled you super fast.
You could see the entire city and it was an incredible feeling of flying.
Thumbs up to Tivoli.
Next morning we joined everyone downstairs again for breakfast.
Marie had planned a tour to see a Danish castle and then take a boat to Sweden; being that we had already been to Sweden, we decided to tour the city instead.
Crissy, Reed and I took off and just began our walk.
Destination: Little Mermaid
We saw a lot of beautiful architecture and statues on the way.
Danes are incredibly proud of their culture and their history so the city is littered with information about their past. Statues galore.
The Little Mermaid was super cute and their were tourists everywhere.
Interesting thing to note is that she is shown with 2 legs that than have fins.
Their portrayal of a mermaid differs from our Disney version.
More to come...
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Couchsurfing (Kn-ork cont)
Pierre, the first of my couchsurfing hosts, was a crack up.
He had apologized profusely in our email exchanges about the messy house and to be fore-warned, and he was as honest as he was upfront. The rooms were scattered from moving in and rooms were not kept, but absolutely nothing to complain about.
We chatted in the kitchen for a bit and then decided to take a walk.
On the way, we joked about going to Ikea and then Pierre said he'd take us.
Score! It was really nice for him to offer.
We got a tour of the suberb and 10 minutes later we arrived at the Mother Ship.
The.
Mother-Ship.
It was huge!
And circular.
With about 5 levels.
Super intense, but fun to see that truly people around the world are decorating their houses exactly the same. Haha
HOWEVER!
The most amazing thing it had was a vending machine that deposited ice cream.
You bought a cone at clerk and the put the cone into the machine and let it "catch" it.
The cone would then go up and then the ice cream would PLOP and swirl it around and then drop it back down again for you to eat.
Coolest thing ever! I want one I want one I want one.
(hint hint mom and dad, top of the Christmas list)
After Ikea, Pierre took us on a scenic route to Lake Malaren look outpoint.
Down below was a plot of land that Swedes could buy a portion of and plant whatever they wanted on it. It was a really cool hodge podge of land with a variety of colors and patterns.
Last but not least, Pierre took us to a typical (and his favorite) Sweden fast food place - Loffy's Grill. Featuring grand ol' sausages (code for:"regular hot dog) and hamburgers. The menu mainly consisted of different sausages (hot dogs) with different toppings/condiments included in a flat bread. French Hot Dog meants a french roll cut with a hole at the top for you to squirt your condiment of choice and then shove the dog down in it. Yes. It's as delicate as it sounds. :)
We had seen different carts or small shops around with the same selection and you picked your hot dog by topping; ketchup, mayo, mustard, mashoed potatos, onions, saurakraut, spinach, etc. The one that Pierre recommended was this CRAZY concotation of 2 hot dogs, mashed potatos, lettuce, tomato and a whipped shrimp salad ALL together in this flat bread wrap. It was like an American burrito. IT WAS HUGE. Actually wasn't too bad! I hardly made a dent in mine, Reed powered through but couldn't conquor it and Crissy opted for horrific chicken nuggets.
None of us would do it again, but it was a cool local experience.
And now are able to identify it was passing local cuisine.
Pictures to follow.
The other highlight to this venture was the kn-ork or fife, mentioned in the previous blog title.
This amazing piece of plastic cutlery rocked my world. Half fork, half knife.
Puts a Spork to shame. Let's face it, Sporks. Don't. Work. No soup can be sipped nor cereal milk consumed.
BUT!
This kn-ork, with itty bitty razor like shears, sliced my sausages (hot dogs) quickly, easily and tidily all while I was holding the American burrito with one hand. I laughed about this invention and kept a couple in my purse as souvenirs.
Note to everyone: your Christmas present should not be a surprise.
Headed home, chatted a bit more and off to sleep to begin our last day in Stockholm...
He had apologized profusely in our email exchanges about the messy house and to be fore-warned, and he was as honest as he was upfront. The rooms were scattered from moving in and rooms were not kept, but absolutely nothing to complain about.
We chatted in the kitchen for a bit and then decided to take a walk.
On the way, we joked about going to Ikea and then Pierre said he'd take us.
Score! It was really nice for him to offer.
We got a tour of the suberb and 10 minutes later we arrived at the Mother Ship.
The.
Mother-Ship.
It was huge!
And circular.
With about 5 levels.
Super intense, but fun to see that truly people around the world are decorating their houses exactly the same. Haha
HOWEVER!
The most amazing thing it had was a vending machine that deposited ice cream.
You bought a cone at clerk and the put the cone into the machine and let it "catch" it.
The cone would then go up and then the ice cream would PLOP and swirl it around and then drop it back down again for you to eat.
Coolest thing ever! I want one I want one I want one.
(hint hint mom and dad, top of the Christmas list)
After Ikea, Pierre took us on a scenic route to Lake Malaren look outpoint.
Down below was a plot of land that Swedes could buy a portion of and plant whatever they wanted on it. It was a really cool hodge podge of land with a variety of colors and patterns.
Last but not least, Pierre took us to a typical (and his favorite) Sweden fast food place - Loffy's Grill. Featuring grand ol' sausages (code for:"regular hot dog) and hamburgers. The menu mainly consisted of different sausages (hot dogs) with different toppings/condiments included in a flat bread. French Hot Dog meants a french roll cut with a hole at the top for you to squirt your condiment of choice and then shove the dog down in it. Yes. It's as delicate as it sounds. :)
We had seen different carts or small shops around with the same selection and you picked your hot dog by topping; ketchup, mayo, mustard, mashoed potatos, onions, saurakraut, spinach, etc. The one that Pierre recommended was this CRAZY concotation of 2 hot dogs, mashed potatos, lettuce, tomato and a whipped shrimp salad ALL together in this flat bread wrap. It was like an American burrito. IT WAS HUGE. Actually wasn't too bad! I hardly made a dent in mine, Reed powered through but couldn't conquor it and Crissy opted for horrific chicken nuggets.
None of us would do it again, but it was a cool local experience.
And now are able to identify it was passing local cuisine.
Pictures to follow.
The other highlight to this venture was the kn-ork or fife, mentioned in the previous blog title.
This amazing piece of plastic cutlery rocked my world. Half fork, half knife.
Puts a Spork to shame. Let's face it, Sporks. Don't. Work. No soup can be sipped nor cereal milk consumed.
BUT!
This kn-ork, with itty bitty razor like shears, sliced my sausages (hot dogs) quickly, easily and tidily all while I was holding the American burrito with one hand. I laughed about this invention and kept a couple in my purse as souvenirs.
Note to everyone: your Christmas present should not be a surprise.
Headed home, chatted a bit more and off to sleep to begin our last day in Stockholm...
Monday, August 10, 2009
Kn-ork or Fife
Oopsie poopsie...I guess I'm over jetlag because instead of rousing at 5:30 am, as I did yesterday, I finally stirred at 9:30 am.
We were supposed to have met downstairs for breakfast at 8:00.
Luckily, everyone was in a chill mood since most tours and buildings didn't open until 10:00 am.
Saw Crissy and Reed reading over their coffee and I joined in to begin my morning.
We headed out and saw that the streets were bustling with people, unlike our weekend had been. Work had brought the Swedes out of their houses and off-holiday.
Blondes were a-walking!
We hit the Royal Palace by force and saw the Royal Apartments (gold gold and GOLD - holla')
Amazing tapestries, clocks (my favorite) and decorated ceilings all confirmed that this, indeed, was a European country and that royalty has the same flair and drama everywhere.
The Royal Palace had the Armory, Treasury, Carriages and Antiques.
We hit all and took a step back into the Time of Discomfort and Metal. hahah
Seriously, even the horsies had uncomfortable metal decor - however, they looked awesome.
The crowns, orbs, and robes truly proved that you had to have a strong head on your shoulders to be a leader. Everything was beautiful and ornate. Every inch of work and effort truly was amazing.
We heard the Changing of the Guard (Chris was the only one who saw it) and it's definitely an elaborate ceremony. Rows of guards on horses ride in with instruments. Half are in the current uniforms and the other are in traditional uniforms. They sound their trumpets and bang the drums and it's a huge presentation of switching places. I only got to hear most of it, but sounded pretty cool and took about 35 minutes. Oddly enough, it would be the perfect time to sneak in :)
It's been a big joke this trip about asking me for the time since I may have once claimed to be able to tell time by looking at my shadow. Clearly, if I'm standing and the shadow is infront of me, it's either 12 or 6. Right? Right...? Unless, of course, you turn to the side and then your shadow *may* fall elsewhere. So that antic is following me around Stockholm.
I am so smart. S-m-r-t.
We couchsurfing this evening and decided to head off to see Pierre (Chris decided to stay in the city) so we had directions that Pierre sent me and a map.
It was like the Amazing Race!
We found it pretty easily, thanks to the awesome directions, and said hello to Pierre for the first time.
More to come...
We were supposed to have met downstairs for breakfast at 8:00.
Luckily, everyone was in a chill mood since most tours and buildings didn't open until 10:00 am.
Saw Crissy and Reed reading over their coffee and I joined in to begin my morning.
We headed out and saw that the streets were bustling with people, unlike our weekend had been. Work had brought the Swedes out of their houses and off-holiday.
Blondes were a-walking!
We hit the Royal Palace by force and saw the Royal Apartments (gold gold and GOLD - holla')
Amazing tapestries, clocks (my favorite) and decorated ceilings all confirmed that this, indeed, was a European country and that royalty has the same flair and drama everywhere.
The Royal Palace had the Armory, Treasury, Carriages and Antiques.
We hit all and took a step back into the Time of Discomfort and Metal. hahah
Seriously, even the horsies had uncomfortable metal decor - however, they looked awesome.
The crowns, orbs, and robes truly proved that you had to have a strong head on your shoulders to be a leader. Everything was beautiful and ornate. Every inch of work and effort truly was amazing.
We heard the Changing of the Guard (Chris was the only one who saw it) and it's definitely an elaborate ceremony. Rows of guards on horses ride in with instruments. Half are in the current uniforms and the other are in traditional uniforms. They sound their trumpets and bang the drums and it's a huge presentation of switching places. I only got to hear most of it, but sounded pretty cool and took about 35 minutes. Oddly enough, it would be the perfect time to sneak in :)
It's been a big joke this trip about asking me for the time since I may have once claimed to be able to tell time by looking at my shadow. Clearly, if I'm standing and the shadow is infront of me, it's either 12 or 6. Right? Right...? Unless, of course, you turn to the side and then your shadow *may* fall elsewhere. So that antic is following me around Stockholm.
I am so smart. S-m-r-t.
We couchsurfing this evening and decided to head off to see Pierre (Chris decided to stay in the city) so we had directions that Pierre sent me and a map.
It was like the Amazing Race!
We found it pretty easily, thanks to the awesome directions, and said hello to Pierre for the first time.
More to come...
Sunday, August 9, 2009
If it looks like a duck...
TOTALLY FORGOT
Favorite part of trip so far.
While we were walking around looking for dinner last nite, these French tourists came up to me (yes, up to me directly) and pushed a map in my hands and kept asking me how to get places or show them where the Harbour was.
THEY THOUGHT I WAS A SWEDISH NATIVE!
hell yeahz
We pointed them in the right direction but I did the moon walk for a couple paces celebrating how I fit in.
hahahha
Favorite part of trip so far.
While we were walking around looking for dinner last nite, these French tourists came up to me (yes, up to me directly) and pushed a map in my hands and kept asking me how to get places or show them where the Harbour was.
THEY THOUGHT I WAS A SWEDISH NATIVE!
hell yeahz
We pointed them in the right direction but I did the moon walk for a couple paces celebrating how I fit in.
hahahha
Stockholm!
It's officially been 2 days in Stockholm.
It's beautiful here and still. It's so quiet here because most of the locals have gone on vacation.
It's just tourists, but even the normal buzz of traffic and newly experienced sites have remained a murmur; almost as if not to disturb the beauty.
Day 1 was a day of walking and sleeping.
Reed, Chris and I arrived and found our hotel (which is fantastic and right in the middle of downtown). It's bohemian chic. Very very cool and completely out of our generation's mind. We dumped our stuff and took a walk down to the water to explore. It didn't take long before we wanted to stop for a bite and just sit, watching the water. There were *plenty* of cafes along the water so we were able to select cafe by location, couch comfort and cuisine selection.
We settled on the comfiest couches with fish/chips for Chris and Reed/I splitting nachos.
Surprise, surprise, nachos in Sweden ain't so good. haha.
Served us right.
Warning to others...don't even attempt it.
But the view was beautiful and it was officially our first act in Stockholm.
After a bit, we headed back to the hotel to wait for Crissy to arrive.
Showers and quick naps were the plan and we broke for our rooms.
5 hours later, Reed and I woke up.
Crissy had arrived earlier and joined everyone in their nap.
We all woke up 9:00 pm.
Oopsie poopsie, but we were ready for dinner.
We were refreshed and ready to explore.
It was a perfect evening, where all we needed were flipflops and light wraps.
We searched FOREVER for a perfect place to eat.
Nothing was either priced right or was pretend American food.
We had a fantastic trek around the downtown islands and got lost in Old Town.
Cobblestones, dala horses, H&M, we saw everything!
We finally settled on a quaint 1/2 Swedish and 1/2 Italian.
A great meal later, we headed back to our hotel.
Or we thought we were.
In our attempt to find our perfect square meal, we had traversed the city a BIT out of our comfort zone. We walked for ever looking for the way back. The nice thing about Stockholm, you never mind the walk.
We laughed about our wrong turns, teased each other about our directional sense, and somehow continued to cross bridges we never saw. HAHAH On the plus side, we saw the random bar/club nightclubs which blasted Journey, Chris Brown and Lady Gaga.
We saw a wedding reception that was out of control in one of the most beautiful buildings.
Swedes love our music. They love MTV (there are 3 mtv channels out here). They have more McDonald's than I've ever seen (they call it the American Embassy here, haha) and their 7-11s are super impressive!!! They actually have fresh food and good stuff!
Day 2 - Crissy and I woke up at 5:30 am and were starving!
We waited as long as we could and then finally headed to breakfast at 8 with the boys.
They put on a really nice spread and we ate breakfast for about an hour, laughing over the night's adventures and missteps.
Soft/hard boiled eggs, proschiotto, granola, muesli, tomatos, cucumbers, yogurt, toast, rolls, juice, coffee and tea.
De-li-cious!
We left to grab the ferry to see the Archipelago (collection of Stockholm's islands) and spent 2.5 hours on the water. I fear that I'll use the word 'beautiful' too much in my descriptions. But I just have to. The water was beautiful and the weather couldn't have been more perfect.
Saturday was about 22' C and today was probably closer to 24-25'C.
We met a nice girl named Nicole from Switzerland and she joined us for the rest of the afternoon.
The boys and her went to a local club soccer rivalry match.
Crissy and I headed to the Vasa Musuem, a boat that sank in 1628 and made it 20 minutes and less than a mile out of it's maiden voyage before sinking in the Stockholm Harbour.
333 years later, they were able to resurrect in and have a created a musuem over it's preservation. They built the actual building around the entire boat and the 3 masts stick out of the roof. The ship is almost in perfect condition since the water isn't salty and their weren't saltworms to help its detoriation. It was absolutely incredible. The detail was so vivid that you truly thought you were looking at a model or a recreation. It's one of Stockholm's most famous musuems and it only opened in 1990.
After the musuem, we joined the sunbathers on the nearby grassy hill and sat in the sun talking.
We headed to Gamla Stan and Old Town by way of the Royal Palace.
The Royal Palace has its own guard, much like England; however unlike that English guard, this guard could look other directions, move and wiggle. Which he did. Not in a funny, 'I'm going to entertain the crowd' sort of way. More like a 'I'm so bored and have too tight of underoos on' manner. It was very peculiar. But then he would morph back into guard-mode and straighten up, sping his gun with a CRAZY bayonnette, walk 10 paces and rest again. The bayonnette looked like a cross between a chef's butcher knife and a sharp harpoon. It was long and wide but incredibly sharp at the tip. Case of the wiggles or not, I would not mess with this guy.
Last observation, he looked like a Latvian rather than a Swede. Thought that was interesting.
We then journeyed to Old Town and stopped at the (no joke) store named "Probably the Best Souvenir Store in Stockholm". How humble of them. In America, every store or restuarant claims "City's Best/Favorite". Here in Stockholm, they probably are the best...or so they've heard. It was hilarious.
We laughed over gelato and retraced our steps from the night before.
Cracked up over how incredibly close we had been, several times over!
If we had just made one right here, or a left, or crossed the street...
It's all in the journey :)
We met back up with the guys and Nicole, heard the tales of the soccer match and headed to dinner. In our normal trek, we arrived at restaurants and then left again over price or selection.
We skipped through about 6 restaurants before one of us finally said "NO! Not again" and we went back to one of the previous cafes for a light dinner. Everyone was exhuasted from the lack of naps and headed to bed pretty quickly.
Reed and Crissy and I came to play cards and watch a movie; however, by the time I finished emailing our CouchSurfer, they were both OUT, sprawled on the bed.
So I be chillin' and another day is coming.
Things to note:
- Yes, everyone here IS blonde
- The legs out here are incredible from all the walking
- Swede style is very chic but beachy. Blousey but casual, light weight and sandals galore
- Ice cream every 30 feet
- They have a store that makes Whole Foods look like Walgreens.
- People can own their own mini-islands
- Everyone speaks English and I love it
- Water is not free and it's practically cheaper than alcohol
Tomorrow, hopes to be another beautiful day - they say it's been the best 3 days of weather they've had all summer and it wasn't supposed to be this warm.
I'm enjoying every bit of it.
Hope to get to Finland and then we meet up with our Couchsurfer, Pierre.
http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=1EJ26SU
Yay! Let the CouchSurfing begin.
Hope all is well at home!
It's beautiful here and still. It's so quiet here because most of the locals have gone on vacation.
It's just tourists, but even the normal buzz of traffic and newly experienced sites have remained a murmur; almost as if not to disturb the beauty.
Day 1 was a day of walking and sleeping.
Reed, Chris and I arrived and found our hotel (which is fantastic and right in the middle of downtown). It's bohemian chic. Very very cool and completely out of our generation's mind. We dumped our stuff and took a walk down to the water to explore. It didn't take long before we wanted to stop for a bite and just sit, watching the water. There were *plenty* of cafes along the water so we were able to select cafe by location, couch comfort and cuisine selection.
We settled on the comfiest couches with fish/chips for Chris and Reed/I splitting nachos.
Surprise, surprise, nachos in Sweden ain't so good. haha.
Served us right.
Warning to others...don't even attempt it.
But the view was beautiful and it was officially our first act in Stockholm.
After a bit, we headed back to the hotel to wait for Crissy to arrive.
Showers and quick naps were the plan and we broke for our rooms.
5 hours later, Reed and I woke up.
Crissy had arrived earlier and joined everyone in their nap.
We all woke up 9:00 pm.
Oopsie poopsie, but we were ready for dinner.
We were refreshed and ready to explore.
It was a perfect evening, where all we needed were flipflops and light wraps.
We searched FOREVER for a perfect place to eat.
Nothing was either priced right or was pretend American food.
We had a fantastic trek around the downtown islands and got lost in Old Town.
Cobblestones, dala horses, H&M, we saw everything!
We finally settled on a quaint 1/2 Swedish and 1/2 Italian.
A great meal later, we headed back to our hotel.
Or we thought we were.
In our attempt to find our perfect square meal, we had traversed the city a BIT out of our comfort zone. We walked for ever looking for the way back. The nice thing about Stockholm, you never mind the walk.
We laughed about our wrong turns, teased each other about our directional sense, and somehow continued to cross bridges we never saw. HAHAH On the plus side, we saw the random bar/club nightclubs which blasted Journey, Chris Brown and Lady Gaga.
We saw a wedding reception that was out of control in one of the most beautiful buildings.
Swedes love our music. They love MTV (there are 3 mtv channels out here). They have more McDonald's than I've ever seen (they call it the American Embassy here, haha) and their 7-11s are super impressive!!! They actually have fresh food and good stuff!
Day 2 - Crissy and I woke up at 5:30 am and were starving!
We waited as long as we could and then finally headed to breakfast at 8 with the boys.
They put on a really nice spread and we ate breakfast for about an hour, laughing over the night's adventures and missteps.
Soft/hard boiled eggs, proschiotto, granola, muesli, tomatos, cucumbers, yogurt, toast, rolls, juice, coffee and tea.
De-li-cious!
We left to grab the ferry to see the Archipelago (collection of Stockholm's islands) and spent 2.5 hours on the water. I fear that I'll use the word 'beautiful' too much in my descriptions. But I just have to. The water was beautiful and the weather couldn't have been more perfect.
Saturday was about 22' C and today was probably closer to 24-25'C.
We met a nice girl named Nicole from Switzerland and she joined us for the rest of the afternoon.
The boys and her went to a local club soccer rivalry match.
Crissy and I headed to the Vasa Musuem, a boat that sank in 1628 and made it 20 minutes and less than a mile out of it's maiden voyage before sinking in the Stockholm Harbour.
333 years later, they were able to resurrect in and have a created a musuem over it's preservation. They built the actual building around the entire boat and the 3 masts stick out of the roof. The ship is almost in perfect condition since the water isn't salty and their weren't saltworms to help its detoriation. It was absolutely incredible. The detail was so vivid that you truly thought you were looking at a model or a recreation. It's one of Stockholm's most famous musuems and it only opened in 1990.
After the musuem, we joined the sunbathers on the nearby grassy hill and sat in the sun talking.
We headed to Gamla Stan and Old Town by way of the Royal Palace.
The Royal Palace has its own guard, much like England; however unlike that English guard, this guard could look other directions, move and wiggle. Which he did. Not in a funny, 'I'm going to entertain the crowd' sort of way. More like a 'I'm so bored and have too tight of underoos on' manner. It was very peculiar. But then he would morph back into guard-mode and straighten up, sping his gun with a CRAZY bayonnette, walk 10 paces and rest again. The bayonnette looked like a cross between a chef's butcher knife and a sharp harpoon. It was long and wide but incredibly sharp at the tip. Case of the wiggles or not, I would not mess with this guy.
Last observation, he looked like a Latvian rather than a Swede. Thought that was interesting.
We then journeyed to Old Town and stopped at the (no joke) store named "Probably the Best Souvenir Store in Stockholm". How humble of them. In America, every store or restuarant claims "City's Best/Favorite". Here in Stockholm, they probably are the best...or so they've heard. It was hilarious.
We laughed over gelato and retraced our steps from the night before.
Cracked up over how incredibly close we had been, several times over!
If we had just made one right here, or a left, or crossed the street...
It's all in the journey :)
We met back up with the guys and Nicole, heard the tales of the soccer match and headed to dinner. In our normal trek, we arrived at restaurants and then left again over price or selection.
We skipped through about 6 restaurants before one of us finally said "NO! Not again" and we went back to one of the previous cafes for a light dinner. Everyone was exhuasted from the lack of naps and headed to bed pretty quickly.
Reed and Crissy and I came to play cards and watch a movie; however, by the time I finished emailing our CouchSurfer, they were both OUT, sprawled on the bed.
So I be chillin' and another day is coming.
Things to note:
- Yes, everyone here IS blonde
- The legs out here are incredible from all the walking
- Swede style is very chic but beachy. Blousey but casual, light weight and sandals galore
- Ice cream every 30 feet
- They have a store that makes Whole Foods look like Walgreens.
- People can own their own mini-islands
- Everyone speaks English and I love it
- Water is not free and it's practically cheaper than alcohol
Tomorrow, hopes to be another beautiful day - they say it's been the best 3 days of weather they've had all summer and it wasn't supposed to be this warm.
I'm enjoying every bit of it.
Hope to get to Finland and then we meet up with our Couchsurfer, Pierre.
http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html?id=1EJ26SU
Yay! Let the CouchSurfing begin.
Hope all is well at home!
Friday, August 7, 2009
It's 2:45 am
Just got back from G.I.Joe (ehhh)
Time to straighten hair
Need to be up by 6:15 am
17 hour flight
Not quite a haiku...
Dumb girl
away in early morning
plain stupid
That's a bit closer... :)
Time to straighten hair
Need to be up by 6:15 am
17 hour flight
Not quite a haiku...
Dumb girl
away in early morning
plain stupid
That's a bit closer... :)
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