Stockholm 2008 Day 3

With nothing planned for the day except the trip home, we took it easy and started off with breakfast and other necessary stuff. Since we were supposed to check out quite early our first stop was the central station and lockers big enough for our suitcases. We also decided we wanted to revisit some places where we were reminded that we had forgotten our cameras or just were freezing too much to stop walking. It was still cold as hell, so when the National Museum opened we were among the first inside. Of course we started by trying out their café.

No need to say the national museum had some amazing paintings. As long as it is not modern art you almost certainly will find something that you like. I fell for a Swedish artist, Anders Zorn, which has painted the neutral "Midsommar Dans". When we began to tire of all the paintings it was almost time to return to the central station. A seafood wrap was bought as lunch and Gerald Seymour's A Line in the Sand was the means of entertainment for the trip back home.

So that is it for now. Next Up: Who knows?!

Stockholm 2008 Day 2

Of course our second day in Stockholm started with breakfast (how else would we survive until lunch). Since it was sunny we thought it would be quite nice weather outside. The ice patches on the street told us a different story. Yes, it was still cold (as hell) and my face, upon leaving the hotel, instantly froze into a fixed facial expression… and it was not one of the better looking.

We had of course something planned for the day, otherwise we would have lost my sister in any shopping mall and I would have checked out the newest gadgets in an electronics shop. So we had tickets to the show Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde which was performed at Kinateatern (the China Theatre, roughly translated). But it was not until 3pm so we had some time to spend. First thing to do was to buy gloves and a hat for my too optimistic sister. I was also freezing I must admit. So in order to survive (I mean it) we went into a few shops along the way. NK (Nordiska Kompaniet) and Åhlens were some of the big ones. We also went to the older part of the city (Gamla stan) and into Storkyrkan (one of the churches).

And finally: lunch time! We ate the famous and delicious fish-soup at Saluhallen in the center of Stockholm. After a short visit at the hotel we went to the play. We were able (the staff actually insisted) to upgrade our balcony seats to better ones. If you wonder, the loud talking man sat in front of us, the family with too young children was on our right and the noisy teens with enough plastic wrapped candy to make all Swedish dentists top themselves were behind us. Imaging the loud talking man the size of a grizzly bear and his slightly deaf mother next to him, he touching 60 and probably still living with his mother. The row behind them was empty.

The show was really good. I have not read the book yet, but I roughly knew the story beforehand. The show is still on (and it must go on, according to Queen), and I have seen some TV ads for it, so if you are going to Stockholm anytime soon I would actually recommend it!

Dinner time! We saw a cozy Italian restaurant in the older part of Stockholm and we decided to try it out. Really good food and super fast service made our day complete. We decided to walk to the hotel from the restaurant and the cold could have killed us all… but again, we survived. Since this trip was to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of mum and dad, I and my sister decided to give our gift a little too early. A GPS, so they do not have to discuss which road to take anymore. I hope this "less-conversation-more-action" gift will make them stay together for another 20 years. Because of the extreme heat loss outside, we binged candy and fell asleep to restore energy.

Stockholm 2008 Day 1

It was Friday morning, the 21th of March. Not too cold and knowing we would spend the next 6 hours sitting we decided to walk down to the central station of Helsingborg (approx. 3 km or 1.86 miles). Since we packed light we were soon on our way to Stockholm. Of course the train was delayed, reason unknown, and we had to stand in the snow at one of the most boring stations known to man: Hässleholm. We got to Stockholm checked in at our hotel, which was close to Odenplan.

I have probably forgotten to tell you why we did this trip, but here it is: my parents were celebrating their 20^th anniversary. The first thing we were supposed to do was to eat dinner at Ulriksdals Wärdshus, where they ate their wedding dinner. And oh yes it is fancy! And due to the long trip we were a bit (at least my sister and I) giggly, we almost seemed tipsy. And looking upon the stern, snobbish faces of the other upper-class guests did not make us stop giggling. Actually, when the waiter came to take away our main course plates I was snorting with laughter at my sister imitating a fish being strangled (I nearly got it on video). Next to us was a couple, seemingly on a date. The man was mostly interested in his mobile phone and the woman, with nothing else to do, gulped down her wine. In doing this she turned extremely red, which people who drink too much might do. Her date suddenly got really interested and put down his mobile phone to talk to her. I reckon the words in his head was: "She's drunk, I might get lucky tonight". This gives you an image of how our evening was. The food was delicious, the wine was overpriced so overall a fantastic first evening in Stockholm.

The rest of the evening we discovered that everything was closed except for one café (reminding me of Mezo in Helsingborg) which was open until 02.00 am. We spent some time there and soon went back to our hotel to get some sleep.

Computer Up and Running

Finally! My new HDD has arrived and all my most used software has been installed. Everything is running smoothly. Before I post pictures from my families Stockholm trip I have some other news to share:

1. Bad news first, I got unsuccessful from all my applications in UK. Does not bother me so much now as I got other options. Funny thing is staff of Cardiff should have a few more geography lessons, or perhaps reading lessons. The first letter from Cardiff was sent to me, my street address, my city... and Denmark. Since I live in Sweden (the long country next to Denmark) I laughed a bit at their mistake. The second letter, however, was still sent to me, my street address, my city... but under this information a handwritten "Norway" was crossed out and replaced by "Sweden". This really got me wondering, since the whole UCAS application is computer based... how hard can it be (aah, the first Jeremy Clarkson quote) to get it right?
   
2. And good news: I passed my driving test on my first go! However it was ridiculously simple so no need to cheer, people. If I really told you how simple the test was I might get murdered by people who failed their first attempt.
   

Next up: Stockholm Trip 2008 (with full colour pictures!)