These three food items are some of the best things that Sweden has to offer. If I have learned anything from traveling around Europe, it's that I judge countries by their food. If a country has underwhelming food, I am extremely disappointed almost to the point of regret of making the country a priority in my travels. However, I wholeheartedly give Stockholm, Sweden a two thumbs up and an A+ in the food department. For those of you who don't know what Princess Cake is, it is cake with mainly cream and a little cake. The most delectable part of this cake though is the fondent (sp) frosting. It is, I think, always green ... bright green. As for the meatballs, if you haven't been to Ikea for the meatballs, you definitely need to! I would have to say they are quite authentic. And oh my gosh! The CHEESE plate!!! I mean, I looooooove cheese. It is one reason why I chose to come to Switzerland to be an au pair. The cheese plate we had in Stockholm was so good! We almost went to the same previous restaurant the last night we were there, after our first dinner at a different restaurant, just to order their delicious cheese plate again. Oh and of course! I almost forgot to add the Cheez Doodles ... basically Cheetoh Puffs. This might sound weird to a lot of people but for someone who hasn't eaten a Cheetoh in at least nine months, it was a huge relief to crunch on some again. If all else in Stockholm had been a disaster, I think I would still call the trip a success because of the grand culinary aspects.
Unfortunately, Stockholm doesn't get higher than about 18 degrees Celsius. For those of you who don't translate this, 18 degrees is freakin cold (it's like high 60's). While we were visiting the city, it was actually sunny almost the whole four days. However, the wind coming off the sea was so chilly. One night we about froze to death walking back to our hostel from the old town. Mind you we were not expecting it to feel like January again so neither Jill, Heidi, nor I had brought many warmish clothes. I definitely could not live there. I was actually happy to return to Switzerland where the weather has been in the mid 20's!!
Our first full day in Stockholm was spent mostly walking around the city to get a feel for it and do a little shopping. Stockholm is about as expensive as, possibly even a little more than, Switzerland ... which is quite a feat. Although I loved the style there, I didn't go too crazy. That night we went out to the Ice Bar. This was super fun. I was a little hesitant at first because it was sort of expensive to pay the entrance fee which only included one drink. However, by the time we got in there, I was so glad I went. It is technically the Absolut Vodka Ice Bar so the drinks were cocktails with Absolut vodka. They were really good! And lucky enough for us, we had some guys buy us two more rounds. The ice bar was, probably needless to say, really really really cold!!! We wore these big eskimo capes and thick gloves and were still numb. The bar, walls, tables, chairs, glasses were all made of ice. It was really neat and we met some cool guys who were fun to talk to. They all worked for Sony Ericsson and told us that they lived in California but had to fly to Stockholm for a week once a month. I don't think I would like/be able to handle this much flying.
After the drinks at the ice bar we needed to warm up so we headed to a regular old bar down the block. After this we three girls headed back to the hostel (but not before stopping at a 7eleven for Cheez Doodles). Once back at the hostel we met and hung out with until really early in the morning some great people. Another cool thing about Sweden is that it's only dark for a few hours. It gets completely dark around 11pm and starts getting light around 3:30am. After staying at this hostel for two nights, we moved to our new hostel which was actually a boat. We stayed in a cabin that was made for five people but the three of us were actually the only ones in there the whole time, which is obviously really nice. I got a little seasick every time I was on the boat for long periods of time but I think I was getting used to it after the second and last night.
Another fun part of Sweden was taking a boat ride out to Skansen, an outdoor museum. There are lots of Scandinavian animals, like a zoo, but there is also an old time village where tradespeople held their shops (such as glass blowing and a bakery, etc). I loved walking around and looking at all the animals, especially the reindeer and the bears and fox. I have a great video of a fox getting mad at a mama bear and her cubs for entering his area. He is freaking out at them and the bears are just kind of like, "who is this annoying guy barking at us?" ... It was pretty funny and entertaining.
Also, below is a slideshow of some pictures I took of the trip. *I think the slideshow also includes some pics of the new place I am staying at.
This Thursday I am flying to the Netherlands to hang out in Amsterdam for two days with Heidi. I wanted to get in just one last trip before I leave and it should be lots of fun.
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