This past weekend saw Stephen and me taking a car, a train, a plane,
another car and another train with a brief walk to arrive on the doorstep of
our good friend Gabriel’s apartment, with our friend Chrisi in tow. Leaving for
Stockholm Thursday afternoon, we arrived at the Arlanda airport later that
evening to switch terminals and await Chrisi’s arrival, after our gracious host
Gabriel greeted us first, of course. Our first night we sat around the table
and caught up, not going to bed until about 3am (which is about 7pm
Saskatchewan time, and 9pm EST for anyone who needs a reference).
Our first full day in Stockholm saw us
getting up early, about 8am, and heading out to stock up on supplies –
groceries and beverages (yes, I have to admit we did drink alcohol
occasionally... But when in Rome, right?) After dropping our groceries off, we
caught a train to Gamla Stan, which is the Old Town in Sweden. The occasion
here was to watch the changing of the royal guard. This ceremony reminded me a
lot of the sunset ceremonies at the RCMP headquarters in Regina, but had more
history behind it. If anyone is ever thinking of going to Sweden, be sure to
get to this event EARLY – a royal expedition is a novelty in Sweden, unlike
here in the UK, and everyone goes to see the changing, which is quite a wonderful
event. It was brought to our attention that there is one change of the guard
that does not have riders who perform with musical instruments on horseback,
and as this was the one we experienced and enjoyed, I would probably not
recommend going to the change that does not involve this aspect. Without the
equestrian element, I believe the program would probably be ten minutes at most
and not really all that great of a spectacle to behold.
Later this afternoon (the guard change was
done after forty minutes), we went on a tour of the parliament buildings, which
are also in Gamla Stan. We had JUST missed the English tour, so we took the
Swedish tour and Gabriel translated for us. It was actually quite interesting
because on this tour there was a man who could understand Swedish, but
formulated his questions in English. We also learned a great deal about how
parliament works. For example, you do not have to be born in Sweden, or even a
member of a political party, to be elected the Prime Minister! Maybe Stephen has
a future in politics there if that is the case!
For the remainder of the day we did some window-shopping
(I LOVE the European shopping... There are H&M’s everywhere!!) and bought a
few more groceries so that we could have a traditional Swedish supper at home.
We also sampled our purchases from the morning, a selection of ales and ciders,
and learned more about each other’s families while relaxing and soaking up the
fact that we were actually all meeting again in Sweden.
Another late night gave way to another
early morning. This morning Chrisi wished her Grandmother a happy birthday over
Skype while we downed a quick breakfast. We took another train to Gamla Stan
(undoubtedly the tourist hotspot) to catch a steamboat tour. We managed to
board the ship just before it was leaving, and were fortunate enough to be able
to buy our tickets on the boat itself, otherwise we would not have been able to
make the journey. The steamboat tour was absolutely magnificent! It takes you
on a tour of the archipelago that makes up Stockholm. If I remember correctly,
there are 12 or 14 islands that make up Stockholm. We all took some lovely
pictures of the scenery and enjoyed a tour of places we would otherwise have
not seen.
When we were done the steamboat tour, we
walked downtown in Gamla Stan, only to run into Stockholm’s Pride Parade on the
street. This was a HUGE event, and by chance we ended up meeting a friend of
Gabriel’s during our travels. The parade was definitely a sight to behold –
there were so many people there supporting the cause. Not only were they
supporting their own beliefs, but you could tell they were supporting each
other’s beliefs as well. I think one of the most poignant images that came to
mind from this demonstration was that of a lady dancing with her husband and
young daughter, proudly waving a rainbow flag while waving her other hand. It
really highlighted the fact that people are people, and we all share this world
together, despite whom we love. It was quite touching.
The loud music and hunger finally pulled us
away from the parade, and we made our way through the underground (subway) to
try and find ourselves some lunch. On the way to lunch, we passed the hall
where the Nobel Prizes are presented, and after lunch we went to City Hall,
which is where the Nobel Prize supper takes place after the ceremonies. There
were at least four weddings going on when we were touring City Hall, so it was
quite busy. The Hall is very open, and the back actually looks out upon the
water, so it would be an ideal place to sit and think, or paint, or write...
Basically anything creative or constructive could be done here, so that puts
little limit on the type of people who frequent this spot.
After we were done fawning over City Hall
and the lovely view (and me eyeing up every bridal gown around me), we met one
of Gabriel’s friends, Peter, in Central Station and then went out for coffee.
Returning home from our adventurous morning and afternoon, we had a quick
recharge session (which for me means a nap) and then went out for supper at a
restaurant called M5. This restaurant is must if you are in Stockholm; not only
does M5 have amazing food, and a fairly quiet but nice view despite being near
the centre of Gamla Stan, the prices are great, too! When we had finished
eating our fill (make sure you get the vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce if
it’s a warm day), we headed back into the heart of the Old Town and met more of
Gabriel’s wonderful friends at a pub called Wirströms. At this particular pub
there were currencies from all different countries on the walls. When I went up
to get my second (and last) drink of the night, I asked the lady at the bar if
they had Canadian currency on the wall. She replied in the affirmative, and
then, while pouring a pint from the tap said, “If you really want to talk to some Canadians, we have a bunch of
Saskatchewanians in the back you could talk to.”
I was dumbfounded by this comment and
stared at her. I asked her if she was joking when her fiancé (which I found out
later, of course) came up to the bar and said, “No, seriously, come meet them.”
After gathering up the group from downstairs, we met with the Canadians
upstairs, and discovered they were from Estevan. The funniest moment of the
night was when the son (it was a mother and father who were visiting their son
in Sweden, and his friends) told Stephen they were from Estevan and Stephen
replied “Oh, the sunshine capital of Canada.” The son looked at him with his
mouth ajar and replied, “Are you blowing smoke up my (another word for donkey)?!”
Ten points to Janean for having educated her boyfriend about Saskatchewan. :)
Sunday we had a lazy day. We slept in,
gathered up some groceries, and then took a ferry to have picnic on Djurgården, which just
happened to be one of the islands we passed on our steamboat tour. After
walking around most of the island, we did some window-shopping and returned
home from another nap. Our last evening we actually went to a restaurant that
was created in Germany called Vapianos. If you are ever in an area that has
one of these nearby, it is a must that you eat at this restaurant! It is
amazing, simply put. After eating out, we went to a pub called the Lucky Duck
to unwind. Since we couldn’t find another pub, we went home to have a glass of
rosé.
The plan had been to stay up all night and pack and hang out before we
left for the airport shuttle at 4am. Unfortunately, Stephen was the only one
who stayed awake all night, but he managed to pack and get us all ready to go.
We said our goodbyes with sleepy eyes. The only excitement in our trip was the
nosebleed Stephen encountered on the way to the airport. We didn’t have any
napkins or Kleenex, so he had to suffer using his sleeve for a little while.
Upon pulling into the airport I remembered I did have some feminine products in
my purse… Cue the laughter.
We walked through the airport, checked our luggage, and walked through
security accumulating ample stares. Why? Stephen decided that rather than
continuing to stain his sweatshirt, he would graciously (and I mean that in all
honesty) accept the feminine product I offered him before we got off the bus.
I’d like to point out that during this ordeal I did NOT take any pictures of
him. I needed to get this down in writing for future references (aka if he ever
posts embarrassing pictures of me, I have a card to play to get him to remove
it).
Other than this last minute adventure, we boarded our plane safely and
were both asleep before take off. We managed to catch the train back home and
catch up on some well-deserved rest. Stay tuned for our next adventure in
Scotland (and I’ll work on getting some pictures up soon)!
Lots of love!
Janean X
