Stockholm suits us

We had an amazing day today. Just fabulous. We love Stockholm. I knew we would. The day didn`t start out so well, though. Not at all. First, it took us forever to get out of the hostel. That was really no big deal. We just had to come back three times. Typical Jamie! Ha! It was really warm out today. A lady we spoke to later in the day said it was the first really nice weather they`d had. And it was glorious. Anyway, one of the returns to the hostel was for the removal of extra layers. We were already sweating.

We went to take the subway (T-bana) to the center of town (going down the way we should have come out last night), and the woman wanted to charge us 40 skr per person. Last night it was 52 total. This is for a trip of 2, count them 2 stops, and the exchange rate is about 7 skr per one dollar....that would be a $10 trip! So we decided to walk instead. We were pretty sure which direction we wanted (and we were right). We didn`t have a map, but we figured we were only a block or two east of the center and a few blocks north. We were right!! And, it was a lovely walk. We saw way more of Stockholm and it`s people and it`s stores than we would have otherwise. We happened upon the main shopping district where we bought flavored marshmallows (too bad there`s no fire pit here!) and the best strawberries I`ve ever had in my life. We spent about $4 at the outdoor market, and they were all well worth it. Oh, you should have smelled those strawberries! I wish I could bottle it. Even Chris, the non-berry lover thought it was awesome.

We walked our way into the map in Rick`s book, down the main shopping stree/pedestrian mall. Wow! were there a lot of people!! And this was at about 10:00 on a Wednesday (had to check my watch for what day it is. I can`t keep that straight any more. Don`t really need to. Just need to know where we`re going tomorrow!) We saw some interesting things, not the least of which was the Mongolian Barbecue place with the outdoor seating, and clear acrylic_type seats that were lime green. I mean totally neon lime green. It was the craziest thing. HAD to take a picture. The diners thought I was nuts. So, we`ve made it on to the map, and we`re walking along looking for the TI; we need some information.

Okay, total digression here....there is an old man at the table next to me, and he keeps belching really loudly. It`s just the two of us in the room (I`m at a little kiosk in the breakfast room of the hostel), and it`s kind of weird. They are to.tal open-mouthed, body-jarring belches. Okay, digression over.

So, we`re looking for the TI. And looking, and looking, and looking. I mean literally, we looked for this thing for an hour. We were using Rick`s map. You can see where this is leading, can`t you? He mentions that his maps are NOT to scale, but we`re talking poorly drawn here. In hindsight, there was a little blacked out spot on the map for where the TI was, but the "i" on the map (universal symbol for information/TI) was grouped with some other stuff with an arrow pointing down the block. If there had just been an arrow going from the "i" we would have been fine. But there wasn`t.

So we searched and we hunted and we gave up, and we went back again, and we asked in the 7-eleven in the underground mall (it was in a basement, we knew), and they pointed us in the wrong direction, and we looked some more, and we gave up again, and I got really, really, really frustrated, and we went back again, and we asked in the central subway station, and they said, "oh yeah, it just right there", and we went back to where we`d been three times before, and it wasn`t there, and I cried, and I said I wanted to go home...just get on a plane and go home (we needed to get there to find out where to go to book our cruise to Helsinki tomorrow night), and we crossed to the other side of the street (still don`t know what posessed us), and walked to the middle of the block, and we turned to look over our shoulders back across the street, and there it was. The god-forsaken Swedish House/TI. So we went and got our one piece of information and a map. Arm me with a map, and I`m good to go. Apparently without one, I`m dangreous!

The gal didn`t know THAT much information, but she did give us what we NEEDED to know. So, we walked to the Silja Cruise Line office. And it was a nice walk. It was a nice day in a nice city, and we knew where we were going, so we were able to enjoy it. Along the way, I noticed an art store, so we wandered in. Whaddaya know? They had scrapbook supplies! Most of them were imported from the States, and yes, I own almost all of them. I did find some awesome pens by Stablio that I`d never seen before and stocked up on those. Yay!! Love the pens!!

We made it to the Cruise Line office and got our sailing stuff set. It felt like it took forever, but I got to sit down for a while, so it was OK. By that time, it was already noon and I was starting to feel like we were wasting the day. But we weren`t. By this time, we were enjoying seeing Stockholm. We walked back down another street toward the TI, as there was a lovely park area with hot dog and ice cream stands (and a Fridays, which Chris aviods like the plague, but I´ve had good experiences with them overseas...just not at home!). Anyway, on the way back down, we saw some great stores, including Rolex and Urban Outfitters. I love UO, so we went in. We wouldn`t pay any of the prices for the stuff I like - most of it we can find at home. Chris was highly entertained by, "The Hello Penis Book." Yes, you read that right. It had a hole cut out of the center, and was basically a storybook. Not sexual, but just a little storybook. I think what cracked me up the most was the thought of someone actually taking it seriously. The ridiculousness of it all!!

So we went back out to the park, which turns out to be one of the most popular in Stockholm. I can see why, it was gorgeous! What looked like Cherry Blossom Trees lining a reflecting pool on both sides, with plenty of seating and cafes lining the entire park. There were families and workers and students and people playing life-sized chess games (quite seriously, I might add), and it was lovely. We got hot dogs and sat by the water enjoying. Here´s a funny, the hot dogs were 13 skr each. The bottle of Coke we shared? 24. The dogs rocked, so we each had another. And then, we went back for a third time for ice cream. I had Creme Brulee and Pistachio. Chris had Chocolate and Cappucino. Oh man was it good. As I always say, "Ice cream is a cure all." And boy is it!

We were feeling much better after lunch (I guess I should say I was feeling better - headache), so we decided to head to the Vasa Museum. We weren`t sure if the ferries were running yet or not, as nothing officially opens until May 1, but we decided to try. Apparently they are, just not all of them, so where we were, there was no service. So we walked. I saw a sign that said it was 1.1 K away, from my running, I know that is nothing, so like I said, we walked. Along the way, we happened upon a lovely little harbor side cafe, so we each had a beer...for $7 each!! No matter, it was good, and just what we needed. We sat and enjoyed the weather and the city (again).

Finally, we made our way to the museum. Thankfully, it`s open until 8:00 on Wednesdays. We spent nigh on 3 hours there! We both felt, hands down, it was the best museum we`d ever been to. The Vasa is a man-of-war ship that was commissioned by the King of Sweden and was built right here in Sweden by a Dutchie. It went on it`s maiden voyage in 1628 and promptly sank in the Stockholm harbor not far from where the museum is today. It was found in the 1950s and brought up over 5 years. Then, they spend another 17 years filling all the voids in the wood with wax to preserve it and another year doing cosmetic stuff. So, 23 years later (I`m pretty sure it was `79), they were able to put it on display. Incidentally, the day they brought it up from the water was the very first time they did a live broadcast. Guess it was a pretty big deal!! Chris says 23 years is a long time to wait to see a return on your investment!

Most of the ship was in tact, including all of it`s statues, many of the cannons (it`d had double gun decks, so it had 64 cannons, which, coupled with the ship not having enough ballast was it`s undoing), the bodies of the few who perished (most got out alive), and all the goods that were on the ship. Many of these things (including the skeletons) were on display in the museum. It was truly fascinating - and I took like 200 pictures. It was just awesome. They really did a good job. We even took a tour (yes, in English). Wow! Just wow!

Finally, we left the museum. And wouldn`t you know, we missed the last ferry. So we took the bus. But it was going back to where we`d been lost trying to find the TI & we didn`t want to go THERE again! So we hopped off the bus and headed to do Rick`s walking tour. It was in the old town section of Stockholm (the Gamala Stan neighborhood) and included the Royal Palace, several churches, and some very skinny lanes. It really was a lovely walk. We`d have been more into it if we (and more importantly, our feet) hadn`t been so tired (and by the end of it, hungry). We did see a Rune stone set into one of the buildings (Rick said that`s what it was, anyway) and some army boys practicing in the courtyard of the royal palace while the Royal Guards did their thing. Poor army boys aren`t that well practiced. One of them tripped over another`s gun!

We decided earlier that pasta was sounding super good, so after our walking tour, we went in search of food. Little did I know, my Christopher spied an Italian restaurant during our jaunt around Gamala Stan. So, we walked back over, and into what was apparently a little Italian neighborhood. Oh my gosh! The food was outstanding. We got a huge calzone-type situation and the chef`s special shrimp scampi. It was all to die for. Far and away the best food we`ve had on the trip. Actually, the best Italian food we`ve had since we were in Italy. We almost didn`t want the meal to end. We ate outside and watched the world go by. We even ordered a wine that I could drink. Celia something. It was a very, very good night. Awesome end to an awesome day.

We really like Stockholm. Like the city, like the people, like the food (Italian food counts, right?). Chris likes that people will make eye contact with you here. The fact that they didn`t bothered him in Oslo. Maybe they thought if they did, you`d mug them? Thing is, Stockholm is still a huge city, but it feels more like Bergen than Oslo. We were standing at the entrance to a park today, looking back over what we`d just walked through, and a woman just walked up and asked if she could help us find something. So nice!