Last weekend I packed my things and went to the most northern point of the world I've ever been to and it turned out to be Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. It was pretty spontanous so I didn't have much time to plan the trip. Fortunately I bought one of those Lonely Planet travel guides before I came here and during the almost 7 hours of driving (can you even go that long on Austrian motorways when driving from the very east to the very west?) along vast forests, forests and, yes, you've guessed it, forests, I had some time to get acquainted with Stockholms various sights. By the way, we did a short stop at Gräna, a town which is famous for its candy, and the Swedes sure like their candy (actually I learned that the are supposed to be the country with the most candy consumption in the world, although they don't lead the board in terms of obesity).
Anyways, so much to see, so little time. You really have to focus on some of Stockholms sights if you only have 3 days. The good thing about Sweden's capital is that you get to see like 75 % of its museums without paying any admission fees. Therefore I tried to pick the most interesting. First day I went for Skansen, Europes first open-air museum which is situated on an island (of which Stockholm has 14 connected by 53 bridges). It gives you a good overview of the nordic area, how people used to live there and especially, what kind of animals live there. It was also there, that I first encountered one of the more famous species which come to your mind when you think about Sweden: the moose (or elk, how the call them in the old continent). As I heard this HUGE fellows are one of the more common reasons for people dying in car accidents. Next beside the elk stood its little brother, the reeindeer, more or less the cousin of the deer we know in Austria.
5 minutes after I saw those animals standing around I came across a hut, which was run by some Sami people, who sold, can you guess it, reeindeer along with some lingonberry and a shot of vodka (nice thing, to serve a main dish with some vodka), and I really have to say it tasted great. One down on the list of typical swedish things to eat.
In the evening it was all about eating again, we had a dinner at a friends place outside of Stockholm, involving the famous köttbullar, meatballs pretty much everyone will know from a visit to IKEA and some serious liquor again. When we finished dinner and some game called Psycho (very funny) we went back to the city to experience Stockholm's nightlife. We went to a place called Mosebacke, which was, expect from being quite expensive, very nice. Good music, beautiful people, but once I hit the dancefloor I felt like being in the swedish equivalent of a sauna. Anyways, had a great night.
Naturally, as I'm not used to drink a lot (people who know me will certainly confirm) I had a little hangover the other day. And what is better than some fast food to cure a hangover. Exactly, nothing. Therefore, inspired by celebrity chef Antony Bourdain, I went out to get on of those Tunabrödrulla, a more sophisticated version of a hotdog. Its made of a wrap, sausage, mashed potato, shrimp salad, salad and tomatos. Whoever has come up with this combination first should be awarded the Nobel price, all the greasy goodness, mumsfilibaba!
After that I was off to the music museum, where you could dress up like ABBA and actually perform a song and try out different instruments from different countries. Should be funny but not when you are in the room with 7-10 little children and 2 of them going no mercy on the drum sets. I figured that I have to get out of there and fortunately just around the corner something more masculine turned up: the museum of arms and military.
So what can I say, is it better, worse than Vienna? You just can't tell, its rather different and every city is has its advantages. All in all I had I really great time. As always, you'll find the pictures in my photobook.
