Pretty much just a travel day. Didn't really do anything today. Checked out of Warsaw hostel, walked to the coach station, and caught a coach to the airport. Had a lot of time to kill since I'm very paranoid about missing flights so I usually get there way too early. Was felt up quite thoroughly by a big Polish security guard after going the metal detector. After that moment of intense physical contact/heat, it was just boring waiting at the gate for my Ryanair flight to Stockholm. Soon enough it came time to board (walking onto the tarmac as usual) and an hour and a half later, we were preparing to land in Stockholm. As I stared out the window, I had no idea how much further we had to go. It was only once we descended below the intense cloud cover that I realised that we were pretty much landing. Visibility was just that poor. Anyways, at least the pilots were able to do their stuff and get us down safely. Caught an airport shuttle into the city (took about 90 minutes...we were pretty far out from the city) and checked into my hostel. Despite having done nothing all day, I was exhausted. Early night.
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Day 30
Did my usual thing of joining a free walking tour to get my bearings of the city. This tour wasn't the best and it only lasted 90 minutes as opposed to the three hour tours I've always done. Usually at the end, I have an idea of all the places I wanted to see; this was not the case with this tour. Met a fellow Aussie on the tour and we ended up having lunch together after the tour at Max, the fast food chain that's managed to out-compete Maccas in Stockholm. And it was pretty damn good as well. After lunch, we parted ways but found out we were staying at the same hostel (pretty much there's only one hostel in Stockholm) so agreed to meet up later. Rain started to come down, but having explored in torrential downpours previously, this was nothing and it wasn't going to stop me from seeing the city. I managed to catch the changing of the guard ceremony in the Old Town (I followed their march all the way from the New Town) before exploring the castle and all its museums/galleries/exhibits. As I had expected, the sun set really early here and it was already getting dark at about 4pm. I happened to stumble upon the Nobel Museum dedicated to Alfred Nobel and all the recipients of the Nobel Prize awards. This was actually a really interesting museum, and not one I had expected to visit. They even had a temporary exhibition inside about peace which had some pretty powerful photos capturing the effects of war and terror. I was there until it closed (albeit only an hour and half after I entered) but I was glad I managed to find this place.
That night, I had signed up for a masterclass in making Swedish meatballs. And what a great decision!! I had so much fun and I met so many people doing that class. Plus I now know how to make Swedish meatballs!! The meatballs turned out really well too so we had a pretty good dinner (and an unforgettable experience) for a fraction of the price we would be paying outside (Scandinavia is sooooo expensive). We also had a traditional Swedish appetiser involving crackers smothered in sour cream, onions, shallots, pickled herring and caviar. Definitely an interesting flavour, but not something I'd turn down if it was offered again. I'd probably go a bit easier on the caviar next time though since I just scooped on a heap knowing how expensive it apparently was. Way too salty.
After dinner, the Meatball Crew went out for drinks down in the Old Town (we were told that Wednesday was the new Saturday - they lied). Eventually as we went through a few pubs, the crew broke into separate groups with my group getting back to the hostel about 3am. Drinks are bloody expensive here!! Checking my credit card statement, I found that in one place, a beer had cost me $12AUD. Ridiculous. Based on these prices, I was only going to have one night out drinking. It's also a shame that I didn't get the details of anyone from the group since a lot of them checked out the next day, but oh well, it was a fun night. Makes it sound like a one night stand haha.
After dinner, the Meatball Crew went out for drinks down in the Old Town (we were told that Wednesday was the new Saturday - they lied). Eventually as we went through a few pubs, the crew broke into separate groups with my group getting back to the hostel about 3am. Drinks are bloody expensive here!! Checking my credit card statement, I found that in one place, a beer had cost me $12AUD. Ridiculous. Based on these prices, I was only going to have one night out drinking. It's also a shame that I didn't get the details of anyone from the group since a lot of them checked out the next day, but oh well, it was a fun night. Makes it sound like a one night stand haha.
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After such a late night, it was pretty painful getting up. Luckily I didn't need to be anywhere until 12pm - I had booked to see the ABBA Museum!! Guilty pleasure I know. Ok, it's technically called the Swedish Music Hall of Fame but really it's mainly all about ABBA. The annoying thing though was that it took about an hour of walking to get there. Nevertheless I made my way there to be greeted by massive crowds of senior citizens. I felt so out of place. But hey, I wasn't going to let a bunch of old people stop me from enjoying this place. If anything, they walked so slowly that once I got in front of them, I had the whole museum to myself and I was free to take part in all the interactive displays/experiences. They had all these cool exhibits where you could actually sing along and they would record you, or dance and they would photoshop you into the video clip. Bit weird doing it alone but hey, when in ABBA Land.
After eventually being ABBAed out, I continued down the road to Skansen, Stockholm's famous open air museum. I didn't really know what an "open air museum" was but I soon discovered that it meant exhibits of buildings/people outdoors (much like our old Old Sydney Town where people were all in costume), but it also included a farm and zoo of some sorts. However being winter, the place was pretty dead and most of the actors weren't in making some of the sections pretty dull. The zoo section was ok, but once again, it was pretty difficult to actually see a lot of the animals given that many of them were sheltering from the cold. Despite all this, it still took up most of my afternoon just walking around the giant complex situated on top of a massive hill. I realise that I only really did two things today, but I started my day at noon and it was just so cold once the sun had set, so wasn't really keen on being outdoors.
Final full day in Stockholm and I had a few more museums to tick off. I started the day off at the Spirit Museum, dedicated to spirits (of the alcoholic variety) and to Sweden's very own Absolut vodka. This was such a great museum!! Really catered to the younger audience. It even had many different "smelling stations" where you could smell the different essences that they used to flavour the vodka. After quite a few sniffs, I was feeling a bit off, with nausea rolling over me much like the morning after a big night. This place would be hell for someone with a hangover. They even had a really cool side exhibition dedicated to Stockholm's clubbing scene with a mock club complete with dancefloor, bar and toilets (complete with urinals, grafitti, gloryholes and of course "smelling stations"). After getting my fix of alcohol, I headed next door to check out the Vasa Museum, which housed the 17th century warship which sank 20 minutes into its maiden voyage. It had been resurfaced, restored and preserved, and was now on display here under controlled conditions in order to prevent/minimise further degradation. An interesting exhibit, displaying the artefacts recovered from the ship along with the remains of nine people who perished when it sank. It was a shame that you couldn't actually walk onto the ship and explore the interior but I guess that's understandable if they want to keep it in good shape.
As I went to leave the museum, I was approached by a woman suggesting that I head next door to the red carpet launch of the new Panasonic camera. Not one to miss an opportunity, I took her advice, strutted my stuff on the carpet (there was no one around which was a shame) and made a grand entrance to the launch. Free drinks and snacks everywhere (and lots since there were hardly any people there). But what really caught my attention was the free photoshoots!! As a method to "test" the camera, they were doing photoshoots, and those who know me, know that I love photos. I just had to do it. And it was so much fun. Models must have so much fun doing these all day long. I'm still waiting for them to send me my photos though. Hopefully they're not lost haha. Anyways, photos done and drinks had, I headed back into the cold for the long trek home. As I walked, I couldn't help but appreciate just how lucky I was to have come across that launch party. Had I not jumped on that canal tour, had I been too lazy to walk to the Photograph Musuem, had I not watched those documentaries, I would have missed this. Gotta love those little unexpected joys of travelling.
HBL signing out from Stockholm, Sweden.
Previously: Rendezvous in Krakow...
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