Stories for my Grandchildren

This past weekend I took my first trip away from Rome to Sweden. Because so much happened in this short 72 hour period, I have decided to sum it up by writing my post as a dictionary with pictures. I chose to travel with my two friends and housemates, Auriel and Sarah. It was another very memorable part of my time while studying abroad. Highlights of the trip: trying Lebanese cuisine, unintentionally ending up at a gay bar, my first hostel experience, Albert Nobel Museum, Stockholm Palace, NykÖping Castle, hiking across the Swedish countryside and exploring the town of Nykoping. Pick a highlight and read below!

The Lebanese Restaurant – After arriving in Stockholm we were hungry and stopped at the first site of food which happened to be a Lebanese restaurant. I ordered falafel. The owner helped us find the subway and was one of three people that when asked what we should do all recommended the bars. We visited him on Saturday to thank him for his help and he gave us free drinks for the road.

Gay Bar – Friday night we arrived at our hostel and found out one of the two owners is also a bartender. After explaining we were poor college kids, he offered us a free drink at the bar, Naglo Bar, he worked at. We agreed and reluctantly showed up rather early in the night for our free drink. There were only four people in the bar (3 men and 1 woman). After sitting to ourselves for about ten minutes two of the men introduced themselves and without hesitation said “You do know you’re at a gay bar, right?”  One of them, John, explained to us that he was taking his best friend, Ronnie, out for drinks as he was getting married to his partner the following weekend. I am sad to admit I accidentally deleted the pictures we got with our Swedish friends.

First Hostel Experience – For those who do not know what a hostel is, read on! A hostel is a step down from a motel or hotel. It is usually for younger travelers (backpackers, study abroad students) and is also less expensive. Instead of renting a room, guests rent a bed which is often bunked and in a room with many other travelers, all sharing a bathroom. We chose the least expensive hostel in Stockholm and somehow it ended up being one of the nicest ones. Because of overbooking, we were able to get our own room with two sets of bunk beds as well as our own personal bathroom.

Albert Nobel Museum = waste of time. If you go to Stockholm, kick some rocks; it will be worth more than going to this museum.

Stockholm Palace – The current Swedish royal family resides in one wing of the castle while the other side is open for tours. It was really cool to walk through this palace and see all of the paintings. Unfortunately, photography was not permitted and my battery was dying thus, I did not take any pictures. 

Temporarily Homeless – Although we had a hostel Friday night, the hostel was booked for Saturday. We settled on not looking for another one, as we had discussed plans of taking a night train to see the Aurora Borealis. It was not until 6pm on Saturday evening that we realized our idea of seeing the Northern Lights was not a practical one if we wanted to make our flight home the next day. Thus we were stuck with either checking into a hotel (pricey for us college students) or rely on our teachings from Girl Scouts. Tired, rundown and desperate we chose to take a bus back to the airport and pitch tent there. For those of you who are reading this and wondering “What was she thinking?!” I would never change this experience. It was a great moment of realization for me.

NykÖping Castle – Not only did this castle have free entry, it also had unlimited roaming (or so we decided). This castle is nestled in a little town called Nykoping (prenounced Ne-shopping). The self tour of the castle takes a visitor through the tragic story of the overthrowing of the royal family that once lived there.

Swedish countryside hiking – At 5:30 on Sunday morning, we were awakened by an airport employee. This was the start to our adventurous day. We decided that the ten minute bus ride to the city of Nykoping was short enough that we could instead walk. Apprehensive of the cold weather, I put on two pairs of pants, four shirts, hunting socks (thank you Chris, you may have saved my toes), and two hats. We departed Skavsta Airport around seven, as the sun was rising. It took us almost two hours to arrive at our destination, but I would never give back that early and chilling walk. As Sarah said, “You can’t get pictures like these on a bus!” Here are a few:

There were so many other things that really made this trip amazing. Sadly, if I were to write about them I'm sure it would take an entire day. Feel free to look at my pictures (Week 3) for a deeper insight on my trip to Sweden.