To be honest I had absolutely no idea what to expect of Stockholm. I've always wanted to go to Sweden (since I'm part Swedish and love meatballs) but I was totally unprepared for the beauty and glory that is Stockholm. We were delivered to an obscure airport about 1.5 hour outside of Stockholm in the midst of a blizzard. RyanAir is seriously the most legit low budget airline for being able to land that plane in blankets of fresh snow and layered ice.
We checked into our first accommodations, an old prison turned hostel/ museum, which was located on a little island and not easy to get to in the slippery conditions. We slept in the old cells and right outside our door were fake prisoners in chains and a guillotine and it was so creepy and amazing. The girls didn't seem to like our new dummy friends but I felt a comradeship with em'.
We stayed in this hostel for two nights and enjoyed the company of a few fake prisoners as well as two new friends from Germany and Austria! Our second hostel was in Gamla Stan, also known as The Old Town. The Old Town had rows of narrow pedestrian streets filled with souvenir shops, cafes, bars, and exhibits. The people of Stockholm were the friendliest and most helpful I have experienced so far in Europe, not to mention the most attractive. With so many beautiful people buzzing around the narrow streets blanketed in snow and absolutely remarkable architecture towering above us it was hard not to feel like we were in a fairytale.
Although Sweden was one of the most charming cities I have ever visited, there was some bittersweet moments. Laura did manage to slip on some ice on our way out of the metro station and fractured her elbow :( So there was an injury and some very negative moments following that...BUT the alluring dreamlike venue didn't really allow for much dwelling on nightmares.
On another note, our last night there was spent in The Best Hostel - seriously, that was it's name and they weren't kidding. SO FUN! We shared a giant room with 28 beds and the place had free internet, breakfast, and comfy leather couches in common rooms. After hangin' around the hostel for a bit we headed out to a nightclub to enjoy some grooves and observe what turned out to be some very strange Swedish dance moves...
Stockholm is a city I would recommend to everyone. The people are friendly and helpful, the chocolate is delectable, the food is delicious, the public transportation is simple and the streets are clean. I imagine living here would be quite costly, but a weekend trip didn't hit my bank account too hard...okay it did but it was totally worth it - every Swedish krona, euro or dollar.
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| Sunset at city hall |
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