<![CDATA[

Stockholm, Sweden

A new day, a new country and a new home. We have arrived into Stockholm, Sweden with a better understanding of Europe,a routine and a plan in place has made all the difference to ones mood. Our AirBnb home for the two nights is located in a leafy green affluent suburb about 10 minutes from the city. The self contained flat is under a swedish family’s house and only a short walk down to the Baltic Sea. For the first time since we left our real home it is wonderful to have a full house to ourselves.
As the hop on hop off buses aren’t the most economically savvy option every two days in a new city, we have found a far better option. The Free Walking Tour operates in most cities around Europe. A local guide walks around the city showing the sites and history for 2-3 hours. They survive on a tipping system, of how much you think it’s worth and can afford. This particular tour had 40 people on it but it was far more personable than a pair of ear phones on a red bus, plus you get to navigate a way around the city faster and she answers any direct questions you may have – about food of course! Swedish meatballs and Stromming (herring) for lunch it is! Stockholm city makes great use of its natural assets as it is built on 14 islands. Starting with our favourite, the Old Town (Gamla Stan), with a causeway across to the mainland. It emerged in the 13th century and grew with Sweden’s power until the 17th century. It has the world’s largest royal palace. Although there are 608 rooms, they couldn’t even host guests there for the last royal wedding as the designer (who is said to have burnt down the last palace so he could rebuild a new one) didn’t build enough bathrooms and of course royals don’t like to share such amenities. But what makes it simply amazing is these old terracotta coloured buildings They are maybe 6 stories tall and you walk between them on the cobble stone streets. The narrow alleyways, only a few metres wide, are lined with restaurants, bakeries and little shops.

“Interesting fact on Sweden # 04: In Sweden anyone can camp anywhere for a few days at a time for free as long as you aren’t in a place which causes a disturbance. So you’re allowed to put your tent on someone’s property, probably not at the front of the house but down the side out of the way is fine.”

We took the trip out to the world’s biggest Ikea for two reasons. Firstly to get out of the city to the burbs on a local bus to see something different and to try some more meatballs. Well worth the trip to taste an Ikea branded beer. In the four restaurants there was no Ikea jelly which was a disappointment but I guess that wouldn’t have gone with my glass of wine anyway. No matter which country you’re in, Ikea food is pretty good and cheap. Did you know that the furniture is named after Swedish areas, lakes etc whereas the rugs and floor coverings are named after Danish areas and lakes. The guide made a valid point about the Swedish being on top of the Danish.

Another country, another ****** off Eurail customer. The original train ticket was over 2,000 euro. I go to book 2 second class seats (mandatory to book) from Amsterdam to Brussels and there’s a mandatory reservation cost of $100. What about the Brussels to Paris leg in a few weeks – the ‘limited’ amount of Eurail seats available are sold out. 55 more days and 20 odd train trips to go. Oh well, if we didn’t do it we wouldn’t be here now. Our home for the next two days is with two beautiful Danish girls, a lawyer and stylist, in their funky 4th floor apartment in the heart of the Copenhagen city, just off one of the longest pedestrianised streets in Europe. Honestly I could continue travelling with airbnb. For the first time since leaving home we’ve been able to cook and it’s a much more homely environment than a sterile hotel.
We did try the Scandinavian open sandwich (the Danish call it smørrebrød, Norwegians smørbrød, and Swedish smörgås) It consists of one piece of buttered bread, often whole-grain rye bread topped with things like cold cuts, salmon and complemented with herbs. There are many varieties. Dave tried a burger one which is basically a patty on one piece of bread, but better than mine – a cheese wheel on a slice of bread. What I really wanted was Danish pastries, but no not the same as back home. They aren’t commonly filled with apples and apricots. There are yummy alternatives though.

Copenhagen, Denmark is a Scandinavian city that’s got charm, charisma and beauty. This 1,000 year old harbour town retains much of its historic charm with copper spires on the buildings, cobbled streets and pastel coloured gabled town houses. It really hasn’t had any luck with fire though. Most buildings pointed out in the city have been destroyed by fire with the town hall being rebuilt 4 times after 3 separate fires.
If you think bikes in Amsterdam, well think bikes in Copenhagen too. That is how 55% of the population travels so for every road there is a bike path. I love the endlessly long pedestrianised streets with colourful street performers. It’s got such a great feel to it, very laid back. So much so the Royal family’s houses are located in the city centre and basically accessible by the front door. The four royal residences aren’t even fenced off and kind of feel like a pedestrian roundabout in the centre. Speaking with the locals here, they said the Royals are just like ‘normal’ people therefore they weren’t surprised when I thought I saw Frederick and his daughter around town.
Over the two days in Copenhagen we discovered the city by canal boat, a free 3 hour walking tour and a pub crawl. All this for $16 (the canal trip). We turned up for another Free Walking Tour and they didn’t have a guide available. Although they rebooked for the next day, as an apology for the inconvenience ,they gave us a night out, a $40 pub crawl voucher with free shots and beer. Dave appreciated this immensely as beer prices have been upwards of $10. Amazingly and unexpectedly,I enjoyed my first pub crawl purely because it was great to speak with like minded travellers just wanting to see a city and meet people.
It’s funny the people you keep bumping into from city to city. We have seen the same people on these free tours in different cities or met people through AirBnB (some of these houses have two rooms available) then see them again on a inter-country train somewhere.
Just before leaving Copenhagen we wandered quickly through a random suburb just out of the city, named Christina. Copenhagen is a perfect little city, so you can imagine how Christina just doesn’t ‘fit’ into its surroundings. Back in the day it was a military area.After the housing crisis people forced their way into this uninhabited area and built their own houses here. You can tell this by the mismatched random houses and wooden shacks. They say it’s an arty hippy area with graffiti artwork everywhere but to me the best way to describe it is through the green light district. Although marijuana is illegal in Denmark it’s openly sold on the streets in this neighbourhood. The only thing illegal is taking photos or running – wish I was kidding. Worth a walk through just to see this odd little place put into a perfect city. And with that we farewell another city, board the 15 hour overnight train in second class and head to Amsterdam.

It’s hard to make a comparison as we haven’t yet embarked on the rest of Europe but I’d describe the Scandinavian countries we visited as wealthy and all very progressive countries. You can see it everywhere you look in these picture perfect cities or chatting to the locals where free tertiary education is part of life for many. The standouts were Norway’s beautiful landscapes, Sweden’s old town and Denmark’s easy way of life in a charming city.
Although only a week into Europe, I’m finding it harder to write about western countries and cultures and still sound somewhat fascinated as a city is a city is a city. The similarity in western countries throughout the world is money and often deriving from that is people’s behaviour
s and values. We have been fortunate enough to see and interact with the local people in three continents. I often wonder whether an African village person put into these wealthy cities would be happier and still humble. Is that the same reason that Asia and Africa offer more life experiences than a place that’s so similar to what you would get at home?

]]>