Day 1: Let the Adventure Begin
Everyone got into town full of adrenaline, but once we finishe
d lunch, the whole gang crashed for a good three hours. I was left to walk around the hotel and entertain myself at the front desk.
d lunch, the whole gang crashed for a good three hours. I was left to walk around the hotel and entertain myself at the front desk. Day 2: Halston and Johan
I was actually gone for most of it. First, I had an interview with Halston Fagerberg. His name might not mean much to you, but in Swedish circles, his name is synonymous with gay rights activism in the Church. He is straight and an ethicist out of the University of Uppsala. At 96, he can be a little slow, but his mind is as good, if not better, than mine. When I walked into his apartment, I noticed the framed artwork that covered the walls like wall paper. Let's just say I would not call him a minimalist. He made me these cute little sandwiches with like half a carton of butter on each of the pieces of bread. Needless to say, they were deliciously fattening. But how do you say no to a guy whose probably been up since 6 preparing this cute breakfast for you. And probably will spend much of the afternoon cleaning up after I've left.
Then I met up with Johan, one of the baristas at the cafe I've told you all about. We went to Friedmansplan, where there is a grass beach. We hung out for a couple hours before heading to a cafe for espresso shots. Then he had to go to work and I had to meet up with my family. Later that evening, we walked around the Old Town. The sunlight played tricks on us, and before we knew it, it was 10pm and we hadn't eaten a thing. Starving, we searched maddeningly for a restaurant and ended up getting caught in a tourist trap, sitting down at a terribly tacky restaurant called After. (For those of you who are wondering, Stockholm has two very tacky bars on either side of Gamla Stan owned by the same guy...one is called "Before" and the other is called "After." Prizes for anyone who can tell me which one you go to first.)
Day 3: National Museum
This day was pretty boring. We spent the morning switching ho
tels from Slussen to the Stand. But the upside was that we got this sick view of the harbor. 
And obviously I had to take a million pictures of me by the window. How many times can you say you woke up to see this kind of view. In the afternoon, my family, the frugal family that we are, went and bought these Stockholm cards, which allow you to get into most Museums and attractions in Stockholm for free, along with free transportation. We got ours for three days...and my family was ademate about getting the most out of their money. Let me madness begin. We went to the National Museum, which had your basic artwork in it. I'm not a huge art person. I can appreciate a good painting, but I can't really tell the difference between one and another in the same style. Certainly Monet and Picasso are different, but when you've got two guys painting the same girl in the same style...I'm lost.
tels from Slussen to the Stand. But the upside was that we got this sick view of the harbor. 
And obviously I had to take a million pictures of me by the window. How many times can you say you woke up to see this kind of view. In the afternoon, my family, the frugal family that we are, went and bought these Stockholm cards, which allow you to get into most Museums and attractions in Stockholm for free, along with free transportation. We got ours for three days...and my family was ademate about getting the most out of their money. Let me madness begin. We went to the National Museum, which had your basic artwork in it. I'm not a huge art person. I can appreciate a good painting, but I can't really tell the difference between one and another in the same style. Certainly Monet and Picasso are different, but when you've got two guys painting the same girl in the same style...I'm lost. Day 4: Nordiska, Vasa, Skansen, Roxy
Day 4 was a big step up from Day 3. We headed over to Djurgar
den, a huge island with tons of preserved green space. In fact, the city is not allowed to build ANY new houses on the island, because it is not a land preserve. We started at the Nordiska Museum, which displays all sorts of Nordic traditions, design elements, fashion, and art. There was a really cool exhibit on interior design in Sweden from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. I also really enjoyed the area on Nordic traditions...which explained some of the basic Nordic holidays (Mid-summer etc).
den, a huge island with tons of preserved green space. In fact, the city is not allowed to build ANY new houses on the island, because it is not a land preserve. We started at the Nordiska Museum, which displays all sorts of Nordic traditions, design elements, fashion, and art. There was a really cool exhibit on interior design in Sweden from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. I also really enjoyed the area on Nordic traditions...which explained some of the basic Nordic holidays (Mid-summer etc). Then we went to the Vasa museum, which is basically this building that houses a giant ship that the government recovered after it sank several hundred years 
ago. The story goes a little something like this: Sweden was in a war and the King ordered a ship to be constructed. The boat was designed poorly, so that not enough stones could be put into the bottom of the boat to stabilize the boat from waves and what not. If they put more stones into the bottom of the boat, then they wouldn't be able to use the cannons, becacuse they would be submerged in water. So they skimped on stones. As a result, when they set sail, only about 100 meters into their voyage, the waves got the best of the boat. It began rocking and every time it would rock, water would get into the windows of the boat. Eventually, the boat sank and rested at the bottom of the harbor for nearly a hundred years, until restorers began the processes of lifting the boat out of the water. So today they have this huge, perfectly in tact boat displayed in the museum. So cool.
ago. The story goes a little something like this: Sweden was in a war and the King ordered a ship to be constructed. The boat was designed poorly, so that not enough stones could be put into the bottom of the boat to stabilize the boat from waves and what not. If they put more stones into the bottom of the boat, then they wouldn't be able to use the cannons, becacuse they would be submerged in water. So they skimped on stones. As a result, when they set sail, only about 100 meters into their voyage, the waves got the best of the boat. It began rocking and every time it would rock, water would get into the windows of the boat. Eventually, the boat sank and rested at the bottom of the harbor for nearly a hundred years, until restorers began the processes of lifting the boat out of the water. So today they have this huge, perfectly in tact boat displayed in the museum. So cool.Skansen was good for the second time. Nothing really new here, except for the rain. Yeah it poured for like 30 minutes. It's fun to be in a renaissance style house with 50 other people while it is pouring rain...so fun.
That night we went to Roxy. I've only been to Roxy a few times before
, but I really wanted to bring my family there for dinner. Luckily, Natalie, the bartender I have befriended, was working that night, and she ended up being our waitress. She is a great, bubbly person...but she had never been a waitress before. And I think the stress really got to her. She dropped several trays of drinks...one tray was ours...another was for a different table. And she kind of forgot about bringing out check at the end of the night. BUT, the food was AMAZING. Everyone at the table was raving about how delicious and beautifully presented the food was.
, but I really wanted to bring my family there for dinner. Luckily, Natalie, the bartender I have befriended, was working that night, and she ended up being our waitress. She is a great, bubbly person...but she had never been a waitress before. And I think the stress really got to her. She dropped several trays of drinks...one tray was ours...another was for a different table. And she kind of forgot about bringing out check at the end of the night. BUT, the food was AMAZING. Everyone at the table was raving about how delicious and beautifully presented the food was. Day5: MADE: Royalty edition + SMORGASBORD
Last day with the Stockholm cards....that means we had to do AS MANY museums as possible. Luckily, the plan for the day was to do all things r
oyal: the palace, the armory, the old castle, the treasury etc. Atleast it would be more fun than all things dead or all things on canvas. We started our day at the Treasury, where they house all the crown jewels. Immediately, I was captivated by the beautiful crowns of the royal family. But I found out the tradition is not to wear the crowns. Instead, they simply display the crowns at royal functions on a regalia table. LAME! Afterwards we went to tour the apartment of the royal family. It was incredible. When they say apartment, they mean 10 GIANT rooms connected, with 15 foot ceilings, gold plated everything, chandeliers, the works! I was captivated by their lifestyle and tried to picture myself in their shoes. And then the idea came into my mind...I HAVE TO MEET PRINCE CARL PHILLIP! It's the only way. So thus began my search to become Prince of Sweden. I felt like I should be on MADE or something...where is my made coach for being Prince.
oyal: the palace, the armory, the old castle, the treasury etc. Atleast it would be more fun than all things dead or all things on canvas. We started our day at the Treasury, where they house all the crown jewels. Immediately, I was captivated by the beautiful crowns of the royal family. But I found out the tradition is not to wear the crowns. Instead, they simply display the crowns at royal functions on a regalia table. LAME! Afterwards we went to tour the apartment of the royal family. It was incredible. When they say apartment, they mean 10 GIANT rooms connected, with 15 foot ceilings, gold plated everything, chandeliers, the works! I was captivated by their lifestyle and tried to picture myself in their shoes. And then the idea came into my mind...I HAVE TO MEET PRINCE CARL PHILLIP! It's the only way. So thus began my search to become Prince of Sweden. I felt like I should be on MADE or something...where is my made coach for being Prince. Fun fact: There are 9,696 windows in the Palace.
By the end of the apartment tour, I had already asked three people if they knew where Prince Carl Phillip lived, all of whom had no idea. What is with these people...if a prince lived in my backyard, you can bet your bottom dollar I'd know where he lived. We spent the afternoon touring the armory and the old castle. By that point, I was really tired and ready for some food. We all decided that, having skipped lunch, we ought to have a big dinner....SMORGASBORD it is!
I will admit, for anyone wondering, the smorgasbord is really just a Swedish buffet. Sorry folks. But it was DELICIOUS. It probably did my best buffet work EVER at the Smorgasbord, because I really paced myself. I started out with some soup...then worked through the starters (mainly herring...which was surprisingly good). Then came the salads and cold fishes. These were followed by the hot dishes. To give you an idea, it really is set up like a buffet. My brother skipped right ahead to the hot dishes, whereas I spent most of my time on the starters and only only got to the hot dishes after like an hour. One of the best parts of the smorgasbord was the dessert area. It was like heaven. I tried every dessert. Luckily they were pretty much bite-sized portions, so that I didn't look like a fatty...even though I'm sure everyone was thinking that.
Day 6: TOO MANY MUSEUMS MAKES MY HEAD HURT
After nearly three full days of Stockholm card, we finished our Stockholm card experience with a trip to the Nobel Museum. It was a really cute, but small, museum
that explained the Nobel prizes...physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, peace. Interestingly, the Swedish parliament wanted to create a new Nobel prize for economics, to commemorate Sweden's new economic success. Unfortunately, the Nobel committee would not allow it. So instead, the Swedish bank just created this new prize "The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel." And while the actual medal is slightly different, the winner receives the same amount of money as they laurettes (which is different each year depending on how much interest is accrued by the trust), and receive their award at the same banquet. TRICKY! The other interestingly thing about the Nobel Peace Prize, is that it is given out in Oslo, rather than in Sweden. Nobel did not believe that Swedes knew anything about Peace, so he mandated that the Norwegians decide on the Peace prize.
that explained the Nobel prizes...physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, peace. Interestingly, the Swedish parliament wanted to create a new Nobel prize for economics, to commemorate Sweden's new economic success. Unfortunately, the Nobel committee would not allow it. So instead, the Swedish bank just created this new prize "The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel." And while the actual medal is slightly different, the winner receives the same amount of money as they laurettes (which is different each year depending on how much interest is accrued by the trust), and receive their award at the same banquet. TRICKY! The other interestingly thing about the Nobel Peace Prize, is that it is given out in Oslo, rather than in Sweden. Nobel did not believe that Swedes knew anything about Peace, so he mandated that the Norwegians decide on the Peace prize.Fun Fact: George Bernard Shaw is the only person to have won both an Academy Award and a Nobel Prize.
Afterwards, my dad headed back to the hotel to check up on my brother, who feel on the concrete and sliced open his knee. He and my mom went to the hospital while we went to the museum. While we waited for them to return, Lynn, Matt, and I went to the cafe for some lunch. We got sandwiches. These sandwiches were probably the best I had ever had. Literally, the top part of the bun couldn't fit over the sandwich, it was so big...bean sprouts everywhere, fresh lettuce, big hunks of juicy tomato, cucumber, spicy mustard, turkey. Afterwards, we spent the afternoon getting lost in the maze of streets that is Old Town, meanderuing through artisan shops and antique stores. That evening we met up with my roommate Jon for dinner at a pizza place near our apartment.
Day 7-9: A Blur
We spent the last few days doing our own things. Nothin
g substantial really. We took a tour of the archepelago, went to the Modern Museum, and did some shopping. I've been obsessed with the suits here...their tailored fit makes guys look so put together. So I convinced my mom to go shopping for suits with me. We didn't end up buying any, but I figured out that I wear a 48 suit. I don't have ANY clue what that means really, but now I can go to a store and find my size lol. The last night, we went to the ice bar, which was as fun time. Always good for a picture and a drink lol. 
Yay for vacations...and for being sooo tired now as a result.
g substantial really. We took a tour of the archepelago, went to the Modern Museum, and did some shopping. I've been obsessed with the suits here...their tailored fit makes guys look so put together. So I convinced my mom to go shopping for suits with me. We didn't end up buying any, but I figured out that I wear a 48 suit. I don't have ANY clue what that means really, but now I can go to a store and find my size lol. The last night, we went to the ice bar, which was as fun time. Always good for a picture and a drink lol. Yay for vacations...and for being sooo tired now as a result.
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