Trip to Stockholm, Sweden
We left for Sweden on Wednesday night and our cruise ship left at 9 pm. Sweden is the country just to
the west of Finland and they are separated by the Baltic Sea in case you didn't know. I had never been
on a cruise ship before so it was quite an experience. There were four of us staying in one cabin: me,
Scott, Thomas and Kimi. It was small but what do you expect from a cruise ship. When we left the
harbor it was cool to see the land from so far up cruising by. They have some really nice houses right
on the sea. We also cruised past the island and the beach where Ruisrock was held. I enjoyed just
sitting up on the deck watching all the islands we past leaving Finland. You don't get to see that
everyday in the States, you know.
After the deck, we ate and I was quite impressed with the food. Scott and I had a chicken and pasta
buffet that was awesome and we ate till we were absolutely stuffed. It was one of the best meals over
here. After dinner we just headed to the little nightclub and stayed there for a while. We didn't get to
sleep very early and the ship was arriving in Stockholm at 7am. Needless to say we were pretty tired
and we were going to spend the entire day in Stockholm.
We took the subway thing they had from the cruise ship into downtown. I have to say that Stockholm
is about twice the size as Turku. It is also a lot more stereotypical Europe that Turku is. What I mean
by that is it has older looking buildings and tight curvy streets in some parts of downtown. There are
two parts of Stockholm, old and new. The new part is where we went first and it is more modern in its
stores and layout. In both parts just like in Turku there are not many cars driving but a ton of people
walking around.
The old part of town is much more traditional Europe in its architecture and look. We visited the Royal
apartments or Royal palace which is where the King of Sweden lives. The palace was really nice and
you could walk through the different sections on the outside. It was pretty cool because they had
guards all around dressed in blue with guns. I got my picture taken next to one of the guards which is
pretty funny.
We walked around the city and shopped the entire day. It was a very nice day and the hottest since
I've been in Europe. (Stockholm is a little further south than Turku, but not much). In downtown they
had a ton of stores especially little shops for tourists. In one store, Kimi was trying on some jeans or
something and he heard some girls speaking English. When he came out and said he thought those girls
were from the United States because of their "American accent." It turns out that they were from
California visiting family in Sweden. So that was neat to run into other Americans in Stockholm.
They even had an American Food Store, which carried everything from peanut butter to macaroni and
cheese to fluff (marshmallow). But since we are in Finland and I should be trying new foods, I didn't
buy anything. HOWEVER, for breakfast we had McDonald's breakfast for the first time in Europe
and for lunch and dinner #1 we had Burger King. (There is no Burger King in Finland).
Then towards the end of the day we met Clint, who was the American QB for the Trojans last year and
is now playing just outside of Stockholm. So we met and talked with him at Burger King. He told
stories about last year and we told him some stories from this year. He was a cool guy and has a thick
South Carolina accent, which is definitely a first in Europe.
We talked with him for about an hour and then it was time to go back to the cruise ship. On the ship
we had dinner #2, which was also really good and then we walked around for a bit. On these cruise
ships they can sell goods tax free. I forget all the legal stuff that goes with it but everything is cheaper
on the boat than it is in Finland. So we walked around there for a bit and I bought another Finnish CD,
which was about 5 euros cheaper than in the stores in Finland. Then we crashed early because we
were dead tired from our day in Stockholm.
Overall, it was a sweet trip. I got to visit Sweden and see another city in Europe. It was a bigger city
and more traditional Europe than Turku is.
the west of Finland and they are separated by the Baltic Sea in case you didn't know. I had never been
on a cruise ship before so it was quite an experience. There were four of us staying in one cabin: me,
Scott, Thomas and Kimi. It was small but what do you expect from a cruise ship. When we left the
harbor it was cool to see the land from so far up cruising by. They have some really nice houses right
on the sea. We also cruised past the island and the beach where Ruisrock was held. I enjoyed just
sitting up on the deck watching all the islands we past leaving Finland. You don't get to see that
everyday in the States, you know.
After the deck, we ate and I was quite impressed with the food. Scott and I had a chicken and pasta
buffet that was awesome and we ate till we were absolutely stuffed. It was one of the best meals over
here. After dinner we just headed to the little nightclub and stayed there for a while. We didn't get to
sleep very early and the ship was arriving in Stockholm at 7am. Needless to say we were pretty tired
and we were going to spend the entire day in Stockholm.
We took the subway thing they had from the cruise ship into downtown. I have to say that Stockholm
is about twice the size as Turku. It is also a lot more stereotypical Europe that Turku is. What I mean
by that is it has older looking buildings and tight curvy streets in some parts of downtown. There are
two parts of Stockholm, old and new. The new part is where we went first and it is more modern in its
stores and layout. In both parts just like in Turku there are not many cars driving but a ton of people
walking around.
The old part of town is much more traditional Europe in its architecture and look. We visited the Royal
apartments or Royal palace which is where the King of Sweden lives. The palace was really nice and
you could walk through the different sections on the outside. It was pretty cool because they had
guards all around dressed in blue with guns. I got my picture taken next to one of the guards which is
pretty funny.
We walked around the city and shopped the entire day. It was a very nice day and the hottest since
I've been in Europe. (Stockholm is a little further south than Turku, but not much). In downtown they
had a ton of stores especially little shops for tourists. In one store, Kimi was trying on some jeans or
something and he heard some girls speaking English. When he came out and said he thought those girls
were from the United States because of their "American accent." It turns out that they were from
California visiting family in Sweden. So that was neat to run into other Americans in Stockholm.
They even had an American Food Store, which carried everything from peanut butter to macaroni and
cheese to fluff (marshmallow). But since we are in Finland and I should be trying new foods, I didn't
buy anything. HOWEVER, for breakfast we had McDonald's breakfast for the first time in Europe
and for lunch and dinner #1 we had Burger King. (There is no Burger King in Finland).
Then towards the end of the day we met Clint, who was the American QB for the Trojans last year and
is now playing just outside of Stockholm. So we met and talked with him at Burger King. He told
stories about last year and we told him some stories from this year. He was a cool guy and has a thick
South Carolina accent, which is definitely a first in Europe.
We talked with him for about an hour and then it was time to go back to the cruise ship. On the ship
we had dinner #2, which was also really good and then we walked around for a bit. On these cruise
ships they can sell goods tax free. I forget all the legal stuff that goes with it but everything is cheaper
on the boat than it is in Finland. So we walked around there for a bit and I bought another Finnish CD,
which was about 5 euros cheaper than in the stores in Finland. Then we crashed early because we
were dead tired from our day in Stockholm.
Overall, it was a sweet trip. I got to visit Sweden and see another city in Europe. It was a bigger city
and more traditional Europe than Turku is.
This is a shot back at the outskirts
of Turku as we are leaving
of Turku as we are leaving
This is the gang... Scott, Thomas,
me, and Kimi ..... Thomas wears
that shirt a lot, I know.
me, and Kimi ..... Thomas wears
that shirt a lot, I know.
The sunset from the boat
This is one of the walking
streets in "new" Stockholm.... its
early before any of the stores
are open.
streets in "new" Stockholm.... its
early before any of the stores
are open.
This is a shot of some building
from the King's front porch ...
they are doing a little
construction as you can see in
the lower left.
from the King's front porch ...
they are doing a little
construction as you can see in
the lower left.
This is from the inside of the
King's quarters. This is his
palace and you can see a guard
in a blue suit at the gate.
King's quarters. This is his
palace and you can see a guard
in a blue suit at the gate.
This is a street in "old"
Stockholm, more traditional.
Stockholm, more traditional.
Clint, Kimi,
me
me