Living in Oslo: Stockholm, Sweden

My new favorite city

The quickest round trip ever:
-7:25am Monday morning Kyle & I got on the train for Stockholm and arrived around 1:30pm.
-We spent approx 26 hours in the city before our 3:30pm Tuesday returning train.
-By 9:30pm we were back in Oslo, not even 48 hours later.

Even though it was short, it was my favorite trip yet.

We stayed in an exceptionally clean hostel. The only difference from a hotel was that we had to either: bring our own or pay for linens and towels. We had a private room and private bathroom which is rare for a hostel.

On Monday, after arriving we took a relaxing walk around Sodermalm, the island that our hostel was on. We saw many old churches from 1300's, cute little cafe's, winding side streets and all the charm of Europe. Sweden used to be an European power and had a lot of French influence, so the city is much larger and different looking than the other Scandinavian cities I've visited. I loved how all the churches had little parks and gardens. Because the two of us are a bit "lame" we were back in our hostel by 7 and got an early nights sleep.

Tuesday, we woke up bright and early, although not that bright, as our room did not have windows (I have never slept in such a dark room before), and neither was it as early as we hoped.. the snooze button is so addictive. For breakfast we went to a local bakery and drank tea and had pastries.. how glamorous and European of us. Afterwards we walked over to the historical district on the island Gamla Stan and went into the gorgeous Stockholm Cathedral, the church where royal weddings are held. Countless sculptures, paintings, and decorations of all types covered the walls. The grand organ was one of the largest I've ever seen, and the alter was magnificent. We also arrived at the Royal Palace just in time to watch the changing of the guards and then explored the royal apartments and the palace museum. It was fun imaging myself as a Princess of Sweden walking down the grand staircase. Just like in fairy tales. We spent the rest of the day winding around streets and exploring churches and famous monuments.

Sweden is known for some pretty amazing chocolate, so of course I bought several different types to try. Absolutely delicious. Scandinavian chocolate is a million times better than Hersey's.

Stockholm was such a fun city. It was full of history but modern at the same time. As we were walking around the palace they were bringing in snow and setting up for a ski race. The people were very friendly, within moments of leaving the central station a lady asked us if we needed help; apparently we looked helpless, searching our map and then around the streets, and back again. Another plus side to this city was the surprise of finding a Tully's coffee shop. Since it is not as famous as Starbucks, I was surprised (but very pleased) to find a familiar brand of coffee. All in all, an amazing trip!