Spring Break: Stockholm Syndrome

To quote my travel diary: 'Sweden is incredible because it is a country that so firmly has its stuff together'. I think it took me about 5 minutes to proclaim 'I LOVE STOCKHOLM' after we got off the train and began walking down the street - it was buzzing, it was close to the water, and it was beautiful.

India and I were staying in the Old Town, in a fantastic hostel called the Castanea Old Town Hostel. This place was ideally located, incredibly environmentally friendly, inexpensive, and, most importantly - had a fantastic kitchen.

Our first meal: Swedish meatballs. Incredibly appropriate, I think. After being awake for what seemed like, by 1pm, 12 hours (although it was, more realistically, about 8), we were hungry and in need for a quick rest, and so we didn't even quite make it to the hostel before we prioritised food.

By the time we got settled it was quite late and so we decided to take the bus to Monteliusvagen, an iconic lookout over the centre of Stockholm. I suppose it was quite nice.

We headed back to our hostel and made dinner (always a fan of a cheap meal) before crashing in our beds. A highlight of our trip actually happened that evening - we got a litre of cider to share and, after drinking about half of it between us, someone at our table who spoke Swedish looked at the bottle and informed us that it was non alcoholic fizzy apple juice. And here we were trying to be grown up and have a drink!

Always a fan of a walking tour, India and I decided to do a free tour the next day that started in the heart of Stockholm and took us to all of the major sights. As you can see, Stockholm is absolutely stunning - among other things, it is such a clean place as well as having incredible architecture.

One thing I did not expect to see in Stockholm was a heap of cherry blossom trees, but what a lovely surprise. These apparently bloom for several weeks each year and we were lucky enough to catch them.

Our tour ended right in front of Riksgaten, Stockholm's Parliament House. This was the perfect location to watch the guards marching down the bridge to the Palace to partake in the daily changing of the guards ceremony.

For lunch, we went to an open sandwich stand on a bridge near the river. While I can't remember the name, it is quite an iconic place (probably due to it being so cheap) and so it should be easy enough to find. I'm not a huge seafood person and India was incredibly apologetic when we realised it was only fish sandwiches, however I went for it...and really enjoyed them.

In the afternoon, we headed out to the Stockholm toy and transport museum. While we initially were planning to only see the toy museum, it was the equivalent of $3 to enter both and so off we had a look around for a few hours. We were about 12 years older than the target age however we both enjoyed ourselves (especially when there was a dolls house that we could play with. With heaps of furniture. Let me tell you, two budding interior decorators blossomed that day).

IKEA is synonymous with Sweden and so could not, of course, not go out to see the largest one in Stockholm. It only took us about 30 minutes to get there and while we didn't buy anything (I was tempted by foldable plastic cups but logic won out in the end) it was amazing to see such a large shop. We had wine and Swedish meatballs in the restaurant for dinner as well as a quick (accidental) nap in the beds. You heard it here first: IKEA mattresses are fantastic.

We felt like the luckiest girls in the world shortly after arriving in Stockholm because the evening of our first full day there, April 25th, was 'Kulturnatt', the culture night of Stockholm. This meant that many of the museums and palaces were open for free to the public between the hours of 6pm and 12am. As Stockholm is a ridiculously expensive city, this allowed us to save about $50 because of free entry at the three museums we visited.

Our first stop was the Royal Palace, where we were able to look through some of the beautiful halls and dining rooms. The designs were absolutely stunning and dripping with opulence and wealth. A girl can dream!

Throughout the evening we also visited the Nobel Prize museum - incredibly inspiring - and the Nordic museum. The Nordic museum was not a priority for either of us, however I am so glad that we went. We spent hours there and the information about Swedish history, as well as general exhibits on many subjects (including sugar and the elderly) was incredibly interesting.

The next day was a great day, because April 26th brought with it...

Having basically been raised on these Eurovision sensations, I was so excited to be able to find out more about ABBA. And so we hopped on a ferry and headed over to Djurgården, one of the islands that makes up Stockholm. Here, I was able to sing ABBA songs, dance like ABBA and also do a quiz and music mash up of Mamma Mia (if anyone is interested, I beat India. Not that it was a competition or anything, but you know, it's good to keep count).

India and I spent the afternoon at the Skansen museum wandering around and looking at Scandinavian animals and eating ice cream, as well as enjoying this view over the city.

So, my thoughts on Stockholm: it would have to be one of my top five cities that I have visited so far. Sweden is an amazing country - they pay such high taxes but reap the benefits of a fantastic education system, great healthcare and a clean and safe country. The people in Stockholm were SO BEAUTIFUL and had amazing fashion sense. They were also very kind and helpful - everyone we saw seemed so happy and pleased with life (which makes sense because of the good healthcare/ education etc.). Stockholm is a fantastic example of what everywhere in the world could and should be like. Maybe one day everywhere will take on its example.