To The North – Stockholm!

In January 2007, I travelled across Europe as the tour manager of two bands and we also performed in Stockholm. Seeing as it was the second-to-last concert of the tour and I was pretty much exhausted, I didn’t really pay a whole lot of attention as we visited the city. The cold was horrible too in January. Still, I liked the city and I decided I would return to Stockholm for a proper look.

So when my friend and I were looking for a place to visit for a few days, Stockholm seemed like a good option. We booked a holiday for five days in the Swedish capital. Here are my observations:

• The Vasa ship museum is awesome;
• All you want to do in an ice bar is take pictures for 30 minutes and then leave;
• In general, food is overpriced;
• Not only is it overpriced, the meals are also very small and not properly heated (seems this is normal?? Happened all the time!);
• Midsommar celebrations are really quiet;
• Public transport is great;
• Swedish restaurant/hotel staff do not know any hospitality;
• It is perfectly fine to work in a 4-star hotel and have tattoos in your neck/face;
• Lots of girls have really large tattoos;
• Swedish men spend more time on their looks than Dutch ones;
• Skansen is overrated. And boring;
• Bathroom queues are often longer for men than for women;
• Ballerina McFlurries are yummy;
• Pubs close at 10pm on Sunday;
• The Stockholm Archipelago looks pretty but isn’t too interesting;
• A child transportation card is much cheaper than an adult’s 8D;
• Metro men smell really bad;
• Changing of the guards at the Royal Palace looks unprofessional with the guards chatting;
• The same Vikings and trolls inhibit Sweden and Norway;
• There’s a cool drawing of Nils Holgersson on a 20 kronar note;
• Great views from the Kaknastornet tower;
• Karlsbergs slott is not a pretty castle at all. Actually it doesn’t even look like a castle at all;
• It’s perfectly fine to sunbathe in your bikini in a public park;
• Having herring for breakfast is not a good idea;
• Five days is enough time to see the most interesting sights.

Conclusion: I had an awesome time with my friend but overall most sights and the city in general are rather overrated. I wouldn’t quite recommend it as a holiday destination.