my trip to Sweden where the only meatballs i ate were cooked from frozen (by myself) and the only IKEA i saw was from the plane while descending

when i found out that Ave was going to be in Sweden from May till July visiting her boyfriend Jussi, i decided that this was the perfect opportunity to go to Sweden because a) it's beautiful (and warm) in summer and b) i'd have someone (that speaks the language) who can take me around. there were however, several hiccups/annoying things along the way but in the end i made it and really enjoyed my time there.

first of all, i ended up paying £65+ for my plane ticket on Ryanair because i waited till my exam timetable was finalised to book my seat rather5 than booking it the week before when the price was £20-ish. then i decided to play it safe and take a 4.45am coach to Stansted Airport to get there 3hrs 45mins before my flight rather than the 6.30am one that would give me 1hr 45mins to get my ticket and through security. Unfortunately, National Express was not only on time but even early (shocking!) so i got there almost 4hrs before my flight. On the way, we passed through lots of fog (all the way from Milton Keynes to Luton Airport) and i was worried that my flight might be delayed. thankfully the skies were reasonably clearer at Stansted so things looked like they were going to go well. then when i was waiting in the lounge after security, an alarm went off and we were informed that it was a fire alarm and that we had to evacuate, following the directions of airport staff. since i was sort of near my gate, i proceeded away from the main building to my gate. we boarded on time but then the pilot came on the overhead-speaker to announce that because of the evacuation of the main building many of the passengers were missing so we had to wait until everyone could make it to the gate to board - which in the end delayed the flight by 1 1/2hrs (by the way, the alarm was set off by an electrical fire in one of the toilets! Grr...).

it was gloriously sunny and warm when i landed in Vasteras Airport (outside of the capital Stockholm), a big change from the weather in the UK. it was a short 90min bus ride to Stockholm City Terminal where Ave was waiting for me. :)

the beautiful country landscape from the bus...

let me first introduce my hosts for the visit - Jussi and Aveso guess what my first meal was in Stockholm? Dim Sum at a Chinese restaurant called... Chopsticks! haha...we had xiao long bao which Ave was having a mega craving for (as well as some fried beef kway teow - Jussi had Chicken Curry with rice). Then we headed to small bar on the way back to the apartment for some drinks (simply because gin and tonic is a great cure for the flu?).unfortunately, Jussi had to leave for a business trip on Tuesday evening (the second day of my visit) so my meeting of him was rather shortlived - also that he paid for all our dinners so he was dearly missed... :( naturally, we took lots of photos at the train station while waiting for his train to Arlanda Airport...

and because Ave was in Stockholm, i didnt need to find accomodation because i was offered Jussi sofa! (i love you guys!) Jussi's apartment is in an old building which still had a very old-school lift! how cool is that? the lift freakily reminded me of the scene in Mona Lisa (1986) where Bob Hoskins and Cathy Tyson (Simone) are attacked by Clark Peters (Anderson) and they run into the lift while Anderson runs down the stairs and appairs at every landing... EEK!

this is the coach that i crashed on - Jussi's apartment is almost completely monochromatic so the photograph is quite accurate to how the house looks. white walls, white table, white doors... his sofa is grey though, but all his cutlery and cooking pots are either white or black! we even threatened to buy him a toaster that was red with handpainted flowers but in the end Ave bought him a black-and-white table runner.while we are at it, does Ave look good in black-and-white or better in sepia? we spent most evenings in the apartment watching stuff online - a big favourite was Robot Chicken and of course, 2 girls in 1 room = doing girly things like varnishing our nails (with gold nail polish even!) the beautiful skyline from the apartment window - look at how lovely the sunset is at 10pm-ish, if i remember correctly (actually the sun doesnt even set!) and this is the sky at 2am... because of the position of the building, the sun shines in so brightly (and very hot!) at 5am every morning. yikes!the Wednesday that i was in Stockholm was the Sweden's National Day (6 June) so on the Tuesday when we were shopping, we saw a mini parade of sorts along the main streets.and that evening, from the apartment window we saw loads of hot-air balloons floating across the city.
another interesting thing about Sweden is that the end of high school is a big big thing (because most students either dont go to university immediately after they finish high school or dont go at all) so they have big celebrations where they hire trucks/convertables and drive around the city centre screaming, singing, drinking (and trying to spray pedestrians) and generally make merry. we saw loads of these trucks on Tuesday and even on Thursday there were still a few "stragglers". maybe it is the cynic in us but me and Ave were like, seriously if these kids think the end of high school is something to celebrate, wait till they start university/jobs...we spent the entire Tuesday shopping. correction: i instigated us spending the entire Tuesday shopping. we walked into a total of 4 H&Ms, though i must reiterate that these were multiple visits, and all within a 500m radius of each other. the reason being that since i made up my mind to go to Stockholm i had stopped shopping in H&M UK and was waiting to go there to buy stuff cheaper (not true i discovered!) and things that they dont export to the UK (true!). i think Jussi thinks i'm shopping-obsessed. i personally think it is a post-exam thing, sort of me acting out against my self-imposed going-out ban.

on Wednesday (i.e. National Day), after having some home-cooked pasta (with meatballs!), we set off fot Gamla stan, the old city. the front of the Operan (Opera House) along Strömgatan
Gustav Adolfs Torg

from there we crossed the waterway (via Norrbro, which runs over a small islet called Riksplan) to Gamla stan which is actually another island of its own. the Riksdagsguset (Parliament Building)
the view of the city from Riksplan - the bridge in view is Strömbronwe decided to walk through Kungliga Slottet (the Royal Palace) the intricate carvings on the ceiling of one of the arches - this is the entrance to the Royal Chapel, which faces the entrance to the Royal Treasury. the Palace from the courtyards the guards on duty at Kungliga Slottet
Storkyrkan (the Great Church, also known as Saint Nicolaus Church), the oldest church in Gamla stan the beautiful streets of the old city Stortorget - this square was the site of the Stockholm Bloodbath in November 1520 where Swedish noblemen were massacred by the Danish King Christian II. the incident sparked off a revolt and civil war which led to the dissolution of Kalmar Union and the election of the King Gustav I. we decided to leave Gamla stan and head for Skansen, a huge park on another island.along the way to the subway station... according to Ave, each subway station is painted/decorated with a theme and each represents something. obviously we didnt know what they meant which led to lots of fun speculating/joking/going off on wild tangents about what the possible interpretations could be.
in the train...
obviously the best time to review photos taken...
a peek of St Jakobs Kyrka when we got out of the subway to walk to the bus stop.

after a REALLY crowded bus ride, we got to the island of Djurgården where Skansen is. Skansen is an open-air museum with reconstruction of different types of houses and farmsteads from all around Sweden, as well as several enclosures with animals indigenous to Sweden.
the town quarter
as we walked further into Skansen (and even more uphill), we passed a Herb Garden
information about the herbs grown in the garden (all in Swedish, so we were not enlightened...)all the gorgeous flowers and herbs...
me trying to take a photo of my shadow - it ended up looking like a huge blob
the allotment huts and the little patches of garden they were given (after the war)
the post office
as we got to the top of the hill to Bollnäsplace, we were attracted by the smell of donuts. naturally we appeased our senses with some fried donuts, coated with sugar and sprinkled (by Ave) with cinnamon. mmm... fresh out of the hot oil...we passed the Tingsvallen Stage where people were trying their hand at stilt-walking.
the Belfry in the distance
near the Forestry Centre
the Delsbo Farmstead
the Mora Farmstead
the kids in the Summer Pasture Farm
at the Nordic Wild Animals section - Brown bears
Seals
Elk (Reindeer and Elk look very alike! i didnt realise they were different animals and kept wondering why they were in separate enclosures)
Ave looking very glamourous...
at the Aviary, we saw a White owl
WILD BOAR! heheh... they are extremely energetic (the young ones at least)
the Finn Settlement
i love this sign!
up another hill again...Fröstrop (there's a gallery inside) and a cute little mini-car track on the outside (we saw a young girl taking the ride in a pink car) the tower at the top of the hill (Högloftet)

at the children's zoo - kids making loads of noise... QUAIL!
a chickand ducks!
and oh-so-cute kittens...
rabbit
the Brofästet Temperance Halla chapelintrigued by wooden bridges...
a milestone from 1666 (when the king decided that there should be milestones on all major roads in Sweden) - when i saw this i thought og A Level History with Slim ("a milestone in history" was his favourite catchphrase)
the Seglora Church, apparently the most popular church in Sweden for couples to get married in...
a windmill near the Skogaholm Manor
because it was National Day, the king and queen were visiting Skansen for a special celebration so they had a stage erected for the performance/ceremony. and there was a marching band with people from different districts waving flags all the way up the hill to the stage area.
we decided to leave before the evening performance began as it was too crowded and since it wasnt our country, we neednt worry about appearing unpatriotic!

Ave had told me about a pizzaria near the apartment that served amazing pizzas, one in particular which i found rather interesting that we decided to try - Valtelina. we ordered one between the two of us (and also bought a tub of strawberry and cream type of frozen yoghurt from the supermarket) and headed back to the apartment to savour the food while watching more Robot Chicken and some Monty Python.

the pizza had a tomato-based sauce, with rocket leaves and parma ham, topped with shaved parmesan cheese and finished with a squirt of lemon juice. out-of-this-world-delicious!

on Thursday we decided to hit Slussen (i.e. the Sluice) for a walk through some bohemian streets - everytime Ave said "the sluice" i kept thinking of Paul Celan's poem... :(

she had mentioned that she had tried some really good Turkish food at a small cafe so we headed for that place to get some cheap but flavoursome food - i had bulgur (grain) with aubergine, carrot and courgette cooked in a tomato sauce, chicken sauteed with peppers and a whole green pepper stuff with rice and meat, served with a side salad and a pickled chilli. mmm... as we wandered around Slussen, we saw a little park entrance at a side road which we decided to pursue - it led us to Katarina kyrka (Church of Catherine).
me at Ave's insistence that i "present" some pretty purple flowers...

we then walked up some cobbled street to the top of a hill where we saw the spectacular view of the city! down some stairs and...
we headed down to Stadsgårdsleden and walked by the piersafter realising that the direction we were walking wasnt going to take us anywhere interesting, we turned back and headed for Skeppsbron (at Gamla stan) and made a stop at a chic restaurant/bar for a cold drink at their al fresco dining area.
after refuelling, we decided to explore the island of Skeppsholmen where there appeared to be a lot of museums and points of interest.
again along the way, we had a view of St Jakobs kyrkathe Grand Hotel along Södra Blasieholmshamnen Kungliga Slottet from across the quay.

the National Museum (of Fine Art)
on Skeppsholmsbron (bridge) looking out to Ladugårdslandsviken in front of Moderna muset (Museum of Modern Art), they had interesting installations...Skeppsholmskyrkanwe sat along Södra Brobänken and looked across the Strömmenoff the end of Skeppsholmen is another islet, Kastellholmenfrom there we had a good view of the Gröna Lunds Tivoli and could hear rather loudly the screaming people on the rollercoasters and vertical drop rides.the stunning view of the city from the isletwe ended the day with a meal at one of the cafes in the shopping centre Gallerian (we had a delicious lunch at another eatery there that Tuesday - smoked salmon drizzled with pesto, served with warm potatoes in a creamy dill and chive sauce - but silly me forgot to take a photo!). i had a mediterranean couscous salad chicken skewers and a tangy yoghurt dipwhile Ave had a creamy salmon penne with leek

and thus the end to a thoroughly sunny and relaxing trip. Stockholm is so beautiful (and the weather is perfect in June!) so i'd definitely recommend a visit!