Ahhh Stockholm… I spent 5 nights in Stockholm and took just over 300 photos, which is the lowest photo per day ratio I’ve had since being on my trip. I didn’t see one tourist attraction.
After leaving Helsinki, I settled in on the, 10 story high, cruise ship by grabbing a beer from the bar and checking out the ship. There was a fairly large duty free shop onboard, a couple of gaming tables, about 30 pokies, 3 bar areas, 3 restaurants and a very large buffet dining room. There were 2 age groups on board; kids under 18 and retirees over 65. The occasional couple with a kid or 2, but that was about it. So I had a few beers (I tried Fosters for the first time, which wasn’t too bad) while writing my Finland blog, a burger for dinner & went to bed. Half a litre of beer cost €6 or $7.50 AUD, it was €10 or $12 AUD for the buffet breakfast & the 3 bed cabin was €60 for the night. I woke early, around 5am, and wasn’t able to get back to sleep, so I headed outside for a walk around on the decks, which wasn’t warm, and the sun was just coming up. I took a few photos and waited for the buffet breakfast to open at 7.
Once we were back on land, a €3 bus landed us in the Stockholm Central Station and I walked to the hostel. They wouldn’t let me check in until 2, so I slept in the common room all day. After that I was known as the bloke who snored really loud. I met Phil that day. Phil and I partied for the 8 days in Sweden. City Backpackers in Stockholm is awesome! I picked it because of the location and ratings online. For around $27AUD a night we had a centrally located hostel with a pretty large common room, they had 4 Mac’s with 20+ inch screens free to use, free wifi, a free sauna daily, skateboards and bikes to hire, free pasta, coded entry into the hostel and rooms with the codes changing daily and free luggage storage lockers for check ins/outs. I used my own sleeping bag, which I didn’t mind, to save a couple of SEK.
The people I met in the hostel were great. They ranged from students studying abroad, travellers like me, and people in town to find work or on business. This was the first hostel where around 80% of the population was from Australia. It wasn’t too bad though, there were a few Americans, Polish, Germans & more Aussies.
On average Stockholm, Sweden is more expensive than Australia. Prices of items varied but most things were more expensive. A classic cornetto is 16 SEK or $2.30 AUD. A bottle of Ballantine’s scotch is 259 SEK or $37.20, Absolute Vodka 239 SEK or $34.50, a sandwich and drink at the airport 100 SEK or $14.40. A whopper meal in Burger King is 65 SEK or $9.25. A Cappuccino is 35 SEK or $5.00. I went to the supermarket & the cheapest protein meal I could find was a cooked chicken for around 40 SEK or $6.00. I ate this most nights because steak and seafood was so expensive. The hostel had free pasta, and all you had to add was a sauce and vegies, but I didn’t want the carbs.
I checked in on a Tuesday. Phil and I didn’t really expect much to happen in town, but we were out drinking until late. Around 10 people from the hostel, 8 Aussie guys and 2 German girls (Kathi & Lena), went to a little bar in Gamla Stan (Stockholm’s old town), which is one bridge away from the main island of Stockholm. On the way to the pub, I was a little intoxicated and was joking around with the German girls. As we were approaching McDonalds, I told the girls we have a restaurant in Australia, which is world class and I take all my first dates there… It’s a worldwide restaurant and I think there’s one in Stockholm… I had them guessing for a few minutes before I told them it was Maccas. They cracked up and wanted to go on a first date with me, Awesome. I didn’t get a second date though, maybe Stockholm Maccas isn’t as good as Australia's???
We danced to the live band, which was fun and it closed around 2. Phil and I were in high spirits, so decided to kick on to another bar called “After”. Once finished talking to a table full of 30-year-old women, 20-year-old Phil decided to bust out the grooves. Within minutes of hitting the dance floor, a cute blonde Swedish woman approached him and said “I’ve been watching you since you came in” and then proceeded to make out with him. Johanna, as we later found out, was a fun & outgoing Stockholm local with a cute but shy friend Astrid. We jumped into a cab and went back to Astrid’s place on the island of Värmdö. We hung out again with Astrid and Johanna on the Monday night where we had an Australian night. We ate local tapas and drank beer, while teaching the girls all about Australia and they taught us about Sweden, It was fun. We played didgeridoo music and they gave us knäckebröd, which is like a savory biscuit they eat for breakfast with cheese, tomato and ham.
Wednesday and Thursday blend into one another, but I know we went out with a big group of ppl ranging from Scotish, Polish, Swedish, American and Aussies. We met Carolina with the Blue hair and I think we went to TGI Fridays till close. We then went to Maccas and climbed statues on the way home. Phil loved he’s statues and I enjoyed taking photos of him climbing them. It’s a fun past time. Phil also introduced me to Snus, which is a pouch of tobacco which you place between your lip and gums for the nicotine to enter your blood stream quickly. I think Sweden is one of the only countries where it is legal. Phil loved it and I tried it a couple of times… I just went light headed a bit, It tasted like shit and was annoying.
After a weekend in Uppsala, Phil and I had our last beer on Tuesday night. After too many beers in the hostel, we missed the Jazz bar and ended up back at bar After. We met some fun Norwegians and ended up home around 4 I think. Wednesday morning, after chatting with Alex from Puerto Rico, I took a bus to an airport out of town for a Ryan Air flight to Venice. It was a lovely drive, and I can’t wait to see more of Sweden next time. It’s a gorgeous country.
Hej då Sweden, I will definitely see you again soon!!
- Stockholm was founded in 1250, or possibly as early as 1187, consists of 14 islands and houses around 22% of Sweden’s population.
- People dress classy in Sweden.
- Sweden’s currency is the Swedish Kroner or Kr or SEK.
- 100SEK = $15AUD roughly when I was there.
- Hello is Hej, pronounced “hey”. Hej då is Goodbye, pronounced “Hey Dua”.
- Thank you is Tack pronounced, “Tuck”.
- Swedish speak excellent English!!
- Burger King in Stockholm has no breakfast menu… WTF??????
- I want to go back in Summer… it’d be awesome!!!