Stockholm was a very interesting city. It had the buildings of traditional Europe but it still felt very modern. Needless to say, I had a lot of fun exploring this city built on islands, fjords and other fun watery words. I even stayed on a boat!
I got in after dark but had to find an ATM because I forgot when I got to the train station. And also food. I hadn’t eaten all day and was getting hangry. And I had all the struggles finding an ATM. For some reason Google kept sending me to banks without ATMs outside. But eventually I found one, got some money and then began searching for a grocery store. I literally could not find one. Maybe it was the hunger keeping me from thinking straight but I literally would go to the spot where it was supposed to be and it would not be there. (I later realized they are all downstairs or in subway stations which was why I couldn’t see them from the street). 2 hours later, I finally found a supermarket that was open and not out of sight.
The first night, I ended up wondering around Old Town and immediately fell in love. It had strong Italian vibes without the Italianness…cobblestone streets, the super saturated while still being faded colors of buildings, quaint feel and the winding streets.
The next day, I braved the snow and the cold. I tried to channel my Scandinavian blood but apparently, I’m more of a Georgia Peach than I previously thought. I stayed bundled up and kept an eye out for icy spots.
I went to my first museum of the trip. A photography museum. They had 3 exhibits – the first was my favorite – portraits of different activists from around the world and a short blurb of their story and mission. The thing I love about Europe, is (generally speaking) they have a much larger world view than the States. There were only a couple of activists from the States and so many from even smaller countries outside of Europe. It was refreshingly well balanced – which I’m not sure would have happened had the exhibit been put together in the States.
The museum also had a cafe at the top with a view of the city so I went up after to check out the view.
Not bad but the frustrating part about Stockholm is that I never could do a good job of capturing the cityscapes. Everything was too wide and far apart to aptly show with the lenses I brought. But I was travelling light and knew I would want more than I brought but I also know how heavy they can get so I compromised. So I tried not to get too disappointed.
In researching Stockholm, I read about Drop Coffee House. It is a local roasters who is supposed to be one of the best in the world. And they ethically source their coffee. So how could I pass it up?
Since they spoke fluent English here (explained a ton of stuff to me about their different roasts), I decided I would ask the experts what their personal favorite was. So at one of the roaster’s recommendations I tried the Kamwangi Peaberry coffee.
It was good enough for me to buy my first souvenir of the trip – a bag of the beans to bring home with me!
Stockholm was a really fun city to explore – even in the cold. The buildings were a variety of colors (which always makes a city better for me in case you haven’t noticed).
But also, you never knew where you would end up. Some streets went up, some went down. Some took you to islands, some took you back in time. Stockholm is a place I think I could have spent a lot more time in – just wondering around, exploring and seeing where I would end up.
Oh and of course I had meatballs. Because Sweden. (I sometimes do the expected)
