In this episode, a Duck bites Steven on the toe...
It just seemed like one of the more notable events of the day, although it was an eventful day on the whole. I meet up with Brenna early in the morning and we go for Coffee in Gamla Stan, finding a nice Cafe where we have quiche/panini, and we chat for a while, figuring out what to do for the day. I think all along I am steering us in the direction of Skansen, Stockholm's open-air folk museum, which is a mixture of old buildings from around Sweden, as well as a zoo full of Scandinavian animals.
Wandering through the park we come across a parade of ducks, Brenna decides to feed them her peanuts, and suddenly we're swarmed (Think the deer Gary and I encountered in Nara, Japan). After enough peanuts the ducks start going after anything that looks like a peanut, including my second biggest toe on my left foot! (I am wearing my sandals today). Skansen has lots of neat animals (Bears, Elk, Seals, birds), buildings from all over Scandinavia, and some neat craft demonstrations (We watch Glass-blowing). Brenna is looking for a place to print her e-ticket to Helsinki (She is on the Viking line), and I take her to Sergels Torg, a really cool, Soviet looking square I was in the day before, where I hear there is a cafe with printing abilities, but alas I am misinformed. It's all the same SIDEWALK EXPRESS stuff like in the train stations where you can't do anything except email, chat and surf.
We split up with plans to meet again in Helsinki on Monday morning to go over to Tallinn together. After a bit of bookshopping, I head over to the Stureplan district to check in with the Silja Lines office and get a confirmation of my status for tomorrow's boat to Finland. Once I have that I try to get to the public library for free internet, but it's already 5pm and closing. I have a Stockholm card that gets me into many attractions for free and I need a way to use it. Everything closes at 5pm, but fortunately the VASA museum is still open, so I go back to the Djurgarden Island where Skansen was, and get a 30 minute window to view the VASA, a massive Swedish boat that capsized 20 minutes into its maiden voyage. A huge disaster, but also the best preserved ship of its time. Still, the ship is a massive failure, and in the shadow of the ships computer simulations test your engineering skills to see if you could have designed the VASA to stay afloat!
Basically museum-ed out, I wander over to the other main attraction on the Djurgarden island, that's Tivoli, the amusement park. My Stockholm card gets me in for free, but not on any of the rides, so naturally, I shell out for 8 tickets, that's just enough to ride the 2 roller coasters and the spinner. Fun, but amusement parks need to be a shared experience and I am feeling a touch lonesome.
My Stockholm card gets me back onto the ferry towards downtown Stockhom, but I see that it is making a stop first at Skeppsholmen, the island that has my hostel, just on the other side. I walk back to my boat and sit down, alone again. Behind me some British dudes are drinking scotch and talking somewhat loudly but in a funny way. One of them quotes one of my favorite rap songs by Ice Cube: "I didn't even have to use my AK, yes I have to say it was a good day". Everntually one of them asks if the palace is what we see from across the river, and I chime in helpfully that, yes, it is the palace. My friendliness earns me a spot at their table and an equal share of their Scotch (I make a mental note that I am buying a round at some point this evening). Ian, Ian and Andy are University mates off for a run weekend in Stockholm. They were at a big Rock Show the night before, which included The Raconteurs(Jack White's new band), and many more unforgettable artists (I just forget who they are right now). After the boat we go to the hostel bar, and eventually we end up back at Stureplan where we get some good bar advice from a bouncer (A place called Atlas). The bar is quiet at first but fills up with the fans who just saw Depeche Mode performing live. Music, Movies, Philosophy, Women, are all the topics as beer and cider are consumed. One of the Ians is exhausted (I am pretty wiped too)and we all agree to head back to the hostel, stopping first for some street meat at a local hot dog vendor's stand. After getting ice cream at the hostel, I go to sleep.
Apparently the guys went for a midnight swim after I went to bed. I would have been fast asleep by then. Oh, the duck bite doesn't hurt.
Wandering through the park we come across a parade of ducks, Brenna decides to feed them her peanuts, and suddenly we're swarmed (Think the deer Gary and I encountered in Nara, Japan). After enough peanuts the ducks start going after anything that looks like a peanut, including my second biggest toe on my left foot! (I am wearing my sandals today). Skansen has lots of neat animals (Bears, Elk, Seals, birds), buildings from all over Scandinavia, and some neat craft demonstrations (We watch Glass-blowing). Brenna is looking for a place to print her e-ticket to Helsinki (She is on the Viking line), and I take her to Sergels Torg, a really cool, Soviet looking square I was in the day before, where I hear there is a cafe with printing abilities, but alas I am misinformed. It's all the same SIDEWALK EXPRESS stuff like in the train stations where you can't do anything except email, chat and surf.
We split up with plans to meet again in Helsinki on Monday morning to go over to Tallinn together. After a bit of bookshopping, I head over to the Stureplan district to check in with the Silja Lines office and get a confirmation of my status for tomorrow's boat to Finland. Once I have that I try to get to the public library for free internet, but it's already 5pm and closing. I have a Stockholm card that gets me into many attractions for free and I need a way to use it. Everything closes at 5pm, but fortunately the VASA museum is still open, so I go back to the Djurgarden Island where Skansen was, and get a 30 minute window to view the VASA, a massive Swedish boat that capsized 20 minutes into its maiden voyage. A huge disaster, but also the best preserved ship of its time. Still, the ship is a massive failure, and in the shadow of the ships computer simulations test your engineering skills to see if you could have designed the VASA to stay afloat!
Basically museum-ed out, I wander over to the other main attraction on the Djurgarden island, that's Tivoli, the amusement park. My Stockholm card gets me in for free, but not on any of the rides, so naturally, I shell out for 8 tickets, that's just enough to ride the 2 roller coasters and the spinner. Fun, but amusement parks need to be a shared experience and I am feeling a touch lonesome.
My Stockholm card gets me back onto the ferry towards downtown Stockhom, but I see that it is making a stop first at Skeppsholmen, the island that has my hostel, just on the other side. I walk back to my boat and sit down, alone again. Behind me some British dudes are drinking scotch and talking somewhat loudly but in a funny way. One of them quotes one of my favorite rap songs by Ice Cube: "I didn't even have to use my AK, yes I have to say it was a good day". Everntually one of them asks if the palace is what we see from across the river, and I chime in helpfully that, yes, it is the palace. My friendliness earns me a spot at their table and an equal share of their Scotch (I make a mental note that I am buying a round at some point this evening). Ian, Ian and Andy are University mates off for a run weekend in Stockholm. They were at a big Rock Show the night before, which included The Raconteurs(Jack White's new band), and many more unforgettable artists (I just forget who they are right now). After the boat we go to the hostel bar, and eventually we end up back at Stureplan where we get some good bar advice from a bouncer (A place called Atlas). The bar is quiet at first but fills up with the fans who just saw Depeche Mode performing live. Music, Movies, Philosophy, Women, are all the topics as beer and cider are consumed. One of the Ians is exhausted (I am pretty wiped too)and we all agree to head back to the hostel, stopping first for some street meat at a local hot dog vendor's stand. After getting ice cream at the hostel, I go to sleep.
Apparently the guys went for a midnight swim after I went to bed. I would have been fast asleep by then. Oh, the duck bite doesn't hurt.
posted by Steven at 7:29 AM
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