Bonne Année, les amis! We are officially in Stockholm, a city of fourteen islands, the Nobel Prize, meat balls, and architectural buildings that make Beci swoon. In the wintertime, Stockholm is a frosty, ice-lined beauty with a sleepy essence waiting for spring to wake it up. Just one season doesn't do it justice. Needless to say, we plan to return, and stay, forever. . . Sorry mom. . . (But not sorry it's so pretty.) Officially the Kingdom of Sweden, this Nordic country has a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary democracy (similar to Canada). It boarders Norway to the west, Finland to the east, and connects to Denmark by a tunnel. People have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, but Sweden actively has held its boarders since 1905, when it ended a war with Norway and entered into an official policy of neutrality. Without further adieu, let's get to it! DAY ONE: Fresh off the boat, we got to our hotel with plenty of time to drop off our bags and hit the city! First stop? The Gamla Stan island! Here we stumbled upon the Nobelmuseet (Nobel Prize Museum) in the old Stock Exchange Building. Here we learnt the history of Alfred Nobel and how he founded the five Nobel Prizes which are awarded in Sweden every year (except the Peace Price which is awarded in Oslo, Norway). *** Fun Fact: Canada's first Nobel winner is Earnest Rutherford in 1908 for Chemistry. However, he was born in New Zealand, studied in Britain, and also holds citizenship in Canada. So I'm not entirely sure what nationality he is. . . But my personal favourites are Saul Bellows and Alice Munro (because they both won the Nobel Literature Award)! However, there are a lot of Canadians who have received recognition for their works in all five areas! Next, we found the impressive, red brick, three-asiled Storkyrkan (Stockholm Cathedral) where Beci had to deal with the deceptively hidden identity crisis of the building (but we learned it was Lutheran). Thirdly, we managed to continue with the history trend and found the Medeltidsmuseum (Museum of Medieval Stockholm) on a small island that connects Norrmalm to Gamla Stan. To end the day we picked up Ben & Jerry's, settled into our little boat (because who doesn't love a hostel-converted-boat?), and watched movies (albeit one so horrible it was comically enjoyable). DAY TWO (NEW YEARS EVE): First stop for the day: Kungliga slottet (Stockholm Palace) where we watched the changing of the guards but decided on exploring the palace a different day due to certain exhibits being closed for the New Years weekend. Moving on, we then found the Riksdagshuset (Parliament of Stockholm), took some cool photos, and then continued our march through the icy Swedish streets before landing upon the hidden gem of the Stockholms stadshus (Stockholm City Hall). As Beci loved, it had interesting architecture and a breathtaking colonnade; that put next to the Stadshushparken (City Hall park), we had the perfect view (for my eyes and Beci's camera lens) of the early evening sunset. But it's New Years Eve! That can't be the end of our night? You're right - which is why we trekked ourselves out into the city centre for the midnight fireworks! Which were, by the way, the best set of fireworksI have ever seen in my entire life. In Sweden, you are allowed to set off your own light show; in other words, people were setting off bedazzling displays leading up to the countdown, and far after it. Across all 14 islands, even in the distance, the Swedes lit up the night sky. Amidst all the glamour, they even set off floating lanterns! Stockholm sure knows how to enter the new year with a big bang (which you could hear echoing across the islands). DAY THREE: Today was a typical, lazy day in New Years fashion. We set off to explore Södermalm, the island we were staying on. Our first stop? Tantolunden where locals were taking advantage of the Nordic winter and skating with their families or strolling through the park. After we walked through the leaf-less trees, we found Högalidskyrkan (a Lutheran church) and its crypts (an expansive set of family names in beautiful but eery dark stone circles). To end the day, Beci and I tried different Swedish puddings (Risifrutti for me and Mannafruitti for Beci), which thankfully we both seemed to enjoy our own and dislike the other! DAY FOUR: Today was yet again another museum day (but what more can you expect from History students in such a city?). We began the trip with a stop at the bakery where we both tried Swedish pastries: a Kanelbulle (Swedish cinnamon bun) for me and a Lussebulle (Saffron bun) for Beci! Next stop, the Historiska museet (Swedish History Museum), Nordiska museet (Nordic Museum), and the Vasamuseet (Vasa Museum)! All three had various highlights, but I think our favourite was by far the Vasa, due to the fact it was a museum built around the gigantic 17th century, 98% original, sunken ship that managed to not even make it out of the harbour on its first day at sea. Luckily for us, though, because it kept nearly everything intact in the Baltic waters. And we thought our trip to Helsinki was bad! DAY FIVE: This is it, folks. The last full day of our Scandinavian adventure. However, we gave it our all and are quite content with the outcome! We hope you've enjoyed our adventures as much as we have. Looking back, it's been one hell of a time. Today we began exploring by meeting up with a long-time friend of mine, Ylva, a Swede who took on Canada for my senior year of high school. We explored the Kungliga slottet (Stockholm Palace), a Baroque palace from the late seventeenth, early eighteenth century. We learned a bit more about Sweden and managed to get first hand fun facts from the local, herself! After that we hit up the Fotografiska museet (Photography Museum), where we saw the "Up Close," "Female Bodybuilders," "Identicals," and "Portraits" exhibitions by the ever-so-tallented Martin Scholler! Needless to say, Beci was in her zone. Thanks again for the lovely day, Ylva! Come visit your Canadian home soon! Secondly, we met up with a different friend of mine, Joakim, another fellow Australian exchange student mate. As per Beci's request, the three of us rode the rails of Sweden's subway system to see the Tunnelbana Tour, or rather, "the longest art gallery in the world!" Below the ground, Stockholm has one hundred and ten kilometres of art exhibits at each metro stop. We didn't hit them all, but we saw Solna Centrum, Thorildsplan, Fridhemsplan, Rådhuset, Hötorget, Stadion, Tekniska högskolan, T-Centralen and Kungsträdgården (not in that order). And that's a wrap! We're finished, but we will come back. Scandinavia, you were everything a Canadian needed this holiday. Thanks again for everyone who made this trip so spectacular, we miss you all!
By snow, hello Southern French sunshine! - Jen Quote of the Post: . "You know, if they ever gave a Nobel Prize for avoiding work, every year some white guy in Iowa would get a million bucks and a trip to Sweden." - Andrew Smith
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