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A Change to our Viking (Sweden and Denmark)

8/13/2014

10 Comments

 

Stockholm, Sweden - By Caitlin

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Cobblestones, church spires and cafes galore! We embarked on our newest continent in mid-July: Europe. We were sad to leave Africa, but the familiarity of Stockholm, Sweden was a welcome back to our usual comforts. At first, we were still skeptical of luxuries like tap water and continued to sterilize it, which is laughable considering their tap water is probably cleaner than ours in Chicago. Our bus from the airport had faster wifi than nearly anywhere we had been in Africa. Talk about culture shock.

Stockholm was our first European stop and we included it mainly because a high school friend of mine, Ben, and his fiance Val, have been living there for the last two years. We were fortunate enough to benefit from their Stockholm tips and tricks and we had a blast reminiscing and learning about life in Sweden. Stockholm is a city of islands connected by bridges and scattered with beautiful parks. I started to wonder if “picnic” was a Swedish word because everyone seemed to be enjoying wine and snacks in the parks on blankets. We did our best Swedish impression and had a picnic ourselves (i.e. an American cookout) with Ben and Val and a few others. They introduced us to a Swedish game, Kuub, played on the lawn, and is like bowling or cornhole, but much more complicated (those Swedes are sophisticated right down to their lawn games!).

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Pop Shot bball champ with her prize, a Chicago Bulls bear
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By one of the many canals in Stockholm
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With our lovely hosts, Ben and Val
Between the extensive public transport and renting bikes, we covered a lot of ground in Stockholm, opting for exploring the city on our own instead of doing many touristy things. I missed the famed Vassa musuem, but that only leaves me an excuse to go back. Our favorite spots in Stockholm were the hip Sodermalm neighborhood, Djurgarden, a large park with bike paths and beaches and the quaint Grona Lund amusement park. Stockholm was lovely and while it saw the demise of Jed's attempt at facial hair (RIP JedBeard) it was a great kickoff to our Europe leg. Thanks to Ben and Val, our wonderful hosts, who made us Swedish pancakes with lingonberries for the train ride to Copenhagen. What an amazing treat!

Copenhagen, Denmark - By Jed

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Our other scandanavian stop was Copenhagen, which was a bit of a homecoming for me; I spent a semester abroad there in law school. I had come to view Copenhagen as a great place to live, but not necessarily a great place to be a tourist since I did not think there were a ton of touristy things to do. Turns out when you squeeze a bunch of sites and activities into a few days instead of a few months, it definitely feel like there is a lot more to do!

While the “Little Mermaid” statute, one of Copenhagen's most well-known tourist attractions still disappointed 5 years later (it is literally smaller than I am), I really enjoyed the rest Copenhagen had to offer. There were some of the old favorites, including Nyhavn (a picturesque street by the port with multi-colored, historic houses), Stroget (the pedestrian only shopping street) and Christiana (a weird, squatter-run section of town that has declared itself an independent land). There were also some new areas that I had not been to in the past, such as a very cool 17h century church (Church of our Saviour) which has a spiral staircase on the outside of its towering steeple, and the lovely Norreboro neighborhood by the water.

We were also treated to a lovely evening and home-cooked meal from my local Danish friend, Gunilla and her family. It was amazing to get a home-cooked meal, as it had been many months. It's really nice to get a true local taste of a country and have a more authentic local experience. I hope we can get to do more authentic experiences like this on the rest of our travels.

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View from top of Church of our Saviour
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Our Danish friends and wonderful hosts
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I don't know anything about this staute, but I like it
All in all, I was a bit surprised by how much I enjoyed my return. Copenhagen, like Stockholm, is a very modern, quaint, clean and enjoyable Scandanavian city. A number of things had changed, but a lot has also stayed the same, including my favorite cheap meal, 7-11 Chicken sticks (I know it sounds gross, but people actually eat the food at the 7-11s here because they are much nicer...and everything here in Copenhagen is so expensive!). Looking forward to returning again sometime soon...
10 Comments
Kari aka Mo
8/14/2014 08:50:54 am

I also loved returning to Stocholm and Copenhagen via ur blog posts!! Wonderful text with beautiful pics! Thx for sharing ur adventures with us! Miss u so much!! Luv u XOXO

Reply
Jed
8/15/2014 08:00:39 pm

Thanks Mo!

Reply
Rob aka Dad
8/14/2014 10:48:23 pm

Hi! Sounds like a great time. If I didn't tell you before, I'll let you know when you get home how I almost got thrown out of Christiana. Aren't those two cities wonderful? I particularly loved Stockholm...glad you did too! Thanks for the write-ups! I love them, and you two too.

Reply
Jed
8/15/2014 08:01:38 pm

What?! I had not heard about Christiana. When was this? I am going to need to hear the details

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Jody Johnson aka"Mamie"
8/16/2014 10:46:05 am

I am enjoying so very much my vicarious round-the-world trip with you. Both of you have the writing gene! Coupled with your pictures, my trip is glorious! Who else has friends all over the world??? Love you and miss you. MAMIE

Reply
Lenin Pinto link
8/24/2014 01:50:18 am

Hey Jed & Caitlin,
We met you in Plitvice, hows the trip going so far? Wonderful pictures, loved them all! I have 2 pics of you's in the boat at the lake there.. One I've put in the 'Webiste' field.. let me know if you can access it. In case you can't let me know how i can send the over to you if you'd like to have it. Stay in touch.. might need some advice from you for future travels.

Lenin

P.s. did you get the chance to visit the caves in Slovenia? I hear they are breathtaking.. I'd like to do that some time next year, probably in the Spring. Cheers!

Reply
Caitlin
8/24/2014 08:09:22 am

Hey Lenin! Yes it was great meeting you in Plitvice. Have you made it back home yet?

Slovenia was great and we just left there today in fact. The Caves (Skocjan) were amazing. One of the highlights of of trip. We could give you tips if you do decide to go... You should!

We loved your music! Very cool stuff. Would love the pics and to keep in touch. My email is caitlinjohnson31 @gmail.com.

Take care! :-)

Reply
Lenin Pinto link
8/24/2014 11:32:21 am

Hey!! Great thanks if you were able to give it a listen. Do share it with people you think who might like them (they would usually be Beatle fans or Simon and Garfunkle)
Yes those were the caves!! awk man thats brilliant' you saw those. I sent the pics to caitlinjohnson31@gmail.com. Hope they get to you, and you're happy with them hahah cause my camera is a very simple one.

Will keep my self updated through your blog
Cheers!

Reply
Marie Cannon
9/2/2014 11:26:37 am

I LOVE reading your blogs----i think you both have the makings of a wonderful book in progress. It all sounds so glorious. So thrilled for both of you on this wonderful adventure. And I must say you both look amazing in your photos and your photos are gorgeous.

Reply
Lindsay
10/3/2014 08:12:25 am

I remember those 7-11 chicken sticks very fondly - they were glorious.

Reply



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