Stockholm

So far using the trains in Europe has not proved to be the success story that I was expecting. Although the trains themselves are excellent and we did manage to get seats on the journey from Gothenburg to Stockholm, they are subjected to the same delays as in the UK. Our train was delayed for around one hour in the middle of Sweden seemingly to let all the other trains go past. No official reason was ever given.

Fortunately the Swedish country side is extremely beautiful, so we did at least have something to look at. It’s a mix of lakes, vast pine forests and large open fields.

After around six hours the train finally pulled into Stockholm Central Station and we headed to the hostel which was only a short walk away. Having dumped our things in the room Chris and I met a fellow traveller called Ben (from California) and the three of us headed out in search of some food. After yet another fine steak and chips we headed to a bar for several expensive Swedish beers. After an excellent cultural exchange of views and ideas we headed back to the hostel for the night.

The next morning feeling slightly worse for wear we settled down to a somewhat disappointing breakfast comprised of some depressing ham and stale bread.

We headed to Gamla stan (The Old Town), situated on the island of Stadsholmen. The area dates back to the 13th Century which combined with its narrow and cobbled streets has a medieval look about it. It’s a very pleasant area of the town to walk around. From the old town we headed to some cliffs which overlook Stockholm and provide some stunning views.

A view over Stockholm

Afterwards we headed to a place called Max’s for a burger. It’s essentially Sweden’s own version of McDonalds only a lot better. The food doesn’t leave you with the feeling that some small animal has crawled into your digestive system and died there.

In the afternoon we took a trip to the Vasamuseet. The museum displays a 17th Century warship called the Vasa which sank on its maiden voyage in 1628. You’d think this would be of great embarrassment to the Swedish people, but instead they have turned it into one of Stockholm’s most visited attractions. In many ways the Vasa is like the Mary Rose, although not nearly as lame and crappy. The hull of the ships is amazingly well preserved and it seems that the masts and sails were the only major parts of the vessel that did not survive being underwater for over 300 years.

The Vasa... it aint no Mary Rose.

The ship was built during the reign of King Gustavus Adolphus, who from the sounds of things was a pretty arrogant guy. He had great expansionist aspirations and wanted Sweden to be seen as a world power. The Vasa was to head his fleet but unfortunately for him the vessel sank after travelling less than one mile.

On the beakhead of the ship are twenty figures depicting Roman Emperors. Notably Emperor Augustus has been exempt from this list and replaced by Gustavus Adolphus himself. What an absolute lad!

After leaving the museum we headed to the Systembolaget to pick up some drinks for the evening. These stores are government regulated and are the only place in Sweden where you can buy drinks that contains more than 3.5% alcohol. The beers/ciders were fairly reasonably priced and you can buy single cans rather than being forced to get a six pack. Spirits on the other hand are extortionate. On average prices were around £10 more than what you would pay for the same drink in the UK. Chris and I picked up several cans each of some Swedish beer as well as some extra strong Kopparberg cider. Unfortunately you don’t seem to be able to get it in the UK (yet).

In the evening Chris and I headed out for food. Having wondered around for some time we settled on an American steakhouse. It’s the kind of thing you just have to do when in Stockholm. Having completely forgotten about the burger I had consumed earlier I ordered an El Dorado burger, which was essentially a massive beef burger with jalapeño chillies piled on top. Any meal can be instantly improved with the addition of spicy fruit.

Upon returning to the hostel we again me with Ben. He had got talking to some fellow travellers, Mike and Ivan who both came from Vancouver and Kevin, who like Ben was from California. All six of us soon found ourselves wandering around Stockholm is search of somewhere to drink. Ivan led the way to a club which he assured us would definitely be open on a Monday night. However, we eventually arrived at the club in question to find that it was very much closed. In fact there didn’t seem to be that many places open at all. On an average weekday student night in Britain you would have found people everywhere, passed out on the floor, throwing up into gutters or falling into the path of oncoming taxis.

Eventually we found a bar that was open and settled down for some well earned drinks. After a few rounds it was suggested that we once again go in search of a club. Again though our search was in vein and we eventually had to stop at a 7-Eleven convenience store for some further refreshments. Eventually we decided that it would be best to head back to the hostel, partly because we were all bored of walking around but also because there was more beer in the fridge there.

Needless to say Chris and I both missed breakfast the next morning. Although based on the food we had had the previous day neither of us were hugely concerned.

Being hungover Chris, Ivan, Mike, Ben and I decided that a trip to the National Museum would be a great idea. Much of the exhibition was very similar to what Chris and I had seen at the national museum in Copenhagen. There was plenty of stuff from prehistory right up to the Viking period. We did however notice the strange way in which a lot of the information was worded. More often than not it would ask the reader questions rather than just providing the answers. When I go to a museum it’s because I want to be lectured to and informed, not the other way around. There was also a rather trippy video/slideshow which seemed to outline the whole of human history in the space of five minutes. It was displayed across three screens which made me feel somewhat sick, although this may have been down to the hangover. These slightly eccentric nature of the museum made it all the more entertaining. One of the exhibits even showed a can of spray paint, with a caption that read something along the lines of, “spray can for wall art, C.2000 AD”. I assume this was meant as a light hearted way of comparing ancient cave paintings to modern day graffiti.

There was also the hugely impressive “Gold Room” which was full of things like coins, necklaces and sceptres. There is no way we would have anything like it in the UK. All the gold would have been traded in at “cash 4 gold” as a way of helping to clear the budget deficit.

At this point Ben had to leave and go and catch a flight to Germany. The rest of us headed to the Systembolaget where we could pick up some liquid dinner. Upon returning to the hostel we cracked out the beers and a pack of cards and settled down to play some drinking games. We were joined by Danny, an American soldier who had just recently returned from Iraq where he had been training the local security forces. Chris and I were introduced to the games “pyramid”, “Kings cup” (essentially the North American version of “Ring of Fire”) and “asshole”. It quickly became apparent that I am terrible at all card games, although the quantities of beer involved may not have helped the situation.

On out final day in Stockholm Chris and I once again missed the below par breakfast buffet and instead went out in search of a kebab. The Swedes seem to think nothing of eating a kebab during the day, whereas in England it is the kind of food that you only eat when completely wasted.

Afterwards a group of us headed down to one of Stockholm’s parks located alongside the water. Ever since we had met Ivan he had been making grand plans about how he wanted to go for a swim in the sea. When it came down to it he managed to last about five minutes in the water before the freezing conditions forced him back onto dry land. At this point Chris and I said our goodbyes to the group and began the long walk to the Stockholm Ferry Port where we would board the ship to Helsinki.

Stockholm is a truly beautiful city. The fantastic weather which we had probably helped matters as well. The Swedes are all extremely stylish which made me feel comparatively tramp like. The guys all have solid haircuts and the woman are effortlessly good looking. Quite frankly they have put the English to shame.

My only regret about Stockholm is that we did not stay there for longer. You could spend days just walking around taking in the architecture and stunning views across the water. It is certainly a place that I will visit again.

Gothenburg

The journey to Gothenburg began with a 3km treck to Malmö Central Station. It shouldn’t really take all that long to cover the distance but with a large rucksack on your back it is extremely tiring. I suppose this is in part due to my extreme lack of fitness but also due to the large amount of unnecessary clothing I have with me. I seem to end up wearing the same t-shirt/jeans/hoodie combo most of the time, so I could probably throw away a large portion of my clothes.

Fortunately we managed to get seats on the train to Gothenburg where I listened to the mellow tones of the latest Bring Me The Horizon album and read pages from Mark Custis’ Web of Deceit.

Arriving in Gothenburg we faced another long treck to the hostel. The walk along the waterfront was somewhat more pleasant than the treck we had undertaken in Malmö, but the weight of my rucksack still crushed my knees into the ground.

We arrived at the hostel to find that we had been given the top bunks. This is pretty much the worst thing that can happen to you when sharing a room with strangers. Having the top bunk is great fun when you are a child, but when you are 22 years old there is no dignified way of making the climb into bed. It is also impossible to avoid making large amounts of noise and waking everyone up in the middle of the night. It also seemed that the hostel staff had decided to play a game of “how many beds can you fit in one room”. Apparently the answer is five, although I would argue that the room was only big enough for two (three at a push).

Bed Challenge...

In the evening we walked down Avenyn in search of something to eat. It quickly became apparent that this was where all the very expensive restaurants were located. I use the word expensive very loosely because the Scandinavians seem to consider these prices “normal”. Maybe I’m just being a cheap skate but I would consider £25 to be rather a lot for a single course. The price of alcohol is also becoming a point of great amusement. I’m assuming that alcohol related violence in Sweden is extremely low because there is no way anyone can afford to get drunk. In a bar or restaurant £4 is the absolute minimum for a drink, and £6 or £7 is common place. If they started charging prices like that in the UK there would be riots in the street.

We decided that we probably weren’t going to find anywhere within our price range along Avenyn and so went in search of cheaper cuisine. We ended the evening sat on a bench by the waterside eating Kebab Pizza and drinking Coca-Cola. I’d never even heard of Kebab Pizza before this trip but it is pretty much as you imagine. Pizza base with a load of Kebab meat on top. It tasted surprisingly good as was very filling, although by this stage we were so hungry that we could have got by on an assortment of different road kill.

The next morning we walked to the Masthuggs Kyrkan, a large church which was very close to our hostel. From the top of the hill on which it is located you can get a reasonable view of Gothenburg.

Much of the afternoon was spent in one of the parks discussing how it was that all the Swedish people managed to get so good looking. Before coming here I assumed it was just a stereotype that all Swedes were good looking, but it isn’t, they really are outrageously attractive. This posed a couple of questions. Firstly, where did they put all the ugly people? Secondly, how do they stop the “ugly” gene from infecting the population? And finally, why don’t people in England look this good?

What remained of the afternoon was spent looking for a supermarket in the City Centre. We didn’t find one and so decided to head back to the hostel only to discover that there was a supermarket just five minutes from where we were staying.

Gothenburg, much like Malmö is a fairly average town. Unless you are interested in shopping there is very little else to see or do. I don’t mean this in the same sense as I did about Rotterdam. In Rotterdam there is literally nothing to do, but in Gothenburg there are plenty of bars and restaurants as well as the large shopping mall. Even just sitting in the park is very pleasant. Whilst it isn’t a place I intend to go back to it isn’t somewhere that I actively dislike either.

Malmö

The impressive Øresund Bridge and the Drogden Tunnel connect Denmark and Sweden. The overall structure combines a twin track railway and a dual carriageway. The first part of the journey (if you are coming from Copenhagen) involves travelling though the 4km long tunnel to the artificially created Peberholm island which sits in the middle of the strait. From there the nearly 8km long bridge completes the connection to the Swedish mainland.

During the construction of the bridge 16 unexploded World War II bombs were found, but in spite of this the build was completed ahead of schedule.

Upon arriving at Malmö Central Station we realised that we would have to make a 3km walk to the hostel. Taking the bus was simply not an option partly because we only had Danish Krone, Euros and a £10 note, but also because we had no idea which bus to take. Neither of us wanted to risk “winging it” and instead find ourselves at the local branch of Ikea.

The walk to the hostel was pretty much in a straight line, which made everything seem much further away than it probably was. There also seemed to be very little in the way of stand out features.

What with the heavy weight of our rucksacks it took us a good hour to find the hostel which looked to be located next to the main carriageway leading into Malmö.

For the first time on the tour Chris and I were given a room to ourselves. This allowed us to get some serious clothes washing done in the sink and then hang our things up all around the room without getting any disapproving looks from fellow travellers.

Later in the evening we made the long walk back into town in search of something good to eat. We settled on a place called Mello Yellow located in Lilla Torg (Little Square). The restaurant had been recommended by the Lonely Planet travel guide so we were expecting the food to be pretty good. Although it was a cold evening we were still able to sit outside because of the excessive number of outdoor heaters that had been deployed. You could sense that they were probably melting a rather large hole in the ozone layer. Being close to the ocean we decided that fish would be an excellent option. Chris settled for a Tuna steak whilst I went for a Salmon fillet. Both turned out to be excellent choices and were washed down nicely with a couple of “pints” of Falcon Export.

After the meal we headed inside where we were able to watch the Manchester United vs Shalke match and drink some more depressingly expensive beer. It’s amazing how long you can make a drink last when it costs £6.

The next morning, following a hearty breakfast, we headed into town to see what (if anything) Malmö had to offer. Out first stop was to take in the Turning Torso skyscraper located on the City coastline. The building is a 190m tall residential tower block and is so called because of the upwards spiral design it adopts.

The Turning Torso residential tower block.

From there we took a stroll along the beach. Apart from the occasional dog walker or jogger the place was largely deserted and all of the ice cream huts were closed. I’ve no idea what tourism is like in Malmö but I can’t imagine the beach gets busy even in the height of summer.

We took a walk out along one of the piers. The water was surprisingly clean and very shallow. In England you expect to find tyres, plastic bottles and tesco’s carrier bags bobbing about in the water. Stood out on the pier you can look out across the bay and get a reasonable view of the Øresund Bridge. We took the opportunity to put our limited photographic skills to the test by taking some “edgy” low angle shots of the pier and the beach. If only I had photoshop installed on my netbook I could have turned the pictures black and white, or sepia and added a touch of lens flare here and there to make them look even more “cool”.

It's hip to take photographs

From looking at the map we estimated that the Øresund Bridge was probably another 5 or 6km away and wisely decided against making the journey. Instead we headed back towards the town centre in search of something to drink. On the way we passed through one of Malmö’s rather attractive parks. Chris and I decided that all parks can instantly be improved with the introduction of a lake or large pond.

We arrived in the centre and headed for a corporate chain coffee shops as we assumed it would be cheaper than going to an independent retailer. I’m all for using independent retailers but not when they insist on charging comedy prices. Anyway, our assumptions about the “lower” prices were correct and we spent the next 4 hours drinking lattes and putting the world to rights.

Malmö is a fairly average place. There is nothing to dislike about it but there also isn’t anything which particularly stands out about it. It just exists.

The hostel we stayed in was great, the food was excellent and the Swedish people are friendly and welcoming. These things said I can have very little to complain about.