Surfing Stockholm

Swedish Security

I finally managed to get out of London and explore another part of Europe this past weekend. My first experience in Scandinavia proved to be a very enjoyable one as I flew into Stockholm, Sweden Friday morning. I went with Dave, another student living in our London flats. Dave is doing an internship at a record label through CAPA but is not in The Washington Center London program. Dave and I have become pretty good friends, partly because we share a near obsessive interest in football and often go out to pubs to watch the Premier League matches on the weekends. He tends to lose bets to me like; what football pitch is the largest in the Premiership, or how many goals were scored by what players in the European Championships over the summer, but I don't hold it against him.

Anyway, we flew in to Stockholm on Friday morning. The airport we flew into was about an hour and a half outside the city, which is a pretty standard inconvenience when you choose to fly with the discount airline Ryanair. On the bus ride to the city terminal we were able to see the Swedish countryside as the trees were beginning to change color for the fall season. Soon we were in the middle of Stockholm, a beautiful city built on an archipelago of 14 different islands. Water and stunning Swedish architecture surround you as you pass over bridges from island to island. The weather was cool and breezy as we strolled by the shops and restaurants on the cozy cobblestone streets of Gamla Stan, the original city center. A small hole in the wall, literally, led us down a narrow alley to a small but fantastic kebab restaurant. It was full of people and we waited in line for our taste of what seemed to be a pretty popular eatery. We enjoyed our meal outside under a tree in a quiet courtyard surrounded by tall earth tone buildings. After our deliciously satisfying kebabs we set off to head to the north part of the city to meet up with Olov.

Tastiest hole in the wall ever

We had never met Olov before, and had only spoken over email after contacting him from a website. The site, couchsurfing.com, is somewhat like the social networking sites facebook and myspace, however it's based on the theme of traveling, meeting and staying with new friends. The site allows you to make a profile, leave references, and host or be hosted by other couchsurfers around the world. So, we contacted Olov, who had about 100 verified references from other couchsurfers, before we left and he said that we could stay in his apartment for the three days we would be in Stockholm. It turned out to be a great experience and we became good friends with Olov as well as an Italian guy named Carlo, Scottish bloke named Colin and a nice German girl named Anika who were also staying with Olov. We had a great time together and it was far better than paying the equivalent of $50 a night for a hostel where you would be sleeping in the same room with 16 other people.

The geometric city square

Saturday was a bit cloudy but that didn't stop us from just walking and exploring the city. We came back to Olov's that night to watch the World Cup Qualifying Match between Sweden and Portugal. He had some friends over and we enjoyed the game before venturing out into the Stockholm nightlife for a few drinks. Sunday was a beautiful and warm day. Dave, Carlo and I set off to walk along one of the city's main ports, admiring, discussing and dreaming about buying one of the fantastic boats and sailing around the world. We walked on towards a museum that Olov said we must visit, the Vasa Museum. The Vasa was a 17th century Swedish war ship that sank in 1628 (I think) and was recovered in the 1980s to be reconstructed. The museum holds the massive revived ship, a great deal of artifacts, and some of the skeletons from the crew that went down with the ship. It was really an incredible thing to see.

Overlooking the port near the Vasa Museum

Stockholm really is one of the most aesthetically pleasing cities I've ever visited. The people are incredibly friendly and the streets are cosy. The island hopping nature of exploring the city really gives it a unique feel. Olov made my first couchsurfing (although actually only Dave slept on a couch, I got a bed) experience a great one, while Colin and Carlo have offered us their couches in Edinburgh, Scotland and Southern Italy respectively. Stockholm had not initially been in my plans when coming to Europe but I'm glad I went and I would definitely suggest it if you're looking for a beautiful and unique city.

One Italian and two American travelers were spotted in Stockholm on Sunday afternoon. They were apparently caught "soaking in the city's scenery" and "having a ridiculously awesome time".