Cruising into Swedish Fjords

My sleep schedule is super off.

In Norway, I was going to bed by 7 pm and up at 1am and then couldn't fall back asleep until about 4am so that hurt. In Finland, had it a little better constructed with bedtime around 11pm although I tried by 9pm. This 6 hour daylight thing is crazy.

On this ship, I fell asleep around 8pm, disrupted by the damn musical entertainment right outside my door that started at 9pm with a follow-up show at 11pm. But even still, I'll certainly say, having that cabin window to watch the sun come up was great.

I sat to eat my breakfast and watch the 1000s of Swedish islands fly past us.

Watch the language!

Who has more islands?

Sweden: about 267,500

Finland: just over 75800

Norway: over 320, 200

And once the water freezes, you can actually walk across to visit the islands!

Once the ship docked, I found my way onto the Vastanhede bus (direct) rather than boarding the local one and within 20 mins, we arrived at Central Station. Even better was that my hotel was right there when I got off the bus! Great idea to keep the hotel within a stone's throw of the central station (metro, bus, taxi, train) and the historic center.

Vastanhede Direct Bus $7

AIRBNB v. Hotel v. Hostel?

Well, if you love to socialize and have shared spaces, but also want to spend the least amount of money, I recommend hostels.

I have never stayed in one, won't ever stay in one, but they are generally very safe and welcoming from everyone I've met who has.

AIRBNB or similar selections is my choice in South America since there are more around and they are located in local urban areas but I wouldn't recommend city Air BNBs if you can't speak the language somewhat. They are usually cheaper than you find in Europe. Over there, the apartments are super small/tiny, they have a ton of stairs most of them narrow and there are just more inconveniences overall (ie. hot water, sewer system). The bathrooms in Europe are also hella small - my toilets are right under the sink and I can't fit my head in the sink to wash my face without getting water everywhere!

For Europe, hotels!

Since nothing was ready at the Thon Hotel- Kungsbron, I dropped off my luggage, headed to Vete Katten for lunch and then circled the historic center before my 2pm Christmas Tour.

Vete Katten

Potato with shrimp/salmon paste 132 kr

* Desserts are overpriced at 62 kr

* Easiest way to convert into $ from the Swedish/Norwegian Krona is divide the number by 10 (so 130 kr = $13)

Exciting points I'd recommend stopping by when in Stockholm:

-Central Post Office

-Nordic Museum

-House of Nobility (Riddarhuset)

-Riddarholmen Church

-Marten Trotzigs (narrowest street)

-Royal Palace

Had a cinnamon bun (aka Fika) and a hot chocolate, bought some tea and soap at the Stortoget Christmas Market, then did the 2-hour walking tour. It was ok. The guide was super nice, but we didn't get any history of Sweden and I love history and architecture. Ended up meeting another woman from Brazil in the group and we went to dinner at one of the cocktail bars on my list. I loved the vibe of the bar but it's not for finding random people to socialize with (aka a traditional bar). She wanted to socialize and the group next to us was kinda being an ass about it. Anyways, still a unique experience. Their menu is not ordinary by any means- I mean, I had the giant floating snot ball in my drink which came in a ramiken, not a glass (it was an oat milk ice cream ball but looked disgusting with all the visual impairments of the ambiance). And it was actually really good!

Nybrogatan 38:

Fried gnocchi 265 Kr

Steak with parmesan fries 365 Kr

20 Hundra 5:

All drinks are $15 each and rated 4/5

Grease and Pepper (Bourbon+ Brandy)

Pineapple Hustle

Pie scream

We actually stopped at Ostermalms Saluhall to look for food but for starters, most items you find there are marketplace meats and pre-packaged meal preps. Second, the restaurants are ritzy and overpriced for what we were looking for so Nyb 38 was a good find.

If you are interested in ice skating, it's available for free at Berzelli Park!

We uber'd back to our respective hotels and she will accompany me to Skansen tomorrow.

Religion:

Another thing to note, most locals do not belong to a Church here in Sweden, Norway and Finland. Some Governments have a church tax and so they avoid it by just being classified as spirtual. If they practice or accept a religion, they are usually either Catholic or Lutheran (think about the Vikings conquest). Otherwise, the majority have returned to their older longer-reigning beliefs of paganism.