Stockholm Syndrome

            One of the best things about living in a place I never thought I’d live is that I’m now visiting places I never thought I’d visit. I used to have a generic, long, and strict list about the places I thought I should be traveling to: France, Spain, Italy, England… Then I came to Riga, and suddenly the most accessible places were ones I’d never even thought about twice. After Vilnius went so well, I decided why not take advantage of one of the other convenient destinations for Latvians: Scandinavia. Apparently you can hop on a 17 hour ferry and wake up in Stockholm. To be honest, when I first heard about it, the whole thing sounded pretty miserable (except for the being in Stockholm part). But, I decided, meh, it’s cheap and it’s a thing, so why not? I mean really, who needs comfort and sleep for 17 hours if it means I can be in a new country? Thank goodness I took a risk because, as it turns out, the ferry is really a cruise ship. I mean a real cruise ship, complete with tacky colors, all you can eat buffets, duty free shops, concerts by Cher, and a lot of drunken Sweds who came to Latvia for the cheap booze. So I boarded the ship, enjoyed the free entertainment (of the singers and drunken passengers), and found out I sleep really really well on boats.

             By the time I woke up, I was in the happy new land they call Stockholm. It’s everything I’d heard about and more: it’s like walking through Ikea surrounded by friendly happy people. The biggest problem they have there is that alcohol is expensive. But they’ve even fixed that with the ferry to Latvia. Otherwise, they have good government support, wages, and maternity leave, so they’re happy and they know it and they really want to show it. They’re nice and welcoming and have excellent taste in home décor, vintage shopping, and food. It’s the dream.

 

             I started my visit with a meal that was so good I had to call my mom long-distance to kvell. It was an all you can eat organic vegetarian buffet that would turn even the most hardcore of the carnivores over to the dark side. I ate and ate until I could barely walk. 

 

I pushed through the joyous food coma to explore the windy streets of Gamlastan, the old city. It’s full of small, slightly touristy shops and shows what Stockholm used to look like. Amidst the chocolate shops, place dedicated to the Stockholm Gnome (yep, that’s a thing), and cute cafes was The Nobel Museum. The museum was a beautifully high tech lesson on the history of Alfred Nobel and the people who have been honored with his award. There was also a special exhibit about worldwide peace efforts in honor of the recent anniversary. It was pretty and interesting and definitely worth a look.

 

   By the time I finished the museum, most things were closed (it was Sunday), but luckily a friendly swed helped me map out a nice walk across the different islands. I told you they were nice. I saw the lights, and the walking street, and kind of just fell in love. The one thing that was open late was the photography museum, where, of course, there was a special exhibit by a Latvian photographer. Well look at that. Latvians are like Goldstein/Glazers. They’re everywhere. I also saw one of the most touching, beautiful photography exhibits I’ve ever seen, by Pieter Hugo. After growing up in apartheid South Africa he’s dedicated his career to representing the underrepresented. The pictures were graphic, vivid, entirely captivating, and not entirely appropriate for this blog. But oh wow, did they make me stop and stare.

 I started the next day with a breakfast of champions that would make my sisters green with envy: cheese, cheese, and halloumi yogurt.

I then made my way over to the peninsula of Djurgarden, which is basically a convenient collection of museums. With so much to see and little time to see it, I decided to focus on Skansen, the first open air museum. I got to see the old buildings of rural Sweden and traditional animals. And so many peacocks! You literally picnic among the peacocks. Even I would start farming for a life like that. It was pretty quiet because it was a Monday, which made it feel even more authentic and more like a museum of fun little doll houses.

        

             After Skansen I went to wander the wealthy part of town to see the pretty buildings and Ostermalm Hall, aka market wonderland (as if I would make it through a trip without finding a market). The weirdest thing about Stockholm was that a good meal is the same price as a museum, which is the same price as a glass of wine, which is all just kind of expensive. But oh so worth it. The market is more like a collection of cafes and I got one of the Swedish delicacies to take on the ferry ride back, smoked fish. Dad, this is for you: I tried fish and I liked it. If you feed me fish that fresh all the time, I'll eat as much of it as you want. You definitely win this one.

                                 

  I finished off my day and trip by walking around Sodermalm, the southern part of the city. It’s a hipster, vintage, home décor wonderland and the perfect way to finish off my trip. Especially because I found a hot sauce shop (which, again, a bottle of hot sauce cost the same as everything else... I don't usually talk about money but I'm still confused about this one). I then hopped on the ferry home only to discover it was filled with 500 Erasmus (aka European study abroad) students. Way worse than the drunken sweds. Oy. Double and triple oy. Thank goodness I sleep well on boats.