monday. campus errands & gamla stan.
I'm trying out a new technique where I'll draft parts of posts when I get a free moment, so they might end up with more detailed text. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing.
So on Monday, I spent half the day running errands on campus. Only one of my textbooks was in the bookstore (I was told by the clerk that one book I was looking for has not been sold in ages there, so I don't exactly know how we're expected to buy it). I bought some miscellaneous supplies as well, and went to talk to various people on various questions. The THS (KTH student union) office was completely confused as to what I was asking for, and redirected me to contact one of the student reps, who emailed me back with the answers I sought. My academic coordinator was also unable to help me with registration for a particular course, and sent me to the corresponding department- who told me that I was in the wrong department, and it wasn't their responsibility, and referred me to the physics department instead. By that time, I wouldn't have made it to their office before it closed, so I put the task aside for another day.
My friend and I passed by a random bouncehouse party that must have been from one of the departments, all in bright yellow construction or traffic vests and seemingly having a blast. It was a funny sight.
After that, we ate at the Italian restaurant on campus (which had surprisingly decent pizza, considering the price) and headed out to Gamla Stan for some exploration.
Above: A cello player in the tunnelbana station in Gamla Stan.
We walked around for a bit, before deciding to head toward the castle where the royal family resides.
Passed by the small restaurant along one of the streets as shown in the photo below. Not a very Nordic menu at all, despite the flags.
Despite the throngs of tourists that greet you around every corner, Gamla Stan is actually a nice place to take a walk. Plus, the weather was still nice when we were out and about- sunny with a cool breeze. (It poured just as we arrived home.)
Above: Panoramic view from the waterside.
We got ice cream while we were nearby an ice cream stall, and stopped to eat it before continuing on. Little sparrows and fat pigeons hopped and waddled along the ground as people threw bread crumbs toward them.
We soon approached the castle and walked around one side to take in the scenic view and capture it in photos.
The guards changed places while we stood there. It wasn't a huge fuss, but it was interesting enough for those of us who had never seen the changing of the guards before. Of all the guards we saw that day, approximately half or slightly over were female.
After we had walked the full circle around the palace, we headed out to find food. Most of the restaurants here are ridiculously high-priced, considering it's a tourist industry that can get by with overcharging unwitting customers who aren't from the Stockholm area.
And so, we ended up at the little café underground again, Sten Sture. We ordered a plate each of meatballs. The food looked quite good, but the meatballs themselves were sadly disappointing. Background music was nice, however. Gregorian chants, like last time (although it was mixed with Loreena McKennitt the previous time I'd visited), and one Gregorian chant cover version of "Join Me In Death" by the Finnish love metal band H.I.M. It almost made me choke on my glass of water from surprise.
After the meal, we set off again toward the tunnelbana. It was already well through the late afternoon, and soon evening.
A man was singing in some language that I couldn't identify. He seemed to be singing in Spanish or Portuguese with a thick accent from somewhere else as he stood and promoted his CD album, but I wasn't quite as impressed as he'd perhaps hoped. We continued on afterward.
For some reason, this owl decoration in a window was rather creepy. It might have been the unlit eye that did the trick, and it probably looks even scarier at night, I'd bet.
There is also apparently a German church in Gamla Stan. Quite a picturesque and elegant building, actually.
Passed by this place, as well. Apparently they give "ghost walks" for the entertainment of the tourists who are interested in folklore and creepy stuff. I'm thinking about going once, just for the heck of it.
As we neared the tunnelbana station, just a few blocks away, there was a duo performing on the hang drum (a somewhat rare drum made in Switzerland). Apparently, Hang Massive are a British-Swedish duo, and their record label seems to be based in Sweden. They played extremely well, and were clearly enjoying themselves as they performed. One of the children in the audience began dancing around with her baby doll to the music. I ended up buying their CD, and I'm not disappointed.
The information and timelines were interesting to read, and we took a coffee/chocolate break in the middle at the café there.
There was a separate room with information on Alfred Nobel himself, and his personal life. The exhibit ended with his will.
For dinner, we went to Vapiano, an Italian restaurant chain that is apparently spread worldwide in major cities. I've never tried it before, but I liked it. The food was good, and the way in which they take your order and charge it onto the card they give you actually seems very efficient. We receive the customer cards at the entrance, order what we want at the stations, and then each station will add the price of the food to the card. That way, the card is swiped at the cash register to determine how much is owed in the end.
It was the perfect day for a morning walk, and I enjoyed the view along the way to the castle.
There was a map and information at the edge of the Ulriksdal premises, although it was still a bit of a walk until I would reach the castle.
There was a small children's toy left in the crook of a tree along the path. I took a photo and moved on.
There are various buildings around Ulriksdal, including the inn (Ulriksdal wärdshus), the café, the church and other buildings. I didn't get to visit all of them, and in fact, I only went into the café. But I took pictures from the outside of these places.
This is a plaque, pictured below, that explains the coronation of Queen Kristina. She was crowned here at Ulriksdals slottet, which is why this has remained a historical area. It doesn't seem to be in use by the royals anymore; rather, it's a purely touristic place with a nice atmosphere. A lot of small children were there in the gardens and palace yard, probably from the nearby school.
The cat in the picture below seemed to belong to someone (there's private property around Ulriksdal, as well, where people live). It followed me around for a while.
The cat popped up again by this fence, looked at me, meowed loudly and ran away across the field once it saw that I wouldn't do more than take its photo.
There's a smithy somewhere farther down along the path from the castle, but I didn't get to see it. I might try to find it next time.
Horse crossing sign. In fact, a horse and rider walked through the back parking lot of my dorm complex a few days later. I didn't really expect that, even thought I knew there were people with horses around the vicinity. And they were going quite slowly, despite the threat of rainclouds. :P
The jet trail in the sky made an interesting crossed path with the sun when I looked up at the sky again.
Below was the sign directing visitors toward the smithy in the distance. This picture was taken heading in the opposite direction.
The water around the Ulriksdal area was calm. There's a little walking path along the perimeter, as well, so I might go back and walk around it sometime.
The castle/palace itself isn't enormous, but it's rather large lengthwise and has various parts within it. I didn't go inside, and I'm not really sure if there are certain hours when it's open. Nobody was touring the inside when I was there.
The little café at the edge of the castle was really nice. It's got coffee, tea and hot chocolate, as well as pies, sandwiches, cakes and other pastries and dishes. It's a decently large selection on the menu to choose from.
These little birds were sneaky. When people got up to refill their coffee cups, the birds would come to sit on the edge of the food plates and steal food. When I got up to grab a napkin from inside, I came out to find one of them sitting on the edge of my coffee cup.
I fed them a few bread crumbs, just for the photos.
By the time my friend arrived to the castle café and ordered his food, I had to run off to a student union presentation at KTH. I made it about fifteen minutes late, but it seemed they hadn't done anything more than tell students to introduce themselves to each other, and so I hadn't missed anything.
For lunch, we went to a place called Sushi Ting Ting (the name made me laugh), a short way outside of KTH. The servers seemed to speak more English than Swedish, but I'd ordered in Swedish anyway. The dumplings were actually good there.
In the evening, we went to Zócalo, a Mexican-style restaurant. Considering the varieties of tacos, burritos and other food they served, it didn't seem to be entirely Mexican; more like Mexican-American. But I was impressed by both the fast service and the good food. I had chicken tacos with mango-pineapple salsa, and the price was quite reasonable.
After dinner, we walked around the centre of the city for a while. My phone camera took the worse quality photos out of both our phones, but they're not terrible pictures, considering it isn't from an actual camera.
The Stockholm Waterfront area looks much different at night than from daytime.
I thought I'd also post some of the fail-photos I got using the panoramic shot on my camera. It shouldn't take too much effort to spot the errors!
I like how practically every car in those panoramics ends up looking like a Smartcar. It almost makes it feel like France. :P
The food was good, and the prices for the main course were quite affordable, considering it was possible to combine entrées.
friday.
Friday was actually flashmob day, put on by BEST Stockholm at the KTH branch. We all walked to Östermalmstorg and tried (and failed) to sync our clocks together to start the audio instructions at the same time. I thought we were going to do a music flashmob, but it's just as well that we didn't. We huddled under Svampen, the mushroom-like structure in the square, and did the best we could with the space we had for the flashmob, as other people sought shelter from the rainstorm. (Convenient on the day of the flashmob, right?) So it was a little strange, but fun. I don't have any photos to post, considering my audio track fell out of sync when I opened the camera app on my phone.
It was my friend's last night here in Stockholm before returning to Denmark, so we went out for dinner to the French restaurant I posted about toward the beginning of this blog, Brasserie Godot. Probably the most expensive restaurant in Östermalm, but the food's excellent. We were soaked by the time we arrived (even I, with my umbrella, had gotten wet), and we and the other customers were grateful once the servers opened the doors to let us in.
saturday.
Saturday morning was foggy and quiet, and it was time to bring my friend back to Central Station so he could take the Arlanda Express toward the airport.
Of course, the trains were down for maintenance, so he had to run for a (ridiculously expensive) taxi instead, which happened to be non-flatrate and the only taxi available. Luckily, he made it in time to his flight.
After I'd had a coffee and some food from the Starbucks at the station to wake myself up, I decided to go for a walk. I got off at the Tekniska Högskolan tunnelbana stop and walked all the way back to the T-Centralen stop to see how long it would take me. Not counting the point where I stopped for food, it only took a little longer than half an hour, perhaps around 40 minutes.
I found this restaurant in one of the shopping centres (I think it was MOOD Stockholm), which served Asian food in a mixed atmosphere of modern Asian and European style. I ordered one of the dim sum plates (steamed dumplings), and was not disappointed.
I then left the mall and continued on toward Hötorget, and then back toward T-Centralen.
Ended up at the other shopping mall, Gallerian.
For dinner, I ended up at Taco Bar nearby. The plate of nachos was good. I think if this chain set up a few places in the US, they'd probably make a good amount of money, since people generally like tacos and beer. Not to mention, the food served at Taco Bar is much better than something like Taco Bell (no offence to anyone in love with them).
The loppis at Hötorget. Some people sold their old belongings, while others seemed to bring clearance items from their shops and businesses.
I went to MAX for dinner, an interesting fast food place where the order is placed at a kiosk, and then your order number shows up on the front monitor when it's ready. About the same pricing as McDonald's, and at least it's better quality here. I'm not a fan of fast food in general, but I was starving by this point, and it was near T-Centralen.
I'm trying out a new technique where I'll draft parts of posts when I get a free moment, so they might end up with more detailed text. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing.
So on Monday, I spent half the day running errands on campus. Only one of my textbooks was in the bookstore (I was told by the clerk that one book I was looking for has not been sold in ages there, so I don't exactly know how we're expected to buy it). I bought some miscellaneous supplies as well, and went to talk to various people on various questions. The THS (KTH student union) office was completely confused as to what I was asking for, and redirected me to contact one of the student reps, who emailed me back with the answers I sought. My academic coordinator was also unable to help me with registration for a particular course, and sent me to the corresponding department- who told me that I was in the wrong department, and it wasn't their responsibility, and referred me to the physics department instead. By that time, I wouldn't have made it to their office before it closed, so I put the task aside for another day.
My friend and I passed by a random bouncehouse party that must have been from one of the departments, all in bright yellow construction or traffic vests and seemingly having a blast. It was a funny sight.
After that, we ate at the Italian restaurant on campus (which had surprisingly decent pizza, considering the price) and headed out to Gamla Stan for some exploration.
Above: A cello player in the tunnelbana station in Gamla Stan.
We walked around for a bit, before deciding to head toward the castle where the royal family resides.
Passed by the small restaurant along one of the streets as shown in the photo below. Not a very Nordic menu at all, despite the flags.
Despite the throngs of tourists that greet you around every corner, Gamla Stan is actually a nice place to take a walk. Plus, the weather was still nice when we were out and about- sunny with a cool breeze. (It poured just as we arrived home.)
Above: Panoramic view from the waterside.
We got ice cream while we were nearby an ice cream stall, and stopped to eat it before continuing on. Little sparrows and fat pigeons hopped and waddled along the ground as people threw bread crumbs toward them.
We soon approached the castle and walked around one side to take in the scenic view and capture it in photos.
The guards changed places while we stood there. It wasn't a huge fuss, but it was interesting enough for those of us who had never seen the changing of the guards before. Of all the guards we saw that day, approximately half or slightly over were female.
After we had walked the full circle around the palace, we headed out to find food. Most of the restaurants here are ridiculously high-priced, considering it's a tourist industry that can get by with overcharging unwitting customers who aren't from the Stockholm area.
And so, we ended up at the little café underground again, Sten Sture. We ordered a plate each of meatballs. The food looked quite good, but the meatballs themselves were sadly disappointing. Background music was nice, however. Gregorian chants, like last time (although it was mixed with Loreena McKennitt the previous time I'd visited), and one Gregorian chant cover version of "Join Me In Death" by the Finnish love metal band H.I.M. It almost made me choke on my glass of water from surprise.
After the meal, we set off again toward the tunnelbana. It was already well through the late afternoon, and soon evening.
A man was singing in some language that I couldn't identify. He seemed to be singing in Spanish or Portuguese with a thick accent from somewhere else as he stood and promoted his CD album, but I wasn't quite as impressed as he'd perhaps hoped. We continued on afterward.
For some reason, this owl decoration in a window was rather creepy. It might have been the unlit eye that did the trick, and it probably looks even scarier at night, I'd bet.
There is also apparently a German church in Gamla Stan. Quite a picturesque and elegant building, actually.
Passed by this place, as well. Apparently they give "ghost walks" for the entertainment of the tourists who are interested in folklore and creepy stuff. I'm thinking about going once, just for the heck of it.
As we neared the tunnelbana station, just a few blocks away, there was a duo performing on the hang drum (a somewhat rare drum made in Switzerland). Apparently, Hang Massive are a British-Swedish duo, and their record label seems to be based in Sweden. They played extremely well, and were clearly enjoying themselves as they performed. One of the children in the audience began dancing around with her baby doll to the music. I ended up buying their CD, and I'm not disappointed.
Only a few more blocks to the tunnelbana, and we passed by this place, too. I'm not exactly sure what it was (likely a restaurant or bar), but the window lettering was amusing.
tuesday.
It was raining already in the morning, so we decided it would be a museum day. We headed out to Gamla Stan in the mid-afternoon and went to the Nobel museum, where we were granted the student discounts, despite coming from universities abroad.
The information and timelines were interesting to read, and we took a coffee/chocolate break in the middle at the café there.
There was a separate room with information on Alfred Nobel himself, and his personal life. The exhibit ended with his will.
For dinner, we went to Vapiano, an Italian restaurant chain that is apparently spread worldwide in major cities. I've never tried it before, but I liked it. The food was good, and the way in which they take your order and charge it onto the card they give you actually seems very efficient. We receive the customer cards at the entrance, order what we want at the stations, and then each station will add the price of the food to the card. That way, the card is swiped at the cash register to determine how much is owed in the end.
wednesday.
The day was off to an early start for me, since I had scheduled the laundry room at 7. The weather was sunny and breezy, contrary to what the forecast had been. I walked out to Ulriksdals slottet (the Ulriksdal castle).
It was the perfect day for a morning walk, and I enjoyed the view along the way to the castle.
There was a map and information at the edge of the Ulriksdal premises, although it was still a bit of a walk until I would reach the castle.
There was a small children's toy left in the crook of a tree along the path. I took a photo and moved on.
There are various buildings around Ulriksdal, including the inn (Ulriksdal wärdshus), the café, the church and other buildings. I didn't get to visit all of them, and in fact, I only went into the café. But I took pictures from the outside of these places.
This is a plaque, pictured below, that explains the coronation of Queen Kristina. She was crowned here at Ulriksdals slottet, which is why this has remained a historical area. It doesn't seem to be in use by the royals anymore; rather, it's a purely touristic place with a nice atmosphere. A lot of small children were there in the gardens and palace yard, probably from the nearby school.
The cat in the picture below seemed to belong to someone (there's private property around Ulriksdal, as well, where people live). It followed me around for a while.
The cat popped up again by this fence, looked at me, meowed loudly and ran away across the field once it saw that I wouldn't do more than take its photo.
There's a smithy somewhere farther down along the path from the castle, but I didn't get to see it. I might try to find it next time.
The castle gardens were very well-kept. They're not very large, but they're nice for a leisurely stroll, at any rate.
Horse crossing sign. In fact, a horse and rider walked through the back parking lot of my dorm complex a few days later. I didn't really expect that, even thought I knew there were people with horses around the vicinity. And they were going quite slowly, despite the threat of rainclouds. :P
The jet trail in the sky made an interesting crossed path with the sun when I looked up at the sky again.
Below was the sign directing visitors toward the smithy in the distance. This picture was taken heading in the opposite direction.
The water around the Ulriksdal area was calm. There's a little walking path along the perimeter, as well, so I might go back and walk around it sometime.
The castle/palace itself isn't enormous, but it's rather large lengthwise and has various parts within it. I didn't go inside, and I'm not really sure if there are certain hours when it's open. Nobody was touring the inside when I was there.
The little café at the edge of the castle was really nice. It's got coffee, tea and hot chocolate, as well as pies, sandwiches, cakes and other pastries and dishes. It's a decently large selection on the menu to choose from.
These little birds were sneaky. When people got up to refill their coffee cups, the birds would come to sit on the edge of the food plates and steal food. When I got up to grab a napkin from inside, I came out to find one of them sitting on the edge of my coffee cup.
I fed them a few bread crumbs, just for the photos.
By the time my friend arrived to the castle café and ordered his food, I had to run off to a student union presentation at KTH. I made it about fifteen minutes late, but it seemed they hadn't done anything more than tell students to introduce themselves to each other, and so I hadn't missed anything.
For lunch, we went to a place called Sushi Ting Ting (the name made me laugh), a short way outside of KTH. The servers seemed to speak more English than Swedish, but I'd ordered in Swedish anyway. The dumplings were actually good there.
In the evening, we went to Zócalo, a Mexican-style restaurant. Considering the varieties of tacos, burritos and other food they served, it didn't seem to be entirely Mexican; more like Mexican-American. But I was impressed by both the fast service and the good food. I had chicken tacos with mango-pineapple salsa, and the price was quite reasonable.
After dinner, we walked around the centre of the city for a while. My phone camera took the worse quality photos out of both our phones, but they're not terrible pictures, considering it isn't from an actual camera.
The Stockholm Waterfront area looks much different at night than from daytime.
I thought I'd also post some of the fail-photos I got using the panoramic shot on my camera. It shouldn't take too much effort to spot the errors!
I like how practically every car in those panoramics ends up looking like a Smartcar. It almost makes it feel like France. :P
thursday.
Nothing too exciting to post about for most of the day. My friend and I stayed in and played computer games for a while, and didn't do much else that was particularly memorable. In the evening, we met up with another friend and went down to Södermalm to a vegetarian restaurant called Chutney.
We passed by this food truck, and I thought it was funny.
friday.
Friday was actually flashmob day, put on by BEST Stockholm at the KTH branch. We all walked to Östermalmstorg and tried (and failed) to sync our clocks together to start the audio instructions at the same time. I thought we were going to do a music flashmob, but it's just as well that we didn't. We huddled under Svampen, the mushroom-like structure in the square, and did the best we could with the space we had for the flashmob, as other people sought shelter from the rainstorm. (Convenient on the day of the flashmob, right?) So it was a little strange, but fun. I don't have any photos to post, considering my audio track fell out of sync when I opened the camera app on my phone.
It was my friend's last night here in Stockholm before returning to Denmark, so we went out for dinner to the French restaurant I posted about toward the beginning of this blog, Brasserie Godot. Probably the most expensive restaurant in Östermalm, but the food's excellent. We were soaked by the time we arrived (even I, with my umbrella, had gotten wet), and we and the other customers were grateful once the servers opened the doors to let us in.
saturday.
Saturday morning was foggy and quiet, and it was time to bring my friend back to Central Station so he could take the Arlanda Express toward the airport.
Of course, the trains were down for maintenance, so he had to run for a (ridiculously expensive) taxi instead, which happened to be non-flatrate and the only taxi available. Luckily, he made it in time to his flight.
After I'd had a coffee and some food from the Starbucks at the station to wake myself up, I decided to go for a walk. I got off at the Tekniska Högskolan tunnelbana stop and walked all the way back to the T-Centralen stop to see how long it would take me. Not counting the point where I stopped for food, it only took a little longer than half an hour, perhaps around 40 minutes.
I found this restaurant in one of the shopping centres (I think it was MOOD Stockholm), which served Asian food in a mixed atmosphere of modern Asian and European style. I ordered one of the dim sum plates (steamed dumplings), and was not disappointed.
I then left the mall and continued on toward Hötorget, and then back toward T-Centralen.
Ended up at the other shopping mall, Gallerian.
Saw this card at the mall and thought it was cute :P
For dinner, I ended up at Taco Bar nearby. The plate of nachos was good. I think if this chain set up a few places in the US, they'd probably make a good amount of money, since people generally like tacos and beer. Not to mention, the food served at Taco Bar is much better than something like Taco Bell (no offence to anyone in love with them).
sunday.
There was a loppis (rummage sale or flea market, call it what you will) at my housing area around noon, and I found a few small things to buy. Later in the day, I went out to look for new shoes (my sneakers weren't waterproof in the least, and as such, were pretty much totalled after the stormy weather all week). Once I'd finished that errand, I went again to Hötorget and happened to find that there was an outdoor flea market in the square. I found a lot of old Kent CDs among others, that aren't easy to find in the US, so I bought them at less than a quarter of the original price. I also got some other interesting things.
In case you ever wondered, there is such a thing as liquorice-flavoured Mentos.
The loppis at Hötorget. Some people sold their old belongings, while others seemed to bring clearance items from their shops and businesses.
Shown below is probably the most trustworthy and sturdy brand of luggage I've ever seen. ;) Look closely at the brand name.
I went to MAX for dinner, an interesting fast food place where the order is placed at a kiosk, and then your order number shows up on the front monitor when it's ready. About the same pricing as McDonald's, and at least it's better quality here. I'm not a fan of fast food in general, but I was starving by this point, and it was near T-Centralen.
And so I'll conclude this post on Week 35 :)
Mvh
/The Swedish Fish
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