Day #156 - Stockholm to Oslo, Norway

7am food offering at the Stockholm Central Train Station

Shrimp, sandwiches, pastry, and juices -- better offering than in Spain

Tuesday, August 17th

I left my hotel this morning around 7:30am. I first took the Stockholm metro to the main train station. I boarded a train bound for Oslo, Norway at 8:30am. We were informed before our departure that we would need to take a bus the final 3 hours of the journey - there was some kind of problem with the rails leading into Oslo.

Everything worked out - but we arrived probably an hour later than expected (4pm). I had booked a hotel last night so I just needed to get a local train to the airport and find the place. I checked into my room around 5pm. Long travel day. I decided to stay in for the night and figure out some plans to start strong early tomorrow.

Norway is known for the many fjords on the western coastline, Oslo and Bergen, the Vikings, the Nobel Peace Prize, the Northern Lights, the North pole, the Winter Olympics. I also found that everyone's tax records are released to the public - earnings are published for the world to see.

All interesting stuff - tomorrow I'll start to take a closer look.

I'm posting a couple pictures of the food offering at the Stockholm central train station this morning. I know a few people have asked me more about the types of food in each country. I'm going to try and add more information in this area. Lately, I've been eating primarily from grocery stores - I'll grab a sandwich, fruit, whatever.

Day #155 - Mariefred, Sweden

Gripsholm Castle

Set on the bank of Lake Malaren

Gripsholm Castle

A moose (rare site) - sorry about the poor image -- very far away

Monday, August 16th

Today I took a long day trip from Stockholm to a town called Mariefred, Sweden. My target - Gripsholm Castle. The physical distance to this location was only about 40 miles or so; however, it required a train, and 2 buses to reach the final destination (about 2 hours).

Gripsholm Castle was built in the 16th century. It stands right on the edge of Lake Malaren. The scenery was spectacular. (a few mosquitoes to deal with - but still good). The castle was occupied until 1864 and is still considered one of the five royal palaces of Sweden. This castle is principally known today as the national portrait gallery, with one of the finest collections in the world (1,200 of its 4,000 portraits on display).

I toured around the castle and took a number of pictures. I then decided to walk back into town - eliminating the need for my second bus on the return trip. Great call. The scenery here was northern Minnesota-like. I saw 3 moose! Awesome! I've only seen 1 moose in the wild my entire life (on a fishing trip in Canada several years ago). Moose are widespread in Sweden - with populations around 200,000-300,000. Incredible. I wouldn't have known this. Moose are so rare to see. I drove in northern Minnesota for 7 years and didn't see one (probably best - you don't want to hit one with a car). Seeing a moose in the states is like seeing a rhino or leopard in the Serengeti - it just doesn't happen all that often.

Before leaving Sweden, I wanted to mention that the 24,000 or so small islands and smooth outcroppings that dot a 150-mile streetch off its eastern coast are called the Swedish Archipelago. This is just a fancy name which describes this area. (similar to Hebrides in northern Scotland). Only 6,000 people live on 1,000 of these islands - the rest are inhabitated. Stockholm itself is built on 14 of these Archipelago islands.

After my trip to Mariefred, I got back into Stockholm and headed to my hotel. I hit the hotel gym and sauna for a little while, had some dinner, and am now preparing for my departure tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow I travel to Norway. This is probably the country I've heard the most about of the Nordic Big 5 before my trip. Let's make some miracles happen

Day #154 - Stockholm - Vasa Museum

The Vasa Museum

The ship recovered after 333 years on the sea floor

A small-scale replica of the ship

The IceBar

Absolut Icebar Stockholm

Sunday, August 15th

I slept long and peacefully - hoping to forget yesterday's disaster. Shake it off. I headed back into Stockholm to visit the most popular museum in town - the Vasa Museet.

On August 10, 1628, a ship named Vasa set sail on her maiden voyage. Unfortunately, the ship did not get far. It sank in Stockholm harbor - just minutes after setting sail. The wreck was salvaged in 1961 after 333 years under the sea. The reconstructed vessel, 95 per cent originial, is now on display at the Vasa Museum.

Wow - this was pretty cool to see. Just think if this was the Titanic. The museum was filled with all kinds of information on how the ship was built and how it was lifted from the sea floor years ago. It was a major process to rescue the ship. It required digging 6 tunnels under the ship, securing numerous anchors and supports, and then hoisting the massive weight to the surface.

The ship was made of wood. One of the most interesting displays to me was how they showed what kept the wood from decaying. It was the brackish waters which kept the ship in tact. In another area, worms could have attacked the wood, eliminating the possibility of recovery.

There were about 50 deaths when the ship sank. The bottom level of the museum honored those who lost their lives. They were very detailed in describing each person - with their bones and everything. Kindof strange.

After walking around the museum, I went across town to the Ice Bar. I had read about this bar made completely of ice - the bar itself, the glasses, the chairs - everything. I needed to check this out. Really, really neat. They first bring you into this small room. They give each person this large jacket and gloves. The temperature of the bar was =5 degrees Celsius and you could stay for 40 minutes.

We went inside. Wooo! It was this dark, blue-tinted little bar. I had paid for 1 drink with my entrance fee. What did they serve? Vodka. Any kind of vodka drink you could dream up. Partly because the bar was called: "The Absolut Icebar Stockholm". They fixed your drink and poured it into this ice glass - awesome. I met a couple from Germany. They were touring Sweden the last 2 weeks. We huddled over this ice bar and talked about our travels. What a cool way to end a long afternoon.

It was now about 7pm. I had spent hours walking around town and decided to call it a day. A nice recovery day in Stockholm.

Day #153 - Stockholm - Drottningholm

Drottningholm Palace

The gardens and Drottningholm Palace

Boatride back to Stockholm

Sunset over Lake Malaren

The finish of the Midnattsloppet 10K

Saturday, August 14th

I got a late start today after sleeping in. I headed back into central Stockholm via the train. I went ahead and signed up for the midnight run on-line, because it stated you had to have a t-shirt and wristband to get into the starting corral. I had to pick-up my registration bag at a store in town. It took me a little while to locate this place.

After securing my running gear, I headed to one of the many boat docks throughout the city - I had plans to visit the island of Drottningholm (means 'Queen's Island'). Drottingholm is the year-round home of Sweden's Royal Family (King Carl XVI and Queen Silvia). I had talked with the Swedish family I stayed with about their Royal Family. They told me it was similar to how England was setup, except not nearly as prestigious in Sweden.

I took a 1-hour boat ride across Lake Malaren to get to the island. Spectacular. It was a great, sunny, Saturday afternoon and people were out in droves on the shoreline and on the water. I enjoyed just sitting out on the deck taking in the scenery. When we arrived at the island, Drottingholm Palace (actual residence) was the first thing in view. I jumped off the boat and toured around. This place was magnificent. I walked around the Palace and it's remarkable gardens. You could walk forever between the water fountains and schrubs which extended beyond the Palace.

A couple unique places on the grounds were the Drottingholm Court Theatre and the Chinese Pavilion. The Theatre was built in 1766 and still host operas and ballets today by some of Europe's premier talent. The Chinese Pavilion is one of the world's best-preserved rococo (Late Baroque) environments with Chinese elements. The building was completed in 1769 and exhibits a blend of East and European objects.

I spent about 2-1/2 hours on the island just walking around. Definitely a good day trip from Stockholm. I boarded the boat and headed back into town as the sun was fading in the sky (see pictures included).

Once back in Stockholm, I decided to head back to my hotel and change for the run tonight.

Here's when the day gets embarrassing. I decided to go back into town about 10pm - that would give me a chance to get to the starting area and figure out where I'm supposed to go for the midnight start.

Ok - this run I'm going to do was called Midnattsloppet. It's a 10K mid-night run that has been a tradition in Stockholm for years. This year the total number of entrants was over 21,000. I saw this advertised in one of the local tourist books - so I just went with it. It's 6.2 miles, not so far, and I thought it would be alot of fun.

They gave us a fluorescent yellow running shirt for the event. All participants were required to wear the shirt to enter the starting gates. Once I got into Stockholm, I had to take a subway to an area of town I had yet to tour around. Now - I've done a few runs before. It was around 10:30pm - I didn't see anyone in Stockholm with the yellow shirt. RED FLAG! With 21,000 runners, where are all the people?? I had a VERY bad feeling.

I took the subway for about 10 minutes to my stop - arriving just shy of 11pm. I get off and start to walk up the stairs. I immediately see a few people with the shirt on. Whew - I'm in the right spot. Wait - these people are sweating. Their shirts are completely drenched. Then, a couple younger guys from the train I was on said: "Dude - are you ready for the run, are you going to win this thing" They were just laughing. I look up and see several more runners walking down into the subway I just had gotten off.

It was at this time, Flashbulbs went off in my head. "Son, you are a complete idiot. The run started at 10pm - not midnight". I made it to the top of the steps, out the door, thousands of runners. All with sweat-soaked yellow shirts. Eating bananas, drinking water, laughing, telling tales of their run. I had just pulled off one of the dumbest things one could imagine. Why didn't I ask someone to confirm the time. But, it was a midnight run!!!!! But then think about it. Why is midnight mass held at 10pm in my hometown? Why does the Big Ten have 11 teams? Why do things at the Dollar store not always cost a dollar?

People are coming up to me: "Hey man, you look like you could run this thing again - you're not even sweating". I couldn't take it anymore. Head and shoulders slumped, I went back down the stairs I had just climbed and took the metro back into central Stockholm. Now what? Well, I prepared to run for 1 hour tonight - that's what I'm going to do. I headed out into the streets of Stockholm, by myself, at 11:30pm on a Saturday night. I just started to run. People are like: "Dude, you can stop running man - the race is over". My reply: "Yeh - I'm just trying to cool down". Which, was exactly what I was doing.

Interesting. Running through the streets of a major city between 11:30pm-12:30am on a Saturday night in a neon yellow running shirt. I got so many comments, it was amusing. I deserved to be mocked and ridiculed. The city was spectacular at night. The run was great - therapeutic.

Once I finished running, I made my way back to the subway for my return train to the hotel. I started noticing everyone looking at me at the train station. Specifcally, people were looking at my chest. Why are people staring at my chest? I look down to see that I have blood on both sides of my chest. Fantastic! I won't go into details, but a new running shirt, combined with a long run, combined with a big chest, can lead to problems if not prepared. Embarressment #2 on the night. Can I find a hole and jump in it? Oh well - I basically hid myself behind some pillars - pretending to look at a map until my train arrived. Back to the hotel at 2am.

This will go down as one of the nights I'd love to forget - but I don't think that will happen anytime soon. "Smooth, real slick Mav" - I'm gonna need a beer to put these flames out.

Day #152 - Stockholm, Sweden

Narrow, busy, shopping streets

A view across one of the many waterways in the city

The Grand Hotel - host Nobel Prize winners in December

A look at "The City" - see the many islands and waterways

A Cultural Festival was going on

Friday, August 13th

Friday the 13th - I've always liked this day. I'm a fan of scary moives - it's a good night to chill inside, dim the lights, and pop in a movie.

If I was writing a travel itinerary for today, it would say: "Stockholm, at leasure". This was my typical - get into a big city, walk around, and just figure it out. Stockholm is best viewed by plane in my opinion. It's a maze of islands and lakes. I'm not even sure what they actually call "The City". It's really cool.

I had to look at a map a little quicker than normal because the area was so expansive. I first saw where the Goto Canal came into Stockholm (I mentioned yesterday how this canal extends from Goteborg to Stockholm). I walked around the Royal Palace - an incredible area set aside on one of the islands. I walked over to the Grand Hotel. This is one of the most famous hotels in Stockholm - it also host the Nobel Prize winners during the second week of December each year.

Their was a Cultural Festival going on today as well. Many bands and booths littered the streets - similar to Goteborg the other day - just on a much grander scale. There was a long street where most of the shopping and restaurants were located. It was a narrow street, isolated for foot traffic only.

I spent the late afternoon at the Tourist Center. I created a plan of attack for the next few days. I'm going to be leaving for Oslo, Norway next Tuesday morning - so I have 3 more days to see the sites. Tomorrow is going to be a fun day. I've got a couple day trips planned and then I intend to run the Midnight 10K in downtown Stockholm I've heard about these runs and biking events before - but I never participated. It should be interesting. After my day travels, I might come back to my place for a little while before heading back for the run.

Here's to a great Friday exploring the capital of Sweden and the so-called "Capital of Scandanavia"

Day #151 - Alingsas to Stockholm, Sweden

Awesome early morning pictures of Jan & Ulla's lake in Alingsas, Sweden

Early morning in Sweden

Calm, peaceful waters

Thursday, August 12th

I forgot to mention that Goteborg is spelled Gothenburg in English. So, if you look at a US map, you may not see the word Goteborg.

I got up early this morning and went with Jan into Alingsas where he dropped me off at the train station around 8am. A hearty "Thank You" to him and his family for their graciousness in extending their home to me for a couple nights. Onward to Stockholm

I took a 4-1/2 hour train to Stockholm - arriving around 1pm. I finished the Anne Frank book on the way. I had to call and talk with my little niece Madeline about my thoughts pertaining to the book. I don't know - the more I read, the more I was becoming less and less a fan of Anne Frank as the person. The book was great -- thought provoking, intriguing, representing a time in history that few people can forget. Anne herself -- I can totally appreciate her situation, her age, and the pressures of the enviroment in which they lived for 2 years -- still, I'm not sure her attitude and demeanor deserve a high amount of respect. Madeline talked me off the ledge a little bit and told me to focus on the reasoning upon which the book was published. Let's leave it at - "It's a great book, representing a terrible time in history, that should hopefully rally people to become better". Nuff said. Onto my next book - Dan Brown"s - Deception Point. I've read his DaVince Code, Digital Fortress, and Angels & Demons. I have Deception Point and the Lost Symbol to go. I'm a big fan of his books.

Once I arrived in Stockholm, I had some lunch at the tran terminal. Then, I got onto Wi-Fi and found a hotel for the next couple nights. I went to the information booth, found out what train I needed, and took a 15 minute ride to my stop at Barkaby. I'm staying at the Welcome Hotel - Ok place.

By the time I arrived and checked in, it was getting close to 4pm. I was pretty exhausted, so I decided to just relax the rest of the day. I took a nap, grabbed some dinner at the hotel, caught up on my blogs, and talked to some of my family via Skype well into the early morning.

Tomorrow - let's see what Stockholm is all about.

Day #150 - Goteborg, Sweden

Jan and I in the double kayak

Getting my first experiences in a sea kayak

Waterfall at Liseberg Amusement Park

Alot of fun on cultural day in Goteborg

Wednesday, August 11th

Today I got up early and went into the city of Goteborg with Jan. It was about a 45 minute car ride from their lake house in Alingsas. Jan had some appointments with work for the day, so he let me out near the bus station and I was off to visit the 2nd largest city in Sweden. We would meet back up later around 5pm for our return trip to Alingsas.

I first had to take care of some errands and find a post office to send a few cards out. I then set out to see the sites. Right away, what I noticed about Goteborg is the amount of lakes and canals running through the city. That always makes for some great scenery and atmosphere. The 'Goto Canal' connects Goteborg on the North Sea with Stockholm on the Baltic Sea. This canal stretches for 322 nautical miles, was dug out by 60,000 soldiers who removed 200 million cubic foot of earth and rock, and has a series of 58 locks.

There was also a cultural festival going on today. This meant that there were many little bands playing on small stages and several booths scattered around town. I stopped in a few of these tents (some better than others -- Jan & Ulla know what I mean here). I walked down to Liseberg Park. It's a huge amusement park area in town. (It's unique here in Scandanavia so far - the amusement parks are generally right in the main town. This is different than my experiences in the states. In St. Louis - Six Flags is way west of the city. In Minnesota, Valleyfair is south of the city.)

Other top attractions of Goteborg were the many museums (history, art, and sciences). There was also a large botanical garden area for walking. It was an all-good day. I did have some rain in the afternoon - but that's why that make rain coats.

I met up with Jan and we drove back over to Alingsas. We had talked the night before and Jan mentioned that he kayaks alot out on the lake. He has both a single and double kayak. He had asked me if I would be interested in going out on the water. I jumped at this opportunity. I've never used a real kayak like this before.

We had returned about 6:30-7:00pm from Goteborg. We quickly switched into lake gear and took the double person kayak out for a test run. I listened to his instructions and gave it a whirl. My only hesitations about kayaks have always been - if the thing flips - will you be able to get out of the boat. Jan said: "No problem - easy to get out".

We took a ride up and down the shoreline. It was awesome! No flipping. It took me a little while to get the hang of it. I was in front and had control of the foot pedals connected to the rudder in the back of the boat for orientation. (I didn't know kayaks even had foot pedal controls). I could see how this sport would be alot of fun. Your close to the water, it's fast, it's peaceful. We got some pictures of us as we neared the dock. A "Thanks" to Jan for this really cool experience.

We followed this with a feast for kings. We had fresh crab for dinner - recently caught and provided to their family. What a treat! Some great conversations again and it was getting pretty late.

Another fun and unique day on my journey.