Well, Shea came to visit for two weeks and we had such an awesome time!! He brought me some things that I really miss from home, like Mac and Cheese, fruit leather, ranch dressing, and even some duty free tequila!! We spent some time exploring Örebro - the castle, downtown, Svampen, went to the nightclub Satin, I showed him around the University, etc, and the first weekend we went down to Stockholm.
We were just a 15 minute walk to Gamla Stan, the old town. Our hostel was really cool because it was a boat!
I never had a chance to see Stockholm when I flew in from the U.S. so it was new to me, but Shea went there when he was a kid so he knew a few places that we should go. Gamla Stan is so beautiful and you can really see what sets Swedish architecture apart. We visited the Royal Palace, or Kungliga Slottet, there and watched the guards patroling for a while. Then we visited the Alfred Nobel museum. It was pretty interesting to learn that Alfred Nobel, who founded the Nobel Prize for Literature, Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, and Peace was also the inventor of dynamite.
I loved walking around Stockholm, but perhaps the coolest thing we saw was the Vasa. It's a ship that was built in the 1620's and sank on it's maiden voyage but was salvaged largely intact. It's huge, and covered in carvings. I think it's amazing that it has survived this long. The story behind it is kind of funny though because it sank before it even sailed 1 nautical mile. Apparently it was built a little too top heavy and a slight wind simply pushed it over. At least 15 people died and their remains were found at the bottom of the shipping lane in the 1960s when it was salvaged. It's still a great symbol of Sweden's military effort at the time, and damn impressive to look at. :D
The Eyjafjallajökull Volcano eruption in Iceland nearly ruined our trip to Amsterdam, but lucky for us, flights resumed the day before we were scheduled to fly! When we got to Amsterdam, the weather was beautiful (which was very luck for us since we left both our coats on the bus and didn't get them back until we returned to the airport) and the first glimpses of the city were more than I ever imagined. Amsterdam is breathtaking to say the least. There are picture perfect scenes in every direction. The canals, the buildings, and the flowers, everything. My roommate, who is from the Netherlands, once told me she wasn't that impressed by Stockholm and I think I know why. After seeing Amsterdam, I'm not sure if any other city can compare! We had a lot of trouble finding our hostel at first, but once we did, getting around the city was very easy. The bikers and trams are a little bit terrifying however because they don't stop for anything and they seem to come out of nowhere!
The next thing we noticed is that there are "coffee shops" everywhere you look. I use quotations because although they do serve coffee, their main menu item is marijuana. Interestingly enough, marijuana is tolerated in Amsterdam but isn't actually legal. Since the shops say they sell coffee it allows the police officers to look the other way. It's a strange reasoning, but it seems to be working out!
We were staying near the Red Light District so after we checked into the hostel, we went to look for a place to eat and ran across some of the aforementioned Red Lights. It was quite shocking at first to see girls standing in windows in their underwear winking at you. haha and it was a little surprising that they're mostly very pretty. The ext day we took a tour of the city and learned about the history, laws and customs of Amsterdam from an Australian guy who fell in love with the city. It was really interesting and afterwards we joined him for a dutch lunch in Dam Square. The meal was basically a big mound of mashed potatoes and a sausage, but it was really quite good!
Other places we visited in Amsterdam were the Heineken Brouwery, VondelPark, the Tulip Market, and Anne Frank Huis. The Anne Frank House was definitely the most amazing part of the trip. Since I read the Diary when I was a kid, I've always been very astounded by the Holocaust and I feel very strongly that all people should be educated about it. A museum is built next to her house and you are allowed to walk through it. We went in the small, dark confines that Anne, her sister, her parents and 4 others lived in for over two years before they were discovered. It's such a horrible and sad story to hear. I can't imagine having to live that way. It's just outrageous that people can treat their fellow human beings like that. I think that it's a very important place to visit if you ever travel to Amsterdam and it's so fortunate that I had the opportunity to see it with my own eyes.
I know that I will be visiting Amsterdam again because it's my new favorite place in the world. It's so progressive and welcoming. I love it!
There is so much to say about the two weeks with Shea, I can't possible relay it all to you. I had such an awesome time!! When we got back to Stockholm, we stayed one night there and then we went to the airport and Shea left back to CT. Saying goodbye was soo difficult. I'm just looking forward to seeing him again in 2 months and planning our next big adventure together!!
No comments:
Post a Comment