A Swedish Odyssey

Imagine a land with three foot snow banks lining the roads, a population with startlingly blond hair and a language spoken in a singsong accent--you'll be imagining Sweden.

During my February vacation I had the chance to visit this nordic country. My trip included visits to the towns of Uppsala, Stockholm and Söderhamn. It was a journey full of meatballs, snow and cosy coffee (in my case, hot chocolate) drinking, or as the Swedes call it, "fika"!

The main part of my stay was spent in Uppsala, a medium sized university town, located about 70km outside of Stockholm. I was hosted by a family friend, Alice, who is currently studying there. We stayed in her small student dormitory, needless to say there wasn't a lot of room. I prefer to think of it as cozy. Looking back on my trip, Uppsala was the ideal home base. Not only was it only a forty minute train ride away from outrageously pricey Stockholm, but it also let me discover Swedish student life. Not to mention Uppsala is the ecclesiastical capital of Sweden and rich with history.

My first couple day was spent touring Uppsala with Alice. We stopped in at one of the university's cafe/library/event centres where I was first introduced to Swedish fika. Fika is of course a Swedish word that means a cozy coffee break in company of friends. Actually, it's considered to be the most important Swedish word. This experience was made even more Swedish, because we enjoyed a slice of  smörgåstårta, Swedish sandwich cake, with our warm drinks.

Downtown Uppsala. 

 Alice with her coffee and smörgåstårta

 The next couple of days I spent in the magnificent Swedish capital of Stockholm. It's a gorgeous city, even in the dismal winter weather. I spent my time touring the City Hall, Gamla Stan, the Parliament, the Royal Palace and various other neighbourhoods. The plan for my last day in Stockholm was to visit the renowned museums, but it just so happens that the sun decided to shine, making a second trip to charming Gamla Stan and a walk along the waterfront irresistible. If your planning a trip to Northern Europe I would highly recommend a trip to Stockholm, you won't regret it.

Stockholm Central Station. 

Gamla Stan.

Gamla Stan.

                                        

Stockholm, still beautiful in the bitter winter weather. 

The Swedish Parliament at sunset. 

Downtown Stockholm.

Before heading up to Söderhamn, I spent one last day in Uppsala with Alice. We went to IKEA! I believed it was a genuine Swedish experience I didn't want to miss out on. 

For my final two days I headed up to Söderhamn to visit Alice's family. Söderhamn isn't even Northern Sweden, but it's approximately on the same latitude as Yellow Knife, NWT. It was my first truly northern experience. 

We had a beach day, Swedish style. You're looking at the ocean.

Walking on water.

We also went sledding down a dangerously steep sled hill. 

There weren't many who survived the trip down. 

After a week of Swedish adventures it was time to head home. It was an awesome vacation and I'm sure I'll be making a return trip sometime in the future. But as a true Dane would always say, it was so nice to come back to Denmark, the best Scandinavian country ;-)