Valborg

Uppsala
Winter is over, and summer is right around the corner. To celebrate, the Swedes have Valborg.  There is a muddled history of the holiday available online...but to me it seems to be a way for the Swedes to let off some steam and welcome in the much-needed increasing hours of daylight.

Uppsala, the largest university town in Sweden, is the home of Uppsala University, and a wild Valborg celebration.  In Sweden it is illegal to drink alcohol in the street or on a train, but apparently on Valborg those rules do not apply.  The early commuter train to Uppsala was filled with students armed with Systembolaget bags and backpacks full of clanking booze bottles and snacks.  The festivities began with a 10am boat race along the Uppsala canal.  Hardly a race by any means, the student-made boats (fashioned from wood and foam insulation) start upstream before they slowly make their way through two small waterfalls in the center of town.

Although crowds lined the canal over an hour before the race, we managed to snag a nice spot near the first set of falls.  Each team (between 2 and 4 students) has one week to build the boat out of the supplied materials, and some of the designs were pretty amazing. All of the boats had a theme, and the riders dressed up to match their boat.  There was the one from the Soviet Union,

whose captain waved the flag after they successfully made it over the falls.

However, Spongebob and Santa Claus + Rudolph both capsized while forging the rapids...luckily there were rescue workers donned with flippers and wetsuits that jumped in to save them both.

It looked like so much fun! The first hour or so of the boat race was great, but the whole thing lasted nearly 2 hours with around 50 or 60 teams and began to get a little boring. We had heard that after the race most young people head over to Ekonomikimparken (a park) to hang out and have a BBQ and some drinks.  What we expected was something similar to what we saw in a small patch of grass besides the canal:

...but what we found was something far different.  Nearly every square inch of the park was packed with people. The music was loud, the bass was enormous, not one person was BBQing, and everyone was well on their way to being drunk or already there; it was a drunken mess.

It would have been fun to lie on the grass (in another park in Uppsala) and hang out with a large group of friends...but since it was just the two of us, we decided to explore the city and see what else the locals were up to.

Being the tallest building around, we were naturally attracted to the Uppsala Cathedral.  It has a beautiful exterior, but is rather boring inside.

Only a few minutes away from the raging party in the park, we stumbled upon the park outside Botaniska Trägården, with its great view of the Uppsala Castle,

which coincidentally has a nice view that overlooks the Uppsala Cathedral and much of the city.

After stopping for fika, we made sure to be at Carolina Rediviva for Mösspåtagning, Uppsala's traditional welcoming of Spring.  We were under the impression that following a speech from the Chancellor of Uppsala University, everyone would celebrate by throwing their hats in the air before they ran off to party.  What really happens, though, is that at 3 o'clock the Chancellor waves his white cap from the balcony of the Carolina Rediviva building and all the students/alumni in the crowd do the same, resulting in a sea of people waving their white caps.

It was a pretty neat thing to see, but no one said a word...there were no speeches, there was no music.  People came, they waved their hat, and then they left...another instance where I really don't understand Swedish traditions.

Stockholm

The weather was great when we got back to Stockholm, so I decided to take a bike ride to check out some parts of the city I had yet to explore.  I first took the Crescent to Kungholmen, and then over the large bridge towards the small island of Långholmen and then south into Södermalm.

I climbed to the top of the cliffs on the northern shore of Södermalm to gain a better view of Gamla Stan, City Hall, and the southern row of Kungholmen.  When I made it to the top I was followed by the Polis...apparently it is were the hip young kids go to have a late night booze while overlooking the city.

After helping with a family portrait near the boats below, they told me about the large bonfire over on the western side of Riddarholmen.  Apparently there are bonfires similar to this one all over Sweden, and people sing folk songs, dance, and drink...but to me everyone seemed to be just drinking beer and mingling.

There was a great view of the Riddarfjärden bay with Stockholm City Hall in the background, and as I was leaving a boat that had come to watch the bonfire was on its way out...

On the way back home I made a quick pitstop to snap of a shot of an empty Kungsgatan from Regeringsgatan.

It was a long day, and I didn't understand much of what was going on, but it is always fun to experience something new! Even though I didn't take part in the true craziness of Uppsala Valborg, I had a great time learning more about Swedish culture.

4-20

Crescent

My intention was to pick up a used bike as soon as I arrived in Stockholm...figured it would be the perfect way to explore the city.  I quickly found out that it wasn't that easy...there are plenty of bikes scattered about, so it wasn't a matter of a lack of selection.  Instead of locking the wheel+frame to bike rack, most of the city bikes have a single lock across the rear wheel and are left propped up against a building on the edge of the sidewalk.  Due to this lax attitude towards protecting your bike, thefts are common...so most bikes that you see are quite old, heavy, and frankly, pretty shitty.

As spring arrives in Stockholm, it brings blossoms on flowers and trees, and also all of the bikes that were left to rot on the bike racks and sidewalks all winter long.  On my walks to/from school each day, my urge to rip an old bicycle from its rusty shackle and nurse it back to health became stronger and stronger.  In fear of being deported, I decided not to steal, and opted to pick up an old Crescent 3-speed from a local bike shop.  

After listening to the salesman tell the "stupid" American how amazing the bike was, and how it is worth 7000 SEK (~$1000) new (yea right!), I decided that the old Swedish-made beaut' would do the trick.  From the layer of gunk, it was clear that it had been sitting outside for quite some time...after a nice cleaning though, it looked good as new.  However, during my clean I realized that the rear wheel had a small crack in the rim, a bent spoke, and a slow leak in the tube...what a disaster!  Anyone know if Sweden has a Lemon Law?

Beijing8

To celebrate the birth of the Prodigal Son (happy birthday Dan!), a few of us paid a visit to Beijing8, a trendy, minimalistic dumpling and tea restaurant in Södermalm.  I have been eager to try this place for a few weeks; I heard quite a few positive reviews, plus their website advertised "...dumplings, beer, and music every Friday."  All of the tables were full by the time we arrived (~19:30), and it turned out they offer only one type of beer, Red Stripe...so hipster.  The four of us started with an assortment of 24 dumplings (veal, chicken, lamb, pork+shitake, salmon, and veggie), sides of glass-noodle salad, shredded potatoes with chili and coriander, and marinated beans, and all four of their sauces:  plum and ginger, hoison garlic, chili cilantro, and creamy peanut.

The food arrived before any tables opened up (so many people were just chilling with their Red Stripes and no food!!), so we started our meal standing at the counter.  Although Michael warned us that this place wasn't authentic for a number of reasons, the food was pretty tasty.  The pork dumpling with peanut sauce, or the salmon with chili cilantro were a tie for my favorite. 

After a second round of 9 dumplings, we washed everything down with a few Red Stripes.  The place had a very nice atmosphere; good music and food with modern style and a young crowd, and most importantly, it wasn't all that expensive. Seems like it was plucked straight out of NYC or Chicago.  Good food, good times.

7 Year Reunion

I woke up this morning to the sound of snow and freezing rain beating off the windows and nearby rooftops...I knew it was going to be nasty out.  By noon there was about two inches of slushy mess on the ground, and Stockholm was looking gross.

Upon arriving in Sweden, I scrambled to see if I knew anyone nearby...someone to reach out to, someone to reconnect with.  Before long it struck me that Paulina, an exchange student who studied at my high school senior year, was from Finland, and Sweden is close to Finland!  After nearly seven years of little to no correspondence ( :(  sorry Paulina!), a few weeks ago I sent a message to see how everything was going, and to let her know that I was near her stomping grounds.  After a few messages back and forth, I found out that her and some friends were planning a day trip to Stockholm.  What a small world!

I trudged through the slush to meet up with Paulina and her friends and catch up over some food and, of course, a fika.

Although I felt bad that the unilingual American was forcing everyone to speak English, we had a great time with lots of laughs.  After talking with them for only a few minutes, I developed a dying urge to visit Finland...which I hope to satisfy very soon!  

It was so amazing to see Paulina again, and her friends were extremely friendly and fun.  I always enjoy hanging out with a group of friends who have been close for a while; though you cannot always understand their jokes (possibly due, in part, to the languaguage), the stories they share, and the dynamics that exist, are always hilarious.  Spending time with them made me realize the importance of both appreciating and staying in touch with friends, both of which I can most certainly improve upon.

With such a disgusting start to the day, Saturday turned out to be quite nice...clear skies and sunshine.

Spring Break: Part II

Sthlm Pillow Fight 2012
While sipping on a delicious espresso and doing some work, I caught word that Saturday, April 7 was the world-wide Pillow Fight Day...who knew?  Interested to see the battle, I grabbed my camera and headed down to Sergels Torg in Stockholm.

The event was purely for fun, so the swinging never really got too hard.  It was great to see small children in the mix, slamming everything they could see.  A few groups wore costumes, nothing as elaborate as in "The Community," but there was one brave soldier who was decked-out in a bike helmet and elbow+knee pads.

Nothing says "Happy Easter Eve" quite like a tunnbrödsrulle...two hot dogs, mashed potatoes, lettuce, onions, ketchup, mustard, and a bit of shrimp salad all wrapped up in a some thin bread.  It may sound and look strange, but it is surprisingly tasty!

Skansen
Easter Sunday was a bit different this year...instead of eating jellybeans and dark chocolate smidgens with the family, it was spent at Skansen, the oldest open-air museum in the world.  Without knowing much about the place, Roberts and I dished out 100 SEK to see what was inside.

It turns out that Skansen is essentially an old-time, miniature Sweden.  Straight from the brochure: " Traditional buildings and farmsteads from all over Sweden create 75 acres of living history..."  Just inside the entrance was the tobacco and match museum...although tobacco doesn't tickle my fancy, I still enjoyed taking massive whiffs of different styles of tobacco & flavorings, and of course, seeing the world's largest cigar.

There was also some traditional glassblowing (check out the faces as one of the kids blows the glass so hard that it shatters).

With many restaurants and cafes serving up traditional swedish cuisine, I instead chose to buy a "sausage skewer," aka a massive hot dog on a stick that you can cook over a community fire pit.  I was hoping it was something more than your average mystery-meat...but sadly, it wasn't.

Besides the lackluster taste of lunch, it must have had a negative side effect on my ability to walk on stilts...Roberts made everyone look like fools.

In addition to having original buildings from all over Sweden, there is also a portion of park with traditional Nordic animals.  We were (un)lucky to catch the brown bears making love in front of a crowd...how brave!

Spring Break: Part I

This week is spring break at KTH, yet considering there were snow flurries on Monday and more on in the forecast for tomorrow...it certainly does not feel like spring.

Vaxholm
I recently picked up an SL Access card, which means that I can take any bus, metro, commuter train, light rail, and sometimes boats, within the County of Stockholm!  To exploit this superhero-like power, I made a snap decision on Monday morning to take a day trip to the island of Vaxholm, which lies in the Stockholm Archipelago within the Baltic Sea.  I knew where I was going to catch the bus, I knew where I was going to get off (Vaxholm City Hall), but didn't bother figuring anything else out.  I heard someone say that Vaxholm is beautiful in the summer...that was enough for me.

Since arriving in Stockholm I have only used my headphones and iPod once, it was on the way to the gym.  If I had the movie 300 I would have just watched that...but I had to feel that primal rage before I lifted, so I resorted to some techno.  Tough times.  Thanks to this sans-music lifestyle, I was able to re-discover my passion for people watching and observing on the 30 minute bus ride from Tekniska Högskolan (metro stop near KTH).  It was a very peaceful trip; so peaceful, in fact, that I missed the only station that I knew was in Vaxholm.  Audible!  I decided to take the bus to the eastern edge of the island, which as it turns out, is quite a nice place.  As soon as I arrived, a cruise ship almost ran straight into the side of a yellow barge, close call!

From reading the signs along the coast, which were thankfully written in both Swedish and English, Vaxholm was very much a military island.  It was primarily used to prevent invaders from attacking Stockholm by sea.  The military officially removed all presence in 2006, but there is still the Vaxholm Fortress (accessible only by boat and doesn't open until June 27!!!)

and remnents of a few small artillery batteries and bunkers.  I randomly came across these bunkers while exploring the northern coast, but was excited once I realized that no one else was around, and I there were no signs forbidding climbing.

After walking around aimlessly for a few hours, I strolled into a small store called Waxholm's Choklad, where I bought three delicious truffles.  Once I was certain that the store owner spoke English, and that my hands were nearing frostbite, I found out where she would eat in Vaxholm if she had only one meal left:  Sva Marga Mat (in the building labeled "Magasinet").  It was perfect timing, for as soon as I stepped into the third-floor restaurant the snow started to fall.  I ordered the day's special, minced meat and cheese lasagna, which also came with bread and coffee.  To warm up a bit I decided to take the coffee first, but was surprised when the entire meal came no more than 3 minutes after I ordered it.  It looked like there was just one woman doing all of the cooking, while the other waited on the tables and rang people up.  The food looked amazing, and tasted even better.  With a nice side salad, bread, and coffee all for 85 SEK...best meal in a while!

Skogskyrkogärden
Since Yannick kept going on and on about how there was a cemetery just south of Stockholm that was a UNSECO World Heritage site...Milad, Yannick, and I decided to make a trip down to Skogskyrkogärden on Tuesday afternoon.  Although it may be difficult (or impossible) to pronounce, there is no question why this place is so famous...it is beautiful.

It was definitely a bit strange to be wandering around a cemetery, but this place is like no other cemetery I have ever seen.  First off, it is GINORMOUS (102 hectares to be exact).  It is a very peaceful place where five funeral chapels (nearly all of which were eerily quite and a bit creepy) are scattered amongst dense forests and thick stone and earth walls.

After exploring for a few hours, we stopped at Johan and Nyström's Concept Store in Södermalm (more on this place later) on the way back to Lappis to watch the Barcelona-AC Milan match.  Go Barcelona!

Hodgepodge

Hodgepodge:  [noun] \'häj-,päj\ -- a confused or heterogenous mixture...such as a collection of pictures involving drinking games, bread, pizza, and playgrounds at night.

------

To celebrate the beginning of Easter Break, a few of us headed over to a classmate's apartment in a town called Hudding.  Although it is only a 25 minute train ride from Centralstation in Stockholm, it felt like a totally different place.  While the burgers and fries were in the oven (don't ask me why the hamburgers were being baked), I had the chance to test my luck at a French game that involved sitting on the floor and tossing a bottle cap at your opponents bottle.  After handing it to the Frenchman, and squeaking out a win over an Estonian, the Americans came out on top.

Following a recommendation for "the best bread in Stockholm," I strolled on over to Brunkebergs Bageri (on Regeringsgatan 86) the following morning.  Once the names of all the freshly baked breads were translated into English for me by the friendly artisan bakers, I settled on a loaf of fig & walnut...SO GOOD!

I spotted a spiral staircase heading up to a small seating area (Swedes are in love with spiral staircases), I decided to try a latte and chocolate-vanilla pastry (bulle)...both were excellent.  As the first bakery I have been to in Stockholm, the bread & pastry situation here seems pretty damn good.

I had a hankering for pizza all week, so tonight I took the plunge and went to Vapianos on Sturegatan.  It is a German food chain that I can describe as being "fancy fast-food."  There are stations serving salads, pasta, pizza, coffee drinks & sweets, and booze.  As you walk in your are handed a "chip card" that you charge credit card style and pay for at the end.  I went straight for the pizza stand and added a Bruschetta to my card.

The pizza tasted great, and was big enough for two.  I really enjoyed the meal, partially because it was the first time I had gone out to eat alone.  I have always avoided eating at sit-down restaurants by myself because I thought it would be awkward and boring...but it wasn't.  The great thing about Vapianos is that you have the chance to share tables with other people, so it doesn't have to feel lonely at all.  Although I never spoke to the Swedish couple that I shared a small sit-up bar with, I had the chance to really check out the restaurant.  Shortly after I realized that the plants that were bordering my table were basil and parsley, one of the chefs came out and took one of them back to the kitchen to use it in a dish...very cool.

After I was done I decided to head to the office to do a little work, so I cut through Humlegården--a large park that surrounds the Royal Library in Östermalm (an area of Stockholm).  There was a light dusting of snow on the ground, causing everything to look amazing...it always pays to have your camera in your bag.