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!