This weekend, my family came to visit me! My mom, dad, aunt and uncle traveled from Pittsburgh to Sweden for about a week, 5 days of which were spent with me. They arrived Thursday, and took my entire exchange group to dinner. We had 16 people total, and we had a blast!
Friday morning, we left Jonkoping at about 1pm, headed for Stockholm. We had to make several stops on the way for food (especially at the candy store!), but finally arrived in Stockholm just in time to make a reservation at the icebar. The icebar is located in the famous Stockholm Ice Hotel, and can only hold a certain number of people at a time. This icebar is also only allowed to be visited for 45 minutes at a time. One must wear a special blue robe with gloves to enter, and once inside it is truly amazing. Everything is made out of ice! The walls, the chairs, even the glasses are completely ice. We stayed for all of about 30 minutes before we were too cold to spend anymore time there, so we left and found a sports pub where we could have dinner. After dinner, we went back to the hotel, and, exhausted from the day, we went to sleep.
Saturday, however, after a large buffet breakfast, we woke up ready to hit the town. We visited the old town, which was absolutely beautiful. Originally built by German influences, the buildings were spectacular and unique. We passed the royal palace, as well as the Nobel Peace Prize museum, and continued on to the National Museum. We were able to see original paintings by Rembrandt, Cezanne, Degas, and even Monet. They also had a special art show occurring at the time called “Lust and Vice”, which consisted of not only modern, but also classic, works of art dedicated to lust and vice. Although rather risky, most pieces were incredible.
After a lovely morning, we had a big lunch and continued on for some shopping and further exploration. We visited the grand hotel, as well as a few more stores, before we decided to head back to the hotel for some rest before dinner. I, myself, napped for about two hours! For dinner, we managed to find a Friday’s and have a nice dinner after a long and historic filled day.
This morning, we were able to reserve seats on the three hour boat tour (I know what you’re thinking, and no, Gilligan was not there…). We traveled about an hour and a half north of Stockholm before turning around and heading back. Sights seen included the home of the “Swedish Rockefeller’s” who own many banks around Stockholm, Oil companies, historic buildings and vacation homes of several Swedish celebrities. We also got an extremely extensive history of Scandinavia, such as the fact that Finland only became an independent country in 1907, and because of this, out of all the Scandinavian countries, Finnish is the most foreign language.
Overall, we had an amazing weekend in Stockholm, and I am already planning on saving my money to buy an apartment on the exclusive street in central Stockholm.
Until next time, peace, love and Stockholm!
Location: Jonkoping, Sweden