It’s been a hectic, hectic week here in Stockholm. Actual schoolwork is finally coming my way (though it’s not anywhere near Carleton standards and it’s not physics, so it is a bit hard to take seriously). I’ve been trying to balance exploring the city with reading, socializing, and a billion other things. So much to do!
I’ll start with our day trip to Örebro. Örebro is a city about two hours west of Stockholm by train. It is in the heart of central—and rural—Sweden. We took the bus out to the town in the morning and got to see beautiful Swedish farms along the way. The area reminded me particularly of Southern Minnesota.
The town dates back to at least the 1200s, though it received its royal charter around 1400. At the time it was an important center of commerce and government. So naturally, there is a castle!
Örebro Slott is one of the more recognized castles in Sweden. It was built at least 700 years ago, and has been rebuilt many times since then. That is why it has such a mixture of architectural styles. The tour we took was quite fascinating—we got to sit in the old prisons under the castle and explore some of the grand rooms.
After seeing the castle, we then explored the rest of the city. During our walk we saw very charming architecture and ended up at Wadköping, a sort of open air museum and traditional part of town. There was a small museum that focused on medieval life in Sweden and there were several artisanal shops.
So apparently people ate whole pike in Sweden? I’m not sure, but this exhibit looked unappetizing:
Overall, I think all five of us fell in love with Örebro. And how could we not with beautiful views like these?
The trip was a wonderful day away from urban, bustling Stockholm. So yes, Örebro is a bit touristy, but it is gorgeous and definitely worth at least a day.
We took the train home in the evening (sorry, no interesting pictures—it was getting dark out by then) and ended up having a great conversation with a young mother from Stockholm. She told us about all the exciting and non-touristy things to do in Stockholm, particularly on Söder. So I think we have plans to go to an authentic bathhouse and get Swedish massages! She also tipped us off about a huge, facebook-organized flea market that was happening on Sunday only a couple of T-stops away from me. So of course I had to go.
I’m not sure if you can tell from this picture how big this flea market was, but there were people on both sides of the street for about 2 km. I really should have bought some rainboots or something, but I was far too interested in watching the people. It seems that nothing brings Swedes together like a good sale, and really, the wares were about the same as in any Minnesotan garage sale. However, I did see this:
This woman was selling sandwiches, coffee, and kanelbulle out of her first-floor apartment’s window. And given that there was a huge line, I’m guessing it was pretty good. I also spotted this:
Apparently the Vikings even have fans in Stockholm. Ha.
I don’t have much else to say about the week, but on Tuesday I met Helene Cederberg—a distantly related cousin of mine. We had dinner, discussed our family tree, our families, and our lives. She is extraordinarily nice, and I am so excited to meet all of my Swedish relatives soon! If any of you Cederbergs have pictures of yourselves that I could send along, e-mail me pronto! That was by far the most exciting part of the week, though Jayme and I did spend Wednesday afternoon eating ice cream in a park near Odenplan, watching children playing and enjoying the weather. I will say, Swedish children get the coolest playgrounds.
This weekend I will be on the island of Gotland out in the Baltic Sea. I’m not sure if I will have internet and will probably not be able to answer e-mails, so apologies if I don’t respond until Sunday or so.
From Science to Sweden 