Last Weekend in Stockholm

So, like I said, it felt really nice to get back to Stockholm...and it may be no surprise when I tell you, it felt horrible leaving :(

Saturday dawned bright and sunny...instantly putting me in a fantastic mood. Saturday was fun-filled to the max! Our first thoughts were bent towards brunch, which I throughly enjoyed, but Ariel was somewhat sad about because her belgian waffle came with syrup on it already...so she got to eat around the edges. Following that, we made our way to Skansen, the combo historical look at old Sweden and zoo! I had been putting this off my entire time in Stockholm until more things opened as the weather got better...well worth the wait. We didn't spend TOO much time in the historical reflections portion, opting instead for checking out the wolves, lynxes, moose and reindeer...oh, and of course the seals and bears. From here, we were well positioned to hit up the most ridiculously touristy thing in Stockholm, yes, the Vasamuseet again! huzzah! I was really impressed my first time there back in January and hope that Ariel enjoyed it as well...I was rapidly re-impressed by the sheer magnitude of the boat. From here we moved on to dinner, opting for a pasta/pizza place that I had been to once before. Ariel loved it because of her cute bartender, I loved it because their food is just plain good!

The event of the evening was Kasia's birthday party, for which she brought back two bottles of Polish herbed vodka. good stuff! Much fun was had, Kasia got mad at me because I hadn't emailed her on her birthday (no internet in Munich or on the road to Prague, I forget which...). We decided to head out after a couple hours of hanging out, drinking and laughing (and playing with balloons). Unfortunately, places were clamping down on age limits (25 at the Soap Bar, 24 somewhere else), so I just suggested we go over to the Söder and get into one of the many clubs there...I kind of like Debaser, so I led us there...the music wasn't their best, but was still pretty good I thought.

Sunday...Sunday was the first day I regretted Ariel coming along :) She was a relentless taskmistress, forcing me to get up and get moving to take her to the Modern Art Museum (it had an Andy Warhol exhibit...pretty cool). Ok, I had suggested it anyhow...but it was still fun. We then walked around the downtown areas of Stockholm, looking for some souvenirs for both of us...I messed up and should have pulled the trigger on a few things, thinking that "oh, I'll have plenty of time on Monday morning". BRRRRNT, not right. So, no Swedish hockey jersey for me...but I'll work on that, and something for Svea...surprise!

Ariel had to leave really early on Monday morning (7am flight out of Arlanda), so she wanted to stay up all night and take the night bus to T-Centralen so she could catch the first Arlanda express train...it was a looooong night. We played cards, debated playing Monopoly (in Swedish!) but never did...oh, and I made her watch Leon, because she had never seen Natalie Portman's breakout role! Odd for a person who is often told that she bears a striking resemblance to...

My monday was less fun than I had hoped. I became paranoid about sleeping much after staying up til 4am. So I napped a little and then got my ass moving to get back up to my bags at Lappis where Kasia was nice enough to store them since Saturday. After breakfast we hurried down to T-Centralen and saw me off for my flight...(I had mixed up times between my ORIGINAL flight back to Baltimore and my changed flight to Boston, left at 2 instead of 5, so no last lunch with people from Stockholm, sad). Kasia was nice enough to help me and my luggage all the way to the train, which was nice. Almost a tearful goodbye on my part...I had such a good time in Stockholm and Kasia was likely the best friend I made over there.

Leaving sucks.

(oh, and Boston's Logan Airport sucks too. bastards almost cost my dad a bottle of Akvavit because their terminals aren't linked together and you have to exit the international terminal and then go through security again. freakin' inefficient if you ask me)