Stockholm and beyond (Old Website Articles III)
From 13 October 2008, here’s a report on my adventures in Stockholm!
STOCKHOLM AND BEYOND
Listening to: Over It – The Strand and The Presidents of the USA – Love Everybody.
Two days after my trip to the UK, I went to lovely Stockholm to visit Yvo, teknoperson and software architect extraordinaire. He is currently in and out of Sweden for some project with Ericsson, doing a job reminiscent of Chandler Bing’s job (actually, it’s something completely different) (I think), and that means a place to stay! Yay! As luck would there were more cool people on the prowl for a bunk in his expat-apartment, so we ended up with four people and a huge amount of beer (and wodka) in the centre of Stockholm. And I have to tell you, we did have a blast!
It soon turned out that having a blast was entirely up to us, though, as the Swedes are quite hard to get excited. They’re friendly enough as far as I could measure, but just a bit … well … reserved it seemed. So it fell to us to sing and basically make fools of ourselves while the natives stoicly trudged on to their respective (and probably respectable) destinations. Unfortunately, we never made it to a proper karaoke party, where singing (Abba) is actually encouraged*. Yeah, just click that link and watch Swedish people having fun! They DO know how to, just not when it’s not appropriate. And, of course, it’s BYOB all the way. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, with the prices the way they are, thanks to the government’s strict “no-profit-policy” when it comes to pushing liquor on the population. Hm. Seems more like a kind of sugar-coated prohibition** to me, but as long as the people still condone it, who am I to judge? Still, even though I do not wish to glorify the use or abuse of alcohol and more than the next guy, it might be good to remember that alcohol really is the shit, yo! What’s more important, Mr Government guy/girl? Providing for what is apparently a basic human need for splitting headaches, or protecting against said need? Just saying…
The scenes we witnessed in the various clubs we attended spoke books about the effectiveness of the government policy to keep people from being drunk and stupid, by the way. Also against the misconception that Swedes are all boring – perhaps they only party when it’s appropriate?
Anyway, however much I may like to bitch and complain about anything that does not live up to my stringent standards, the bottom line is that we had a load of fun in Stockholm, even though we had one 24-hour stretch of rain. Oh, who’s complaining? It was t-shirt weather all the way! And, truth be told, you need not really get bored in the city, at least not for a week or two. The Vasa Ship of course ranks high on the list of things you should have seen (sinking on its maiden voyage – this tells us something about how far Swedish reliability in engineering has come since 1628, doesn’t it?), as does, to my humble opinion, the Historiska Museet, not only for its collection, but for its presentation as well. Kudos! Also, the heaviest coin in the world is in Stockholm, right across the street from the Royal Palaces, which in turn are situated in Gamla Stan, the idyllic old town. Then there’s the wonderfully interactive Music Museum, etc. etc. Need I go on??
So, in the end, the week turned out to be a perfect combination of cultural highlights, anthropological observations, and beer (also prosecco), as the pictures (which will be published in a separate post) will undoubtedly bear witness. Sadly, I’m too much of a coward to take photos of those legendary Swedish beauties (not to be gender specific, of course), but I’m sure the internet can help you out on that account. That’s not what I was there to see anyway…
Re-adjusting to the working life is proving to be quite the challenge after two weeks of “vacation”, however much I learnt while away. Now it’s back to Louis the Pious in order to prepare for a presentation due in a week or so. In Auxerre – some more travelling is afoot!! I guess I’ll report on that, in due time, and spare you my thoughts about the lethargy threatening me in between my adventures.
Thanks to Yvo, Niki and Nellie (and to Nuud for making the effort) for entertaining ME!
* We did make it to A karaoke party, but that seemed more like a company outing than something one would really want to participate in. That’s what you get for going out on a Tuesday, I guess.
** Wordy link, but well worth it if you’re up for something scary!