Days 10-13: Stockholm MONSTER POST

I had a wonderful time in Stockholm, rediscovering the city and enjoying my first Swedish summer since 1993. Why the hell did I go in the winter all those times? I'm totally crazy. 

I arrived at the buttcrack of dawn, because that's when the cheapest flight was. So I started the day off right with a kanelsnigel from Naturbageriet Sattva, an all-vegetarian and mostly vegan bakery in Gamla Stan.

Both my cousins Cathrine and Anna-Carin would be out of town initially, and I had a few hours to kill before I could meet Cathrine briefly and get the keys to Anna-Carin's apartment. So I wandered around a little bit! Here's Södermalm, the island/neighborhood where Anna-Carin lives.

I made Kevin Costner cry just because I could.

This street in Gamla Stan is named after crows. I approve.

Kungsträdgården, the King's Garden, in Central Stockholm. Last time I was here with Pranjal, this was an ice rink!

After a little bit of rain and finally getting the keys to what is undoubtedly the nicest apartment I've ever stayed in, I rewarded myself in grand style with the finer things in life: crap Swedish tabloids, cheddar/bacon Cheezly, and light beer (System Bolaget was closed, urgh), all in a hot bath:

After passing out in the world's most wonderful bed, I started the day off right with en helt Svenskt frukost! Yogurt, meusli, knäckebröd, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese, and "fetus-aborting" coffee. All vegan, of course.

Then I headed into town to see some sights before Anna-Carin got back into town and we could hang out and terrorize Stockholm together. Look at these cute little military people! Sweden hasn't been in a war in what, four hundred years? It seems all the military does these days is have grand parades such as this one. That, and force 19 year-old farm boys to sleep outside in minus 47-degree weather.

Yes, by now there is the common theme in all of my pictures of the EU election. I found this amusing- each of the major parties in Sweden's political arena had set up little stugar (cottages) in the main square to educate voters (or give free crap to impressionable children).

One of the highlights of my trip! Turns out that during the summertime, Stockholm enjoys a bikeshare program. I bought a three-day pass, although a five-month pass is only about five dollars more. You go to any one of many bike stations throughout the city and swipe your card. It unlocks a bike for you and you're on your merry way! Just park it at any station within three hours. If you need a bike for more than three hours, ingen problem. Just return the one you've got and take a new one from the same station.

Naturally, Anna-Carin lives at the top of the only enormous hill in Stockholm. Here's how you get to her house:

Oh, but it's not over:

Uh huh, still more:

Or you can just take the Katarinahissen (Katarina elevator) for 10 kr ($1.25). I spoiled myself with a ride when I had my luggage with me.

The hassle is quite rewarding, though. This is the beautiful square where Anna-Carin lives! The kiosk in the background is open in the summer, and you can enjoy your morning coffee in the park.

Lunch of champions! Curry and spinach perogies from Naturbageriet Sattva and horrible crap light beer from the supermarket. Supermarkets in Sweden are only allowed to sell beer up to 3.5% alcohol. All other booze must be purchased from a government-run store called a System Bolaget, which keeps insanely short hours and taxes your fun juice out the hoo-ha. They think it'll discourage people from drinking, it's kind of cute.

Vegan rashers from Goodstore, the vegan store just five minutes from Anna-Carin's! So yum.

Someone's little companion kanin who was enjoying the lovely weather in the building's courtyard. He was quite friendly for a rabbit!

Stylin! Anna-Carin and her sweet wheels.

On Sunday, we took bikes up to Haga Park, near where Anna-Carin's older sister Cathrine lives. It's an enormous park that I've managed to never see before. Because the weather was beautiful, everybody in Stockholm was out on towels or blankets enjoying the sun and the beautiful scenery. Even then, the park was so enormous we managed to be completely alone in several spots. 

I also met Ester, who lives with Cathrine and her wife Maria! She's adorable. Here we visited the 'dog tree,' maintained by an elderly gentleman who loves dogs. He comes by a couple times a week to hide treats in this tree and the log nearby!

... he also loves birds. The "bird tree" is also nearby, with a little coconut shell filled with seeds for them.

The 'copper tent' which serves as a restaurant in the summertime.

There was a meeting of an exotic bird club at the park!

We had a fika at the Butterfly Garden, where Anna-Carin bonded with her new niece and one of Stockholm's ten million pregnant women walked by.

The park adjoins an enormous bay. Princess Victoria, who is getting married soon, will get a house in this park as a wedding present. Not bad. In typical Swedish fashion, the people who normally adore the royal family are in an uproar and demand financial accountability for what is essentially a family of figureheads with no real power in the government.

After the park we returned to Cathrine's and made a delicious feast of roasted vegetables, tofu pups, grilled portobellos, and salad. And lots of wine, of course! I can't believe I didn't manage to get any pictures of Cathrine, but I know Maria took a lot of lovely pictures of us cousins all together, so I'll try to get some of those!

Thanks for sorting your rubbish- think of the environement!

We stole Ester for the night! Here we are in the Tunnelbannan going home after our feast.

Stockholmsnatt!

A lovely sight: a postman's bicycle and a vegan store!

The next morning we went vintage shopping in Södermalm with Ester. It was a beautiful day!

The theme park at Skansen:

It was such a beautiful day, but so warm that Ester wanted to lie down on anything cold- in this case, the staircase (even though Anna-Carin lives on the ground floor!).

After a quick snack, we went to the docks in Gamla Stan to catch a ferry to Skansen and walk from there.

There were new baby bears at djurgården, but it was expensive to get in and we couldn't take Ester, so we walked along the bay for a while.

In downtown Stockholm, there was a large rally of Eritrean immigrants who were protesting the Swedish media's treatment of them. Apparently an Eritrean-Swedish journalist was imprisoned recently in Eritrea for criticizing the new government. The standard-issue funky white guy dancing to African music was there, too.

The Golf Sale: uniting humanity across the globe.

In Stockholm, it's as important to know the temperature as it is to know the time. Note how the thermometer goes to twenty degrees both above and below zero.

Waah, goodbye Stockholm! It's been so nice this time around- not only did you have a million times more vegan food, but your weather was lovely! I won't wait as long to return next time.