Farms and Ikea
Day 5
Today the group is heading to our third destination, Stockholm. I'd say it's the third country but were in Sweden for awhile to get to Oslo. I'm curious to see how many Ikeas I will see going through Sweden this time. Current Ikea count: 3.
One of my favorite things to do on vacation is to check out grocery stores. The mall we stopped at in Sweden has a few grocery stores. And a giant candy store, that was even open at 9 in the morning unlike all the other stores in the mall aside from the grocery stores. One had what they called the USA aisle. Which consisted of Minnesota pancake syrup and some very strange Kraft dinner knockoff. And next to that an entire asile of Mexican stuff, all old El Paso brand and knock off tortilla chips. And the smallest bottles of Garnier shampoo and conditioner I've ever seen.
Current Ikea count: still 3, now I'm a little disappointed.
I've learned that Norway isn't a part of the EU, however they work closely with the EU. Much of the reason is for fishing rights that would be compromised upon joining the EU. Understandable. They are however in the Schengen agreement, which means many European countries act as a single state for foreign visitors. It means that I don't have to do customs in every damn country I visit. I appreciate that.
I must say that I'm amazed by the fact of how fluent in English the people of Scandinavia are. I really do wish that I had a functional second language. We try so hard to give the impression that Canadians are bilingual, but the French I took in school was a joke. I do feel incredibly fortunate that English is the language I speak, the new Lingua Franca of the world. And speaking of languages, Sweden is actually Sveriges. Took me a couple seconds to figure that out while trying to sort out Norwegian and Swedish kroner coins.
And I'm still amazed by how much the World Wars are mentioned while traveling in Europe. I've mentioned this before about how distant we were and that it isn't a big thing for us. Many of the Scandinavian countries were in the wars and Sweden was no exception. They were a little devious though. One story I was impressed with was that they were supporting the war by supplying the Nazis with buses. However, they required that one child was to be set free and sent to a safe place for each bus that they gave. They have had some of the survivors come back and show their appreciation. I think it's the little day to day stories that we don't have in our history here. And for that I am thankful because it means that we weren't as effected by the war.
Current Ikea count: 4
One thing that I've noticed during the drive to Stockholm is the farming. I'm such a prairie girl! But they grow a lot of canola. And they are ahead as the fields are all a lovely, bright yellow already. A few people on the bus had never seen it before and had to ask our guide what it was. Things I take for granted. The fields are smaller than at home as is typical for Europe. The EU is still the largest producer of canola, just narrowly growing more than Canada. However, they still call it rapeseed. Upon further research, Canola is a type of rapeseed. So I'm not sure if they call it rapeseed because there isn't the negative connotation in Swedish, or if they want to keep it separate from the Canadian variety, or if it's just different enough to not be full canola. So many farming facts for you today.
Pickpockets are supposedly a big problem in Scandinavia, and the worst part of Europe for them as well. But I feel like all of Europe has a reputation for pickpockets. Yet I've never really felt like it was that big of a problem for myself. Whether people are just more educated about it or if it really is a problem I'm not sure. We were warned about the potential gypsies as we get more East, but I never really did see any. But our guide warned us on a very regular basis.
I have officially arrived in Stockholm! It's quite a picturesque city to travel into. It's an incredibly green city as well. They have parks and trees everywhere. Our guide told us that she's yet to find an unattractive way to enter the islands of Stockholm. It's a city built on 14 different islands. Some small enough to have a single building and some large enough to hold entire sections of the city. And the suburbs are built upon the mainland off to the northwest.
We arrived in at a decent time and I used my wifi to come up with a plan of action for the next day and noticed that one of the museums I wanted to visit had late opening hours on Wednesday. And look, it's Wednesday! What great timing. The Vasa museum is Stockholm's most popular destination. Long story short, they built this amazing ship, the whole city pulled together, and it sunk 10 minutes into it's voyage. Didn't even make it out of the harbour. After sitting on the floors of the harbour for over 300 years they decided to pull it up and have built the museum around the ship. So you actually come in and there is a giant ship to see.
The museum had a lot of information to offer and it was done in an interesting way to show you the lives of those on board. However, it was very chaotic as there was 4 levels to go up to see the boat from different angles and multiple sets of stairs and elevators to get you there. I saw some sections 3 times and other spots none. But figured I had seen enough to get my money's worth so I headed off.
The harbour area in Stockholm is so pretty. They based it upon French archetecture so you have all these grand buildings with lovely trees in front lining the harbour. It fits in with the Royal palace very nicely. I did also find the palace and here's hoping I can stop by and do some tours tomorrow.
And my final Ikea total: 6. I saw 5 in Sweden and 1 Norway. I'm amused by the stereotype. It's like coming to Canada and seeing some beavers drinking some maple syrup. You don't expect it to actually happen but there it is.
Also, the weather in Stockholm is fabulous compared to the rest of the locations so far! Hello sunshine.
Today the group is heading to our third destination, Stockholm. I'd say it's the third country but were in Sweden for awhile to get to Oslo. I'm curious to see how many Ikeas I will see going through Sweden this time. Current Ikea count: 3.
One of my favorite things to do on vacation is to check out grocery stores. The mall we stopped at in Sweden has a few grocery stores. And a giant candy store, that was even open at 9 in the morning unlike all the other stores in the mall aside from the grocery stores. One had what they called the USA aisle. Which consisted of Minnesota pancake syrup and some very strange Kraft dinner knockoff. And next to that an entire asile of Mexican stuff, all old El Paso brand and knock off tortilla chips. And the smallest bottles of Garnier shampoo and conditioner I've ever seen.
Current Ikea count: still 3, now I'm a little disappointed.
I've learned that Norway isn't a part of the EU, however they work closely with the EU. Much of the reason is for fishing rights that would be compromised upon joining the EU. Understandable. They are however in the Schengen agreement, which means many European countries act as a single state for foreign visitors. It means that I don't have to do customs in every damn country I visit. I appreciate that.
I must say that I'm amazed by the fact of how fluent in English the people of Scandinavia are. I really do wish that I had a functional second language. We try so hard to give the impression that Canadians are bilingual, but the French I took in school was a joke. I do feel incredibly fortunate that English is the language I speak, the new Lingua Franca of the world. And speaking of languages, Sweden is actually Sveriges. Took me a couple seconds to figure that out while trying to sort out Norwegian and Swedish kroner coins.
And I'm still amazed by how much the World Wars are mentioned while traveling in Europe. I've mentioned this before about how distant we were and that it isn't a big thing for us. Many of the Scandinavian countries were in the wars and Sweden was no exception. They were a little devious though. One story I was impressed with was that they were supporting the war by supplying the Nazis with buses. However, they required that one child was to be set free and sent to a safe place for each bus that they gave. They have had some of the survivors come back and show their appreciation. I think it's the little day to day stories that we don't have in our history here. And for that I am thankful because it means that we weren't as effected by the war.
Current Ikea count: 4
 |
| Canola of Sweden |
Pickpockets are supposedly a big problem in Scandinavia, and the worst part of Europe for them as well. But I feel like all of Europe has a reputation for pickpockets. Yet I've never really felt like it was that big of a problem for myself. Whether people are just more educated about it or if it really is a problem I'm not sure. We were warned about the potential gypsies as we get more East, but I never really did see any. But our guide warned us on a very regular basis.
 |
| Welcome to Stockholm |
 |
| Vasa ship |
The museum had a lot of information to offer and it was done in an interesting way to show you the lives of those on board. However, it was very chaotic as there was 4 levels to go up to see the boat from different angles and multiple sets of stairs and elevators to get you there. I saw some sections 3 times and other spots none. But figured I had seen enough to get my money's worth so I headed off.
 |
| Buildings along the harbour |
And my final Ikea total: 6. I saw 5 in Sweden and 1 Norway. I'm amused by the stereotype. It's like coming to Canada and seeing some beavers drinking some maple syrup. You don't expect it to actually happen but there it is.
Also, the weather in Stockholm is fabulous compared to the rest of the locations so far! Hello sunshine.
Comments
Post a Comment