Flat in Stockholm–$1200 per square meter!

June 20, 2011 Leaving the Quiet Rural Life in Stode and Sundsvall and Off to Stockholm

We packed our bags; filled our pockets with enough 5 Swedish Krona coins to use the bathroom, and drove the car to the petrol station in Sundsvall. Diesel is 13.89 Swedish Krona per liter and 3.84 liters per gallon so….Diesel is $8.82 per gallon. Since we arrived at the train stations early and we already had our tickets, we rented lockers for our luggage for 60 Swedish Krona or $10. We thoroughly enjoyed the 3 1/2 hour train ride to Stockhom in first class. Gary has decided he is never flying again. Besides having no room unless you are flying first class, he calls air travel dehumanizing. I was simply amazed that there is No security and no one checks your ticket until you are on the train and the train is moving. I have fears that we would get on the wrong train. We arrived in Stockholm during rush hour. Wow! What a difference from Sundsvall and Stode. There are lanes for foot travel, bicycle travel, trams and of course cars. Tip: Stay in the foot lane. If you put one toe in the bicycle lane, you will lose it! Bikes are everywhere and even have little carriages and carts on the front for children. I have never seen so many carriages and children. When we arrived there was a large demonstration in the square near the station by the Iranian Communist Party. So armed with two maps we trekked off to find our bed and breakfast. What was listed as a 30 minute walk from the train station was about 1 and 1/4 hours. One frustration for Gary reading the maps is that the names of the streets change every several hundred meters and all the street signs are on the buildings and of course the names are in Swedish and look similar. So we finally arrived at the street which looked like embassy row with both the French and Portugues Embassies in the building. Of course we realized there was no code to enter the building and our host was not there. We rang the bell, made several phonecalls, then decided to sit in the park across the street. This was our first challenge. I wondered if we could spend the night in the park on a bench. It was quite cold and we did not have blankets or newspapers for covers. The good news is that we would have sunlight almost all night. We finally were able to contact our host who apologized for not being there. We were let into the building and took an old iron gated elevator to the 5th floor. The flat we were staying had several rooms that were rented as a bed and breakfast. It was beautiful. The building was constructed in the 1800’s and now has several rooms in the flat that are rented out as a B&B.

We asked our host for a recommendation for dinner. He said the best places were a couple of Italian restaurants close by or two local grills next to the building. We opted for Italian; after another 20 minute walk–we got lost as we had no map and no address, only some verbal directions from the host that it was close by around the corner. We enjoyed our 493 Krona fire grilled pizza. The pizza, one small green salad and 2 glasses of wine were $81.49! It is quite expensive in Stockholm. We had a typical Swedish breakfast at the B&B and had an interesting conversation about history, geography, politics and what was wrong with the education system and health care system in USA. She insisted that there are no rich people in Sweden and all people are taken care of. The evidence we saw in Stockholm does not support her claim. We saw a Ferrari and Mazzarati dealer, and many upscale shops. The cost of a flat in a prime area is $1200 per square foot (about 9 sq. ft.). Many people ren rooms in their flats to afford the rent.

Tour of Stockholm…

We had a one day walking tour of Stockholm with my own Svenska guide–Gary! So armed with several maps we started our journey. We had been up since 5am as the sun is really bright at that time. We walked along the harbor and into Old Town. Swedes and Danes are one hardy stock, as all of the outdoor   had  people outside. In the evening many of the women customers were wrapped in blankets which were supplied by the restaurant. It is still cold by my standards for summer! Below you will find some pictures of Stockholm.

View from the window of the room in the B & B. The entire building is full of multiple flats and people from the French and Portuguese Embassy.

Gary in Front of City Hall 

Old Town

We enjoyed our walk through Old Town and the shops, churches, statues, museums, and Skansons (an open air museum of the history of Sweden), and a boat ride to get a better view of the city. We are trying to sample chocolate in every place we visit. We spent 30 Swedish Krona ($5) for one piece of chocolate to share. It was good, however I found the Copenhagen chocolate truffle better (12 Danish Krona for each chocolate–$2 dollars a piece–and worth it! The Svenska believes that his new Merrell shoes have “sved his life” as we have put many miles on our feet! The little guy on my pedometer has been cheering everyday and sometimes he is cheering by 1030am! The little guy on my pedometer cheers if you walk 10000 steps or about 5 miles. The good news is that none of us have blisters, simply tired feet!

Next stop is Copenhagen...

And of course Copenhagen does not take Swedish Krona. They have their own currency–Danish Krona. There is definitely some tension related to currency and the Euro. Still paying to use the toalett 2 Danish Krona in Copenhagen.   The train ride to Copenhagen was great. We did need to ask one of the attendants where the spar for the track was and which train as nothing was well marked for two English speaking tourists. Once again we arrived at rush hour, however this time it was not that hectic. There was a lot of bike and foot traffic. Our hotel (ultra Danish Modern) was about 1 mile from the train which we found quite easily. The room is tiny or should I say cozy–about 7 feet wide and 14 feet long and the bathroom takes out some of the width. The bathroom has a Star Trek transporter shower. The bed is next to the wall and window so if you need to get up at night, you best be on the outside as you cannot get out of the bed on both sides or the end.

We did take a walking tour of Copenhagen. First stop the Little Mermaid. It was a long… walk and quite cool. When we got there we were both a little underwhelmed. It is actually quite tiny, however there were many busloads of tourists looking at the statue in the harbor. We then went to the National Museum which is a free museum of the history of Denmark. It was everything you ever wanted to know about the history beginning millions of years ago. We saw a lot of things about the vikings–which were of particular interest. Unfortunately tow place we wanted to visit are not open until “summer”. We wanted to see the Medical Museum and the Viking Ship Museum which are closed until next week. So… we went to the Carlsberg brewery! It was only 2.5 miles away which was much better after our more than 11 miles yesterday. You also receive 2 beers in the Carlsberg bar with the price of admission. Now we have two more breweries to visit–The Beck Brewery in Bremen Germany and the Heineken Brewery in Amsterdam. I still am holding out for a chocolate tour.

Waiting at the train station.

Gary in the Star Trek transporter room; AKA shower in the bathroom in Copenhagen.

12 Kinds of Herring at cafe in Copenhagen. Sild is the word for herring in Danish.