OK so I said I’d write about the good things about Sweden and Stockholm. I mentioned the public transportation. It really did go everywhere and ran in a very sensible and efficient way. I mean the lighting over the doorways on the metro would light up so you know which side opens. Brilliant. Of course people scared the bejesus outta me by telling me parts of Stockholm are very dangerous esp for women and in the outer regions, so I was worried I’d take one to the last stop and end up in a scary area. They’re having crime problems out there. Oops this is supposed to be positive!! Obviously nothing happened to me even remotely scary but then again I curtailed a few trips. But I did take a ton of public transportation!

The three non-native tour guides all said they loved Stockholm. I think they all found good jobs. The males mentioned finding love too. (They do the tours as a side gig though I also think they make decent extra money!? But I don’t think it’s about that— they said they just like telling others about Stockholm.) One guide said he came to Sweden from Mexico because it was famous for having great economic programs and he’s an economist. He talked about how Sweden went from being poor to rich post WWII (for which they were supposedly neutral although it’s known they sorta helped Germany) by making the system more equal. Supposedly they do not have a huge disparity in salaries or even wealth. That said, he told the story of the 1986 assassination of the very left PM Olof Palme who was shot down in the street on the way to the metro after seeing a movie with his wife. Sounded kind of like Bruce Wayne’s parents (Batman for you non-comic fans) — he was also from a wealthy family but believed in helping everyone and wanted a large welfare state. The police fumbled the investigation, chasing after the wrong man; they “lost” essential paperwork … and the case is still unsolved. Of course rumors have been rife it’s a conspiracy thing from the powerful rich right wingers who were tired of paying high taxes. His replacement was more conservative !? And oops I veered bad again!? I didn’t take a photo but there’s a plaque on the street where he was gunned down.

Anyway, Sweden still has great welfare programs like long guaranteed parental leaves, free or low tuition (can’t remember but honestly every single place I’ve been to in the Baltics and Nordics also have free/low tuition) — oh but I think they’re actually paid to be a university student. Good for rent!!? Great healthcare. Better equality of genders as far as pay. Many freedoms to do and believe whatever you want with minimal interference from the state. He said that’s the reason why Sweden did not do a COVID lockdown. It’s illegal for them to be policed in that way — the thought is, if you’re sick, you stay home. In fact, you can call in and say you’re sick to any job and until you’re out maybe a week, don’t need a doctor’s note. 

Actually one of the funny stories a guide told us exemplified the Swedish way of protesting passive aggressively. Back when the DSM identified homosexuality as a “disorder” — people started calling in “gay” and skipping a lot of work. So the psychiatric association was pressured to remove it as a mental illness. That said, employees today are allowed to give themselves mental health days. And as I said in the last post, they’re fully embracing therapy and being open about it these days. And it’s all paid for. 

There are parks everywhere. In fact this is also true of every place I’ve been but these used to be royal property and were converted to public parks. I took a long walk along the Nobel park and Djurgården (where royals used to hunt — djur means animal)… And it was beautiful on both sides. The Nobel side was home to some embassies and diplomatic housing. Nice spot!

I did several food quests. They have lots of fish and love their coffee and pastries (google fika). There’s a food hall near where Garbo used to work — and I had to get fish soup and skagen — shrimp salad — there, though funnily I usually don’t love shrimp, mayo or dill unless it is totally fresh. This must’ve been because I went back a second day to get it again. I bought one with salmon the first time but went back and just got shrimp ones. Yummy.

Since my airbnb/hostel did not provide coffee, I went to bakeries a lot for breakfast. Interestingly, the staff tended to be surprised and nicer to me when I ordered drip coffee (which I started doing in Finland — the #1 coffee consumer, per capita, followed by Norway). I’d read that’s how they drink it and you always get free refills. Which they always told me!!! I think they’re tired of making cappuccini for tourists??!! 

There’s a more famous market hall that was in the pricier neighborhood — but I’d been told to not buy from there as it’s gotten too pricey. But I took photos!

I also had a few random Swedes talk to me — usually young women who I later found had a connection to China somehow. One girl, who told me about the best pastry shop in my area of Stockholm, had actually lived in Harbin (I call it the Maine of China— very northeast corner). Which btw she says was colder and snowier than where she grew up in mid-Sweden (quite north of Stockholm). Their pastries were well worth the long walk to find them! 

Stockholm also seemed the most diverse. They had waves of immigration and while it is causing some issues, for the most part they’re still pretty open. I definitely saw more local Asians there and heard Italian a lot on buses from high school aged kids who lived there. And saw a lot of Muslim immigrants. Actually one of the hostel workers was from Italy (Abruzzo but never heard of her town)— she thought the opportunities are much better. Though she also has an uncle in St Louis who now owns 5 pizzerias (Bartolino’s!?) and she’d love to go there. Not sure why she doesn’t. (Donna says she’s seen the restaurants but hasn’t tried one yet when visiting Arianna at WashU.)

As a total side thing, for some reason the tour group I was using had as many or more tours in Spanish as English. And they also all carried a card reader so they could take their tips on credit cards. In fact I never had to get any Swedish kronor. Everything was totally cashless. Stockholm is striving for this and succeeding. That said, not using the euro is annoying when they’re in the EU but thankfully my card has no foreign transaction fees, so I loved it. I literally charged EVERYTHING, including the stupid public bathrooms. (Even at IKEA. Oh yes — I was in the motherland and a local actually suggested getting their Swedish meatballs and lingonberry sauce. I know I can get it in Bolingbrook but I gotta think this is better? btw there were a lot of locals getting lunch there. It was part of a big mall and IKEA’s cafeteria part fed into the mall’s food court. The Swedes love their IKEA.) 

My train to Oslo was also great. Surprisingly it was late, but I had an assigned seat (even in 2nd class) and it was fine. Thankfully forward facing and I had requested a table so it was in front with electrical outlets and working WiFi. (Btw total side comment but one guide mentioned that a Swede invented Bluetooth and it’s named after an old Viking, King Harald Bluetooth Gormsson, who did have bad teeth. The symbol for Bluetooth is his initials in runes.) Although some kids started screaming soon into the journey and it was barely 8am. Thank god (or Luca) for my noise canceling AirPods. Life changing. I just zoned out and took quite a few photos from the train. 

Last random things — I was so tired of the mobs of people on the streets — the weather turned ah-mazing on my last full day there (Saturday) so EVERYONE and their dogs and children and strollers were out. I think it was the first day to hit 70s in Stockholm. No laundry excuses!! I saw the longest line I’ve seen for an “Italian” gelato place called sno with funny umlauts on the o so not really Italian!? Anyway I had to escape so I went into a dark English pub at like 4 pm. Dead empty. No sun. Really great place to work on my blog and not be bothered. Cool and dark, like my two Guinness! The bartenders were nice— they also like Stockholm obviously and are not heading back to England anytime soon. Though one is marrying an American girl (from Maine) and she wants them to move to Italy. 

Oh and finally, I did NOT visit the top ranked Vasa museum. Everyone’s favorite!!? But I’ll talk more about that later, when I cover Oslo where I did go to a ton of museums! I also went to a Nobel museum in Oslo but not Stockholm.

This is overly long as usual but I’m also too tired to edit and I have to get up early tomorrow to fly to Berlin. My days in the Nordics are almost over! I’ll blog about Norway hopefully on my plane ride!?