World Domination

It's 4:32am, and what must be the longest game of Risk I have ever played has just ended. Nobody won this game.

Lazy Saturday

Today feels like it should be a Sunday - it's rainy and cold, and I've managed to sleep through half of it. I just had my new favourite breakfast: a double serving of Harve Grot, which is norwegian porridge. Apparently, next to tacos and pizza (frozen), Harve Grot is one of the most popular dishes around, usually served in the evening as a warm meal, or for desert if its cold. I wonder if, when having it for dinner, families just eat a little bit, let the rest sit on the table for an hour until its cold, and then call it desert? Anyway, that bit above about pizzas and tacos being popular is no lie. More than anything else, Norwegians seem to love Old El Paso and Grandiosa (the equivalent of Delissio in Canada). So far I've only tried the frozen pizzas, but Mexican isn't too far off, I'm sure. Maybe tonight?

I feel like doing something, but there's not much to do. The library here is rarely open, so studying outside of my dorm isn't really an option. Perhaps I'll find a coffee shop somewhere... if only it wasn't raining so much.

Norwegian

Every now and then I find myself in a bit of daze, either because I'm thinking about something in particular, or, more likely, because I'm thinking about absolutely nothing at all. Either way, I often forget that I'm in Norway, and as I begin to drift back to reality, I hear a strange nonsensical language and conclude that people are speaking jibberish. It usually takes me a second or two to realize that it's just Norwegian.  

Kilograms v. Pounds

Now that I'm back in Oslo, without any travelling to do, I'm starting to get into a more stable routine, one that consists of eating, sleeping, walking around, studying, emailing, and now: exercising. 

In terms of exercising (and likely other things as well), I have found that I prefer lifting kilograms to lifting pounds. It may not seem at first like there is much of a distinction between lifting kilograms and pounds, but there is - kilograms are heavier than pounds. The benefit of this is that when I'm lifiting a weight that I should be embarrased to struggle with, I just tell myself: 'but they're kilograms, which are heavier than pounds!'  

Straight Out Of Stockholm

I didn't maintain the blog very well while I was in Stockholm, and now I'm faced with the task of having to go back and summarize the whole thing.

First of all, Stockholm is very different than Oslo. Now that I'm back in Oslo, I'm not sure which city I prefer. Stockholm is definitely the 'big city' in Scandinavia, but the big cities of any country or region aren't always the best. While Stockholm has amazing buildings, streets and culture, Oslo has a quiteness and sensibility that's really enjoyable. Right now, as I'm typing, I almost feel that Oslo is more scandinavian than Stockholm, since it isn't diluted by tourism and American influence. I'm not even really sure what 'scandinavian' means, so I could be entirely wrong.

Anyway, yesterday, while being my last day in Stockholm, also felt like the last day of summer - it was warm and sunny, with blue skies all around, but the leaves were turning more and more yellow evert minute.

Here are a few photos from the morning:



I took a trip out to the Vasa Warship Museum. I was hesitant to visit the museum because it seemed like it would be such a tourist trap, but I'm really glad that I did. The Vasa, for those who are wondering, was a massive warship built in the 1600s, intended to be Sweden's largest and most powerful warship. Unfortunately, on its maiden voyage, as it was about to sail out of the harbour, a wind came along and the ship sank. Three hundred years later, the ship was salvaged, and today the Vasa is the only ship of its kind to sit in a museum. It's absolutely huge, and almost entirely original - the restoration team had to make a few new pieces, but these new pieces are easily identifiable and are definitely not common.

Here's the Vasa:



Following my time at the Vasa, I took a walk over to a former royal summer home, just down the street. Unfortunately, I found the walk to be more intereting than the museum. One highlight was getting to ride on the coffee car, as part of Stockholm's public transportation. For 60SKr, I was able to sit down to a nice coffee and pastry (which was a little stale) and ride the tram back to the ferry dock. The woman working on the coffee car was very proud of it, and kept assuring me that people normally use it, but today was simply an exception because it was so nice outside (I was the only person in the car). Here are some photos of the walk and coffee car:







I went to the Museum of Modern Art, and despite was the lady at the Vasa Museum said, it was a really great place - great collection and in a very nice setting. The highlights for me were the Alexander Calder pieces:




After my time at the museum, I ran into town (literally) and hopped on a tour of the waterways. This was an alright way to spend a few hours, and it was a good opportunity to see some of the more outlying parts of Stockholm, but if you're short for time, I wouldn't recommend sacricing other sights for it (regardless of what the tourism info people tell you). Anyway, here are some photos from the remainder of my time in Stockholm:

Asleep On A Train

I've made it back to Oslo. I'm too tired to post a full entry right now, so photos will have to wait until after my post-train sleep. Overall, the sleep on the overnight train was actually quite enjoyable. I definitely learned a few things that should help me next time: bring ear plugs and don't have an espresso just prior to departure. I'm not sure what time the caffeine wore off, but it didn't leave me with much time for sleeping.

Svensk

I'm not sure why I ever doubt my ability to find wireless internet in Scandinavia.

I left this morning on another early train. As nice as it is to be up and active early in the morning, the actual waking up part is never easy. This morning was no exception and I came very close to hitting snooze on my cell phone/alarm clock. I'm glad I didn't, as I likely wouldn't be here, sitting in my tiny hotel room with the sound of street music coming through my window, if I had.

If you're wondering what my hotel room is like, here it is:




And the view:


The washroom is shared among the rooms on my floor, and it has to be the smallest washroom I have ever seen/used. It makes the plane/train washrooms look roomy. Maybe I'll take a picture, just to prove my point.

Anyway, so I arrived today in Stockholm, in the Kingdom of Sweden. Here's the first Stockholm sign I saw:



Arriving at the central train station, I knew that the city was fairly compact, and that my hotel was no more than a short walk away, but my hunger got the better of me and I took a cab. I later realized just how close the train station is to my hotel - it's really close and I should have just walked.

One thing I have noticed about Stockholm is that it's affordable. I ordered a muffin at a fairly high-end bakery across from the Nobel Musuem, and it only came to 15 kroner. The same in Oslo would have likely cost 30 - 35 kroner. This is definitely a nice change, and I intend to enjoy it while I can. Later, I managed to have a really great galette, which I almost couldn't finish, for only 75 kroner. Again, would have cost more in Oslo. I could go on like this for a while, but I won't.

Here are some photos of Stockholm from today:












Although it didn't hit me right away, Stockholm is an amazing city. In one of the books/websites I read about Stockholm prior to my arrival, the author mentioned that there must be a creative/art director who oversees every detail of the city and ensures that everything meets his/her high standards. This would be a reasonable explanation for why everything is so sharp. I actually felt bad about myself after walking into a few stores, being the unshaven Canadian wearing hiking shoes and an oversized rain jacket. They city is practically pressuring me into purchasing some tight jeans (like, really tight), a pair of pointy leather shoes, a shirt with black and white horizontal stripes, an expensive jacket, perhaps distressed leather, and expensive accesories. I plan on doing some shopping tomorrow.

And one last photo: