1st Day - Good Day, Sweden

Vacation... These words need to be savored. I have never looked forward to it like this before.

With a very entertaining pilot who successfully covers up a 25-minute delay, we head north.

Scandinavia. Sweden. Stockholm. 22 degrees Celsius. My heaven.

This is my first time flying alone on vacation, an absolute premiere. Completely unprepared, without a travel guide, I take off to the parliamentary monarchy with less than 11 million inhabitants - sparsely populated and mainly in the southern part of the country. The country joined the EU in 1995 but decided not to adopt the euro. For me, that means exchanging money. It doesn't happen every day, especially not after two years of Corona. *Excitement*

Let's use the time for a cat bath research:

The historical city center of the largest city in Scandinavia, first historically documented in 1252, is made up of three rocky islands: Stadsholme, Helgeandsholme, and Riddarholme. Fascinating: Stockholm, also known as the "little island on stilts," was originally a barrier across the current Norrström and thus separated Lake Mälaren from the Baltic Sea.

And then we take off, a bit stormy, but we will land safely in the capital.

Orientation at the airport is easy; strangely many lonely piles of suitcases, does no one miss them?? There are many ways to get to the city center, as always in life. Of course, taxi or Uber (decadent), the expensive Arlanda Express (20 minutes/30€), public transportation (I don't feel like changing so much, but it's the cheapest option), the Flixbus (also great, but it doesn't leave for another hour and a half), and - what I'm doing - the Flygbussarna, easily recognizable by the colorful stripes. Tickets can be bought at the airport from machines in German, at the counter, or directly on the bus. For 125 SEK, I will be driven from the bus station in front of the airport to the Cityterminal at the main train station in 45 minutes. Price includes a vomit bag- no joke!

My hotel is... expensive. The room is... small, but IKEA-chic. But what the heck, I want to get out anyway! I specifically looked for one near the central station; this way, I can easily get to the southern islands and all the sights with public transportation and don't have to run around with my suitcase forever.

Let's use the bus ride for further research: By the way, you get 10.5 Swedish Krona for one euro. Coins, that is 1-5 SEK, bear the portrait of the current monarch, and surprisingly, the banknotes are minted by many artists: Astrid Lindgren (20), Evert Taube (poet and composer, 50), Greta Garbo (100), Ingmar Bergman (director, 200), Birgit Nilsson (opera singer, 500); the exception is a UN Secretary-General. Nothing Nobel, no scientists. Well. The current king is Carl XVI Gustaf from the Bernadotte dynasty, which has been ruling Sweden since 1818. Super interesting! This dynasty has its origins in France. Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte fought for Napoleon, was promoted to general by him, and elevated to the rank of prince of Pontecorvo. With Napoleon's permission, the last childless king of Sweden, Karl XIII, from the Holstein-Gottorp dynasty, adopted him, and voila, Jean-Baptiste became king! Let's stop reading on the bus, otherwise we'll still need the bag. Yikes...

Short break, coffee, planning. First, my neighborhood? It's called Norrmalm and is a stone's throw from the parliament, the royal palace, army, and science museums. Hm... it's starting to rain, wait... eventually, start walking anyway, just go for it, get a general impression of the city. At least the streets are so empty. Stockholm is beautiful, a pleasant mix of new and old. Getting cash is terrible, everything seems to work only with a credit card here. And why are the stores all closing so early?! Strange, very strange.