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2004-05-27
swedish meatballs in sweden

12:34

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Sorry for the later-than-usual post, but it's been an interesting morning. However, I have some time now to finish off the story. I hope you'll excuse the fact that it's a bit shorter than my usual novel-length entries.

Saturday - the last full day of our Scandinavian trek. Left late as mentioned, off to Stockholm. Beautiful, beautiful country. V. majestic. Looong drive. Stopped to take a picture before leaving Norway. Yes, that is my new sweater. Nice and warm. At the border, stopped to get my tax-free money back (all of 5� - woo hoo), along with about three tour busses. Fun! However, as noted by Beth last night, that was the only fuss encountered at the Norwegian border, despite the fact that Norway is not part of the EU.

Arrived in Stockholm around 4 p.m. Dinesh and I left Beth in the car to check out the tourist office in the train station. Two 50-Kroner phone cards, 20 phone calls, and an hour later, we returned, having finally found a place to sleep - on a ship (not an IH, though - I am one stamp away from finishing my card!). Drove over to the island where the hostel/ship was moored and checked in. No free parking in Stockholm, but after paying the fee for the hostel, we were allowed to leave it there until noon the next day, past even the check-out time.

Wandered past the comparatively unimpressive royal palace, the more impressive Parliament, through downtown - stopping at a restaurant where I had some tasty red deer, over to the museum island, and then back. It was cold. After warming up with some hot chocolate, we went to bed. The next morning, it was 2C. Despite the wind, cold, and rain, we decided to take a canal tour with the last of our money. It was nice, but not as good of a tour as Copenhagen. Ah well.

Some shopping - because we could, on a Sunday! - and a stop at a stand where Beth and Dinesh had veggie burgers and I had some Swedish Meatballs. Then back to the hostel for the car. We left around 12:30 p.m., and ended up taking the scenic route, which added a fair bit to our travel time, but we skirted a large lake so had some incredible shoreline views (and we stopped for a picture, so now we have one of us in front of the water in each country). Hit the bridge to Copenhagen just as the sun set and managed to snap a decent picture of it going down over the water. I'll put them up, don't worry.

When Dinesh took over driving, I climbed in the back seat and tried to sleep. Didn't work so well. We made it home around 2:30 a.m., and it would have been later if not for the speed-limitless Audobahn. Approximately three hours of sleep for me, then up to gas up the car and drop it off before 7 - mission accomplished!

Now - Beth and I are heading to Prague this weekend. We're taking the night train (hopefully can reserve some couchettes (beds)), staying Saturday and Sunday and coming back Monday (which we have off).

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