Boom boom pow

Here it is everyone, the blog you've all been waiting for. Well at least my mom and my boyfriend's mom have. But that's good enough for me! Stockholm, in picture and caption form.

I will start by being perfectly honest. I went to Stockholm to go to the clubs. Before this little getaway I had never been to a club before, because in the USA you have to be over 21, and I am a mere 19 years of age. Also I have heard that Europe tends to have some of the best clubs in the world, Stockholm in particular, so I focused my money and energy on that. Just to see! Anyway I don't have many pictures from the clubs anyway, but whatevs. First the sights!

I found this statue in Old Town Stokcholm. It is a fox wearing a cloak. I like it.

These lions were all over the city, or at least where I went. Someone painted blood on this one.

This was a touristy part of old town. I have never seen so much viking stuff before!!

This guy is a badass viking. That's what it said on his little plate thing.

A beautiful church in old town. There was a big choir event going on to the side of it, as you can see. They sound as beautiful as the church.

This is a view of the water, and some dramatic clouds above. At that little shelf thing at the bottom of the picture,you can go dip your legs into the water. Very cool.

This is me in front of statue in front of some kind of music or opera house. I went and saw Bruno instead of opera. I'm so bad! Haha.

Pretty steeple.

Swedish countryside from the train window.

Some people from the hostel and I went to Chaplin's Bar, a lounge/nightclub/karaoke bar. I had a very good time (so did the people behind me, evidently), and I met some uh...interesting people. Okay so I have never gotten a lot of attention from men (who weren't my boyfriend, anyway), particularly in the last few years. Evidently going to a club means you are inviting dudes to come talk to you. Among my suitors for the evening was a Swedish guy with a shaved head and a tight white long sleeve thermal. He had someone come get me to talk to him (because we are in 4th grade, evidently), and proceeded to hit on me with full force. By repeatedly insulting America and yelling the N-word out loud. And then offering me drugs. I got out of there like a bat out of hell. And those are just the bare details.
Fortunately I got to sing Mamma Mia on the karaoke machine, so the night wasn't an entire loss. There is a picture but it isn't very good, so you don't get to see it. Unless you reeeeally want to.


The next night I went to Cafe Opera, a much more popular (and expensive) nightclub frequented by all the best, including celebrities. Here I was hit on by a much classier set of clientele, or at least by people who didn't immediately shout racial epitaphs and insult my home. At one point a French guy tried to kiss me, so I ran away, ignoring all my insticts to punch him in the face. I have never had the opportunity to hit someone, and I feel badly that I let this one pass me by.At the end of the night I was hit on ( I assume) by a very cute, nice Swedish guy. I wanted to bring him home for my friend Shawna, because she likes blonde, blue-eyed beauties. Even though I didn't partake in the "social events" of the evening, I still had fun enjoying the music. Club music rocks, and is so fun to dance to.


Unforunately I didn't get any pictures of myself at this particular club, but I had a good time and I would go back there again. But this is part of the lounge section, and the other picture is of the beautiful ceiling. My club experience was unique and verged into the scientific realm, and I just have to say I don't understand human mating rituals at all. After dancing with some girlfriends from the hostel for a while, I got tired and sat back and conducted some animal behavior field observations. It was interesting watching men and women play The Game, attempting to pick one another up for one night stands and such. It is a very good thing I am not single, because I am completely oblivious to the comings on of men. Perhaps because since I was 15, I have had no need or inclination to learn such rituals, but really it just all seems so...frustrating. I can't think of the best word for what I feel. Well I won't worry about it anymore, because it doesn't concern me. But for an outsider, it was very fun to watch.

Stockholm is a beautiful, lively city full of interesting people, good and bad. Even though I was kind of an awful tourist, I did manage to get a Swedish Meatball sandwich, and I saw an IKEA from the train window. I may go back there again, since it is so accessible from here, to do some of the touristy stuff, and maybe eat a little reindeer, a national specialty. I learned that I may not be as suited for the clubs as I previously thought, considering how little I drink and my significant interest in fidelity, but I did also have a great deal of fun. I met a great, international group of people at the hostel, and got to dance to Lady Gaga. I am satisfied.

Stockholm Syndrome

I am in the land of IKEA! This morning I hopped on a train destined for Stockholm, and I got absolutely the worst seat they could have given me. Actually it was not next to the bathroom, so maybe second worst. But still bad. I was in the aisle, facing backwards, and instead of a window there was a padded cushion for the window seater to rest their head upon. All it did for me was inhibit me from viewing the Swedish countryside. Whenever I could though, I would sneak into the seat in the front of me, so I could look out the window. That is about as risky as I get, unfortunately.

But anyway, I am in Sweden! How cool is that. Okay just so you know, this keyboard does not do question marks or apostrophes, so I cannot properly punctuate. And it is causing me great agony.

So my first order of business was to compare Denmark to Sweden, since they are so competitive with one another. Obviously I have not spent enough time here yet to fully grasp the country, but I can definitely tell it is more diverse. In Copenhagen the stereotypical blue eyed and blonde person is seen everywhere you go, en masse. In Stockholm, where that stereotype is also supposed to exist, you see far more brunettes and brown eyes.

Tomorrow I will try to visit the Nobel Museum, and walk around Old Town Sweden. Old Town meaning like 1350, so that is pretty cool. I will try to go to the evidently amazing night clubs in the city, but I also do not want to go alone, and have yet to make any friends. Boo hoo, poor me.

Sorry for the lack of pictures! I promise to update with Copenhagen AND Stockholm pictures when I return after this weekend. I promise. Seriously!

Huzzah

Sorry for the lack of updates these last few days. Life has been not as eventful as my blog would hope. Well actually I made an interesting discovery...

On Friday night Nicolaj took me and his two eldest children to Bakken, an amusement park North of Copenhagen. It happens to be the oldest STILL-RUNNING amusement park, which I think is pretty cool. It is set in the middle of a beautiful forest. On our way to the park, we saw an albino baby deer, which is pretty rare, but not my interesting discovery. My discovery was that amusement parks attract White Trash. And that White Trash exists in Denmark. I never expected to see it! The first person I saw at Bakken was a man with his hat on backwards, no shirt, and his chest hair shaved into the shape of a cross. People were wearing giant inflatable condom hats (yes I wanted one), and they had stands selling giant ties that displayed such words as "FUCK" and "SHIT," in English. The whole place had the general feel of less-than-sophisticated.

Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with these people, I was just surprised to see the (now outdated) stereotype of "American" wandering through Scandinavia. These were the same kinds of people I have seen at every county fair I have ever been to. It was fun.

Anywho, the next day we went to the beach where I was reminded that Europeans enjoy swimming in the nude. But not the hot, young, sexy Europeans. The old guys. Ew. Trying to ignore a certain man's "Golden Years," I focused my attention on the landmass across the water, which turned out to be Sweden. So now I have decided to go to Sweden this weekend. Yay! I am going to Stockholm, where I will surely do stuff.

I will update more later. Now it's dinner time!

Weekend Mini-Vacations

Since I will have a place to stay in Denmark for about a month and a half, I figure it will be pretty easy to go out for weekend trips. So where should I go? Here is what I'm thinking:

- Paris! Paris is not on my month long trip extravaganza, so it will be a perfect weekend getaway. Plus, my friend David will be in Rome and wants to see Paris as well, so I can go there and not be alone. Yay!

- Norway! I'm 1/4 Norwegian and as the most ethnically diverse part of my background, I would like to see it.

- Sweden! It's close to Denmark and easily accessible. Also, it's the homeland of Inga so I must go.

Edit:
- Hamburg! I would like to see more of Germany, and since Hamburg is only 4 hours from Copenhagen, it would be a convenient and quick trip.

I don't know where else. Any suggestions?