Three Hour Tour

Day 180
I had to be up early to pack up my things and make my tour for the day. I was a bit nervous about the tour. I would be spending about three hours on a boat. Just sit right back and your hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip. That started from this tropic port about this tiny ship. Ok, so it wasn't really tropic (it was cold), and I don't think that there was any chance of anything going wrong, well, I might lose my breakfast. It was, however, a three hour tour.

Sweden has about 100,000 islands in its archipelago. About 30,000 of these are in the Stockholm archipelago. The last time I was here I had wanted to see it, but because it was winter none of the tours were running. I still wasn't going to be able to see the outer bits, those tours has stopped a few days before, but I was going to get to see the central part.

The tour began with a bit of history. Stockholm became a city in 1252. During the middle ages there was no Swedish capital. Stockholm was picked in the 17^th century because it was in the middle of the Swedish empire. Sweden used to be a much larger country.

We passed a statue on the mainland that was god riding a rainbow. This had been made for the UN building in NYC, but was deemed too religious so it was placed here instead. One of the small islands was used for hanging criminals. Six islands were named after days of the week to help farmers know which one their cows were on on a given day. There was no Sunday because they didn't work then. One set of islands was called the Christmas Tree Islands. This was because the brothers who owned them a few hundred years ago had the last name Christmas Tree Island.

I really enjoyed my three hour tour, especially the part where I didn't get stranded anywhere with someone named MaryAnn or the professor.

After wandering the city a bit more I had to pick up my bags from the hostel. It closed at 6pm. As I was stuck with the heavy bags I went to the train station to type up blog for a bit. Internet in Scandinavia has been really maddening. There are tons of places where I can email or type but nowhere that I can upload pictures or spell check. This means I have a bunch on entries ready to go, but no pictures to put with them.

Eventually I headed to the airport. I had a late flight to Helsinki, Finland. When I landed I was sorta surprised to find out that I was in a different time zone. By the time I got my bag and took the bus to the train station it was almost 2 am. I went ahead and sprung for a very expensive cab. I had no idea where my hostel was from there. Once I had checked in I pretty much collapsed exhausted into bed.

Drowned Rat

Day 178
I got up a bit late and then meandered my way to the old part of Stockholm. I recognized a lot of things. It was kinda nice. I spent some time wandering the oldest part of the city admiring the stores and all the things I knew I wouldn't be buying.

It was around now that it started to rain. At first it was really just a drizzle that didn't bother me at all. I took a picture of the Royal Palace and ran into a marching band. As I headed to Djurgarden island it really started to come down. By the time I got to the Vasa Museum I was cold and drenched. I hoped that if I spent a long time here the rain would stop and I would dry out.

Before I saw anything I went right to the cafeteria. I needed some comfort food. I ended up with some beef thing, it was yummy, but back to the Vasa.

The Vasa was a war ship commissioned in 1628 by the king himself. It was meant to be the biggest, the fastest, meanest, and fanciest ship in the royal fleet. On its maiden voyage, while still in the harbor it tilted a few times and then simply sunk. There was a huge out roar. No one knew what had gone wrong. Was it built incorrectly, was God angry at the king, or was it sabotage from the Poles? Attempts were made to raise the ship, but they only managed to salvage a few cannons. Over time the location of the ship was lost.

In the 1950's Anders Frenzen, a private researcher, decided that he was going to find the ship, and he did. The ship was discovered in 1956. It took a few years of work, but in 1961, 333 years after it had sunk, the Vasa was brought to the surface.

Over the next decade the ship was searched for artifacts and everything was very carefully recorded. When it was emptied the Vasa was doused with wax to strengthen and preserve her. This was the same thing that is currently being done in Portsmouth to the Mary Rose. After 13 years of this the ship was dried out and a museum built up around it. The ship itself is almost completely intact, the biggest difference is that she had been colorfully painted, the water had worn the paint away.

This was some museum too. After a movie about the ship it then had sections on anything and everything you may want to know about it. In the 17^th century it was illegal to be unemployed, but begging was considered a profession. There were hundreds of objects to check out that had been recovered in the ship.

The most interesting part was on the 17 skeletons that had been found in the ship. Through medical analysis and the objects found near to the bodies the individuals lives were pieced together. Some of the peoples faces had even been recreated. The captain most likely went down with the ship.

I was really upset to see that not only was it still raining, it was raining harder. I didn't have my umbrella with me, that would be too smart, nor did I have my rain coat, that would be way too smart of me. I decided to go to the hostel, get dry clothes and then go see a movie. This didn't quite happen. I found the movie theater first and Batman was about to begin, so I just went for it, soaking wet and all. It was fabulous.

After picking up dinner I spent some time in the hostel reading and writing. There wasn't really anything going on and I called it an early night.

Train to Nowhere

Day 177
It was odd when I arrived to Stockholm. Usually on night trains an announcement is made that wakes up everyone about 10 minutes before the final destination. This time there wasn't an announcement and it seemed to take everyone a few minutes to realize that the train had in fact stopped and reached its destination.

I found my hostel with no problems, it just wasn't opened yet. I ended up just sitting at the train station and reading for some time. I also contemplated a name for my pack. Any suggestions?

When I could finally drop my stuff off I ran back to the station. Today was the last day on my Eurail pass and I wanted to be sure to make use of it. My guidebook had mentioned that it took about 2 hours to get to Gothenburg. I didn't even think twice when I hopped on the next train bound there.

Four hours later I was still on that train. It had gotten to the point that nothing would be open when I did get there. I also couldn't travel after midnight. I gave up and just hopped on the next train back. I went straight to the restaurant car because I was hungry. It was there that I found out that I needed a reservation to be on that train. Crap. I had been really careful about this for the last three months because there is always a huge fine associated with it. Luckily the women who worked there didn't do that, I simply had to pay $10 for the reservation. However, the train was full and I would have to stay in the restaurant car. To be honest, I didn't care, I just wanted to be back in Stockholm before the day was a complete waste.

The guy sitting across from me started talking to me and before we got to Stockholm he asked if I would like to meet for drinks later. I didn't know what to do. He was way too young for me, but a night out in Copenhagen with a local seemed like a good idea. I decided to say yes, its just drinks anyway.

Back at the hostel I finally showered and got some laundry done. When I got to the bar a couple minutes early I ordered myself a drink. I waited and waited. After about 30 minutes I left. Apparently I had been stood up. It wasn't a big deal.

I ended up back at the hostel writing in my journal and chatting with a couple of Aussies in the hostel before just calling it a night. I had been a bit of a long day, even if it was all spent on trains.

The King

Day 176
In order to accomplish the rest of the things I wanted to see in Copenhagen I had to get up pretty early. I packed up my stuff and quickly had it in storage and was on my way out. I was headed to a little town called Hillerod with the biggest castle in Denmark called Frederisburg.

While I was walking around the lake towards the impressive structure I met a Canadian woman. I don't remember her name, she might have never given it. This woman talked more than I do, it was pretty amazing. I couldn't get a word in edgewise. Normally this would have really annoyed me, but I was glad to have some else there for a bit.

The initial plan had been to get an audio guide and learn loads about the castle. I decided to skip it and listen to the Canadian instead. I could still take picture of everything and enjoy the splendor of the castle. What I can tell you about the castle is that one of the beds there belonged to the son of a king who had 25 confirmed children. No one is really sure how many more might be out there. The castle was pretty amazing. I don't think that I have ever seen so much stuff. Usually castles are pretty empty, objects had been lost through time, this one was full of stuff. It was pretty cool.

After heading back to Copenhagen we parted ways and I headed to the Copenhagen History Museum. I hesitated at the price here, not because it was expensive, it wasn't, but because I was running out of Danish kroners and I wanted to make sure I had enough for a bus later. On seeing my hesitation the guy working there let me in for free. Thanks!

Copenhagen was settled as a port town with a natural harbor. After 1167 the town grew quickly. The city was situated perfectly to become a trading power in the Hansiatic League. This connection brought a large German influence to Denmark. This would explain why people don't cross the street until the light says its ok, even if there aren't any cars coming.

During the 17^th century the Scandinavian states were at war, vying for control. This is when Christain IV came along. He transformed Copenhagen into a capital city and laid the street foundations that it has today. He also won power for the country.

I sort of lost interest when the more modern stuff came up. There was some big event going on and I couldn't seem to get away from the commentary. I also had one more stop and wanted to make sure I got there.

After walking for quite some time and taking pictures of random monuments (one had a black cloth on its head) I found her, the little mermaid. Her easy access location has lead some devious people to decapitating and dearming her. She's always repaired afterwards and looks no worse the wear. Now she was getting felt up by Asian teenagers. Luckily I managed to get a shot without anyone else in it.

I was getting really hungry at this point, but I only had enough kroners left for the bus ride to the station. It was too far for me to walk with all of my stuff. I decided to leave early for my night train. The train actually left from Malmo in Sweden. I figured that I would get dinner there. I was really upset to see that not only was it raining in Sweden, but that the only place to eat at the station was Burger King. I had no choice, but I did have Swedish money, so BK it was.

The night train was a bit disappointing. I had somehow once again ended up in a compartment full of men. Still, I fell asleep quickly as the train pushed forward.

Package Tourist Redemption

Day 174
After stopping by the supermarket for my breakfast I headed straight to the Carlesberg Brewery. It was quite far away though and by the time I got there it was almost lunch time. Given, I hadn´t really woken up that early.

I didn´t know if I should really take the tour though. It was quite expensive and I figured that it would be much like all the other brewery tours I´ve done. In the end I decided to go for it, mostly because I was allowed to take pictures. The girl selling me the ticket didn´t mention to me until I had paid20that I would get 2 free beers with the tour. She should have said that first, she would have had me at free beer.

Carlesberg was founded in 1847 by J.C. Jacobson and named after his son. The museum started with a collection of unopened beer bottles from all over the world. The collection was started in 1968 by a road engineer. Eventually it took up way too much space in his house and he decided to give it to the brewery. There were 10,376 bottles in the collection at this point. He has continued to collect and people sometimes give bottle donations. Now there are 17,615 bottles in total. The most interesting ins a Bass No. 1 Strong Ale from the UK dated 1869. This is possibly the oldest bottle in existence.


As for the museum it was a bit similar to what I had seen before. There was a history of beer section, but I won´t repeat that. Apparently women were the first to brew beer in Denmark. During the Renaissance people consumed between 10 and 30 liters a day. This is known as the great Nordic inebriation.

The Carlesberg brewery brought bottom fermented Bavarian style beer to Denmark. The first bottles had swastikas on the labels. This was later changed. In the 19th century brewery workers were given 4 liters of beer for free a day. It´s a wonder anything got done.

After the history there was a small sculpture garden and then came the stables and some really cute horses.

As I walked to the bar to claim my free beers there were some interesting quotes on the walls. "I am a firm believer in the people. If given truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them real facts and beer." Abe Lincoln. "Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza." Dave Barry.

Once in the bar I worked on my journal and drank my beers. Wren I had been checking out the museum there was a really large tour group that was getting in my way. Apparently they had to be on their bus at a certain time and most of them didn´t use all of their free beer vouchers. They gave me a stack of them on their way out. It was more than I could finish in a month of Fridays though, so after a bit I just passed them on to the people at the next table. I had a train to get on and I didn´t want to fall asleep and find myself in Djibouti.

I headed right to the train station and really got there just in time for my train. I was headed to Lund, in Sweden, to try and meet Christine again. This time it worked and we had a nice dinner. Lund is a university town and where Christine went to school. She gave me a little walking tour after eating. It´ s a really cute little town. The only problem was that Christine had that thing to do on weekdays that most people have, I think it´s called work, and couldn´t stay out that late.

When I got back to the hostel I didn´t even bother to try and make friends. I simply went to sleep.

What Country is This?

Day 173
I was slow in getting my act together. I don´t know why, it just seemed to take forever this morning. Maybe the long line for the shower was to blame.

I then spent a bit of time reading before grabbing lunch and heading to the train station. The plan was to go to Helsingor. This is in Sweden, but I didn´t actually know this until a few days later.

The plan was to meet up with Christine who I had met in Siracusa. I was a bit confused though and I thought that the train took 20 minutes to get there, but it actually left every 20 minutes. Because of this I ended up getting there a little too late. I tried to find an internet cafe to apologize but couldn´t. In the end I walked over to the castle and took some pictures. I decided to not go in this one. It was really expensive and didn´t look any different from others I´ve seen.

By the time I got back to Copenhagen it was definitely time for dinner. I tried to talk to some people at the hostel, but they were all hopeless. I just ended up going to bed.

Later on I found out that Christine had actually been even later than I was. We both just thought the other had left by the time we go there. Even though it sounds like I didn´t do much Helsingor is a really pretty town and wandering around was fun. It was only that the train rides were rather on the time consuming side.