Well it has been an amazing trip. There's no doubt about it! Hilary and I spent 9 days traveling through Europe, seeing some amazing sites, and finally spending some quality time together!
Our first stop on our trip was Stockholm, Sweden! Maybe not the first place that would pop into your head when you think of places you would to go while traveling Europe, but I was sooo happy that we went! Hilary's grandpa was from Sweden, so that was one of the original motivations to go. It ended up being one of my favorite places!
Stockholm is a gorgeous city that is made up of several islands. There are a bunch of historical locations in and around downtown Stockholm, including the old town, called Gamla Stan. The first day that we arrived in Stockholm it was very early in the morning so we had the entire rest of the day to get our bearings. We decided to head into the town and just follow our feet. We found some pretty cool stuff! I'm pretty proud of my pictures taking abilities so hopefully I do these places justice!
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| A historic building in the Riddarholms District |
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| One of my favorite parts about Stockholm were the absolutely gorgeous views of the huge, old buildings across the large bodies of water throughout the city |
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| A bridge looking across the water to Gamla Stan |
One Nice thing about Stockholm is that almost everyone there spoke very good English. That was a pleasant change for me and made for an easier transition for Hilary as we began our trip. There were plenty of familiar food and shopping establishments that you might see in the states too. It was interesting to find out that there are plenty of companies that originated in Sweden that Americans use everyday such as Volvo, Ikea, and one I didn't know before I went, Skype!
One of our favorite stops on our trip had to have been the Icebar in Stockholm. We reserved our stop a month or so in advance to this amazing place. The Icebar is apart of a hotel in Stockholm and is modeled after the hotel made completely of ice that is located in the north of Sweden. The bar is the only "iced" part of the hotel in Stockholm but it is quite the site to see! The temperature is -5 degrees in there, you can only stay in for about 45 minutes and you must wear a large parka which I'm sure you will recognize in the pictures below haha.
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| Our drinks! The cups are made completely out of ICE! |
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| The bar (Fun story... The asian woman in the top left of the photo was going crazy and dancing for just about the entire time that we were inside of the bar... so funny. She must have had a drink or two before she got in haha.) |
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| Sweet parkas haha |
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| Stockholm's City Hall! |
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| The courtyard outside of the city hall |
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| The Opera House |
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| Awesome |
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| Come on dude, put some pants on... |
Gamla Stan was definitely Hilary's favorite part of Stockholm, and it was up there on my list as well. It was just a gorgeous area with tall old buildings with quaint shops below along the small tight streets. There was also the royal palace on the island as well which was quite the site to see. We sat across the way from the picture below and had a drink and some pie, just enjoying the evening!
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| There were two or three open squares like this on the island where relaxing at cafés seemed to rule agendas |
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| Some traditional swedish garb in Gamla Stan |
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| An example of the nice little streets on the island |
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| The Royal Palace |
