10.8.21

I woke up around 3:30 to catch my train to Stockholm. It got delayed though so I got to Malmö late and missed my next train to Stockholm. It was fine, I just waited an extra hour to catch the next one. I got to Stockholm around 12. Since I didn’t book a hostel, I put my rucksack into a storage locker at the train station and began my day.

Stockholm is beautiful. It is such a large, busy city with so much to explore. Given that I only had a day, I tried my best to make the most of my time. I went to a cafe to get some coffee and got a huge cinnamon roll! (apparently popular in Sweden!) I ate it in a park but got attacked by bees so I left.

Then I walked to Östermalm. Lots of commercial stores but I found a good market that showcased lots of amazing looking foods. I couldn’t resist and got fruit covered w chocolate, to save for later.

Then I walked to Drottninggatan which had lots of nice stores that I wasn’t as interested in, but I loved walking down the streets. Sweden is a very beautiful place.

Then I made my way over to Gamla Stan- the more touristy, historic shopping area. I found a nice boba place but tried to limi my spending since it is so expensive here. I loved window shopping though!

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My next destination was Södermalm where I found lots of cool vintage stores. My legs had gotten very tired from walking at that point, though, so I found a nice cafe and sat down for a tea before continuing my journey.

I walked to get dinner at a place I was very excited for. Called Falloumi- it featured falafels and halloumi! (My two favorite foods.) it was amazing! 10/10, and so healthy too (except for the fries. I sat down with my food and read for a little while before walking to the photography museum

The photography museum was hell getting to. I walked half a mile to where my directions showed me, but there was a fence blocking the museum, so I continued walking but didn’t find anything and then decided to walk all the way back to where I started. Then I found that due to construction, I had to take an alternative route. Barely worth it, but still worth it. I love photography museums and one of the photographers Frank Ockenfels was so amazing! I loved his style of work.

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It was 8:30 by the time I was done so I started back to the train station. I got to the train station to retrieve my ruck sack, but the locker wouldn’t accept my payment. After trying many times, and walking all over the station to find help, it felt hopeless! The staff for the lockers had left hours ago, so I ended up calling the help line and the man I spoke to knew barely anything about the company, and told me the best he could do was call a security guard over to me, and charge me $150 for the inconvenience (on top of what I was already paying for the locker)! I was very flustered and frustrated and waited for security to show up. He finally did and opened my locker and said “ok I am done” and left without charging me. A nice man. It was a huge relief. I calmed down, found my train, and boarded, ending the very very long (but majority good!) day.