Sweden and Denmark

There's a rumor that RyanAir (the main discount airline in Europe) may be making its way to the States, and I'm hoping it's true. Choosing the cheapest flight 3 weeks out and going on weekend trips is becoming a new hobby, and I'm not sure I'm ready to give it up when I return to the USA.

Stop one of this weekend was Stockholm, Sweden. Home to meatballs, cinnamon buns, IKEA, and fika, the tradition of getting coffee and sharing a pastry with a friend. Stockholm was exactly how I pictured it: colorful, expensive, and full of good food. We arrived Friday evening and got to our Airbnb at around 8:30pm. After stopping by the grocery store on our way in, we made a very late dinner and went to bed. Saturday morning we woke up early and went for a fika at Espresso House, which is basically the Swedish version of Starbucks. I had the best cinnamon bun I've ever tasted and a pretty good mocha chai to go with it. We then ventured to the starting place of our walking tour of the city which lasted about 2 hours. This tour took us all over the city and taught us things such as Swedish meatballs may actually be Turkish, IKEA names their rugs after Danish towns, and Stockholm is the self-named capital of Scandinavia. After the tour we grabbed lunch at a burger joint and continued around the city. We stopped in Stortorget, the famous oldest square in the city, only to find that the buildings pictured on almost every postcard were under repair and covered in scaffolding. Disappointing to say the least. Below are some of my favorite photos from the city, and the story continues underneath.

My personal favorite place we visited was the Stockholm Public Library. We only really stopped here to print our boarding passes for our flight (which they let us do for free because the Swedes are some of the nicest people I've met), but I could have spent an entire day here. Pictured below is the main room of the library, taken with the wide angle lens for my iPhone Mom and Dad gave me for Christmas (one of my favorite tools). It is designed so you can walk all the way around all three floors, and was recently named one of the most beautiful libraries in the world by Conde Nast, something I can't argue with. We wrapped up the day with venturing through the subway system, also known as the world's longest art exhibit (the blue and white tunnel in the above group of photos is an example of one station) and finished off the night by eating moose meatballs for dinner. Stockholm is a city that I feel we did justice in a little over 24 hours, but I definitely wouldn't mind returning one day.

Stockholm Public Library

We woke up Sunday and went for breakfast at a cafe on our way to the bus station which had loads of gluten free options (Sarah got to eat cake for breakfast!). Afterwards we walked to the bus stop, hopped on a Flixbus (look them up if you're ever traveling through Europe), and we were off to the airport to catch our flight to Copenhagen, Denmark.

Arriving in Copenhagen around 2:30pm gave us a right at 19 hours in the city, which was honestly almost the exact right amount of time. Sure we were a little rushed, but we still saw everything we wanted to. Hotdogs from a street vendor was the move for lunch, and then we were off. We went in with a plan of starting at Tivoli Gardens, the second oldest amusement park in all of Europe. Being crunched for time (and on a budget) we unfortunately did not get to go in, but still saw how beautiful it was from all sides of the park. Next, we walked to Christianborg Palace, the seat of Danish Parliament and admired the intricate architecture of the building while passing by. Nyhavn was the next place on our list, and was honestly the only place we wanted to make sure we got to before sunset. Home of Hans Christian Anderson (author of The Little Mermaid, The Emperor's New Clothes, and more), the colors of the buildings popped against the blue sky and really made for a view that could never be replicated. We ate waffles on a stick (of course I got Nutella on mine) for a quick snack and then continued our journey. Post-Nyhavn we visted the Marble Church, which is exactly what you think it is and the Amalienborg Palace where the royal family resides. We were the only visitors on the property to witness the evening changing of the guards and the arrival of some members of the royal family in two Land Rovers, something I'll never forget. Finally, we were off to our last stop, The Little Mermaid statue. This is something that everyone who has ever been to Copenhagen will tell you is a must-see, but you will be disappointed. Created in 1913 and still sitting on the rock the statue is beautiful, but is much smaller than anticipated, and honestly, I've seen it and I don't see myself going back. We ended up getting dinner at a Mexican restaurant on the way home because it was a cheap option close to our hostel and were all asleep pretty early. We departed Copenhagen Monday morning and were back in Edinburgh by 10:30am (Yes, I still went to class). Here are some of my favorite photos from Copenhagen:

All in all it was a good and very busy weekend, and I'm glad I can now cross these two countries off of my list as they are places I have always wanted to go. Up next is... (you probably think I'm going to say London, but Genna and I bought flights while at the airport waiting to depart for Stockholm) Valencia, Spain! We depart early Thursday morning and return early Saturday, giving us two full days in the city. You know my Chacos are already in my bag and I'm fully prepared for warm weather and to sit on the beach for a day. I'll update you all this weekend on how this trip goes. Thanks again for all of the prayers and well wishes, and I'll be back on here in a few days.