A Great Start to Stockholm...

Well, here I am in Stockholm, Sweden, and I couldn't be more elated about it! What a FABULOUS city! I've only been here 3 hours, but I'm in love already!  Wandering the streets, albeit a tad cold, has been awesome. There's not a chance in Hell that I'll ever get drunk here as it would probably bankrupt me, but I am going to have one beer in this pub, I'm about to listen to some live music, and I definitely made the right choice to travel North. Yipppeee!!

So, I left Bratislava early this morning. I unfortunately didn't have time to buy Mom a Slovakian hockey puck (which would've been a very cool souvenir, after all the Slovakians do make the most hockey pucks in the world).

I caught the airport bus at 10:25 from just outside the hostel; I didn't buy a bus ticket, more because I didn't know where to buy one than because I didn't want to buy one. It took only 25 minutes to get to the airport, but I needed the extra time because I knew I'd have to sort out my suitcase, weight-wise.

Turns out, I was only 3 kilos over, so I took out a few shirts, threw a couple of things away (they needed to be tossed anyway), and when I brought my suitcase back and it was still 2 kilos over, the girl let me check it in anyway. Phew! I spent a little time with the duty-free lotions, then hopped onto a quick 2-hr flight to Stockholm. All in all, a fantastic airport experience.

I arrived in sunny Stockholm, and caught the 80-minute bus into the city. I think I saw reindeer in the fields, but I'm not sure if they were reindeer or just (JUST?!) regular deer.

I got off at the Central Station, got a little bit turned around trying to find the street my hostel was on, then when I finally found it, they told me they were fully-booked. I had a momentary panic that I'd end up spending a fortune on a hotel, if I could even find an available hotel, but Thank God the next hostel I tried had a few spare beds.

It's a massive hotel, and I'm in a 10-bed dorm tonight and an 18-bed dorm tomorrow. PLEASE don't let there be any loud snorers!!

The guy at reception was very cool, Aussie I think, so I chatted with him for a few minutes before dropping my bags in the room and heading out.

I quickly passed through the Old Town (Gamla Stan) on my way to the funky district Sodermalm, where I was giddy from all the shopping: H&M (which, I forgot, is Swedish!), an excellent H&M wannabe called Gina Tricot, and many other great boutiques and department stores. I'm going to buy many, many an item tomorrow!

I decided to eat cheaply (2 little cheesburgers from McDonald's did the trick), then I headed back to Gamla Stan, and came into the Liffey Pub, where I am now, and the beer is great and the band is just gearing up to start. LOVE STOCKHOLM!