Stockholm

 It's easy to forget that I live very much on the periphery of Sweden- most Swedes hear "Östersund" and think "wilderness". (a pretty comfortable and well-provisioned wilderness in that case) Last week I finally got to see the capital, six hours by any means to the south. 

Drottingholm Palace, home of the Swedish royal family. It's quite a ways out in the countryside. In 2012, they visited Saint Peter, now I can at last reciprocate!

I had the misfortune to be on a night train which departed Östersund at 9:45 and arrived to Stockholm Central at 05:15 the following day. I slept well enough, better than I would on a plane! The worst part is being thrown out onto a cold and rainy street three hours before sunrise. Nothing was open, so we camped out in the lobby of our hostel, then bounced between coffee shops and IKEA until we could check in. 

There is an unusual obsession here with American products and Asian foods. The latter is far more interesting and spicier than you'd expect!

This was a pretty cheap hostel, paid for by the university. Everything else was out of our pockets which means a lot of IKEA mealtimes and supermarket salad bars. Breakfast was especially bad; everyone was making jokes about prison food by the fifth day. Enough cheap bread and bad coffee will do just that!

I averaged roughly 2 kaneelbullar per day, seen here in their many variants. Fika, as explained in previous posts, is crucial when walking all day. Lower left was the best of them all, from Lillebrors Bageri. At IKEA you can get one for just SEK 5 (about 0.53 USD) but these are stale and too sweet. 

A street in the old town and a nice walk in a park. There's a huge park with centuries-old oaks on just about every street corner here. Notice: no rain!

Our time was mostly spent walking and being shown around by our professors; who somehow found a way to keep us busy for 6 to 8 hours each day on the streets. It's an incredible city from a spatial planning/urban design perspective! A ton of forest and clean water to enjoy, excellent public transport, and many mixed-income neighborhoods. 

Exploring a new-ish neighborhood, about 25 years old. Highlights: vacuum-tube waste disposal, 50% rental units, (a city standard if I'm not mistaken) and vast interconnected public space. 

The old gas works and royal seaport are being transformed into a new district for tens of thousands of new Stockholmers. Northern Europe's largest urban renewal project- we saw the whole thing!

It was exceptionally inclement weather for the entire week, in the low 40s and pouring rain most days. One evening a few of us went out to the Vasa museum: the preserved remains of a 17th-century warship which sank on its maiden voyage. Hands down one of the best I've ever been to. 

The ship sank due to fundamental design flaws, and it's exceptionally well preserved after 333 years on the seafloor. Make no mistake, this thing is big. And entirely made of wood! It was never explained how they moved it from the water inside the museum building...

Of course we went to IKEA afterwards as well. 

Friday was our last day in the city, and in the morning we visited a start-up out in the suburbs. Two guys growing oyster and lion's mane mushrooms in a warehouse, a little bit of urban agriculture. MushuMushrooms is the name if you're interested, this was my favorite part of the week. 

Everything was very low-tech but precise; even the smallest differences in temperature and humidity can vastly affect these fungi. Most of their business is with restaurants and supermarkets- they say now is the time to invest in mushrooms!

It was also Halloween, which is mostly a commercial holiday here. Not so much trick-or-treating that I saw, but lots of candy and decorations for sale in the stores. For me the scariest part was being stuck in the backseat of a compact Ford focus for seven hours- I got a ride back north with friends. 

We stopped at IKEA in Sundsvall of course. The food is way better at the full sized locations. Of course I got lingonberry jam and a råtta for my room. 

Now it's back to regular service in Östersund. With such short days, I've finally caved in and bought a pass to the pool/sauna/gym complex right next door to my place here. Literally next door: I could throw a frisbee from my window and make it to the entrance! This will be a necessity when we have such scant daylight- already I can imagine a long sauna and swim every day after class.