Dorthy I Don't Think We Are In Nice? The Sounds of Stockholm & Some More Weirdness
Q. The Shortest Path To Nice Is?
A. NOT the way we traveled :-)
Let's see... here is what Google maps says:
Well, that seems pretty straight forward. Unfortunately, here was our flight plan: Chicago to Stockholm to Nice
YEAH not perfect, but we did save $400 on each ticket... and that can buy lots of limoncello drinks :-) OH did I mention the flight also included a 6 hour layover in Stockholm?
We landed in Stockholm at around 12:30pm and our flight out was at 6:30pm. Of course we could have stayed in the airport and rested but that would be no fun. Plus what a great opportunity to bring you some sites & sounds from one of my favorite countries. Sweden, the land of Vikings, Volvos and IKEA (not to mention the world's greatest robots...ABB :-) ).
So we found the lockers to store our carry-on luggage and took the express train (20 minutes) to the central station in downtown Stockholm. Along the way we learned it was Sweden's National Day (kind of like their flag day) and god knows the Swedes need more holidays. FYI they have like 18 national holidays PLUS 4-6 weeks of vacation!!!! Since it was their holiday, many Swedes were walking around with small Swedish flags.
Susie & Sandy decided to join in on the fun :-)
Since we only had about 3 hours to explore, we concentrated our journey to the "old town" area. Here is what is looks like from the air:
Here are a few pictures from our walk though the old town:
Old town is located on a island, so you have to cross the bridge to enter the area.
Here are some very traditional Swedish items:
And here are some very traditional Swedish items NOT:
After about an hour of walking we decided it was time to grab something to eat. Here was our selection... YUM!
Here is where we dined...
After a quick lunch it was back to exploring... and more POWER shopping for the girls.
Sandy scored a major find and bought a few pieces of jewelry from this lady (Susie was more than willing to help with the purchase)
And here is Sandy AFTER she found out how much the stuff cost :-) Actually the shop keeper was pinching Sandy for the photo...
Here is something you don't see too often, a man playing a bunch of glasses :-)
He was actually pretty good. Here is a short video I made. NOTE: I kind of suck at video (plus I had to reduce the size of the file so the quality suffers), but I'm hoping to get better as the trip progresses.
Just up the road a bit we got to hear these people sing:
And here is lame attempt to capture their singing. FYI they were very good!
OK time for some weirdness... Swedish style.
First up... I think this means the same thing in English... but I guess the regulators don't have a problem with it...
I guess this is "Art"... I think it is weird... Susie thinks I'm weird :-)
The Swedes are soooooo equal about everything :-)
Here is a job that Sandy is considering...
The Smurfs are in Sweden and promoting Christianity. Yes they were handing out booklets for the Jehovah's Witnesses, but I'm digging the hair and it looked like they were really enjoying their work:
What is wrong with this picture???? (Answer under the picture)
Lets see if I got this right. The store name is "Animal-Lovers" and they have a big honking pelt from a dead animal... go figure :-) (Maybe that's why PETA stands for People Eating Tasty Animals)
OK... back to our regular programming :-) Here are a few parting shots of the old town area. I hope you enjoy them:
A couple of burnouts at a Ben & Jerry's... WOW that is a surprise :-)
There were a lot of these types of tunnels around the area...
There were a bunch of places selling ice cream in waffle cones. Ever wonder where those cones come from? Here is your answer... (Doesn't that look fun)
And here is where all her hard work ends up...
Here are a few shots on the walk back from old town back to the central train station...
A very Swedish looking building...
This is my kind of place. It amazes me that everywhere I travel, I always find an Irish pub (but I'm not complaining :-) )
We made it back to the train station and they had these cool benches...
Susie & Sandy look very happy after a quick shopping run in Stockholm.
We made it back to the airport with plenty of time to spare and we arrived in Nice at 9:30pm. After a quick taxi ride (about 10 minutes) we were at our apartment & Gregory (the property manager) let us in and showed us around. He is a great guy!
We then walked around for a few minutes and stopped at a gelato shop for a little treat. The only problem was we discovered that all of us forgot to bring our wallets (thank-you jet lag)... after we started to eat our gelato. The shop owner just told us to pay him tomorrow... nice guy!
Well it has been a pretty busy 48 hours. Time for some sleep!!!!
Cheers,
-jj
Let's see... here is what Google maps says:
Well, that seems pretty straight forward. Unfortunately, here was our flight plan: Chicago to Stockholm to Nice
YEAH not perfect, but we did save $400 on each ticket... and that can buy lots of limoncello drinks :-) OH did I mention the flight also included a 6 hour layover in Stockholm?
We landed in Stockholm at around 12:30pm and our flight out was at 6:30pm. Of course we could have stayed in the airport and rested but that would be no fun. Plus what a great opportunity to bring you some sites & sounds from one of my favorite countries. Sweden, the land of Vikings, Volvos and IKEA (not to mention the world's greatest robots...ABB :-) ).
So we found the lockers to store our carry-on luggage and took the express train (20 minutes) to the central station in downtown Stockholm. Along the way we learned it was Sweden's National Day (kind of like their flag day) and god knows the Swedes need more holidays. FYI they have like 18 national holidays PLUS 4-6 weeks of vacation!!!! Since it was their holiday, many Swedes were walking around with small Swedish flags.
Susie & Sandy decided to join in on the fun :-)
Since we only had about 3 hours to explore, we concentrated our journey to the "old town" area. Here is what is looks like from the air:
Old town is located on a island, so you have to cross the bridge to enter the area.
Here are some very traditional Swedish items:
And here are some very traditional Swedish items NOT:
After about an hour of walking we decided it was time to grab something to eat. Here was our selection... YUM!
Here is where we dined...
After a quick lunch it was back to exploring... and more POWER shopping for the girls.
Sandy scored a major find and bought a few pieces of jewelry from this lady (Susie was more than willing to help with the purchase)
And here is Sandy AFTER she found out how much the stuff cost :-) Actually the shop keeper was pinching Sandy for the photo...
Sounds of Stockholm
There were lots of musicians along the way and lots of variety. You had the obligatory Bob Dylan cover act belting out some of his tunes...
He was actually pretty good. Here is a short video I made. NOTE: I kind of suck at video (plus I had to reduce the size of the file so the quality suffers), but I'm hoping to get better as the trip progresses.
And here is lame attempt to capture their singing. FYI they were very good!
Some Weirdness
OK time for some weirdness... Swedish style.
First up... I think this means the same thing in English... but I guess the regulators don't have a problem with it...
I guess this is "Art"... I think it is weird... Susie thinks I'm weird :-)
The Swedes are soooooo equal about everything :-)
Here is a job that Sandy is considering...
The Smurfs are in Sweden and promoting Christianity. Yes they were handing out booklets for the Jehovah's Witnesses, but I'm digging the hair and it looked like they were really enjoying their work:
Lets see if I got this right. The store name is "Animal-Lovers" and they have a big honking pelt from a dead animal... go figure :-) (Maybe that's why PETA stands for People Eating Tasty Animals)
OK... back to our regular programming :-) Here are a few parting shots of the old town area. I hope you enjoy them:
A couple of burnouts at a Ben & Jerry's... WOW that is a surprise :-)
There were a lot of these types of tunnels around the area...
There were a bunch of places selling ice cream in waffle cones. Ever wonder where those cones come from? Here is your answer... (Doesn't that look fun)
And here is where all her hard work ends up...
Here are a few shots on the walk back from old town back to the central train station...
A very Swedish looking building...
This is my kind of place. It amazes me that everywhere I travel, I always find an Irish pub (but I'm not complaining :-) )
We made it back to the train station and they had these cool benches...
Susie & Sandy look very happy after a quick shopping run in Stockholm.
We made it back to the airport with plenty of time to spare and we arrived in Nice at 9:30pm. After a quick taxi ride (about 10 minutes) we were at our apartment & Gregory (the property manager) let us in and showed us around. He is a great guy!
We then walked around for a few minutes and stopped at a gelato shop for a little treat. The only problem was we discovered that all of us forgot to bring our wallets (thank-you jet lag)... after we started to eat our gelato. The shop owner just told us to pay him tomorrow... nice guy!
Well it has been a pretty busy 48 hours. Time for some sleep!!!!
Cheers,
-jj
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