Easily Pleased: The Art Of Being Lost

Hello people!

I allowed myself a brief moment to think before I unhinged my stream of consciousness to let it loose on the page, and came to a realisation. Do we know that we're all contributing towards this remarkable, wholesome community of people that spans vast planes of time and space? Right now? It's pretty impressive when you think about it. Global citizens of Oz.

So today was fantastic! First day in Stockholm and I love it here. No snow as it turns out but it was nonetheless absolutely ice cold! By the end of the day my mouth was so cold that I couldn't speak faster than I thought up words to say! I was asked whether or not I had heard about doctors without borders about three seperate times and I didn't just sound like a confused tourist I'm sure they thought I had microwaved my own head or something!

Bemusement is the look I was going for...I think

Abtin and Manige (my caretakers for the moment! like I've said, they change at almost every post!) were long gone by the time I woke up which left me feeling very excited and very much on my own. So today turned out to be the day where I more or less conquered my unwillingness to use public transport out of sheer necessity!

I left the house, geared up with my standard set of essentials. There's the bus and train tables, a notebook replete with all the Swedish I know (two pages worth), my Camera and spare battery, my brick phone (just in case I need to break down a door), my wallet swollen with four kinds of coins (and counting), and my old, tattered map of the city! And off I went.

So it began in a matter of minutes. At the bus stop I met this old Irishman who'd lived here for about a decade or something. So he told me all about the public transport system, where to go in southern England when I get back, and since we were getting off at the same stop we talked for ages. Swedes are great people! they all have this hidden charm in their eye as soon as you start a conversation. Abtin told me they love it when foreigners do that, break the ice. They're quite shy but all really quite conversational once you get the ball rolling!

This building was on a piece of land in between old town and mainland Stockholm

So getting out at central station, I told myself I have to get the maximum out of the day. I'm sorry, but I'm just going to have to talk about the Swedish girls again. I was in the city square and I found myself just walking aimlessly in circles just overwhelmed by this torrent of blondes. Gah! I got off the sub one stop earlier because I felt like walking and my travel resolution has been follow all impulses with no regrets.

So I started off watching the fishermen straddling the bridge edge against the backdrop of this breathtaking city that looked as if it were sliding into the still water. One of my favourite features are the stone steps that go down from the plazas until you can only just see them under the surface. So I looked out city hall where the annual nobel prize banquet is held first, then heading across the bridge into old town.

You can see one of the myriad of bridges in the background here. This is the place where all the fishermen stood too.

I walked around the edge of the mainland that old city was built upon, seeing the palace, parliament building and the inside of this ornate old cathedral where I talked to this violinist who was rehearsing for some prestigious ceremony this sunday. I stole a few pictures, pretending not to know what the signs meant, despite the fact they were pictures. I made my way through the winding, tangled streets past a canopy of signs for the cafes that lined the narrow laneways, waiting for that gut feel that told me when the right one was. The loudest gut feel was sheer hunger, but I really liked this particular one not sure why. So I left having inscribed upon my map where I wanted to walk next feeling the company of the goulash I'd just downed with a coffee.

So I overshot my intended checkpoint and ended up at the foot of an observertory located close to the hub of Stockholm.

The Observertory I ran into - mad huh

From there I walked back down the main avenue to central, asking for the occasional direction, then catching the bus the rest of the way. And that leaves me right here! Actually doing some planning - how novel!

Stockholm at sundown - wow

Enjoy the pics! wish you were here...
but not really - travelling alone has been priceless!