Friday 6th of January - Stockholm

This morning we planned to walk through Stockholm with Hanna starting at the old city (Gamla Stan) at 10:30. After a quick breakfast from 7-11, we went up to the theatre to deposit our bags at Anders' studio. Anne was there to meet us and unlock the doors and then we all walked together to the city so that we could chat. Chrissy was slightly taken aback by the swift walking pace set by Anne (some kind of champion speed walker/Swede walker) but she kept up!

When we met Hanna, Stockholm was still very quiet and it turned out that it was one of those secret public holidays that I don't find out about until I'm already at school or have walked half an hour to get to a certain shop which is closed. Most of the shops were opening, but just a bit later than normal and we wandered around the old town for a while, looking at historical things such as gnomes and comic shops.

Next on the agenda was some vintage clothes shops and fashionable design thingie shops on the south island, so we wound our way across the bridges and up the hill into Södermalm. In Design Torget we saw some cute things and I almost bought an iPad bag by "Unit Portables" and then we looked at lots of crazy clothes in Beyond Retro and some other vintage shops.

Before too long it was time to go meet Anders and Anne for lunch so we all went back to Kura to meet them. They were really happy to see Christina again and to meet Hanna and I was happy to show off my team of Australians.

Soon enough it was time for us to go and get the bus to the airport and that very evening we got back to my little apartment in Piteå and our Christmas holiday was at an end. Now! Time to practice!

Thursday 5th of January - Stockholm

Today we woke up early to get to our flight to Stockholm at 11am. Margrét let us in on the secret knowledge that the express train to the airport had a student ticket (50% off!!) so we went down to Oslo station on the tram to get the train to the airport! It was super fast.

The flight to Stockholmwas uneventful but we were both a bit sad to say goodbye to our superfriends in Oslo. Once we got to Stockholm we took a similar airport express train to central and then a metro to Fridhemsplan to our hotel, the exotic and mysterious Fridhemsplan STF (hostel). Luckily we had a very nice room, I've stayed there on other occasions and seem to get rooms with a view of a wall or something equally boring, but this room on the 5th floor faced the main street in this part of town (S:t Ericksgatan).

After a brief rest, we took the metro up the street to meet Hanna at my favourite Café in Stockholm, Kura, which is run by some well-spoken and stylish New Zealanders.

It was really good to see Hanna again and we caught up over excellent long-blacks and the "super salad" with wild rice and vegetables that Kura makes.

After food we decided to do some shopping in central Stockholm so we walked up Torsgatan. We went to a few (shoe) shops but Christina was getting really tired to so we walked back to the hotel to watch some shows and had a quiet evening in!

In piteå finally

Tuesday 3rd January 2012!

Today we had delicious apple porridge for breakfast yum. Around 11 we took a tram into town. We thought about walking but it was actually pouring with rain! ALL DAY.
First we visited the cathedral which was really beautiful and ornate, although it was not huge like others I've seen. There was a balcony especially for the king! It was lovely.
Then we went to a comic shop that Charles wanted to visit, which was great! It actually mostly sold Lego, but also costumes, novels, games of all sorts, manga, comics, DVDs, and toys. Amazing! Charles bought a game for us to play tonight.
Then we stopped for a light lunch nearby. It was cute: Margrèt and Gìsli both had fish soup, and Charles and I both had potato wedges. At least, I thought it was cute. And also, delicious!
We walked down towards the Palace and took a train to Margrèt's university. She had to collect some music and she showed us around for about an hour. Mostly the library, which was interesting. They had over 20,000 CDs! We only have like 6000. But I guess we also have the old jazz CDs so more like 7000. But we also have many thousands of LPs. Anyway.
It was getting dark at this stage because it was almost 4pm. We went and had coffee at a cute cafe which served the drinks in bowls rather than cups. I don't know. It was yummy though. Then we took the tram 12 stops home! Now we're chilling and are going to have turkey for dinner yay!

Monday 2nd January 2012!

Today we slept in because we had all stayed up so late last night. After a good breakfast together we went for a walk up the street. We're in a really nice part of Oslo where there are lots of vintage shops and cute cafes. So Margrèt and I tried on many awesome vintage outfits while poor Charles and Gisli stood and watched. We had lunch at a gorgeous cafe which had a rustic feel. Charles attempted a whole burger, and while it was delicious, his stomach still can't eat as much as it could before. It's shrunk. I had celery soup, which I thought would be super awesome, but was instead super creamy. It was nice, but tasted like Nigella Lawson had made it. Fatty.
We checked out a few other nick nack shops and then bought some sweets at a bakery for later. We dropped into the supermarket and then went home.
At home we watched many episodes of Miranda and a Bill Bailey stand up show. I had a really hard time staying awake, it was kinda awful because I really didn't want to be asleep. I thought I had my jet lag under control because there was that night when I stayed awake all night, but CLEARLY I was MISTAKEN.
Anyhow we ate baked salmon and vegetables with garlic and lemon and it was the best.

Sunday 1st January, 2012!

This morning we requested a late checkout for 1pm and spent the morning trying to feel good enough to go out. Charles was still a bit weird from his epic illness and Chrissy was also weird from her sympathy starvation and jet lag. we watched Beethoven on tv. Remember that film?
We set out for the Victoria and Albert Museum around 12:30, walking all the way through Kensington park. It was good to exercise I guess. As usual the museum was really lovely. We looked at the wrought iron and the miniatures and everything. The fashion exhibition was STILL closed (just like last year) and apparently opens in the spring. Gosh!
Then around 3 we started getting stressed about getting to the airport. We had to take a stupid route to get home (couldn't walk back the same way because it was pouring with rain) because the circle line was closed. We had to transfer a few times. At the hotel we collected our stuff and the concierge broke my bag handle!! All our bags were piled up on top of my big bag and he picked them all up at once by the fragile plastic handle and of course it broke. He was like "ow it hurt my hand!" and "these new ones aren't strong like the old ones" when I really wanted to hear "sorry".
So we made it to Victoria station to get the Gatwick express. At the airport we ate soup at Pret a Manger (the bed yummiest healthiest most fresh and organic restaurant) before catching the 8pm flight. I kept nodding off on the plane. We arrived at 11 and got the train into town.

And our best friends Margrèt and Gìsli were waiting for us! We were brought back to their house which is an apartment at the end of a building, so all the windows are curved and they have a panoramic view. We were so tired and went to bed pretty soon!

London 31st December

This was a pretty bad day. Charles was really sick all night and all day, so the only time anyone went out was when Chrissy bought rehydration medicines as soon as the chemist opened. Charles felt a bit better over the course of the day so we had some room service soup for dinner. We even failed at staying up till midnight! Christina fell asleep at 9 by accident and Charles at 11. Fail day!