By this time in our trip the traveler's cold had firmly taken up residence in our chests, noses, and throats. We all woke up feeling quite rough, but we were determined to have a nice final day in Stockholm. We once again packed up our belongings, bid farewell to our Gamla Stan apartment, and headed for Stockholm Centralstation. Conveniently, this was just a short walk from Gamla Stan. Inconveniently, it was still very, very hot out in Sweden. Mixing heat with a strong cold was less than ideal, but we marched on regardless.

We arrived at the train station to lock up our bags in the morning. We had an entire day yet to work through, as we were taking the night train to Copenhagen and it did not depart until 11PM local time. After locking up our bags, we stopped at a small restaurant in the train station as our stomachs were rumbling at this point, if I recall correctly this was at about 11AM local time. Madi and Derek got a couple of sandwiches (a chicken and mozzarella panini and a pesto. tomato, and mozzarella hoagie). Shay and I decided to once again test the spice level of the area, and we got a small pizza to split (the sign said spicy)! I know these aren’t traditional Swedish food items, but we were hungry, the restaurant was close, and we’ve been eating quite a lot of fish, breads, and sweets. We all enjoyed our food, but once again spicy doesn’t mean spicy in Nordic countries. In fact, most of the “spice” on this pizza came from black pepper. It was quite peppery. I’m not sure what the Italians would have to say about that, and there weren’t any around to ask at that moment.

The pizza was good, but what’s with the black pepper? Also it was served with a side of garlic mayo, which was a first for me.

Feeling full, we moved on from the station. Now, by this point we’d spent 6 days in 2 large cities. Roaming city streets long enough can start to wear on your nerves (or perhaps just mine, being a small town/country boy for the majority of my life). We all agreed that we needed to spend some time in nature. We decided to make our way to an island in Stockholm that is almost entirely parks and forests and museums: Djurgården. So, we hopped on a bus and before we knew it, had arrived.

This will likely come as no surprise to anyone who’s traveled or lived with friends for extended amounts of time, but occasionally, tensions can flair up. I don’t really think there is a way to avoid this entirely, especially when you’re basically spending every waking moment on top of each other. Coupled with us all feeling beaten down by urban areas and our colds, we were all a bit moody. However, there is an antidote. Spend some time in nature. Whether it’s a walk in the woods, laying in the grass in a quiet meadow or park, or sitting by a gentle stream or river, it does wonders. Get away from the city noise for a while. It almost instantaneously allows you to think more clearly, and eases a massive amount of tension. Trust us, we were about to crack, but just walking a trail and sitting in the shade of a big tree in a quiet park on Djurgården was enough to bring us all back to homeostasis.

We spent many hours just sitting in the grass. Shay and I even took a nap! Also, we met some very friendly ducks! They waddled right up to us, probably smelling the delicious bread from Park Bageri and Konditori, but they just kind of hung out. It seemed to be a mated pair, being both a hen and a drake. Shay was even able to play peak-a-boo with the hen around Derek. These ducks were certainly less timid than the ones back home. Probably because they don’t have to dodge near-constant shotgun fire for a quarter of the year.

After our restorative time in nature, we head back into the fray of downtown Stockholm. There was one more item to try on our Swedish food list, because our first crack at it wasn’t quite right: Tunnbrödsrulle. We found a new, trendy restaurant that specialized in hotdogs called ‘Banger’ and stopped in to try it out. Now, their version wasn’t what I’d call traditional. Shay called it a “Carolina Burger” Tunnbrödsrulle, because it had coleslaw and barbecue sauce instead of the greens and mustard, and it wasn’t too dissimilar in flavor to a Carolina-style hamburger (which has chili, coleslaw and mustard on it). It was still tasty, just not exactly what we were expecting. The tunnbröd itself was great! It was also very filling; bordering on food coma territory.

The picture doesn’t do the scale of this thing justice.

We then moved to wait out the rest of the time until our train at the depot. It was very hot and quite humid. The train station did not have air conditioning. We all had colds. You had to pay to use the toilet. There were no public water fountains. There were very few places to sit that you didn’t have to pay to get to. Most of the shops closed up at 7PM local time. It was absolutely miserable.

Once again we endured, and we were finally able to board our train, which would get us well on our way to Copenhagen. The accommodations were tight, but we were so dead tired it didn’t matter. Sleep came quickly on our last night in beautiful Stockholm.

Our time in Sweden was a bit miserable, what with all the illness, but it was also magnificent. Gamla Stan is a beautiful slice of history and culture. The tour we had from Mattias was unforgettable. Every direction you looked in had another lovely panorama; the city itself if charming and wonderful. All the food, drink, and shops were great, and run by some truly exceptional people. Though slightly less foreign to us than the culture of Helsinki, the people of Sweden are still more reserved than the average American. But just as in Helsinki, existing in the place and observing the people, you will soon find that we all share the same common values: caring for your loved ones, laughter, joy, humor, can all be found in this quite hospitable place. Do yourself a favor and visit Stockholm at some point in your life, you will certainly not regret it. Thank you to everyone that made our stay unforgettable, and thank you Stockholm!

Day 6 – See You Later, Stockholm!

Krown Bakery & Eatery