Stockholm
Stockholm was primarily a business trip with some sightseeing when there was time. International trips are always interesting but the most interesting part of this trip was the return flight.
First let's tackle Stockholm. The currency is the crown and it was about 7.25 crowns to the dollar (not a very good). There are three things that I noticed to be different from the US. The first has to do with the currency. Coins are used as a significant currency. In US dollars the coins are, mostly, fractions of a dollar. There are coins that are multiples of crown. This takes some getting used to not to mention that coins in pockets have real value.
The next thing of significant difference price of beer. Apparently beer is taxed at an incredible rate. Beer prices are so high that many locals leave the country to drink. So going out for a quick beer becomes expensive. For example two beers, 104 crowns you can do the math. Oh yeah, and it wasn't even good beer.
Restaurant service is just about non-existent. This might have something to do with dining being a bit different in Stockholm than in the US. Swedes have only a few months in which to spend time outside so they take that opportunity. This makes dining an event so people will sit in restaurants for hours. It is also considered rushing to bring the check without being asked. This is something, I learned later, to be a European thing.
However, even with the dining as an event thing, the service is still pretty bad. I went out to eat three nights and two of the three provided pretty lousy service. One of the hostesses were talking on a cellphone as she sat us. This is a place where we were spending about 500 crowns on dinner. Not what I would want. I got better service at McDonald's. The exception to the rule was then final night when we went to a nice Chinese/Japanese restaurant.
Okay so the little bit of sightseeing I got in was at the Vasa museum. The Vasa is a old 16th century war ship that was brought for the bottom of Stockholm Bay and restored. It is quite amazing. The ship is 700 tons and is in quite good shape. It is really interesting to see the old ship technology. Wait, did you catch something? The ship was brought from the bottom of Stockholm Bay. How did it sink? It sank because it was engineered in a flawed way. It was to top heavy and had insufficient ballast. The Vasa museum is a museum celebrating a huge failure. I think I am just being to sarcastic.
Stockholm was wonderful. The people were great. The weather was decent most days. This is my second trip but the first one that I got to do anything interesting.
The next chapter in my world travel is my return flight home.....
First let's tackle Stockholm. The currency is the crown and it was about 7.25 crowns to the dollar (not a very good). There are three things that I noticed to be different from the US. The first has to do with the currency. Coins are used as a significant currency. In US dollars the coins are, mostly, fractions of a dollar. There are coins that are multiples of crown. This takes some getting used to not to mention that coins in pockets have real value.
The next thing of significant difference price of beer. Apparently beer is taxed at an incredible rate. Beer prices are so high that many locals leave the country to drink. So going out for a quick beer becomes expensive. For example two beers, 104 crowns you can do the math. Oh yeah, and it wasn't even good beer.
Restaurant service is just about non-existent. This might have something to do with dining being a bit different in Stockholm than in the US. Swedes have only a few months in which to spend time outside so they take that opportunity. This makes dining an event so people will sit in restaurants for hours. It is also considered rushing to bring the check without being asked. This is something, I learned later, to be a European thing.
However, even with the dining as an event thing, the service is still pretty bad. I went out to eat three nights and two of the three provided pretty lousy service. One of the hostesses were talking on a cellphone as she sat us. This is a place where we were spending about 500 crowns on dinner. Not what I would want. I got better service at McDonald's. The exception to the rule was then final night when we went to a nice Chinese/Japanese restaurant.
Okay so the little bit of sightseeing I got in was at the Vasa museum. The Vasa is a old 16th century war ship that was brought for the bottom of Stockholm Bay and restored. It is quite amazing. The ship is 700 tons and is in quite good shape. It is really interesting to see the old ship technology. Wait, did you catch something? The ship was brought from the bottom of Stockholm Bay. How did it sink? It sank because it was engineered in a flawed way. It was to top heavy and had insufficient ballast. The Vasa museum is a museum celebrating a huge failure. I think I am just being to sarcastic.
Stockholm was wonderful. The people were great. The weather was decent most days. This is my second trip but the first one that I got to do anything interesting.
The next chapter in my world travel is my return flight home.....