We spent a couple hours in there and saw lots of things like Napoleon's tomb, the midevil museum, and the WWI/WWII museum. It was more of my kind of museum - filled with all manner of sharp, explosive, and otherwise dangerous objects and machines. Afterward we headed back to the Cafe du Marche for lunch (I had duck, which was delicious).
After lunch we took a walk down the Seine looking for shops where we could find scarves and other gifts. We were going to go check out the Louve, but when we got there it was a little later in the day (3 or 4) and we didn't want to spend another hour in a huge line, so we decided to just keep walking. We found some nice shops near the Louve and got some scarves and a poster for Lauren. We were planning on walking over to Notre Dame, and on the way Lauren found a really nice purse.
We finally decided we were too tired to make it all the way to Notre Dame, so we took the metro back to the hotel. That night we got all packed up and ready to go the next day, then fell asleep.
Napoleon's Tomb
Invalides
Napoleon's Tomb
Invalides
Invalides
LouveThe next day was all traveling to Stockholm (so I'll keep it short). We got up and had delicious pastries at the boulongerie across the street. We made it to the train station, which took us to the airport. We actually got there with plenty of time to spare, and waited around in the terminal for a few hours. The flight was around two hours, and when we landed our luggage came in pretty quickly.
Kristina met us outside customs and we found an ATM so we could get bus/metro passes. When we got outside the air was so cold and dry that Lauren and I both started coughing (it was probably in the teens at that point). I greatly appreciated not having to do any navigating back to the apartment, especially since it was two buses and one train.
When we got back to the apartment we were tired and hungry, so she made the Swedish meatballs that her mom sent up with her. They were really good, and Lauren became a fan. After dinner and drinks we were tired and passed out pretty quickly.
(No pictures for today - just travel)
The next day we decided to go sightseeing after breakfast. First we all (Lauren, Kristina, and I) headed out to Kaknäs Tower, which is a huge 30 story tower on the edge of Stockholm. We took the metro (which was the prettiest, cleanest, all-around-nicest one we saw in all of Europe). While waiting for the bus out to the tower we saw the Esplanade Hotel, where my family and I stayed ~10 years ago when we stayed in Stockholm (picture below). It was in the 20's, so we were freezing waiting for the bus.
Finally the bus came and took us straight to the tower. We took the very fast elevator to the top, but unfortunately it was so foggy that we couldn't see much. However, we didn't mind so much because there was a cafe at the top where we got some really yummy little snacks and just relaxed for a little while.
Next we took the bus over to the Vasa Ship museum, which was really neat. It's a museum built around the Vasa ship (a 17th century ship that was recently brought up intact from the bottom of the harbor). The museum was really neat (one of my favorite museums in Europe) and we spent a few hours in then. Luckily I got plenty of good pictures thanks to my mini-tripod (it's very dark in there). After we were done in there we headed back to the apartment (after a quick grocery run).
After dinner and some wine, we all fell asleep as usual.
Esplanade Hotel (you can see the sign mounted vertically on the building down the street right in the center of the picture - you might have to zoom in a bit)
Me being silly at the Vasa Museum
Lauren and I in front of the Vasa Ship
Vasa Ship
Kristina met us outside customs and we found an ATM so we could get bus/metro passes. When we got outside the air was so cold and dry that Lauren and I both started coughing (it was probably in the teens at that point). I greatly appreciated not having to do any navigating back to the apartment, especially since it was two buses and one train.
When we got back to the apartment we were tired and hungry, so she made the Swedish meatballs that her mom sent up with her. They were really good, and Lauren became a fan. After dinner and drinks we were tired and passed out pretty quickly.
(No pictures for today - just travel)
The next day we decided to go sightseeing after breakfast. First we all (Lauren, Kristina, and I) headed out to Kaknäs Tower, which is a huge 30 story tower on the edge of Stockholm. We took the metro (which was the prettiest, cleanest, all-around-nicest one we saw in all of Europe). While waiting for the bus out to the tower we saw the Esplanade Hotel, where my family and I stayed ~10 years ago when we stayed in Stockholm (picture below). It was in the 20's, so we were freezing waiting for the bus.
Finally the bus came and took us straight to the tower. We took the very fast elevator to the top, but unfortunately it was so foggy that we couldn't see much. However, we didn't mind so much because there was a cafe at the top where we got some really yummy little snacks and just relaxed for a little while.
Next we took the bus over to the Vasa Ship museum, which was really neat. It's a museum built around the Vasa ship (a 17th century ship that was recently brought up intact from the bottom of the harbor). The museum was really neat (one of my favorite museums in Europe) and we spent a few hours in then. Luckily I got plenty of good pictures thanks to my mini-tripod (it's very dark in there). After we were done in there we headed back to the apartment (after a quick grocery run).
After dinner and some wine, we all fell asleep as usual.
Esplanade Hotel (you can see the sign mounted vertically on the building down the street right in the center of the picture - you might have to zoom in a bit)
Me being silly at the Vasa Museum
Lauren and I in front of the Vasa Ship
Vasa ShipAfterward we walked down the main little street full of shops and looked around (though we didn't really find anything to buy). Then we got off the little island that old town was on and walked up a hill to a point where we could see most of the city. It wasn't as good of a point of the tower, but we could see alot more just because the fog wasn't nearly as bad. We took some pictures, then headed for the metro station to get out of the cold.
We took the metro back home and made dinner for new years. We ate a delicious dinner and made yummy cocktails (I never realized that Absolut Vodka was Swedish). We all ended up getting really drunk. Everyone was setting off fireworks everywhere (including all around Kristina's apartment building), so at midnight we took the Champagne downstairs and outside to watch the fireworks for a while. The alcohol only kept us warm for so long (it was still snowing) so we came back in and promptly passed out before 1am.
Nobel Museum
Stockholm
Lauren and I on the point overlooking Stockholm
Happy 2010 - It's really cold
New Years Fireworks (they were being set off just feet away from us)There's not much to say about the next day - Lauren and I were both quite hungover (Kristina was somewhat more resilient than us and managed to be mostly fine the next day). We really didn't do much this day, which was fine because I figured it would be our recovery day anyway (the exact reason that I didn't book flights back for this day). We just stayed home, rested, and got all packed up since we had to leave at 4 in the morning for the airport (our flight out was at 7:10 am).
The next two days were spent traveling - Stockholm to Rome took 9 or 10 hours, then Rome to Home took 28 (sleepless) hours, not to mention the hell Lauren and I were both put through at our separate connecting airports (I was in Toronto, she was in DC), but we made it home fine. My sleep schedule has been much better since I got home (going to bed before 10 or 11, waking up pretty well around 6 or 7), but I hope to correct this and return to my usual college student lack of sleep schedule.
Anyway, this concludes my travel blog. Hope everyone enjoyed reading it.
The next two days were spent traveling - Stockholm to Rome took 9 or 10 hours, then Rome to Home took 28 (sleepless) hours, not to mention the hell Lauren and I were both put through at our separate connecting airports (I was in Toronto, she was in DC), but we made it home fine. My sleep schedule has been much better since I got home (going to bed before 10 or 11, waking up pretty well around 6 or 7), but I hope to correct this and return to my usual college student lack of sleep schedule.
Anyway, this concludes my travel blog. Hope everyone enjoyed reading it.
No comments:
Post a Comment