Photo by Hector Melo A.
Photo by ichimusai.Who are you? Let me know. Always interesting to know.
Are you the dry type who want to see the society of the world highest taxes in action?
Do you belong to a group of boys who want to party with swedish girls? See how it went for two italians.
I'm pretty allround, I observe things, so I think I'm writing for many types of people.
About to leave this blog? At least see the one page summary.
Want to learn much about swedish minds? See the overkill page.
What I don't write about, is classic tourist things. Not because I don't like them. Lonely Planet already cover them. Spotted By Locals already cover nightlife and shopping venues.
I would suggest going to Stockholm for extreme people, a futuristic feel and fresh air. (I went to Iceland because of that. Maybe you have to experience air that's better to start valuing it.) Sweden and in many ways Scandinavia is a bubble within Europe. If Dubai makes you laugh from all the bling-bling, Stockholm's inner-city really do produce more moments of silly fashion than Tokyo (believe me).
Even more obvious Stockholm experiences can be that the summer is short, the prices are high and the people are rude. And that's how it is. But at least I have explanations for the prices and the rudeness.
Nybrogatan in Östermalm.
Another good reason, is the huge presence of water (clean) in the inner-city. (Add green by walking. Or see it from a high point.)
Swedes are extreme in many ways, sometimes extreme in being "lame", like being neutral to genocide. We are also extreme in using the english language, interior decoration, social engineering, music, unpatriotism, facebooking, feminism, commercial design, atheism and comedy. We are focused and geeky in general. A lot of trends and mass-movements. Suddenly everybody start doing a certain thing.
Even more obvious Stockholm experiences can be that the summer is short, the prices are high and the people are rude. And that's how it is. But at least I have explanations for the prices and the rudeness.
Nybrogatan in Östermalm.Picture from stockholmsmygstyle.blogspot.com.
Another good reason, is the huge presence of water (clean) in the inner-city. (Add green by walking. Or see it from a high point.)
Swedes are extreme in many ways, sometimes extreme in being "lame", like being neutral to genocide. We are also extreme in using the english language, interior decoration, social engineering, music, unpatriotism, facebooking, feminism, commercial design, atheism and comedy. We are focused and geeky in general. A lot of trends and mass-movements. Suddenly everybody start doing a certain thing.
City, the most central district.
We are good-looking. It's not a myth. It's much about the look, of the people, the clothes, the skyline, the logos, the websites.
Picture from stockholmsmygstyle.blogspot.com.If you want to become someone, you have to move to Stockholm. Catches like family-ties don't stop many swedes from doing so. This is where swedish dreams become true and where ideologies get created, for the rest of the homogeneous population.
"Demand more from your plastic surgeon."
The average inner-city resident was happily born and raised in a calmer place somewhere in the rest of this country. Then the person made the elitistic decision to move to other types of communities in Stockholm. "Communities".
The author of the book "Stuff white people like" once said "you are the 'ideal' of whiteness" about big-city scandinavians.
What I write on the rest of the geographical parts of the country, is short chunks in the "real" Sweden map, which may give you a will to search for more. But this is a blog on Stockholm, and here's where you travellers tend to come.
Stureplan in Östermalm.
Stureplan in Östermalm.The weather is probably warmer than you think, but it's still "hardcore" coming here between december and february. That may be the time to experience the "soul" of the country.
Come here to hang among extreme swedes. (At least don't come here for snow, because it's usually rare in this part of the country.) Other foreigners who do it right now and write about it.
Send me a message. It's also good to post thoughtful questions in Lonely Planet's Scandinavia forum or Community of Sweden's own forum. You can also get a personalized grassroot guide through localyte.com or Stockholm Face2Face, or pay for one through tripbod.com.
The Stockholm Wikitravel page. Stockholm's official site is cocky. Sweden's official site is classy. The tourist centre Sweden House is at Vasagatan 14.
The Stockholm Wikitravel page. Stockholm's official site is cocky. Sweden's official site is classy. The tourist centre Sweden House is at Vasagatan 14.
The Local cover swedish news in english. (Order your country's newspapers here.) Sweden Bookshop at Slottsbacken 10, next to the royal palace, sells books about Sweden. Radio project SR International airs swedish news in english once a day.
Remember the Stockholm page on spottedbylocals.com, for backpackers. If you are coming here mainly for nightlife, taste and shopping (you probably do...), you will like that blog better than this one. A similar book, written in both english and swedish for a slightly older and richer crowd, is Livsnjutarens guide till Stockholm (2007). If you read that one you will get a lot of addresses and the impression that Stockholm is entirely about innovative, eccentric and swanky venues catering to "the goodlifers".
Know the subway rules and what week it is. Drink the tap water. Pack your own groceries and pick up your postal packages in the supermarket. Avoid the fake taxicabs. Consider claiming free second-hand stuff. (Also, as in all cities, think about the big contrast between the social and the minimalistic and empty streets.)
Riche at Stureplan, a place for hotshot media people and other urban creatures. This place is probably not for you.
If you read this blog you may be able to write down more alternative memories than these swedish traveller stories.
Again, see the one page summary. That page is "with you" from planning the trip until coming home from it.
Broker.
If you won't give me more than one last word about Stockholm, I just want to mention "brats".
The swedish church at 5th Ave/48th Street at Manhattan, close to one "flagship store" of H&M, one international swedish company. When in New York in october-november 2008 I overheard about 20 different companies of fellow swedes. During the same time I overheard 1 group of friends from Denmark and 1 from Norway. We travel, a lot to New York, but also more in general than our neighbours. Stockholm is the Tokyo of Europe. Everybody move here, and when they do, they adopt trends and praise what's "modern" at the moment.
