Aperture: Scotts Sweden Blog

Stockholm is an ethnic mecca full of just about everyone, everything! The blond hair, blue eye stereotype is
whatever. I have seen maybe 10 people that match that description. Most people that live in Stockholm are ethnic
minority, some South American, others Arabic or Middle Eastern, and many African. This is actually a popular
media topic here and these ethnic minorities are called "suburban". Yet these "suburban" individuals are setting
the trends in Stockholm and perhaps Sweden. They have their own lingo that is being adopted as the "hip" way to
greet your crew.

So we have a small change of plans. After tireless hours of attempted planning and calling and scheduling, yadda
yadda. We eventually realized that the arctic is sold out. SOLD OUT! A lot of suck is what that is. Apparently we
are in the middle of a Swedish winter Holiday that involves winter sports and how well one partakes in them. So
everybody heads north to the arctic for a week. Needless to say we can't get a place to stay above 66° north.
So we decided to go with plan B.

We spent the day today in Gamla Stan (The Old Town). Gamla Stan is a very small part of Stockholm in the center
of the city. Stockholm is made up of little islands on the eastern coast of Sweden. The island in the middle is
Gamla Stan. Notable places on Gamla Stan: The Nobel Museum, The Royal Palace, and the oldest bakery in Stockholm. This part of town reminded me a lot of Budapest. The tall buildings screaming medieval, Renaissance and the
narrow alley ways all lined with cobblestone streets really brought out the feel of an old European city. We
visited the Royal Palace and had an early lunch at the bakery. we then attempted to visit the Nobel Museum but it
was closing early for an event. Tomorrow we will visit again. As evening rolled in we strolled out to some
shopping spots in Norrmalm district and then went shopping for dinner at a local supermarket. We finished off our
night with a few drinks at a local pub discussing the benefits of the metric system and beer making with the bar
tender chick. It was a very event filled day and we are beat.

Tomorrow we will wrap up our Stockholm experience and then early Thursday morning we are off to Gotland for a few days (plan B). On tomorrows list: visit Nobel Museum, Djurgården, and an Absinthe bar on Fleminggatan.

Also, Sweden is a little apprehensive about photographs of government or private establishments. Since that is
everything it is difficult to get good pics.

Here are a few pics from today:

Gamla Stan
The Royal Palace
The Royal Palace
Swedish Parliament
Jessica in her royal garb
Scott wearing a little
armor
The Nobel Museum
Sergels Torg
Gamla Stan at Night
Gamla Stan at Night
Making Dinner
This Beer tastes exactly like mine!

For those who requested, here are a few:

Swedish Chics
Swedish Chics
Swedish Chics
Swedish Chics

2008.02.19

-Scott