Sundström i Sverige: 01 min första veckan i stockholm, sverige

hej allihopa! Well I've been here in Stockholm for just over a week now and it's been rather chilly but fantastic. All I could see as the plane was coming in to land were forests and snow, more forests and even more snow! The temp outside was a frosty 1ºC and I just couldn't resist leaving my mark in the snow...

The view from just outside Arlanda Airport

I arrived around midday and didn't have anywhere organised to stay for the first night (oh yeh, that's quality forward planning...) so after catching the bus from Arlanda Airport to Stockholm (about 45 min trip) I got online and found a nice looking place (with free wireless broadband for the lappy! = ) citybackpackers.se for SEK 210 (that's around AUD 37) per night. I've had to find a new home as they are booked out over Easter so I'm now staying at hostelbedandbreakfast.com. It's a bit cheaper at SEK 195 and includes breakfast but no free broadband for the lappy = ( However, if you are silly enough to leave your wireless network unencrypted – BEWARE! I will leech off you! hehehehe

During my first week I've been trying to get myself organised and so headed to the lokala skattemyndigheten (local tax office) which is by the way not so local and an adventure in itself getting there. I needed to apply for a samordningsnummer (a temporary personnummer - the ID number all swedes are issued with at birth) so that I can do things like open a bank account, rent a dvd, borrow a book from the library – basically you need one of these before you can do just about anything here.

Next I looked into getting a pre-paid mobile setup and after checking out the local providers I decided to go with Telia (just like Telstra) as they have the best coverage. There was only one plan that I could join which has rather costly calls and connection charges until I get my samordningsnummer (go figure...) sms-es are ok though. I'll email you all my number so feel free to say G'day anytime! Maybe I should alter that to any sensible hour of the day or night, but who am I kidding…? My ‘normal’ hours are anything but ‘normal’ anyway… If you want to know the current time in Stockholm you can check here:

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/custom.html?cities=239,5,47,152

I’ve already set it up to show Stockholm, Adelaide, Brisvegas and Melbourne. You can customize as required.

I've been stomping the mostly cobble stoned pavements of Stockholm every day - it's a beautiful city - and just trying to get a feel for the place and the people. It took me a while to work out what a supermarket is here let alone find one... I'm still searching for a Laundromat and second hand store...

It would be great to do a hot air balloon ride to try and grasp the size and beauty of the region better (Stockholm is built on 14 islands) - I will look into that some more... A skydive would also be crazy! - hmm all this typing is giving me ideas... I'm going to do a boat tour sometime soon which will be a bit cheaper and tamer than all these other adrenalin filled activities.

Yesterday was bitterly cold and the wind was up and about, I can definitely say that life would be so, so much harder without my icebreaker thermals and windstopper jacket.

mmmmmmm icebreaker and windstopper… so warm…

This morning I had my first taste of Lingonberries! mmmmmmm it’s an interesting taste sensation, and I like it!

I’ve been out on the town a couple of times and it has to be said that the ol’ brews are a tad expensive. Sorry lads no Nightclub in Stockholm pics as yet – stay tuned! I've met a number of interesting people so far, and quite a few aussies actually. I met a Swedish bloke last night at a dinner who goes ice skating out on the Stockholm Archipelago in winter (that's like if Moreton Bay was full of thousands of little islands and froze over for you Queenslanders). Apparently you can sometimes ice skate as far out as 38kms into the Archipelago. Sounds awesome to me! I'm gonna have to brush up on my ice skating technique a bit first though...

Time to get going now so I hope you are all well and enjoying life! I’m not sure that my pics do this awesome place justice but have a look anyway.

hejdå!