Introduction
    My original intention was to try to make this piece of writing into part of my "general blogs" section, but after thinking about the immense amount of writing and formatting , I have decided (correctly, I hope) to make my trip to Sweden it's own page. 

The trip literally began as no more than shooting the breeze.  For Jennifer's birthday this year, I wanted to do something fun and special.  Somehow even back in November when I was looking at potential places to visit, I must have known subconsciously or through ESP that our cruise on carnival crap  lines was going to be somewhat of a wash.  The original plan was to take her on a small two night cruise via Imperial Majesty Cruise Lines, but I did not want to be suckered into the "free gift certificates" floating around on the web that are nothing more than telemarketers commissioned by IMCL's parent company, Ramada Resorts.  Paying full price for a cruise was not an issue; what was an issue, however - was the fact that I wanted the stateroom to be a nice one, even of the veranda suite variety.  The cost of such accommodations was not a price that was severely attractive, so instead I started to look around at other options. 

Admittedly, I even looked at perhaps going to the Wisconsin Dells for the great event, but somehow that idea seemed a little too chintzy.  Perhaps as a weekend getaway, an indoor water park resort would be great, but as a birthday present?  My thoughts wandered to other parts of this great nation: Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, beaches in Florida, and although each of them had their benefits, there was always some type of cost factor that made the eventual trip higher than what I would like to pay for a domestic vacation.  On a lonely afternoon, I started to look at Europe.  It had been awhile since I had set foot across the pond, and the last time that I did go, it was with my parents and a horde of Asian language speaking older people.  The kids that went were either very young or in their late 20's, and plus - at that time I was still in my apprehensive towards Asians mode.  The bright side to that trip was that my roommate for hotels was this older gentleman; although there was a language barrier that we could not cross, he was friendly - and when we went out, I made sure to take care of him.  

Tour groups are convenient, though they do not allow much time for self-exploration.  My cruise excursions have always allowed time for exploring the islands and cities, but let's face it - Ensenada, Mexico and Nassau, Bahamas are not exactly the poster children for great architecture, storied buildings, etc.  So with Europe in mind, I wanted to go to a country full of history, fantastic architecture, fine cuisine, and contemporary culture - but I did not want to shell out money to go on "guided tours."  Time constraints were also a factor; Jennifer could only take a 4 day block of time off from her studies, so it immediately became clear that we would have to rush a country tour, or focus on one city.  It became apparent that the wise thing to do would be to focus time and efforts on trying to explore one city, and with a ground time of around 2.5 days - this goal seemed reasonable in conjunction with the relatively smaller size of European capitals.  Paris and London?  Absolutely beautiful as I have seen both, but costly.  Dublin, Ireland was also a choice as well, but I think my preconceptions of terrible food and haggis sealed the "no dice" deal for that particular country.

After looking at what non-stop flights were operated out of O'Hare airport, I came to the conclusion that Scandinavia wasn't a terrible choice.  Denmark, Sweden, or Norway seemed to be the big winners.  After looking at direct flight prices, it quickly became apparent that Sweden would be the place to go, with Stockholm as the main and only attraction.  Delving into such an undertaking seemed easy enough at first.  I got the most important things taken care of: flight and hotel, and slowly I began to piece together an itinerary.  Jennifer's apprehensions came from the fact that a)we would be in a foreign country b)she had never been outside the border towns of the US before and c)there might be a language barrier.  After doing some research, I found that the language barrier would be the least of our worries - Swedes do in fact for the most part speak English quite well.  The most difficult part about planning for this trip though - was trying to type in and remember all the street names.  In Chicago, all the names have some meaning or relevance.  Chicago Avenue, Erie, Huron, Ontario, etc.  The list goes on, but in Stockholm, any cultural, local, or political reference would be completely lost on us.  

In preparation for our 2.5 day trip, I ordered a little book called Stockholm Encounter, and luckily enough there were itineraries that were set to the tune of weekends or a few days.  Now, of course Jennifer and I are by no means wealthy enough to hit up all the trendy nightspots, spas, shopping destinations, etc. but there is definitely enough to do in the city to get a taste of just about everything.

Lagom
    The Sweden episode of "No Reservations" hosted by my good acquaintance Anthony Bourdain makes reference to a Swedish term called "Lagom".  There is no direct English translation, but the closest quote that I found to be positive in nature was  "Enough is as good as a feast".  It skips the negative connotations of being just "adequate" or "just enough".  Think of it more as a positive spin on "be glad that you have what you do, and enjoy all of it."  

I was interested in seeing some of this Lagom in action.  The first taste I had of Sweden seemed innocuous enough.  We landed at Stockholm Arlanda Airport, and although by no means gargantuan, customs moved along very quickly.  Instead of having huge shopping complexes replete with stores and food in every terminal, there was one larger area called Sky City that served two terminals.   

Public Transportation: Immaculate
      It quickly became apparent to me that although lagom might be the culturally accepted way to do things, the Swedes did not skimp at all on any of their public offerings.  No example was stronger than seeing the public transportation system.  The service was quick and efficient, all of the facilities were spacious, clean, and friendly - and most of all, every single mode of transportation that we were on was clean, fast, and environmentally friendly.  The bus from the airport to the northernmost train station was a reticulated hybrid bus with comfortable seats.  The commuter trains that we were on (similar to Metra) were quiet, fast, and clean.  Even the T trains (the El here) were exceptional.  Fast, punctual, much more reliable service, and lit up marquee boards everywhere to tell you what track to be on and when to expect the next train.  We have no match for the Arlanda Express - quite frankly, traveling at 173kph (108mph) was a little daunting, but very exciting indeed.  The trip that took around an hour from the airport to the city on the first day took a little less than 20 minutes on the day that we left.  I cannot applaud the public transportation system enough.

Itinerary Day 1
     Every trip needs to have some type of itinerary, even if it's just a basic one that tells you the general location of where you should be at any given point in time.  I will quickly summarize all of the sights we saw.  Many of these sights can be seen in photos and videos, which will have links at the bottom of this page.  Upon arriving, we had breakfast at a traditional Swedish cafe after a little floundering around of bearings and street names/numbers.  As it turns out, street names fall in the same lagom category in that there are no signs at intersections.  Instead, each building is labeled with the number and the street name.  However, sometimes the numbers didn't always occur in chronological order.  At any rate, the breakfast place we ate at was called Vetekatten.  We ordered one portion of Princess Cake and one portion of Semla.  Goodness gracious the Semla was quite exquisite.
    After a stroll around the main central station, we decided to hit up some of the Swedish shopping conglomerates.  Looking around NK really made me feel small, but it was nice to see all the high end cooking gadgets.  Although we did not see the largest Ikea in the world, we did get to browse Design Torget which was part of the main Gallerian.
    Since we were jetlagged, we decided to go to our hotel and see if we could check in for a nap.  Stockholm Connect Hotel Alvsjo was a 5 - 7 train minute ride from the center of Stockholm, and besides the very small room that we had, the space was immense complete with breakfast buffet consisting of pate, ham, breads, cheese, yogurt, tea, juice, etc.  We ended the day visiting the Absolut Ice Bar Stockholm, which was quite impressive.  We had a late dinner at a superb soup restaurant by the name of Sibiriens Soppkok.  I had the house soup which included many wonderful types of fish and shellfish in this creamy cognac base.  Jennifer opted for the seafood soup in more of a savory spicy base, but both were delightful.

Day 2
    After getting some rest, we started day 2 in the old town of Sweden, or Gamla Stan.  The original plan was to do some touristy shopping, check out the palace for the changing of the guards, and then hit up a transportation museum.  Well, true to lagom form, most of the stores did not open till 10 or 11AM, so we ended up getting some Swedish knicknacks (hats, gloves, paperweights, etc.), and then checking out the palace in earnest.  The whole thing had the royal apartments, and two museums, and for an admission fee of around 20 per person, it was relatively cheap.  However, lunch in old town was NOT so cheap, as I think 20 dollars got us 2 cans of coke light and two cheese sandwiches.  We took a ferry to a different island and spent the rest of the afternoon at VasaMuseet.  The high point of the day was eating at the Smorgasbord in the Grands Hotel Stockholm.  Amongst the items that I remember include: 2 different types of pickled herring, lobster bisque, fresh bread, herring in mustard, herring in dill sauce, many types of cold seafood as salmon, caviar, salads, etc, three different types of smoked salmon, elk, reindeer leg, reindeer sausage (3 types), smoked bear, cooked salmon, swedish meatballs, beef, and an assortment of fresh fruits and desserts.  Yes, Jennifer and I even had some aquavit and punsch.  Interestingly enough, most alcohol in Sweden is served by the centiliter, so it's imperative to be alert at all times, especially after a few drinks.

Day 3
     This day was spent traveling back to the states.  After breakfast, we got on the Arlanda Express and went back to the airport.  

Thoughts
    I greatly enjoyed my time in Sweden, and I hope to one day see more of Scandinavia.  It is true that food is more expensive there than in the States.  There were the stereotypical beautiful blondes there, but of all the people I saw and read about, I think that Crown Princess Victoria is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen in my life, and she is a brunette.  This is a cartoon bear named Bamse in Sweden, and although I did not understand what he was saying, I found it humorous that he gave the villains skunk eyes when he was upset.  Eating pate and caviar for breakfast was a new experience, as was eating elk, reindeer, and beer.  Of those three, I found the bear to be the most subtle, and I enjoyed the taste greatly.  I had a wonderful time, and I think Jennifer did too.  Here are some links to pictures and videos:

Pictures 1 

Pictures 2 

Videos