5 January
I had several things on my mind when I woke up. Each fighting for precedence over the other was laundry and my eye. Laundry one because I got up at 7am to go check on it. The thought had woken me up at 4am but I wasn't going to disturb the girls sleeping in my room at that ungodly hour. I didn't want to disturb myself, even. So 7am it was.
Wouldn't you know, the dryer was still going! Oh my word, I thought my clothes would have been nice and small by now, but they weren't, thank goodness. They weren't even warm. But they were clean and they were dry, so I rolled them up and packed them back into my duffel where they belonged for the time being.
The eye was better that morning, but I was still kind of sleepy from waking up so early, so I went to bed for another hour. When I woke up, I was the only person sleeping in the room. The other three girls had checked out. Although I made them seem like a three-some travel group, I think the two sharing the bunk were the only ones traveling together and the third was a solo traveler like me. I think this is the case because the third girl sleeping in the bunk below me checked out as I slept where the others were gone when I got back from folding laundry and eating breakfast.
The goal for the day was to take a boat tour of the archipelago. I plotted a route from a map of Stockholm that will take me to the docks, so off I went.
Ran into an interesting piece of architecture that later turned out to be the Royal Palace. It was on a few lists of things to see in Stockholm, and I never expected to run into it on a whim. Took a few pictures of it, of course. I couldn't resist because of the crowd of tourists taking pictures of it, so it had to be something important. The palace was on a major tourist shopping street, and as a result, I walked into a souvenir shop and bought a patch. Took care of that one right away.
Continued onto the docks and found that I was bright and early for the next boat tour. Yes, they run them in winter but only a few companies do so. I paid for my ticket an hour before the boat launched so I decided to wander a few blocks for half an hour or so. On the way, I found a small cafe where I ate a sandwich and juice for lunch. Also spent some time warming up and completing a sudoku puzzle or two. The cashier that served me looked really bored, the way he wasn't doing anything behind the cash register. When it was five to one, I left for the docks again.
The tour would last about 2.5 hours instead of 3.5 because of the amount of ice later on in the route. So I guess we turned around earlier than expected but I don't mind. I had gotten my island fix by the time we were that far out, anyway. The tour boat was really nice. The interior was fashioned in wood and looked all fancy-like. There were two levels and I made my way to the upper deck for the better views. While waiting for the ship to launch, I overheard four adults talking amongst themselves. They were obviously American because they were loud and the men sported university clothing. One wore Wisconsin Badger gear and the other Minnesota. I wonder why I didn't step in and strike up a conversation, but I'm fine not doing so. I had an enjoyable experience anyhow.
Our tour guide was named Eva. I talked with her several times throughout the trip. I said I was just traveling at the moment and spent a semester in London for studies. She said she was jealous because I and one other girl from Australia had spent three months traveling around. I pointed out that, based on our conversations, she's lived in a lot of places around the world. She had spent two years in Miami, a few years in Madrid, and even some time in Georgia (the country not the state). Then she admitted that maybe she shouldn't be complaining.
The aforementioned Australian girl was really nice. We talked several times throughout the trip too. She was really, really excited about winter in Stockholm. Australia doesn't get much snow, and she was most amazed by the fact that the ship was sailing through ice. ICE! Can you believe it? Yes, I could, actually. But she was still amazed. She also really liked the color scheme of the islands. She had a Canon camera just like my friend David, you see, and she was snapping away the entire trip. I asked if photography was just a hobby, and she said that it was but she's rubbish. Only a few good shots in a stack of 200 or so. I believe I said that it was normal (because it's what happens to David) but I don't think she heard me. She said her sister, who lives in Stockholm, was a really excellent photographer but she's too busy to give her sister a few pointers about photography. Meanwhile, Austrailian Girl was just putzing around with her camera settings. I'm not a photographer, but from what I heard, I think she's on the right track. Just putztng, keep taking a million pictures a day, and pretty soon you'll be a really good photographer before you know it.
Australian Girl (I never caught her name), Eva, and I spent some time complaining about the lack of sunlight in Stockholm winters. Eva also said that Stockholm people prefer summer months over winter months and wonder why anyone would want to visit in the winter. So the next time I'm in Scandinavia, I'll be sure to visit in the summer when the sun is out for sixteen hours and the weather is nice.
With the tour over, we bid farewell to each other and continued our merry way. This morning, I had previously read about a shop I wanted to visit on the island with the Royal Palace on it, so that's where I ventured afterward. It was only 3pm, but it was already twilight! It was also cloudy so it was hard to tell where the sun was at this time. Anyway, I wandered up and down this street and ended up not going into the shop I wanted to visit. The shop boasted crystal gifts and other souvenirs, but I only saw the crystal gifts, which were finely crafted and interesting, but nothing I would ultimately buy. I did, however, find some other interesting stuff.
Like awesome Viking figurines! That were overpriced and thus not bought by me. I also bought a stack of postcards and a few Christmas ornaments for myself that were on sale. Two ornaments featuring Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus (with blonde hair instead of grey or white). The third was a cute angel girl with blonde pictails that was too Scandinavian to pass up. While wandering, found a tee shirt I would really like to buy, but wasn't positive on the price just yet so I kept going. Found a store that sold a bunch of items for rock bands, one of them being Nightwish (and now I wish I walked into that because I'm not having any luck finding Nightwish memorabilia in Finland). The reason I passed it up was because I thought I would find Nightwish stuff in Finland, actually. The band does come from Finland at any rate. Moving on, I also found THE Coolest Store EVER.
THE Coolest Store EVER is a bookstore that features nothing BUT science fiction, fantasy, manga, and graphic novels. Indeed, I am that geeky that I call them graphic novels, and to increase that geekiness, I will correct you if you call them comic books. They're graphic novels. But seriously, I could live in this store. I kind of wanted to buy something because I was so taken aback by the fact that a store like that existed somewhere in the world, but I immediately thought of packing and whether it would fit. And after returning and taking a look at my bag, I could have fit another novel in my backpack or duffel bag. Too late now. I even passed up the opportunity to open the first volume of Scott Pilgrim. What was I thinking?
I was thinking of that tee shirt. Which I went and got before I turned in for the night. It's a pretty cool tee shirt, if I do say so myself.
Wandered the main shopping street on my way back home. It was a more interesting route than the other one I had plotted out. Besides, I got to see a street riddled with H&Ms. Way too many people like that store over here (but I can see why, really. Their clothes are just so cute and affordable).
Bought a jar of pasta sauce before I returned to the dorm. By this time, I figured I had spent enough money on food so I should take the free pasta in the hostel kitchen while I have a chance. This was the first hostel that had free anything in the kitchen besides leftovers, so I had to take the opportunity. Just at by myself in the kitchen and didn't join into any conversations. What a loner I am. I think it's time to go home because I'm losing a willingness to talk to people.
Spent the evening on Skype, being as I was the only person in a room meant for four. Kind of reveled in the fact that I was the only person in the room, except I stayed on the top bunk for some reason. Really? Really.
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