One more piece I forgot to include from OSL.
While walking through the duty free shop, I was greeted with this guy:



That is 265 000 NOK. THAT IS $47,425 USD. I think my spending money would be more spent. Actually, that bottle is pretty much equal to the amount of student debt I have accrued over the last couple years. For that much, I can only imagine what it is like to taste that. I would imagine the mead glazes my tongue, sending me into an instant euphoria without a care in the world. Until the bottle is gone. Which would then send me into an oblivion of which the likes I have never seen.

I make it onto the plane, put on my seat belt, and pass out.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Flight: SAS 890
Aircraft: Boeing 737
Service: Oslo, Norway - Stockholm, Sweden
Seat: 12A
Registration: LN-RRP "Vilborg Viking"
Scheduled Gate Departure: 7:45 PM
Actual Gate Departure: 7:48 PM
Scheduled Gate Arrival: 8:45 PM
Actual Gate Arrival: 8:45 PM

There really wasn't much legroom on my flight, and we went out around 80% full. Not much to say, I was extremely tired at this point as I only managed about a total of an hour sleep over the last 30 hours.


There wasn't much to see on the flight, it was almost entirely dark out. We landed into Arlanda a quick hour after, into a very quiet setting. I casually strolled to the luggage carousel, and decided to exchange the rest of my cash for krowns. I traded $450 USD and ended up "losing" about $40 in the exchange. I was getting screwed, I knew it, but I always thought it would be better to have cash on me for an emergency.

To my surprise, my bag makes it out, and follow the signs I go. My "plan" is this:
Tonight - Stay at the jumbo jet hostel
Tomorrow - Catch a bus downtown and stay at another hostel by myself
Friday - Meet up with my friend, and head to the prison hostel for a week.

I didn't really have a set plan, just that I had a bit of time to catchup on sleep and do some scouting.

I make my way to the information desk and ask about how to get to the jumbo jet hostel - I'm told bus 14.

I get outside, and well I'm technically on Swedish grounds now, to me this really isn't Sweden yet. I wait at the bus stop and about 10 minutes later it comes. The bus goes From terminal to terminal, sky city, hotel, jumbo jet hostel, then all the parking lots and back. I sit and as we come up to the hostel....we keep going by. We had stopped at all the other stops, so I figured I didn't have to do or say anything; apparently I should have pulled the stop cord. Oh well. I make it to the end of the line, tell the bus driver what happened, and on the way back we stop at the hostel.

So what this is, is a re-modeled 747 turned into a hostel. The plane is on airport grounds, but still a bit ways from the actual terminals. Here is a couple pictures to give you a better idea of what it was like:


lounge area. this would be from the nose, looking inwards.


the hall-ways, leading into the rooms


my room


day-view of the hostel

I get at night, and check in is pretty painless. I attempt to use my debit card and...it works. In fact it rang up faster than any transaction I've ever had in the US. I get my key, and the wifi code, and head down to drop off my stuff in the room.

The rooms aren't really huge, but they are..."cozy". The windows are still there, and the overhead bins serve as the closet. One of the few regrets I have on this trip and not getting to know the person who was also in this room. As I only paid for one person I was sharing this room. The guy I was with told me he was a student from stockholm, leaving the next morning to head to Vancouver as an exchange student. Seemed like a really nice person, and I wish I would have gotten an email or facebook link to him.

Anyways, I went out into the lobby and again FaceTimed by Mom and Grandma. First I was on a train in norway doing this, now i'm in a plane in sweden. They are just as amazed as me. I spend some time talking with them before finally having to retire for the night.

My bed was actually really comfortable. That, or I was just really tired. I had a memory foam pillow which felt wonderful. Checkout was unfortunately 10am the next morning, so I wouldn't get much time to sleep.

I should add that the room was US $62. It's not bad at all, especially if you have to travel the next morning. In the morning, I get up, take a couple pictures, and am back off to the airport to catch a bus downtown.

It looks like I have a couple options. I can take the train (too pricey), or one of two busses. There is flygbussarna, and swedebus. Both have plenty of kiosks in and around the airport. I look at both, and see that swedebus has student pricing, and wi-fi readily available. And the next bus leaves in 5 minutes. Easy choice! The student price is 79 kr, ~ $12 USD. Not a bad price at all. Compared to everything I just had in Oslo, that's practically a steal.

The wi-fi works pretty well; not amazing, but it certainly got the job done. It's about 35 minutes later we roll into Stockholm city station that I finally feel like im in Sweden.

My initial impression is that Stockholm feels much more industrious than it's neighbor to the west. It's around 11am, and I'm not even sure when I can check into the other hostel. I'm starting to get a bit hungry, as my supply of buttered crackers and milano cookies are running low from EWR. I decide on a shop in the station for a chocolate muffin and pepsi. It costs me around $7. I pull up walking directions on my phone, and set out on the trek.

There is some snow remnants on the ground, but it is almost all slush. There is a lot of people out and about, which gives it a more city feel than what I saw in Oslo. I have about a 2.5 mile walk over a couple bridges to Zinkensdamn. I begin navigating my way in and out of the streets, and through the slush. Even though I have no phone signal my GPS on my phone still works. After walking for about an hour, I see my phone is less than 5%. I'm only about a half mile away, and I feel pretty sure I can make it, but start to worry just a tad. It doesn't help I'm rolling my luggage around, and carrying a messenger bag. As my phone dies, I look and sigh, only to look up and see across from me...McDonalds.

Those glorious golden arches! I am a bit hungry after the hike. I look at the prices in the McDonalds and ....ugh. The chicken mcnugget meals start at 59 kr - $7 usd. It sucks, but again, compared to what I saw in Oslo this actually isn't that bad. I order, and attempt to try and sit by a power outlet and...I actually don't see one. Whatever. I sit down and enjoy my food - it's slightly better than most McD's over here. but the "normal" soda without refills does not quench by thirst brought on by the amount of salt I like to put on my food. There is wi-fi, however, and I put my phone away and use my iPad to bring up the directions again. Before I leave, I head to use the restroom.

Except they charge for the restrooms here.

Seriously. Why. Is it to prevent people coming in jut to use them? the price is 5kr - ~.75 usd. However, a woman exits the bathroom and holds the door open for me.


I begin walking towards the hostel, and come across what I think is a soccer rink. That has been flooded.

I've played hockey for 20 years. One of the few things I brought with me was my ice skates. Part of the reason of coming to Sweden was to watch a hockey game as the NHL was still locked out at that point. There were people skating around, and the scene was just blissful.

I can't find my first pictures, but here is what the rink looked like at night:

Pictured: Heaven

I also saw some bandy, which I've never seen. Some research shows that the bandy world championships have been held here, most recently as 2006.

I eventually make it to the hotel/hostel, and it's already starting to get dark out.

I believe this one cost me about USD 22. I had to share it with three others though. The hostel has a real nice feel to it. There is a little cafe/restaurant off to the side that has a couple people chatting and drinking coffee. I pay and head down to my room.

Not glamorous by any means, but I paid $22.
The rooms I am in have 4 beds, and one little desk in the middle.


I'm the only one in the room, hopefully that's how it will be. It's around 3 and I take a nap until around 7pm. After I wake up, I decide to head back to the mcdonalds (you're going to hear that a lot).

As I'm sitting in McDonalds, i think of what to do for tomorrow. My friend is scheduled to land around 5pm; I have to be out of the hostel at 10am. I decide that I can get out at 10, head to mcdonalds for an hour or two, walk back to the train station, and then kill the rest of the time there.

I get back, and there are two older gentlemen in my room. Just a "hi", nothing more, and I grab my iPad and head back to the lobby where there is free wi-fi. I'm messing around until around 10pm, when I decide to head back towards my room. As I walk down I hear a bit of noise from the other end of the hallway. I follow the signs to the (public) kitchen where there are a couple groups of people I would say roughly my age (early twenties). One group of spanish speakers, one french, and another speaking english with a thick accent. I decide to hang around here until midnight, when I finally go to bed. I try to be as quiet as possible, but feel like I am making a lot of noise. I keep trying to sleep but the older gentlemen are having what appears to be a snoring competition. I get maybe one to two hours of sleep before waking up at 930. I pack up, buy a souvenir (next pic), and check out.


I get ready to leave and head to mcdonalds but instead decide to visit the cafe that is attached to the hostel. I get a cup of coffee, and proceed to sit down and bust out my puzzle book. Why should I be rushed? There's also a TV nearby. With it being 10am, I know Canada and Slovakia are playing in the world juniors hockey tournament. Maybe, just maybe, the game would be on TV. I turn on the tv, flip through a couple channels, and SCORE! The game is on. Albeit with swedeish telecasters. At this point, I realize I should get set in for the next couple of hours. I have about 7 to kill.

At this point I truly feel like I'm on vacation. The location I'm in has an "up north" feel to it. Cold out, but nice and cozy inside. Drinking some coffee, with a hockey game on, my iPad out and playing some puzzle games. A man from Egypt chats me up for a little bit, says to make sure I get a refil on my coffee. Sweden and Switzerland are on at 1pm, so I know that I will be set here until at least four. There is also various snacks - I decide on a chokoball - a ball of chocolate.


The bar area of the cafe.

I chat with my friend via imessage for a bit, and it appears that his flight is going to be delayed for a little bit - the plane that was supposed to take him here was arriving late. My friend is flying Norwegian Shuttle from Manchester to ARN. After I stop hearing from him, I assume he was on the plane.

I catch a quick start of the USA-RUSSIA game, before proceeding to head back to the station.
As I walk through galma stan - literally old town - I glance into several bars to see that they have the USA Russia game on much to my surprise.

I make it back to the train/bus station and continue to check my phone for flight updates, but I get none. My wifi is also a bit spotty, and I continue to try and get a hold of my friend but do not.

After what seems like an eternity, he messages me around 6 pm that he has landed, got his stuff, and on the bus. He was supposed to land at 4pm.

The only thing I really, really wanted to do was check out a hockey game. This was the only night to do this, as AIK was playing. Starting at 7pm, and his flight (supposed) to land at 4, I figured plenty of time. I knew my plans were now in jeopardy. He makes it to the station around 635. We drop our luggage off and pay to store it, and buy a train ticket to get down to the arena and back. As we eventually get to the arena around 720 (game started at 7), we ask about getting tickets and they point us across the building to another building to buy them. We go back across the seat and our told, flat out, that they are "completely" sold out.

Bummer.
We get dinner at a nearby McDonalds and start to catchup.

After we get back and get our stuff, we walk over to our hostel. Our hostel of choice is a well-rated, former prison on the island of Langholmen. On the walk back we exchange stories, and he tells me about his adventures after summer camp when him and a couple buddies road-tripped across the eastern us; stops in Charleston, SC and Austin, TX were the highlights. Also a stop with another friend in Tuscaloosa and having to drive through Hurricane Sandy.

After a long walk, we make it on the island and walk towards the entrance. I begin thinking to myself that I'm not going to like this place, that this was a mistake, etc etc. When we finally walk in and check in, the very cute swedeish girl says to my friend that we've been upgraded to a 2 bedroom from a 3-bedroom. Awesome. She asks us if we want linens and that there is an extra charge and my buddy says no. After we check in, he asks about linens - apparently he didn't hear her. She says that there is usually a charge but we can just take them. After she gives them to us he says "How much?"...I wanted to tell him to just shutup and take them.

As we walk through what would be the original first floor cell, all I can say is wow. First, it is almost soundproof. It is creepy how quiet it is. It's been renovated, so it is a bit modern, but still has the feel to it.

Here are a couple pics of the hallway, before leading up to our cell. I mean room.





We paid about $30 USD a night here. We got two beds, a TV, and our own bathroom that had a nice shower in it. I would compare this to being in a cruise ship normal room, but slightly bigger. Oh and what's this? Free Wi-Fi in the room? Time for more video chatting.

One thing bothers me though. I have been rolling my luggage everywhere. I got a brand new suitcase from my dad for Christmas and this was what it looked like 2 days later



One wheel was completely off; the other wore down to about nothing. Very disappointed that this was only due to wheeling it around in Stockholm for a day.

One final shot of the room to show you what we got: