Scandinavia

Copenhagen

     After a 20-hour train ride through Poland and Northern Germany, we arrived in Denmark and made our way to the capital, Copenhagen. We met our friend that we made in Coleraine during the semester there, Miles, and he joined Joy-Lynne and I for the trip. He too was backpacking through Europe and had traveled to Denmark to meet us. We both hadn’t seen him in over a month and it was a good reunion.

We learned right away that Copenhagen (and well all of Scandinavia) was actually very expensive. In order to save money, we cooked in our hostel and made cheap meals like Spaghetti and stir-fry with fresh vegetables. At the hostel, we made friends with two American army-men our age who were currently stationed in Germany, but had a long weekend for Memorial Day. They were both very nice and they decided to see Copenhagen with us.

We walked around the city and saw the statue of the Little Mermaid—placed there because the writer of the popular Disney movie was actually from Denmark. My favorite part though was walking through the “free city” of Christiania. It is this a community of artists and hippies that started their own community free of government regulations and law. The place was overgrown with green and every building was covered with paintings and graffiti. The people there were friendly and there were many small stands selling handmade jewelry and other souvenirs.

 

Stockholm

            After saying goodbye to our new Army friends, we left on a train to Stockholm, Sweden. Stockholm turned out to be my favorite city in Scandinavia. It was beautiful, unique and it really felt safe. We couch-surfed there with a girl named Rebecca. She moved to Stockholm from the United States just two weeks prior, and felt as if she could use some familiar American company. Rebecca had just graduated from an undergraduate university in Boston and, on a whim, applied for a job in Stockholm. To her surprise, she got the job and moved there shortly after. She was very kind and hosted us for our stay in Stockholm.

The city of Stockholm is so big because it is actually made-up of a series of islands connects by bridges. The old city had tiny, winding, cobblestone streets and the city was full of great big parks that many locals poured into all day long. Days there are also especially long. The sun would set at about 10PM and would rise very early around 3AM. The actual darkness time actually continues to decrease until “Midsummer’s” where it is only dark for about 2 hours total.

While we were there, all of the local secondary schools were finishing for the yearand the seniors were celebrating their graduation. It is a tradition in Stockholm for every class of students (which is around 30 students that took all of their classes together for the entire duration of secondary school) to rent a dump truck and pile into the back of it and parade around the city. Each truck was decorated with banners and tree branches (symbolizing summertime/new growth) and each truck blasted music as they drove around the streets. As trucks would pass each other the students would splash the others with water and laugh and cheer.

I learned about this tradition when I met my friend Sara from Stockholm for coffee. Sara studied for a year as an exchange student at my high school 5 years ago. Never in my life would I have imagined that I would be talking with her over coffee in Sweden.

 

Oslo

            Joy Lynne had her flight booked out of Oslo, so her and I traveled there to spend a few days before she left and Miles stayed in Stockholm to wait for my return. Oslo was even more expensive than Copenhagen and Stockholm (we later found out that it is known to be the most expensive city in Europe)! Joy Lynne and I loved visiting the Vigeland Statue Park—where hundreds of statues of nameless people were carved and arranged—each one displaying a different stage of life. The statues were very real and relatable—they depicted such things as the innocence of childhood, and the struggles of parenthood.

Aside from the park, Oslo wasn’t really our favorite place. On our way to see the famous Opera house (which was a beautiful, modern piece of architecture) a man tried to pickpocket me in broad daylight! He asked if I had a lighter and after shaking my head “no” and continuing on my way, he grabbed my wrist tightly and began to violently speak to me in Norwegian. I tired to release myself from his grip and I didn’t allow him to get into my pocket with my other hand as he attempted. I stayed calm and stood my ground until another man came upon the scene and yelled at him in Norwegian. The thief let go and hurried off. I thanked the other man, and as we tried to walk away, he tried to pickpocket me as well! I pushed him off and said “no” and walked away quickly. I could tell that Joy Lynne was afraid—but the situation was over and we got back to our hostel safely.

I think that the most important thing when dealing with people like that is to not panic and to stand your ground firmly. I didn’t show either of them any fear and I didn’t allow them to rob me. I was glad that I was safe and that my things weren’t stolen. If however, either man had some sort of weapon—then I wouldn’t try to fight it, as I believe that your own health is worth so much more than a wallet. It is important to note as well that before going to any country, I make sure that I know all the correct emergency numbers just in case. It doesn’t hurt to be prepared, and it is always better to play it safe when you are out of your own environment. Luckily, I didn’t need to call anyone and this was the only situation like this that I have faced so far.

 

Finland

          Leaving Joy Lynn was hard for me, but I was happy for the time we had together and I was happy to meet Miles again in Stockholm. We immediately got onto a ferry to Finland to continue our Scandinavian adventure.

We arrived in Helsinki and began to explore the city directly. Helsinki was interesting in that it had a very large outdoor market that sold furs and other items made from animal skins and bones (mostly deer and moose). They even had reindeer meatballs and sausages that I sampled with Miles (they were actually quite good)! Aside from that, the city was also not our favorite—but most people go to Finland for the outdoors, not the city! So the two of us decided to go on a hike through a local National Park that was rumored to have wild flying squirrels! The hike was beautiful and the weather was perfect. We walked through dense forests and along beautiful lakes. Upon returning home, we discovered that we could actually go to Russia without a visa for under 72 hours by taking a specific ferry to Saint Petersburg. We couldn’t pass it up.

About these ads