I woke up at an absurdly early hour of 5:52 AM from my windowless room. I sat around and did some work for the next couple of hours, as I had until 12:50 PM until my bus to the airport. Since I got up at that absurdly early hour, I decided to get up at go to the 7-11 above my hostel to get coffee. I was surprised that the clerk was what many view to be the stereotypical Swedish woman, blonde and blue eyed.
I then brought my coffee to my room and did a little more work and messaging friends. I then went to get ready. Even though I have a private room, I did not have my own personal bathroom. Matter of fact, the only accomodation I paid for with a communal shower. I was a little dumbfounded with how to start the shower. It was exactly like the sink at work. You wave your hands in front of a motion detector and the water turns on. However I wasn't expecting the shower to turn off after 90 seconds. There was a constant waving of hands to get the water going. I then thought, "This would be great for California!"
Since it was early, I took a tour of Stockholm City Hall. The most prestigous event that happens every year there is the Nobel Prize banquet. I knew I wanted to see what it was like. I dropped my bag off with reception to watch, and walked over to Stockholm City Hall. The ticket was 100 kronas, or about $12.
I enter in with my tour group and I am taken into the Blue Room. There is nothing blue about this room as its walls are bricks. The name comes from the windows above that would allow the blue sky to come in. The stairs were made specifically for women in evening gown and heels. I think they were the easiest stairs to walk on. The next room we go to is the city council chambers. It reminded me of Rohan when I looked up at the ceiling, as it was very Nordic. The next main room we go to is a hallway that looks out onto the lake, and a mirror image of what's outside the window was painted on the wall so if you were facing away from the window, you can see it through the painting. Finally we made it to the Golden Room. This room was floor to ceiling gold. Lots of mosaics that represent different civilizations. At the other end was a massive mosaic of a lady. She is the Lady of the Lake and is the center of the universe with Stockholm in her lap. Eastern civilizations were to her right, and western civilizations were to her left.
I got done with the tour and made it back up to my hostel to pick up my luggage and go to the train station. I got a quick lunch and boarded the bus to go 100km to Skavsta airport. I had to arrive an hour and a half before check in because the next bus would have cut it too close to my flight time. I sat around and waited nervously because I haven't been through EU airport security before. I was even more nervous when the "TSA agent" asked me something in Swedish. I said, "English?" He asked, "Do you have any liquids or gels?" I replied, "No." I made it through security still pretty nervous as I was dealing with re-arranging my plans at the same time. I then boarded my Ryanair flight, which is very different then how you board in America. I got on and took off for Italy.
I then arrive at Il Carivaggio Airport in Bergamo, took the bus up to Porta Nuova, and walked to my hostel. I talked the receptionist out of paying for two nights because I was most likely going to stay one night. I then made it to my room, but it was too dark and I was too tired to go out and walk. I spent the remainder of my night arranging the next day for my early departure from Bergamo.
