London with Allison

Just as Allison did, I would also like to apologize for not updating in a while, truth is I just haven't found the 20 minutes to half hour to just sit down and write. My two-week Spring Break began with a bang as I got to visit Allison in London for a few days. We spent four nights at the Astor Hyde Park hostel in Westminster. It was easily the nicest hostel I've visited in Europe: clean, friendly staff, and complimentary linens and breakfast for 15 pounds per night. In Scandinavia you'll pay at least 25% more and you're lucky if you get linens and/or breakfast included haha. This hostel was also in an extremely rich part of town, as evidenced by the following photos:

For those of you who aren't Jason, the car on top is an Aston Martin DB9, the one on the bottom is an Audi R8. Some Bentleys and even a Lamborghini were also around. Allison was a little annoyed with my obsession with the cars and tried to get me to look at the buildings instead haha.

Day 1: Our first day in London was all about sightseeing. It must have been interesting for Allison to, as she put it, re-live her first time there through me. We've all heard about the British Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, etc. in our history textbooks and from our teachers, but to actually see these historic landmarks is surreal. We started off by taking the Underground to Westminster bridge. My eyes turned into quarters when I saw Big Ben staring me in the face when I stepped out of the train station. The London Eye, the world's largest ferris wheel, was also clearly visible across the Thames.

So, Day 1 of our trip was incidentally Palm Sunday. Just so we didn't feel like little heathen children, Allison and I decided it would be a good idea to attend a church service. Since we were in the area anyway, we decided to go to... Westminster Abbey. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside (no tourists allowed in services) but I can tell you that it may have been the most amazing church I've visited in Europe. The fact that such a large, and I mean almost intimidating, structure has stood a 900-year test of time made it all the more impressive. Evidence of preservation work was present all over the place, though, like the steel beams propped in the arches to prevent collapse. The stained glass and interior architecture were out of this world. We followed the entering processiioin behind the altar, so we got to see the entire church. It was laden with many former kings' tombs, including I believe Henry VII (somebody correct me if I'm wrong).

After church, we decided to take a 10-15 minute stroll over to Trafalgar Square. I really have to hand it to Allison on her navigation skills, she did a wonderful job showing me around. While heading to the square, we passed by a long, wide walking path flanked by flags, and took a left. Allison remarked that it looked like the walkway to Buckingham Palace and about 5 minutes later we were... at Buckingham Palace, because we'd gone the wrong way. This would prove to not be the only time that Allison screwed up, but then we ended up at something famous. As a side note, I believe the Mexican flag was hung alongside the British near the palace, for reasons I don't know.

We then returned to Westminster Bridge and strolled over to the Tower Bridge. We passed my Big Ben, Parliament, and the London Eye once again, and saw some other notables, including the London Bridge and Globe Theatre. All in all, the London Bridge was disappointing. I don't know much about it (age, etc.), but it really looked like just an ordinary bridge. It's probably like the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen- infamous, but slightly overrated. Tower Bridge, on the other hand... wow. We could also see the Towers of London from a distance.

That pretty much ended the sightseeing portion of Day 1. We found a pub near Leicester Square (the West End) and I got my first crack at bangers n' mashed, and HG brown sauce. Allison hates brown sauce, and the look on her face was priceless when I told her I liked it. Honestly, it wasn't terribly different from steak sauce, but I guess Allison is more susceptible to the sourness added by a noticeably high level of vinegar.

Day 2: Each day had a theme, so to speak, and the second day was Windsor Castle, the world's oldest and largest castle still in use. Shamefully, a fire destroyed a large portion of the castle in 1995, and much of it was either refurbished or reconstructed. It was incredible nonetheless. The sheer detail in the decorations was breathtaking. Stone sculptures and carvings (in the walls) abounded, and where there wasn't a piece of stonework to impress there was always a painting or wall mural. No pictures were allowed inside but I got plenty from the outside.

We also got to walk around the town of Windsor. Really, the whole town was an historic landmark in itself. Old-style architecture abounded, I was surprised at how well-preserved it all was.

The fun certainly didn't end in Windsor. When we returned to the city we went to St. Paul's Cathedral and the house of Dr. Samuel Johnson. This excursion also brought us to Fleet Street, which wasn't necessarily anything special and is only famous because of the play and the pub that Dr. Johnson frequented.

Day 3: Museums... period. Allison and I ran around London and were able to visit the Natural History Museum (right next to our hostel), the National Portrait Gallery, and the British Museum.

We were pretty much able to scour the majority of the Natural History Museum in a couple of hours. Inside was exactly what you would expect: skeletons and models of extinct and current species on display. There was a huge section on evolution, however, that I found rather interesting, and this model of a blue whale with the skeleton above:

No pictures were allowed inside of the National Portrait Gallery, but I'd have to say that it's the best art museum I've visited. The main focus, obviously, was prominent British political figures and the retrieved portraits of nobility. However, there were sections set aside to honor prominent scientists. After Allison explained everything about every king we saw (thanks to Allison, by the way, you made it interesting), I felt special, and nerdy, when we passed by John Dalton and I could say a few things about the Billiard Ball model of the atom.

The British Museum was by far the best museum I've visited... anywhere. The sheer number of exhibits would take days to absorb, and some of the artifacts they had were quite literally priceless. The Rosetta Stone, which allowed linguists to begin cracking the code of Egyptian Hieroglyphics, was on display with a sleu of other ancient artifacts. There was Assyrian and Roman art, as well as artifacts from ancient Asia (kind of has a ring to it, huh?), which I honestly know next to nothing about.

At the end of our museum day, we took the Tube to Hyde Park, with the intent of walking back to the hostel through the park. It was getting dark, and we couldn't pinpoint the station on the map easily, so we ended up just taking the Tube to the hostel. We did try to at least enter Hyde Park for a little while, and Allison led me through this gate:

The gate was Wellington Arch, and the entrance to Hyde Park was actually across the street (where we came from). So, again Allison, thanks for leading me the wrong way and ending up at something I may have missed otherwise :)

Day 4: With a few hours left to spare, Allison and I took a walk through Hyde Park and visited Kensington Castle. We didn't go inside the castle, but we got some great pictures of the castle and the garden from the outside.

We also visited the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. It wasn't a fountain in the sense of the tall, vertically-projecting stereotype. Rather, it was more like a small moat elevated on one side, with the water flowing in opposite directions on each side. Nice place to sit and eat lunch.

This pretty much ends the London post. You can check Facebook for all the pictures, and if you want to know anything else, just talk to me on Facebook or AIM (or Skype if you have it). This was an extremely watered-down account of the trip, even though it may not seem like it.

Gothenburg

... and two weeks later I finally decide to write about Gothenburg, Sweden's second-largest city behind, of course, Stockholm. Gothenburg is largely lost in the shadow of Stockholm and nearby Oslo and Copenhagen, and while I have only visited one of those for comparison's sake, I can't really understand why it's so unknown. First of all, Gothenburg's Swedish pronunciation (Göteborg = YUH - teh - bor - ee) is WAY cooler than the pronunciation of any of the other cities. Second, it has everything that a European capital would have to offer... without the capital price tag.

My favorite part of Gothenburg was by far the coastline. The harbor is actually Sweden's busiest and provided for some awesome scenery. The port is ancient and its use likely dates back to the Viking era. While the Vikings are often (rightfully) stereotyped for sea conquer and pillage, most were simple fishermen and farmers. Their isolation in Scandinavia forced them to connect with the rest of the world via shipping. As a side note, the building on the right side of the picture below is dubbed the "lipstick" building and was about the ugliest thing I've seen to date in Europe. Touche on the harbor, Gothenburg, but that building... REALLY?

A 24-hour pass for the public transportation got us access to the islands along the coastline, which were beautiful. While we were walking around on the streets we found places to walk a little off the beaten path and take some pictures of the harbor and westward scenery. There were not too many tourist attractions or businesses on the islands, they were predominantly residential. It was nice to not have the mob of people around, though.

My Fodor's Travel guide (thanks, Christine!) notes that from 1995 to 2005, 8 of the 10 "Swedish Chef of the Year) winners were from Gothenburg. From my experience, the food in Gothenburg was excellent, and the city blew Copenhagen out of the water in that department. Cafe's and restaurants were everywhere, and I got to sample some of the local fare at a fresh fish market, which was originally a church (shown below). It was hands-down the best seafood salad sandwich... ever.

Speaking of churches, this city was downright loaded with them (seems to be a European trend). The church shown below is the Haga Church and was the only church that we were able to enter. There was a music performance just beginning inside when we entered.

The most famous (but certainly not the most beautiful) church was probably Gothenburg Cathedral. However, there was this large, brick church that had to be the best I've seen yet, in Scandinavia anyway. Unfortunately, it was closed and thus I could not take a look at the inside.

Another highlight of the Gothenburg expedition was definitely the museums. We visited two during the trip, Stadsmusset (City Museum) and Röhsska Museet (Museum of Arts and Crafts). While the latter was interesting, the City Museum is definitely Gothenburg's gem and a must-see if you're going to visit. The building was a warehouse and auction room for the Swedish East India Company in the mid-18th century and the museum itself focuses on Gothenburg's and Scandinavia's trading and nautical history. It actually hold's Sweden's only preserved Viking ship. Pictures were not allowed in any of the museums, so I can't show anyone the ship's remains. For a little more on the Vikings, the word "Viking" was coined from "vik-," I can't remember if the word was Latin or otherwise, which means "anchoring in the harbor." While Amerigo Vespucci and Christopher Columbus get all of the glory in the United States for discovering the Americas, it was actually Leif Ericson, a Viking, who first sailed the St. Lawrence River, about 500 years before Columbus landed on the Caribbean islands. No permanent Norse establishment was created there, mainly because beforehand the Viking explorers attempted to bring their people to Greenland (great idea, right?), and nobody would listen to the explorers after the botched settlements there.

There was also a fortress atop a hill near the city's center, from which we were able to take panoramic pictures of Gothenburg.

As a final note about Gothenburg, after visiting London I really appreciated the complete lack of large tour groups (at least when I was there). My next post will be about London and I can tell you that the large tour groups in London took away from the experience a little bit. They crowded the streets and were incredibly loud and annoying while passing by. Gr.

Vadstena

I guess keeping a blog is completely pointless if I don't update it once in a while, though time here doesn't necessarily feel all that long (this is going by WAY too fast).

But, anyway, about a week and a half ago I made a day trip with my peer student, Martin, to a small town called Vadstena, about an hour from Linköping. In our experiences, we've all learned that good things come in small packages, and this town is no exception. Its population is only about 5,700, but the town is loaded with Renaissance-era relics and beautiful architecture.

The main attraction in the town is Vadstena Castle. King Gustav Vasa began construction of the castle in 1545, and it was completed in 1620. It was originally intended as a military fortress, but was also built as a castle for the royal family. Until 1716, it served as a castle and fortress, but was used to store grain thereafter. It now houses the Regional Archives. Honestly, it was like something out of a fairy tale. The castle was entirely surrounded by a moat and placed alongside Lake Vättern, which made for some beautiful scenery.

Vadstena is also famous for its monastery and Vadstena Abbey, the roots of the Bridgettine Order. The Abbey was founded in the early 1300's by Saint Bridget under King Magnus II. A palace, constructed in the 13th century, which served as a home for a powerful family, was donated to Vadstena Abbey upon its founding.

St. Bridget's church was constructed in the 1400's, and the current town grew around the Abbey. Some of the wooden sculptures inside the church had dates in the 1400's, but since I could not read the captions (they were in Swedish), I do not know if they were replicas or authentic pieces.

As I mentioned before, the church was loaded with historical relics. The tomb of Prince Magnus, who died in 1595, is actually on display near the entrance. Engravings in the floors of the churches often indicate tombs as well, and this church was loaded with such sights.

St. Anne with virgin and child, mid-15th century.

Some more random Sweden-US comparisons:

In stores, sales tax is already included in the prices you see. I had no clue that the items were taxed when I first came here, and I just thought that the Swedish government paid for its extensive entitlement programs exclusively through income and business taxes.

The postal services are largely privatized, contradicting the American stereotype of Swedish socialism. According to my peer student, the system is similar to that of the United States, based on the description that I gave him.

Unlike the United States, students receive a great deal of financial help from the Swedish government. I've probably already mentioned that there is no tuition, not even for international students. Additionally, students (Swedish citizens) receive 2500 SEK/ month from the Swedish government, pending good academic standing, and low interest rate loans are also available to cover the remainder of living costs. However, there are few, if any, outright scholarships or grants (I guess the 2500 SEK stipend can be viewed as a scholarship?)