Showing posts with label sweden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sweden. Show all posts
Monday, 9 March 2009
3/9/09 back to london
Took the train to Copenhagen in the morning and then flew from there back to London.
Sunday, 8 March 2009
3/8/09 Quick trip to Copenhagen, visiting Nikolas
Today we took a daytrip to Copenhagen, Denmark but had no idea where to go or what to do there. We walked along the water but it was cold and windy and lots of stuff was closed because it was Sunday so we headed back after an hour or so.
We headed by train to the town of Akarp where Nikolas and his family live. Their house was very nice and was undergoing some renovations. They served us some tasty lo-mein kind of noodles and I had Swedish kafe(coffee) which was pretty strong. We went out to Big Bowl in Malmo with Nikolas and I bowled a 141, but JJ barely beat me with a 144. There wasn't much to do in town since it was a Sunday so we headed back to Rikard's apartment and packed our stuff.
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| From Sweden Trip |
We headed by train to the town of Akarp where Nikolas and his family live. Their house was very nice and was undergoing some renovations. They served us some tasty lo-mein kind of noodles and I had Swedish kafe(coffee) which was pretty strong. We went out to Big Bowl in Malmo with Nikolas and I bowled a 141, but JJ barely beat me with a 144. There wasn't much to do in town since it was a Sunday so we headed back to Rikard's apartment and packed our stuff.
Saturday, 7 March 2009
3/7/09 Lund, night out
This morning Rikard showed us around the college town Lund, that has over 40,000 students going to school there. We saw parts of the campus and went into the monstrous 14th century Cathedral, which had an ornate and intricate clock that had seasons, days, and more on it similar to the one in Prague. There was also a crypt downstairs where some ancient royalty were buried. We walked around the streets some more and I tried Swedish hard candy but didn't like it.
Rikard drove us back to Monica's after picking up his apartment keys from JJ's mom at Brit's place. For dinner we had grilled chicken and I tried some brie cheese on a flat cracker with marmalade on top, which was pretty good.
We headed back to Rikard's apartment and had a few drinks before heading out to Anna's apartment. We got there and talked for a while, and apparently one of her friends worked for Carlsberg as some kind of manager and gave me his business card in between him high-fiving everyone. Anna suggested going to Debaser, a club near the center of Malmo that catered towards a somewhat older crowd. Apparently some woman there was having her 30th birthday party, so it was a little awkward being there with mostly older people and we then headed over to a club called Rumble, which was nearby and catered to a younger crowd more our age.
The club was good overall, and had two separate main dancing areas, one with more electronic/techno music and the other one with more chill/reggae music. JJ, Nate and I danced for a while in the techno area. We met some cool Swedish girls, a redhead (Johanna) and blonde (Emily), who we talked with for a while. Johanna was 23 and studying in Malmo as a student and had taken a road trip in the United States a few years back. Her friend Emily was 21 and was studying in Lund, where we had been earlier that day. We didn't realize that the club closed around 3am, so we ended up waiting forever in the coat check line before we could leave.
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| From Sweden Trip |
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| From Sweden Trip |
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| From Sweden Trip |
Rikard drove us back to Monica's after picking up his apartment keys from JJ's mom at Brit's place. For dinner we had grilled chicken and I tried some brie cheese on a flat cracker with marmalade on top, which was pretty good.
We headed back to Rikard's apartment and had a few drinks before heading out to Anna's apartment. We got there and talked for a while, and apparently one of her friends worked for Carlsberg as some kind of manager and gave me his business card in between him high-fiving everyone. Anna suggested going to Debaser, a club near the center of Malmo that catered towards a somewhat older crowd. Apparently some woman there was having her 30th birthday party, so it was a little awkward being there with mostly older people and we then headed over to a club called Rumble, which was nearby and catered to a younger crowd more our age.
The club was good overall, and had two separate main dancing areas, one with more electronic/techno music and the other one with more chill/reggae music. JJ, Nate and I danced for a while in the techno area. We met some cool Swedish girls, a redhead (Johanna) and blonde (Emily), who we talked with for a while. Johanna was 23 and studying in Malmo as a student and had taken a road trip in the United States a few years back. Her friend Emily was 21 and was studying in Lund, where we had been earlier that day. We didn't realize that the club closed around 3am, so we ended up waiting forever in the coat check line before we could leave.
Friday, 6 March 2009
3/6/09 helsingborg and helsinger
In the morning we had eggs and Swedish flat bread for breakfast and then met another family friend, Brit, who drove us out to Helsingborg. Nate, JJ, and I first walked over to the main shopping street and wandered around into different stores. Then we walked up the hillside to see the keep that overlooked the city. The view of the city was great from there, even though the keep wasn't a full size castle or anything.
Next we took a short ferry ride over the water to Helsinger in Denmark. We walked around the streets for a bit but everything in the shops was relatively expensive because of the exchange rate. We also saw Hamlet's castle from a distance, but it looked like there was construction going on near it so we didn't get closer. We traveled back to Helsingborg by ferry and walked along the docks until we found a small Swedish restaurant. I ordered sill – traditional Swedish marinated red herring – and it was fairly spicy but I enjoyed it.
We walked up the hillside for a while until we got to Brit's apartment and met JJ's mom and Brit there. After talking with them for a little bit we headed back to the train station and took a train to Malmo and then a bus from there to Looma. At Monica's house we had this tasty quiche pie kind of thing for dinner, which had ham and mushrooms and broccoli inside it. Over dinner conversation I found it interesting that Swedish students take 9 years of English in school because no other countries speak Swedish. They also learn up to 2 other languages in school, usually French or German, but Spanish is becoming more popular. We were all tired so we decided to not go out and watched Snakes on a Plane on TV instead.
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| From Sweden Trip |
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| From Sweden Trip |
Next we took a short ferry ride over the water to Helsinger in Denmark. We walked around the streets for a bit but everything in the shops was relatively expensive because of the exchange rate. We also saw Hamlet's castle from a distance, but it looked like there was construction going on near it so we didn't get closer. We traveled back to Helsingborg by ferry and walked along the docks until we found a small Swedish restaurant. I ordered sill – traditional Swedish marinated red herring – and it was fairly spicy but I enjoyed it.
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| From Sweden Trip |
We walked up the hillside for a while until we got to Brit's apartment and met JJ's mom and Brit there. After talking with them for a little bit we headed back to the train station and took a train to Malmo and then a bus from there to Looma. At Monica's house we had this tasty quiche pie kind of thing for dinner, which had ham and mushrooms and broccoli inside it. Over dinner conversation I found it interesting that Swedish students take 9 years of English in school because no other countries speak Swedish. They also learn up to 2 other languages in school, usually French or German, but Spanish is becoming more popular. We were all tired so we decided to not go out and watched Snakes on a Plane on TV instead.
Thursday, 5 March 2009
3/5/09 Exploring Malmo, staying in Looma
In the morning we met JJ's Swedish friend Nikolas, and he showed us around Malmo. First we went to visit his other friend, Juan, who owned his own clothing screening business. He showed us where he screened the tshirts and sweatshirts and the different equipment used, which was pretty neat. Afterwards we went clothing shopping on the shopping street and malls in Malmo.
Next we picked up JJ's mom and headed over to their friend Monica's house in Looma to have a traditional Swedish dinner with tasty pasty and meatballs. After that we drove back to Malmo with Nikolas, who dropped us off at some random bar while he went to work on a tv project. There was almost no one there though since it was like 7pm on a thursday, so we left quickly. We tried to call Monica to come pick us up, but my phone gave some error and apparently couldn't call her number. So we had to wander around Malmo in the blustering chilly wind until we eventually wound up at the train/bus station.
It took us a while to figure out how the bus station worked and we finally got on a bus back to Looma. From there it was a bit of a walk since we got off two stops too early. When we got back to the house we had some tea and bread and had interesting conversations with Monica and JJ's mom about stories of their travels driving through Europe when they were our age. I tried some Swedish flatbread with caviar from a tube on top, but it was too salty for me.
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| From Sweden Trip |
Next we picked up JJ's mom and headed over to their friend Monica's house in Looma to have a traditional Swedish dinner with tasty pasty and meatballs. After that we drove back to Malmo with Nikolas, who dropped us off at some random bar while he went to work on a tv project. There was almost no one there though since it was like 7pm on a thursday, so we left quickly. We tried to call Monica to come pick us up, but my phone gave some error and apparently couldn't call her number. So we had to wander around Malmo in the blustering chilly wind until we eventually wound up at the train/bus station.
It took us a while to figure out how the bus station worked and we finally got on a bus back to Looma. From there it was a bit of a walk since we got off two stops too early. When we got back to the house we had some tea and bread and had interesting conversations with Monica and JJ's mom about stories of their travels driving through Europe when they were our age. I tried some Swedish flatbread with caviar from a tube on top, but it was too salty for me.
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
3/4/09 to sweden
We landed in Copenhagan, Denmark and took the speedy train over the water to Malmo, Sweden (3rd or 4th largest city in Sweden). I met jj's mom at their relative's house and JJ's cousin Rikard. I found out that Rikard works with "connect" a company that connects entrepreneurs with venture capitalists. We talked about his business for a bit and then had dinner, which was a kind of lasagna, followed by ice cream cake type of thing for desert.
Rikard drove us around town talked about history and pointed out parks, and different areas nearby. Afterwards, we headed over to his apartment to unpack and stay the night. Rikard speaks almost perfect English, and I found it interesting that he preferred to read novels in English instead of Swedish (Lord of the Rings in particular). The reasoning he gave me was that in the English language there are many more ways to describe things than in Swedish. For example, when you want to talk about how a character said something to another character you could write: retort, say, told, exclaim, or announced.
Rikard drove us around town talked about history and pointed out parks, and different areas nearby. Afterwards, we headed over to his apartment to unpack and stay the night. Rikard speaks almost perfect English, and I found it interesting that he preferred to read novels in English instead of Swedish (Lord of the Rings in particular). The reasoning he gave me was that in the English language there are many more ways to describe things than in Swedish. For example, when you want to talk about how a character said something to another character you could write: retort, say, told, exclaim, or announced.
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