At the end of March, I ended up going to Stockholm, Sweden for a few days and this was somewhere where I had never been before. As a result of this, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
Having said that, what I did know is that it was going to be fairly cold and that it was supposed to be expensive there. One of the reasons why I went there was to see a friend of mine called, Peter.
On The Ground
Once I arrived, I came to see how cold it really was, but what made it easier to handle was that it wasn’t very windy. I hadn’t slept the night before as the flight was very early and this meant that I felt like a zombie when I got there.
Part of me wanted to explore the city and another part of me wanted to sleep, yet I knew that if I didn’t have an early night I would be tired for the rest of the trip. So, I ended up going to bed early and waking up early the next day.
A Moment of Inspiration
When I was walking around the city the next day, I thought it would be a good idea for me to do a bit of filming. I thought that I could then share where I had been with my friends and the people who view my work online.
After this, I ended up looking around the houses of parliament, the palace, and the old town, among other things. I had arranged to meet my friend towards the end of the day, so I was looking forward to see him again after so many years had passed.
A Different Culture
While I was at my friends place, his wife spoke about some of the things that are different about Sweden. Firstly, she said that people are generally not big on eye contact, and that looking at people can be seen as being rude.
In addition to this, she said that people are more introverted there and that it was very different to America in this regard. When I went shopping with Peter for food, the prices didn’t seem very different to what things cost in a supermarket in England.
Pros and Cons
One thing that Sweden does have is high quality drinking water, and this is partly due to the fact that there are so many lakes there. The downside is that income tax is very high, but I guess that a lot of people believe that they get a lot in return.
At the end of my time there, I met a woman who said some interesting things about what it is like when it comes to dating in Sweden. She said that women were the ones who did the pursuing in bars or clubs, not men.
My Thoughts
I’m not sure how true this is as I didn’t speak to anyone else about this and I didn’t go out in the evening while I was there. A lot of the women did seem to be fairly masculine, so it wouldn’t surprise me if this was something that took place in these kinds of environments.
As for what was said about eye contact, I would say that it was no different to what it is like in England. Some people are comfortable with eye contact, while some people are not comfortable with it.
An Enjoyable Trip
Overall I had a good time there and I would be happy to go there again as soon as it gets a bit warmer. A lot has been said about the crime in Sweden, but Stockholm seemed to be fine.
If you like old buildings, boat trips, finding out about what took place in the past and you don’t mind the cold, there is the chance that you would enjoy Stockholm.
