Before there was IKEA,
or for that matter Sweden, there was the story of how we got to
Sweden. And what better way to visit the land of the Vikings than by
boat? Or in our case, a cargo ship that transports trucks and drivers
(plus any extras like Jay and myself) between Poland and Sweden. With
passengers that looked nothing like the valiant blonde warriors who
sailed the Baltic seas of the past, but rather bulging male truck
drivers (and us), we set sail from the northern Polish city of
Gdansk. Feeling inspired by the adventurous nature of the Vikings, we
too braved the rough winds and seas of the Baltic, so as to bring to
you, our trusted family and friends, these
photos for your perusal, straight from the deck of our (cargo)
ship:
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| Awkward, they spelt Stockholm wrong... |
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| Our trusty cargo ship |
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| Us on the crazy deck of our ship - it really was wild! |
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| Such a lifesaver! |
The
decision of 'where should we eat tonight' proved to be an
arduous one on our first night in Stockholm. We really weren't
asking for all that much; only something typically Swedish,
delicious, relatively nearby and within our budget. Sadly for us,
this was turning out to be rather difficult to achieve. After a
strenuous hour of walking around, we finally settled on a pizza
restaurant which fitted the bill, pun intended. Although you may have
scoffed at the word pizza, this was not just any old pizza
restaurant. This establishment served crusty wood-fired pizzas topped
with the Swedish delicacies of reindeer and venison. For the record,
neither Rudolph nor Bambi were particularly tasty, but nevertheless
it was a very adequate introduction to the lesser known world of
Swedish cuisine. Not to mention the 'Falcon' beer which accompanied
the meal – the best we've had on this trip by far!
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| Needless to say, reindeer on pizza tastes just as good as it sounds. |
A
much more delicious and quintessential Swedish dinner was had the
following night. In a Swedish style beer-halle, filled with the
ambience of glowing candles and the merry voices of its eager
patrons, our mouths were watering from the smell of all things
delicious wafting from the kitchen. And the food did not disappoint.
After devouring a surprisingly tasty dish of assorted
flavoured herring, we dug into the
classic meal of Swedish meatballs, accompanied by mashed potatoes
and lingoberries – mmm yum!
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| Swedish meatballs! |
However, not all
restaurant experiences have been so successful and pleasant. On one
such occasion we decided to go to Lonely Planet's 'top pick' in Cesky
Krumlov; described as a vegetarian's haven. This was particularly
appealing given the lack of vegetables we had recently consumed. We
were seated in the cosy cave-like restaurant by a waitress who spoke
English very well. To begin with we ordered two glasses of water - a
seemingly uncomplicated request. Or so we thought. The waitress came
back with one glass of water, asking us what else we had ordered?
Another glass of water please! We proceeded to order our meals. In
the meantime we noticed a group of six sitting across from us,
bringing the total number of patrons in the restaurant to a hefty
eight. This proved to be quite an issue for our waitress, who was
visibly flustered and obviously stressed; in a restaurant that again
had been recommended as the 'top pick' for that city.
Having finished our
meal, which for the sake of this blog was bland and unexciting in
flavour, we decided to give the restaurant the benefit of the doubt
and order some dessert. After finally gaining the attention of our
waitress, whose stress levels in the meantime had disproportionately
risen in size, we asked if we could order dessert. Again what we
thought was a seemingly routine request. The expression of our
waitress quickly changed from stressed to visibly pained and she
hurriedly said that they didn't really have any desserts to offer us
– only sweet pancakes and fruit-filled dumplings. Curious to see
where this saga would take us, we ordered two servings of dumplings.
Jay had also wanted a coffee, but read the desperate plea from
the waitress and decided not to follow through with the order; the
first time we had ever felt guilty for ordering at a restaurant. Akin
to feeling bad for going to the doctor for a sore throat. Having
finished our dessert (also average and unexpectedly sour), we again
struggled to get the attention of our flustered waitress.
Finally we asked for the bill. Now, without meaning to brag, we have
been to quite a number of restaurants around the world and can
conclude that there is a universal etiquette concerning the bill
(India included). It is usually prepared before bringing it to the
customers. Not here! Instead, the waitress brought the menu along
with a blank piece of paper to our table, asked us to repeat what we
had ordered, searched the menu for the price of each dish and then
tallied up our total. If that wasn’t bizarre enough, she began
laughing hysterically because the total came to 444Kr, an apparently
amusing number. The genuine hilarity of
the entire evening caught up to us and we also began to laugh both
with and at her. We paid for our fare and left the restaurant baffled
and bewildered by, without doubt, the most
bizarre and comical restaurant experience we've ever had!
Thank you Lonely Planet.
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| Cesky Krumlov - even though dining out was rather hilarious you were one beautiful town. |
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| Lonely Planet also recommeded this park, described as a 'must see' in Stockholm. Needless to say we were rather underwhelmed. |
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Whilst in Prague, there
were quite a few hilarious fads which we noticed amongst fellow
tourists, in particularly those in Italian school groups. Before I go
on, it's worth mentioning that in Prague, 'Duff Beer' – the
fictional beverage featured in 'The Simpson’s' – is very much a
reality here, and is sold in most liquor stores across the city. If
that's not comical enough, there are also 'Duff Beer' tracksuits
available for sale, to which the aforementioned Italian students have
taken a liking too, parading these not-so-suave outfits across the
exquisite streets of Prague. Hilarious. And if that hasn't caused a
giggle from you yet, then picture said 'Duff Beer' clad tourists
navigating the cobbled lane ways of Prague on segways, in groups,
often looking very much out of control – need I say more!?
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| There's actually never a dull moment when segways are around! |
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| Historical monuments are SO EXCITING! |
