Stockholm August 2013 - brief overview

“Since everyone else in the world is chasing the same thing – happiness – the possibility that you will achieve it is one in 1, 439, 14,300, since the denominator in that fraction is equal to the number of human beings in the world.” (August Strindberg). 

August Strindbers is one of the most known Swedish writers. I found this quote while reading The Red Room and I though to start this blogg post quoting the author because I never knew what it would take or when I will achieve happiness in my life. I am the type of person who sets up high standards and expectations. Surprisingly and unexpectedly I achieved happiness since I found the place where I belong. Some people travel the world to look for a place to fit in and call it home. I come from a generation of people who loves traveling, to move around the world and experience new lifestyles and different cultures. I still do that, but for now, wherever I will travel I will be happy to come back to the place I call home. This blog is all about my life as an expat in Stockholm and in Sweden. My next goal is to travel around Scandinavia and make the world more aware of this beautiful part of the world. 

Brief summary of July and August in Stockholm

At Zinkensdamm, in Södermalm, on top of this little rocks mountain you can get the best view over Stockholm. 

Mossebacke, situated at Slussen, in Södermalm is one of the most known and my favorite cafe in Stockholm. Many writers and artists mention this place, it is just amazingly special.

Vitabergsparken, Södermalm, August 2013
A bohemic park in the heart of Södermalm
Out-door theatre 
Romantic spot

You cannot miss the subway art when in Stockholm, as this is the best way to travel.

Music and Theatre Museum - has a cool concept as you can try out all the different music instruments. Have you ever played drums? If not, this is the cool place to try it. Also great as a family and kids activity.Youy can even get on a stage, dress up like Pippi Långstrump and make your own music video.

I guess you are now wondering who is Pippi Långstrump. She is the Swedens most popular story character from the childrens books of Astrid Lindgren. In Stockholm there is also an amusement park where your kids can experience for one day the world of Pippi Långstrump. Why is she special? I think it kind of expresses the way Swedish women are, strong, independent and having the freedom to do whatever they want and be rebellious. A kind of me.

Many people enjoy Fridhemsplan, which I do not particularly understand why, but what I have heard is the fact that this is the spot of Stockholm with highest amount of single people per square metre. Maybe it is worth it to give it a try and go out to a bar one night?

Kungsträdgården
Many festivals and activities taking place here. Last time I really enjoyed the Brazilian cultural day, with Portuguese food and music.

Nature is amazing. Living in a capital city but still having access within five minutes to forest, lakes, beaches.

And if you get lucky, you might even be visited one morning at home by a deer, fox or a rabbit, just as I did when I was having my early coffee.

Taking about coffee, the most Swedish word perhaps is FIKA. You will not make it in Sweden without coffee. The fika culture is important, and most of the time it comes with fikabröd or cakes. But, I will not get into talking about the Swedish cakes right now. In a few hours I will meet a friend to have the best Swedish chocolate cake in Gamla Stan, so I will get back here with pictures.

And you definetely need coffee if you like books just much as I do. There is a large amount of public libraries where you can find anything you might think of. Sweden is the country with the highest consumption of books in the world. In order to be innovative, one must read and have culture.

In Sweden, we are happy. Many people say that Swedes are cold, depressive, etc... My closest friends, people who helped me, inspired me, or cried when I moved to Stockholm were Swedish. That cold! Depressive?! If you think about the long and cold winter yes of course you cannot walk on the street with a cheerful smile. But isnt it the same everywhere in world? Winter is hard. But in the summer, everyone is glowing of happiness. And yes, career and education is very important, maybe sometimes there is no time or point in just talking to strangers for example.
I dont talk to strangers except when I am in a club. Just as everyone else does.

This is the place to be laid back and enjoy high quality life.

To listen to the best music in the world.

                                                           Moderna Musset, Stockholm

Be innovative

                                                           Moderna Musset, Stockholm

Make a hobby out of home design and be technology oriented, but still do not forget about IKEA.

                 and there is so much more...

TO BE CONTINUED.

Read more

The secret about Stockholm is to always find a new spot, where you can chill, enjoy the sun, the combination of nature and calm evoked by the sound of water with a shade of the buzz created by the traffic somewhere in the background. Good books and coffee will complement the quality state of mind of being just with yourself and your own thoughts.

@ Alvik Strand 

And a few words about the book, Swedishness by Bengt Anderson, which I read while I was there.

This book will prepare you both for the personal and professional life in Sweden. As the management style is different in comparison to other parts of the world it is essential to get accustomed to it before working for a Swedish company.

Reading this book after already living in Sweden for almost a year enhanced my understanding of the Swedish culture.

From the personal perspective I must say that when I started reading this book, I assumed it will help me to understand better the Swedes, but what I have truly came across was understanding myself. There are certain facts and situations I have come across, some in which I felt different than others, but now I truly understand why. It is because sometimes, where you come from can have no meaning and your way of being can be different. That is why it is so important to find the culture which you feel it suits you the most and crowd with the people you feel most comfortable with. Now, I am more than convinced that I have found it. There was so much swedishness in me, without acknowledging it. The only thing differentiating me is that usually “Swedes do not believe in fate”, but I do. No matter what and where you look for it, what is right for you will find you first. 

Cruise

The boat has arrived. Are you ready to get on board? Everything stays in your hands and how you take over the wheel during the cruise.This can be the start of an adventurous journey. As people say it might not be easy, but for sure it is going to be worth it.

Midsommar

It started by putting on my summerish-bohemian outfit. Even if it is my second week of living in Stockholm, sometimes I am still not very good oriented towards reaching new destinations, where I have not been before. For half an hour I had been walking in circle trying to find the trams going to Djurgarden, since everyone was giving me different directions. 

Since I am passionate about architecture what really impressed was Nordiska Museum. 

Nordiska Museum

Even though Skansen would have been nice for a midsommar day, as it is very traditional, I did not see much sense in staying for hours in tan enormous queue of tourist, and pay a lot of money just to be packed among them. That is not the best idea when you are looking for a calm atmosphere and especially not when you have sour muscles from training. A small picnique is always a good solution in order to figure out what to do next. 

Skansen

Despite the fact that my mission was to visit just Djurgarden, I ended up also in the Northern part of Stockholm, which looks so posh, with nice buildings, many banks and designer shops. Basically, it is a reflexion of what I always wanted. On the other hand, still I feel much more myself when I am in the South Stockholm. 

Djurgarden

Polar night at Slussen

In the evening, there was a nice gathering of people in Vitabergsparken, in Sodermalm. The park has its own particular charm as the entire area around it. All the people were having such a great time and so did I and my friend over a glass of wine. 

At the end of the midsommar, young people have the tradition to pick up 7 different flowers and put them under their pillow before they go to sleep in order to dream of the one they will marry. You shall not speak to anyone after you pick up the flowers. 

Flowers picked on the way home

Drotningsholm

  I live in a painting 

After the first week of work in Stockholm I have taken a short break in the weekend, which started by visiting one of the close-by attractions, Drotningsholm Palace. Walking through Drotningsholms gardens gave  me a feeling of escape from the real world. During the first 30 minutes I have forgotten where I was and what were my next plans even though I was holding my diary and my to-do-list in my hand. The palace has a certain color which preserves the history and culture. 

Observing the people around, who sit in the grass, walk by, laugh or simply talk to each other and also their movements, gestures and expressions, makes me wonder what are their stories. Suddenly, I feel like an artist. While I sit on the bench and write during the time I look at the landscape, I feel in my own created world, which I imagined while looking at a painting or postcard. 
I suppose that the right words which could best describe my state of mind would be the following: "I live in a painting".

Välkomen till Rumänien!

När du besöker Rumänien, är de platser du bör besöka Bucharest, huvudstaden. Här du kan besöka artkonstmuseer museer. Antipa museum är ett modernt museum som med ny technology visar olika djur från hela världen.

Gamla centrum har en unik och trevlig atmosfär med många kafeer och restauranger där du kan fika och äta traditionell mat. Den mest populäran restauragen för turister är "Carul cu Bere". Om du går på 18 Lounge by Embassy antingen för att äta eller dricka kan du få en fin utsikt över staden, samma om du gå på baren på toppen av Parliamentshuset. Ibland är organiserade de elektroniska musikevenemang här.
Nattlivet i Bucharest är fantastiska!

På sommaren vi har ett bra och varmt väder så du kan åka till stranden i Mamaia.

Om du besöker Rumänien måste du få inte missa att åka på Dracula Castle i Transilvanien eller Transfagaran, som har röstatsfram den vackraste vägen i världen. Sighisoara är en vacker medeltida stad med festivaler på sommaren.

Den mest traditionella maten är "Sarmale cu mamaliguta".Frukter och grönsaker finns överallt och du kan alltid köpa de på marknaden. Vi har inte begränsningar på alkohol och många människor på landsbygden gör sitt eget vin och en traditionell dryck som kallas "Palinca", eller "Tuica", som är mycket stark.

Som turist du måste veta att människor i Rumänien är öppna och vänliga, så du kan enkelt börja en konversation med dem och få nya vänner.

Jönköping a new beginning and end

     

Jönköping is the place where I learned that life can be quiet, calm and peaceful, maybe a bit too much of that for me. Here is where I readjusted my entire lifestyle and learned to live different. I do not know if where I will be next in life, I will go back entirely to the old, but for sure some of  the things I experienced during my postgraduate period I will bring with me. In two months, after the graduation day there comes the time when one door closes and another one opens, towards a next period which I will embrace with my hands and heart open.