October 23, 2023
Today I’m leaving Stockholm. It’s been a lovely visit, with lots of fun connection with other Scottish Country Dancers.
October 20
I explored Stockholm on foot and on the metro. I walked around a bit, just looking at the buildings, parks, and atmosphere of Stockholm, trying to warm up to a very cold place.
When the rain picked up and I started getting very cold, I retreated into the metro system to go look at the decorated subway stations. Following the instructions of an art map app, I went to 5 different metro stations to look at the art. It was beautiful and wonderful! While I imaged having a wonderful, colorful daily commute on the metro, it was also clear that locals have grown accustomed enough to the art that they don’t notice it anymore. Still, it was wonderful and a really nice experience to get to do on my own time.
After the adventures in the metro, I went back to the hostel to warm up. I met up with a few Scottish dancers who had just arrived and we went to the Vasa Museum. We arrived just in time to see the film explaining the history of the Vasa ship as well as the preservation process.
The Vasa is a ship that made it 1300 meters from the Stockholm shipyard before sinking due to design flaws. This happened in 1628 and it sat on the seabed until it was brought to the surface in 1961. The museum was really interesting and getting to see the ship was very cool.
When we got back from the Vasa, I moved into my new hostel room and met some really fun dancers before heading to bed to prepare myself for an early morning.
October 21
At 9am, after a nice breakfast at the hostel, the group headed over to class. We had a whole day of Scottish Country Dance classes. It was great to get to meet young dancers from all over Europe. By the end of the classes, I was pretty exhausted but a group of us ventured out to find Swedish meatballs. The meatballs were delicious and the atmosphere of the restaurant was very cozy. It was a nice break from dancing before we headed back to the hostel to prepare for the evening ball.
The evening ball was wonderful! I got to wear my dress and dance with lovely people to amazing music. It was a great way to end an exhausting, but very good day.
In the morning, many of the dancers gathered for a tour of Stockholm. While most of the places the tour went turned out to be places I had already wandered around, it was nice to hear a bit more context about the places.
After the tour, I got food and watched the Changing of the Guard at the Royal Palace. Our vantage point made it slightly difficult to see the actual guards and the changing, but we had a great view of the marching band. It was really nice to get to catch that event, even if I understood none of what was supposed to be happening.
Then I joined up with a different group and got a bit more food before heading to the Medieval Museum to look at the remains of the old Stockholm city wall. The wall was discovered during a project to put in an underground parking garage and a museum about the history of medieval Stockholm was created around it. My sleep deprived mind found some of the descriptions amusing and greatly enjoyed the whole experience.
In the evening, I hung out with more people and once again found myself staying up later than was strictly reasonable.
All in all, it was a really lovely weekend in Stockholm. The balance of socializing with new friends, exploring the city on my own and in groups, and visiting interesting museums and beautiful underground train stations made it really pleasant. Stockholm is beautiful and I mostly managed to stay warm and dry enough to really enjoy it. My feet and legs certainly hurt after a full day of dancing, but I am really pleased with the trip and am excited to see what Oslo holds as I head that way now on the train.