You probably didn't believe us the first time we told you we biked all the way through Copenhagen...well guess what?! We rented some bikes in Stockholm now, too! It is a much quicker way to travel through these more spread-out cities, while still being able to appreciate the city views as well :) We are very excited to be in Stockholm, Sweden! Instead of flying from Copenhagen, we opted to take a 5-hour train ride to the city. Although it was longer, we were still able to appreciate the beautiful nature-views of Sweden (and maybe even suffered through a bit of motion sickness from the train). But we pushed through, and made it here! Day 1: Island-hopping through the cityDid you know that Stockholm has FOURTEEN islands?? And 57 bridges?? It is 1/3 water, 1/3 green areas, and 1/3 city...so it is no wonder that this city has topped the ranks as being one of the greenest cities in the world! The people here are extremely eco-minded, and you can tell they really love their nature! While exploring various neighborhoods throughout the city, every single neighborhood is surrounded by beautiful, lush natural green areas, with jogging/biking paths everywhere you look. Galma Stan, The Historic City Center | To start off our first full day in the city, we started in the historic city-center of Stockholm..."Old Town". This adorable cobblestone area is strictly pedestrian-only, which is part of the reason it is so well preserved! We were amazed by the extremely narrow alleyways, colorful buildings, and cute shops at every corner. Medieval Museum | We were very fortunate to stumble upon the free museum that focused on the Middle Age History of Stockholm! This museum actually somewhat occurred by accident...Parliament wanted to add a parking lot (or "car park" as the Europeans like to call it), but they decided to run an archeological dig before building the lot. To their amazement, they found remains from the historic Medieval part of the city, even finding the original city walls beneath the potential "parking lot"! The city decided to turn this site into a museum, which was very interesting to see (we even got to see and touch the original city walls in their place, as well as an old ship that was also found in the site!). Day 2Free Walking Tour! | We were thrilled to learn that Stockholm also offered a free walking tour! (We seem to learn so much about the city on these tours). Although it was very rainy and cold, we didn't let that stop us from exploring the city. we were able to tour the areas outside the "Old Town", seeing more of the city center and learning more about the "newer" part of the city. Our tour guide was fabulous! White Arkitekter Firm Tour | We were thrilled to have the opportunity to tour the firm of White Arkitekter! You won't believe how small this world is...we actually met one of the firm's interns (a Stockholm local), who will actually be attending UIUC next Fall for a semester! It was amazing to have the chance to meet and speak with him, and were so glad that he will now have a couple of familiar faces when he gets to Champaign (we can't wait to see you soon, Charlie!) In addition to meeting our future classmate, we also learned a lot about this awesome firm. White Arkitekter is the 3rd largest firm in Europe, with about 1,000 employees office-wide. They work on a wide variety of projects, from residential to hospitals and everything in between. We learned from our host (Amanda, who also attended IIT in Chicago for a year during her schooling) that European university incorporate a lot of sustainable topics into their curriculum early on, and emphasize the importance of designing for the environment. The office itself was extremely fascinating! They had a beautiful rooftop terrace with their own gardens, a special area for their "own" honeybees, and they even utilized the water from the nearby river to pump through pipes in the building's beams in order to cool off the building in the warm months (and even heat up the building in the cool months). We were invited to join Amanda and Charlie in "fika", a Swedish tradition of having coffee and snacks in the afternoon, while socializing with friends. Overall, we felt extremely welcomed by this firm, and loved every part of our visit here. Nature of Stockholm! | This cold, dreary, rainy day finished off being absolutely beautiful in the end. We decided to "hike" through some of the woodland areas of Stockholm (it is crazy to think we were right in the middle of a large city!). The sights of the river were beautiful! Random sights during our exploring. We found a green wall, saw the most expensive building in Stockholm, found plenty of parks, and a massive fountain. FYI...it's 11 PM in this picture! We were trying to sleep, but how can we in this?? Day 3City Hall | We started off the beautiful morning with a bike ride to the city center. We stopped by the City Hall, which had absolutely beautiful views of the waterfront. It of course had beautiful architecture, too :) Architecture & Design Center/Modern Art Museum | We hopped over to another small island to take a look at the Architecture Center, and also took a stroll through the Modern Art Museum. While we aren't very knowledgeable on art, we can honestly say that this artwork challenged the way we view art! There were some interesting prices here (including work from Salvador Dali). We even experienced and interactive 'crochet exhibit' (pictured above) where we had to crawl through he art piece. We have noticed that in both Copenhagen and Stockholm, there seem to be an abundance of 'gender neutral' restrooms. For those of you who haven't seen these before, they aren't as 'uncomfortable' as you may think! The stalls are very private, with only the sinks actually being shared between all genders. It was interesting seeing the visitors trying to figure out which was the male and which was the female! I wouldn't be surprised if we start to see restrooms like this in the US in the near future. Djurgarden | We hopped over to another island, which literally translates to "Animal Garden". This island was once stocked with animals, and used as the king's hunting grounds. Now it serves as a beautiful nature area, featuring a variety of museums, a zoo, and and outdoor museum. The parks were beautiful, and we even stopped by the Nordic Museum for a few minutes. This building was MASSIVE. So long, Stockholm! We stopped by the city-center one last time before heading back for the day. What a beautiful city. Can't wait to come back in the future :)
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