Archive for the Stockholm category
We knew that our bad luck had to finish today. We knew the city a little more by this stage, and were looking forward to our day of appointments.
We started off by meeting Lars and Anika from the Ryjerfjord Hostel. Breakfast was in full swing and we got to see the place in full occupancy. They showed us around, and whilst I previously could not envisage how the rooms would be, there were a variety of dorm rooms, and privates of varying style, sizes and prices. The Ryjerfjord is actually 2 boats side by side, with the more hotel based rooms on one, and the others on the original boat. It is a great novelty to be staying on a boat and they have converted it well. There is a lovely spacious lounge upstairs on the main boat, and plenty of outside space to sit and relax. Of course, being a boat, the location is superb with although a main road on one side, but a main road right near a great area of Stockholm, the other side’s view is of the gorgeous canal and waterfront with views to the other side of the canal.
Following this, we had a short walk to Renfierna Hostel. Unfortunately, Peter, the manager had misunderstood that the meeting would be held today, and was not there, but the receptionist gave us a quick tour of the premises. Clean and basic, this hostel has both hostel and hotel rooms, as many seem to in Stockholm. There is a good area downstairs for breakfast and communing and free internet facilities also. It is in a very central location right in the very popular Slussen area with lots of great shops and restaurants nearby.
After this, we headed back on the other side again, to a hostel called Hostel Bed and Breakfast. We met with Marie, who was the only staff on, so she frequently had to help guests, but she was very good at multi-tasking and very friendly. It is a tiny hostel, but has a really cosy feel to it. It is changing hands in November to new management, but it will hopefully maintain the same small scale feel to it. Although small, it manages to have a communal area, and self catering kitchen so has everything that a backpacker needs, as well as being extremely central.
Back to the “Boats street”
Our next appointment was right next to the Rygerfjord, on another boat, called the Red Boat Malaren. We met with the incredibly charismatic Mia, who like Marie, was the only one there. Mia’s boat is as you would expect, red in colour and is quite beautiful. She gave us a hot drink each, and Neha, who I have discovered likes her coffee very very sugary mistook her cup of coffee for my tea and I ended up with an extremely sweet drink! The Red Boat is also 2 boats, but due to lack of staffing when we were there, we were only able to see one. There is a lovely lounge area and space for sitting and relaxing or eating breakfast, and it is the friendliness and infectious personality of Mia that would make your stay here really something special. Each guest gets a postcard of the Red Boat to take away with them.
Next, we were to meet at The Colonial Hotel, where we were staying, but Anders the manager was unable to make it. However, we did both speak to him over the phone, and thanked him for the stay which had been very comfortable. The room had everything you needed, and the elevator although requiring some coaxing at times got you there safely. The breakfast in the mornings was excellent with a great array of different food to suit different needs, and the reception staff were very friendly. Colonial is also in an excellent location, right in the centre of Stockholm.
After this, we went to the City Lodge hostel, where we met with Anne. Although very busy, was very friendly and showed us round in between dealing with her guests. the City Lodge is a very new, very clean hostel, with an area downstairs for communal living along with free internet facilities. This is extremely close to the Central station, and is currently owned by the same manager as the Hostel Bed and Breakfast. It seems a friendly place, and good value for your money.
Our final appointment of the day was, back to the same boat street we had now visited 3 times today. Feeling like we knew this street intimately by now, we met briefly with Sanna, who showed us around, and then with the receptionist Pia. I was very impressed by this boat, as it had a lot of space in the rooms, and the deck and there was a great outdoor area for guests to sit. It is quite new, and has great facilities, with many more in the pipeline.
After this, we said goodbye to the “boat street” for the final time that day. Stockholm is an impressively beautiful city of gorgeous canals. You don’t feel like you are in a big city, although the size is vast, you almost have the feeling of sometimes being in a seaside town. Although we had a few challenges along the way, all the people that we met were amazingly helpful, and the Swedish lifestyle is very laid back and relaxed and yet very vibrant and alive at the same time. Definitely plan Stockholm in your itinerary. It is one of the most beautiful cities I have seen, and it is well worth the visit.
The trip’s dose of bad luck did not seem to be departing us quite yet.
We got lost on our way to our first appointment, Langholmen hostel. The thing about Stockholm it is made up of a series of islands. We mistook a massive bridge for a much smaller one that we should have been walking over, and ended up in a completely different area. After asking several incredibly helpful Swedes, we finally got back on the right track, and arrived at the Langholmen, an incredibly unique hostel/hotel, which used to be a prison and was converted in 1989. Because of its incredible history, and located on an island, this made it one of the more interesting hostels I have visited. This place is big, and it has been converted very well into hotel and hostel facilities. There is everything that you might need in this place, and lots of outdoor space. Being on an island as well, the surrounding area is just beautiful. Once you find it (and it is actually a lot easier than we thought) it is a good location, not too far from the heart of the centre of Stockholm.
The bad luck carries on
Following this we had to get quite a distance over the other side of town. Being quite late at this point, it wasn’t helped by the fact that we had been told to get off at a subway stop much further from the hotel than we needed to be. This meant of course, we were running late again, and were lost again. Not a good start to the day! We finally met with Louise at the Hotel Attache, who was just superb and when she found out that we hadn’t eaten (nor would have a chance to for the rest of the day), she made us some sandwiches to eat while we chatted. Swedish hospitality is second to none and we encountered so many friendly people in our few days in Stockholm which made our trip very memorable. The hotel Attache, is a lovely, independently owned, small style hotel. It has a lovely feel to it, and is surrounded by greenery and garden area. There is a sauna downstairs for guest use, and each guest (and us as a special present) is given a beautiful book of Stockholm. Really lovely place, and actually very close to a subway station once you knew where it was.
Unfortunately we had to cancel our visit with the City Backpackers, which was an incredible shame, as this was one that both of us had been looking forward to. We tried to reschedule for the following day, but unfortunately the person we were to meet with would not be there then. I explained that we would try our very best to get there by the end of the day, by 5pm.
After this, we went back across town to the STF Friedensplan hostel. This is a very big, very impressive hostel that is in an excellent location. We met with Savvas who was extremely passionate about his city and his hostel. We were very impressed with the quality of the rooms with lots of space in them, and also flat screen televisions in each room. Savvas explained that this would soon be converted into internet computers for each room which was a huge bonus. Fantastic facilities, and catered to whatever budget and needs you had, having options for breakfast and bed linen. Very impressed with this hostel, and Savvas presented us with our second unexpected but lovely gift of the day; a mousse each to remember Sweden by.
Different ways
We left there and separated to do the last hostels of the day. I went to the Wasa Park Hotel, which is a lovely old style hotel in a fantastic location on Ericsplan. I met with Anita, and she could only show me one room, as they were almost fully booked, but it was a lovely homely room, with traditional Swedish wallpaper and furnishings. It is a small scale hotel, so you will be well looked after.
Following Wasa Park I looked at my watch and intended to rush down to briefly see City Backpackers, but unfortunately by this point it was 4.50pm and Joakim had been leaving at 5pm.
I met up with Neha back at the Colonial, and although exhausted, we decided to go straight out and find some food as we were ravenous.
We found a gorgeous and funky Italian/Moroccan place where we ate delicious ravioli and even more delicious chocolate brownies for dessert
We returned to the hotel a couple of hours after we had left it, and after finding South Park on the TV and watching that, we fell quickly into a deep sleep for the second night in a row.
As soon as I reached my seat, my eyelids closed, only opening momentarily throughout the flight. Arriving in Sweden, our journey was not at an end yet. We flew into Skavsta airport, 90 minutes out of Stockholm, and a long coach ride awaited us. We did drive through the most stunning scenery but were unfortunately too tired to really take it all in. Finally arriving at the Colonial Hotel, our home for the next few days was the most blissful thing! Both of us then took well deserved showers and then attempted to meet up with one of the hotel managers of the Abbes hostel group, once we felt slightly more alive.
However, as the instructions were last minute, and we were still disoriented, we were not able to meet, as we had arrived at the very end of the day to the wrong Abbes hostel. This was unfortunate as we were looking forward to at least meeting with one hostel on a day that was otherwise wasted for work appointments.
Exhausted and disappointed, we walked very slowly back to the hostel, stopping for a well needed snack stop, as we realised we had not eaten all day, by this point, and both of us were asleep in the incredibly comfortable beds in our room by 8pm. 11 hours later, and feeling a lot more alive, we surfaced.
After a long day of work, Neha and I head to Liverpool Street station to catch the airport train to Stansted Airport for our flight to Stockholm. Both of us were excited about getting there and looking forward to checking in and getting a good night’s sleep. Fate had other plans for us it seemed.
Unfortunately due to delays on the journey to Stansted, we were unable to check in until just before check in finished. We weren’t worried at this stage. We had made the check in time, and we were now in the system. We then looked with horror at the length of the security line. Because of terrorist scares, security was now seriously tightened, and you weren’t allowed to take on board liquids (including water), makeup, deodorant or anything sharp. We were starting to get a little anxious as our flight was in 40 minutes, and the lines were horrendous, but we knew that our bags were on the plane now, and they couldn’t leave without us…could they?
Reaching the front of the line, our bags were x-rayed and we now realised that an hour had passed and our flight was supposed to have left 20 minutes earlier. Having had no announcements whatsoever, there was nothing for it, but to run down to the other end of the airport to our gate, and read the very unwelcoming sign which said “Gate Closed”. Although being able to see our plane outside with the doors open, they refused to let us on, saying that there was nothing they could do (well they could have let us on the flight!). There was nothing for it but to wander back to where we had just run, passing many many other running, panicking travellers also trying to make their flights. Of course I am sure that it took longer to off load our bags than it would have to let us on, but they wouldn’t budge in their judgement.
Arriving at the Ryan Air customer service desk, along with many other disgruntled passengers not allowed to travel to their destinations, we were told that there was nothing that they could do as it was the fault of security and not of Ryan Air. The only option was, of course, to reschedule for another flight in the morning. Although this meant we would miss our Wednesday appointments, we would still get to Stockholm, a city that we were both very excited about visiting, so we decided that a night in Stansted airport could be a little bit of an adventure (although I was very close to giving up completely and returning to my own bed). The moral of the story of course is leave plenty of time for your flight. I will definitely be heeding my own advice from now on.
After a feed, and an email to hostelbookers for them to read in the morning outlining what had happened, we found a nice little isolated patch of cold hard, concrete floor and set up our makeshift beds. We had retrieved our luggage by this point, and our pack made adequate although quite lumpy pillows.
The morning finally arrived, and sore and stiff, we arose like many others early in the morning, determined to be the first in the queue this time. After very little sleep, we walked around like zombies, but this time we made it through the queues with plenty of time to spare, although managing to lose one another. Finding each other at the departure gate, we sighed a huge sigh of relief and wandered on to our flight.
