MH17

I just heard the tragic news of the Malaysian Airlines flight reportedly being shot down near Ukraine. It is 1:34am here in Tallinn and although I am absolutely knackered I could not fall asleep so I checked Facebook hoping that I would see some positive uploads from home, though this heartbreaking story flooded my newsfeed instead. From what I can gather it seems that 27 Aussies were on board the flight. I know a lot of people who are in Europe at the moment and though I do not think any were due to be flying home today it could so easily have been somebody I care about on board that flight. 

My deepest condolences go out to everybody on board as well as all of their loved ones. Though I am not a religious person I really hope that these poor souls are saved and find solace beyond this world.

A favourite quote of mine by Max Ehrmann reads that "with all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world". Every single day I try to tell myself that this really is the case but sometimes it really is difficult to believe. Surely if the last 100 years has taught mankind anything it is that utter brutality achieves absolutely nothing? Yet we still keep blowing each other to pieces and for what? Governmental power that will inevitably be thwarted and abolished, probably by the same ruthless force and bloodspill through which it was achieved? There is no sense in it all, though that not a revolutionary statement. I don't think there are words to give this absurdity meaning, or if there are at least I don't have them. All I know is that when I go to sleep it will be with a heavy head and a heavy heart. I really do hope that one day I can rest knowing that there is peace and equality on earth.

Stockholm

Before I really delve into this blog post I will provide some essential facts about Sweden in order to clear up any confusion for people who don't quite know the difference between it and Switzerland. Firstly, Sweden is world renowned for some of it's major global exports including Ikea, H&M, ABBA and Volvo, if that helps to differentiate the two. Sweden is located in Northern Europe, bordering Norway and Finland and constituting part of Scandinavia. Area wise it is the third largest country in the EU, though has a relatively low population of just 9.6 million. The people speak Swedish and the nation's currency is the Swedish Krona. Sweden has been around since about 12,000BC, with the nation's capital, Stockholm, being founded in 1250 (though potentially as early as 1187). These days Stockholm itself is a stunning and glorious metropolis. The streets are lined with terracotta and saffron coloured buildings, surrounded by clear blue water and an even bluer summer sky (at least when I was there!). The shopping, clubbing, eating and drinking options are vast and varied, and should I have been a wealthier traveller this is something I would have taken great advantage of. 

Some shots of the city. I think these were taken on my iPhone 4 because I stupidly forgot to charge my camera.

After spending just four days in the beautiful Swedish capital city I have determined that four days certainly is not enough time to do the city, let alone Sweden, justice; though it was enough for my poor bank account. Oops. I blew the budget that I had set aside for Stockholm (and then some) in just one day. Yep. Backpacking 101 with Jess Gordon people. The first general rule of thumb I have decided should be: do not catch a taxi from the bus port to the hostel. This will set you back approximately 180 Swedish Krona (nearly 30 $AUD) for just a five minute ride. Keep in mind that hostels are basically always central, or at least within a radius of just a few kilometres. This is without a shadow of a doubt a walking distance, you lazy ass shit. The second rule would be to leave all of your white girl vodka lime and soda drinking habits at home. I learnt this after two vodka shots on the Friday night pubcrawl I signed up for cost me a 'cheap' 192SEK. Thus my motto for Sweden became: 'when in Sweden, beer it is!', and I guzzled pint after pint from that point in the night forward. 

Pub crawl toilet selfie. Standard.

Aside from my grievances with the cost of everything I can sincerely say that I had an incredible time. I stayed at the Interhostel (http://www.interhostel.se) and I do not think I could have asked for such a clean, modern and generally pleasant hostel on such a tight budget. Another bonus was than nobody snored in my dorm. This greatly reduces the risk of me getting 

charged with battery. On top of all that I was privileged enough to come across the most awesome group of travellers imaginable: Felipe from Idaho, Henry from Texas, Jen and Ad from England, Kayhan from LA, Georgia from Brisbane and my personal favourite, Dave the Scotsman. These people realistically probably were largely responsible for truly making Stockholm the sensational experience that it was. I sincerely hope that each and every one of us can cross paths sometime again in the future. 

I also met Sam and Katie from Canberra on my first morning; the girls were taking the same free walking tour as I and heard my loud and obnoxious voice above the crowd, instantly picking me as a dinky-di Aussie. We bonded within seconds and hung out the whole weekend, grabbing meatballs, going on two more free tours, clubbing with Swedish hipsters, visiting the ABBA museum and watching Germany defeat Argentina in the World Cup whilst being semi-harassed by a seedy Swede. Overall (if it isn't too cliché to say) I think that Stockholm really proved the beauty of travelling to me. Complete strangers really can and do become the best of friends, and I do believe that any of the fantastic individuals who I crossed paths with would open their door to me in the future and welcome me as a close friend, and I genuinely would do the same. 

Swedish meatballs.

Stockholm as seem from Södermalm.

I don't quite know the point of this but I thought it was fairly nifty.

Speaking of the free walking tours that I went on, these are a unbeatable way to see a city without paying a shit-tonne of money that you don't have. I went with Free Tours Stockholm (http://www.freetourstockholm.com), and went on all three of the tours that they offer over two days. Not only are the tours technically free, though it is customary to pay the guide a small gratuity because they are giving up their valuable time to show their beloved city to a bunch of travellers, but you also get to kind of burn of the horrific calorie intake from the copious amounts of beer that you have likely consumed. My City tour was led by a girl called Nina (two particular highlights of this tour were being shown the department store where Greta Garbo was discovered and learning about Stockholm Syndrome), and my Söder and Old Town (Gamla Stan) tours by another girl called Ellen (we were shown the street that ABBA lived on in Gamla Stan and also the apartment featured in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo in Söder. Both girls were patient, knowledgeable and welcoming to all who joined them for the tour. I think that any traveller would be doing themselves a disservice if they do not look into the free tour options available when they pay a foreign city a visit. There really is no need to pay a fortune for most other guided tour that are advertised. I feel like I saw everything that there was to see, and really there is no one better to learn from than a local. 

Coincidentally, on the Old Town tour I happened to bump into a couple who live just a ten minute walk from me in Rockingham, further strengthening the validity of my claim that: 'no matter where you are in the world you will be sure to bump into somebody from Rocko'.

Katarina Kyrka.

A Söder street.

Impressive clock tower in Söder.

I would like to especially go to the effort of noting my fondness for the ABBA museum. I was completely awestruck by the place and I am not even embarrassed to admit that I wandered around, eyes and mouth wide open, in a bit of a ABBA-loving trance. The entire place is absolutely mind blowing; from the phone that only the band members have access to which they are said to ring frequently (especially Frieda apparently), to the piano synchronized to Benny's personal piano and the collection of costumes, memorabilia, photographs and stories shared by the band members themselves. I was not lying when I said that being there really was better than my eighteenth birthday. 

Minion, Katie, me and Sam.

Well played, ABBA museum, well played.

The sign says it all.

Aside from the ABBA museum (the unrivaled highlight of my Stockholm trip) I did actually do some other cool stuff. On the Saturday night I tagged along with some of the hostel crew to watch a free production of Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing', performed by the Swedish English Speaking Theatre and on the Monday Jen, Adam, Felipe and I visited the Vasa museum. The Vasa was a war ship built in Sweden between 1626-1628, made famous by her unfortunate sinking on her maiden voyage on August 10th 1628, sinking just a pitiful 120 metres from shore. The visit to the museum was particularly sweet for me because I lied and said that Jen and I were 18 to get us in for free. I may or may not have also stole a sneaky chocolate coin for Felipe and I (each!). Essentially, I profited from Sweden for once which I think is only fair seeing as I contributed more than enough of my own money to the Swedish economy. 

Total price for two: 0.00Kr

Seeing as I am rattling on about money once again I would like to take this opportunity to share another tip that Felipe and I stand by when travelling: the 'Free Food Diet' is the only diet one can afford to be on when backpacking around Europe. For dinner on my final night we enjoyed appetisers of free mango and chilli dark chocolate samples from a gourmet Swedish chocolate shop as well as free pieces of biscotti from the local coffee shop. This was followed by a main course of raw mushrooms, potato chip and Philadelphia spread sandwiches on some weird sweet bread, followed up by some popcorn provided by Jen and then After Eights courtesy of Georgia. There was even a Dutch girl handing out green tea, which I usually just down several cups of this after I've eaten crap of some description to make it all okay. Hence, Felipe and I only proved that one can actually eat a balanced meal that is completely free, cutting major travel costs and making the culinary side to the trip that much more interesting and unpredictable.

I took a ferry to the ABBA museum before I realised that I could walk (my bad) but hey at least I got a glorious view. 

I Can't Think of a Better Title than 'Denmark':

It is hard to believe that the two weeks I spent in Denmark have been and gone. In fact, as I type this post my stay in Stockholm is also over; I am typing from Arlanda Airport, en route to Tallinn, Estonia. The past few weeks have been extremely busy for me - in a few hours I will have been in three different countries in four days (four if you count my current layover)! Nevertheless, Denmark was a spectacular experience and henceforth is well-deserving of a blog post filled with accolades.

Lucy, Taylah and myself. The girls also were in Denmark, though both left before me. 

Taylah's birthday cake, kindly cooked by Mie's mother.

 From what I can gather, most Australian people (or at least my peers) do not know a great deal about the Scandinavian country, apart from the fact that good old Princess Mary shacked up with a hot Danish prince and now lives there. Admittedly I actually think that is a bloody awesome story and am really proud as an Aussie of Mary Donaldson from Tassie, a stunning and graceful representation of all women from Down Under (there was absolutely no underlying sarcasm in that statement...).

Anyway, a slight rundown on the country seems appropriate here, so: Denmark is located south of Sweden and Norway and is actually composed of many different islands, though Zealand, Jutland and Funen are said to be the main three. Copenhagen, the nation's capital, is located on Zealand. The people speak Danish (duh) and the main currency is the Danish Kroner, not the Euro. Denmark is also actually famous for many things aside from making an Aussie royalty including Hans Christian Anderson, Lego, Royal Copenhagen and  Pandora.

I am fortunate enough to have a close friend, Mie, who lives in Denmark, just a 25 minute drive outside of Copenhagen. Her family were beyond hospitable, hosting me for two whole weeks. They fed me for the duration of my stay, going to the effort of introducing me to some traditional Danish foods such as: Koldskål, Frikadeller, Islakage and Sild. Spending an extended amount of time living with a local family was an invaluable experience. The family put out breakfast almost daily and thus I was in a state of total euphoria; Brie cheese, jam, rye bread, soft-boiled eggs and muesli are standard to the Danish, but a total treat to me. Almost as good as my weetbix and banana or vegemite on toast... Almost (I'm currently suffering from pretty major vegemite withdrawals and unfortunately I highly doubt Estonia, Latvia or any other of my upcoming European destinations will be able to alleviate this for me. They also patiently attempted to teach me, an ignorant speaker of just English, some basic Danish phrases and showed me a large part of Denmark, most of which I never would have seen otherwise.

All four of us the night before Taylah's 19th birthday, which we celebrated by having a breakfast buffet. 

The first night I spent in the city Mie took me out to experience some Copenhagen nightlife and we ended up in a club, Hornsleth (which was actually for over 23s) and to me embodied the European underground punk/modern rock scene; with some pretty questionable artwork - such as giant phalluses- adorning the walls. It is always fascinating to experience another city after dark, and Copenhagen certainly did not disappoint. The Danes LOVE to drink and they LOVE to party. Somebody actually said to me that the Danish are the (much classier) Australians of Scandinavia, and this observation seems fitting. 

Before that though, Mie took me around her area to a few of her close friend's houses. Danish high school students were graduating the week that I arrived, meaning that they were ready to party, and I really mean party. It is a Danish tradition that all graduates wear sailor's caps, which they mark in different ways over the course of the week to symbolise various achievements; skinny-dipping, partying until dawn, and kissing somebody of the same gender, all amongst other 'accomplishments' if you know what I am getting at... The students hire out trucks in their graduating classes and drive from home to home, drinking alcohol and eating delicious food all provided by their proud and adoring parents. The whole thing was just bloody awesome, and I personally vote that Australia adopts the same tradition and that I get to graduate again in order to pioneer the whole thing. 

An example of a graduate truck.

I spent the some of my stay exploring Copenhagen; one of my favourite parts being Christiania, an autonomous Danish commune full of independence, love, sharing, happiness and lots and lots of dope. Think the movie 'Wanderlust' starring Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd, only on a much larger scale. The commune is separate from the EU (this is denoted by a 'you are now entering the EU' sign at the exit gate), meaning that they are exempt from paying taxes; therefore their existence is controversial. Regardless, Christiania is a part of modern Danish culture, and according to Mie and many other locals they will not be going anywhere for a very long time. I also sailed Copenhagen's picturesque Nyhavn Canals, climbed the spiral 'Church of our Saviour' for a terrifying view of the city, explored Stroget, the World's longest pedestrian shopping strip, sampled expensive but divine Danish coffee and visited Mary at the royal residence, though I don't think she was home. 

'You are now entering the EU.'

Artwork from the entrance to Chritiania.

Totally irrelevant but the cute French Bulldog I found deserves to be featured.

Nyhavn.

Me bravely climbing the 'Church of our Saviour'.

 The rest of the time I was shown the rest of Denmark, travelling to Roskilde where a world famous festival is held annually. The Rolling Stones played this year, and I am gutted that I missed out. I also visited Mie's Grandmother's quaint summerhouse in Gilleleje, and spent some time in Slettestrand (on Jutland) with the family for a part of her parent's holiday as a present to her brother. At Slettestrand I went mountain biking for the first time, accompanied by Sporty Spice Mie and her father, both of whom had a significant amount of mountain biking experience in comparison to me. The track they took me on was 22km long, and I think it took me about 21km to actually get the hang of the whole thing; this may be due to the fact that I walked a great deal of the track. Whilst I am not a quitter I am also not a mountain biker. I was in indescribable pain. The bike seat felt like it was so far up my ass that we probably will not see it until next Tuesday. My nose was running, my shorts were getting caught and I was getting harassed by flies. I fell off of the bike numerous times, at one point forgetting to break as I flew into the rugged shrubbery, eventually coming to a crashing holt when my bike hit a root or a badger or the body of another mountain biking rookie. Inevitably, the experience was rather unpleasant for me though I am very glad to now be able to say that I have mountain biked through Northern Denmark. 

Part of my Jutland trip that I did actually thoroughly enjoy was the trip to Skagen, Denmark's northern most point and where the North and Baltic Seas meet. The foodie/coffee lover in me also would like to mention CaféVelo, where I treated myself not once, but twice in the space of an hour, to a choco-mint latte and a tuna sandwich for lunch. I feel like 'tuna sand which' is a giant unjust description of this sandwich,  but do not stress; the Instagrammar in me saw the photogenic potential of the meal and snapped a picture so that it could be remembered by both myself and my legion of
loyal readers (the book 'The Secret' says that if you talk about something in a positive regard even if it is untrue then the universe will act to ensure that it does come true. Or something along those lines.).

The beach at Mie's grandmother's summer house.

Mie's darling mother (photo cred to Mie here).

Choco-mint latte. Delicious.

The tuna sandwich.

Overall, Denmark was a remarkable experience. I felt so welcomed in the country and I sincerely hope that I can return one day, hopefully to go out for a rosé or twelve with Mary. Oh! I actually forgot to mention that a guy who sold me a slushie had met Mary; his daughter is in the same class at school as her daughter. Hopefully he let's Mary know that he ran into two Aussie girls (my friend Taylah was with me at the time) who were extremely excited to be just one degree of separation from our crown princess. Anyway, back to Denmark. Though the prices in places are insane (that's $candinavia for you) and the summer seemingly just three days long it is a completely wonderful, charming and incredibly joyful country - Denmark is said to be the happiest nation in the world - that I would glowingly recommend to anybody heading to Northern Europe. 

A Copenhagen street.

Domed cathedral just behind the royal residence. 

Me picking some wild strawberries just near Mie's home.