Trip #1: Stockholm!

For my first trip of the semester, a few friends and I went to the capital of (expensive) Scandinavia!

The view from the royal palace

We left early Friday morning and arrived in the city center just in time for an late lunch/early dinner. Similar to London, Stockholm has a really great variety of restaurants. We saw everything from Italian to Mexican. They are also known to have the best sushi outside of Japan! As a sushi fan, I'm not going to lie...they had some of the best cuts I've ever tasted. But according to the locals, the best place to get Swedish meatballs is Ikea! We never even had to leave the states to get a taste of Sweden.

After dinner, we walked around the main shopping street. I've never seen so many H&M's in my entire life! Seriously, H&M is like their Starbucks...there's one on just about every corner. The first H&M opened up in Stockholm in 1947. Since then, there are almost 2,200 stores in 38 countries. Apart from the 40 thousand H&Ms, there is every other store you could possibly want. But be weary of the sales taxes. Scandinavia (Sweden, Denmark and Norway) has the highest sales tax at 25%. So even though the exchange rate in Sweden may be favorable to Americans, Sweden is definitely not the place to do all of your shopping.

Night life in Stockholm is great...but it comes at a high price. For the two nights we went out, we spent a total of $55 just on cover!! Not going to lie, you're going to have an epic time no matter where you go. But if you're there for longer than 2 nights, I don't recommend paying cover for every night you go out. There's a bunch of bars that are more alternative and don't charge a cover. Be careful though...unlike the states and England, all of the clubs have different age limits. Some clubs are 22+ or 25+, but the two we went to were both 23+ and we got in without a problem. Another interesting fact is that alcohol is taxed ridiculously in Scandinavia. Hard alcohol (or any alcohol above 3.5%) can only be purchased from government stores called Systembolaget at the minimum age of 20. There is a 40% tax on vodka and a 14% tax on wine...just so you get the picture of how much money drinks are. I will say that it makes Stockholm seem like a safer place because most people won't pay that much for alcohol and there aren't a ton of drunk randos wandering the streets.

Jack and I in our first snow fall!

Booze isn't the only expense...just about everything you buy is way more expensive than in the states or in England. I paid $6 for hot chocolate (just because I've never been colder in my life and their chocolate is some of the best I've ever had). But it was completely worth it. It was so cold that it started snowing.  For the first time in my entire life, I saw snow falling from the sky! Not going to lie, it was definitely a momentous occasion for me...I'm not too sure if Jack felt the same... 

Just to let you know: museums are free if you are under 19 (or look younger than 19). After walking around old town, we came across the Nobel Prize Museum. At first, we weren't going to go because we didn't want to spend any money. But then we realized that students 19 and under get in for free. So that was the trick we used at both this museum and the Natural History Museum. The Natural History Museum has some fantastic paintings...Reniors and Rembrants that I've studied in middle school. It was amazing to see these paintings.

I definitely had a great weekend!! Next destination: Paris!!