Sigtuna

This fall in Sweden has been uncharacteristically mild.  In order to take advantage of the weather and see a little more of Sweden we planned a day trip to Sigtuna. Fortunately, all I had to do was agree to go. The plans of grabbing a train and a bus were taken care of.  I still prepared the same way I do for any trip: charge my camera and search wikipedia.
Sigtuna prides itself on being 'Sweden's oldest city'. Tourism is obviously important and it benefits from its close proximity to Stockholm (and Uppsala). Located on the shores of Lake Malaren the scenery reminded me of cottage country back home. Historically the shores were lined with homes of merchants and residents. Nowadays it gives the impression of a well-off commuter village.
Around the small town are plaques showing a number of historical ruins or sites. We essentially followed the numbered sites before taking a break by the water.  It was hard to comprehend how old some of these crumbling churches really were. The fall colours, coupled with the nice weather, made for great photos and walking-weather.
A small walking street  with small boutiques and stores was the busiest attraction with small boutiques and stores. Apparently it is there that Sigtuna hosts its popular 'christmas market'.  A term I wasn't familiar with before moving to Europe. It seems every city or town has its own version.
We stopped for lunch in a sports bar. The food was good and it was nice to find a place to accommodate our group.
Shortly after eating we were surprised to see the streets emptied. It was not busy before, but now it was simply deserted. By 3pm the stores had closed for the day.  We found this surprising as we walked down the eerily quiet street back towards the lake. With the bakery closed, I had to settle on a kaffe & kanelbullar from pressbyran. A distant second. By then it was time to catch the regional bus back to Knivsta train station and Uppsala.

Mother Russia - Vodka Trip Part 2

We arrived in Saint Petersburg early in the morning. As we disembarked we walked across the tarmac to an imposing concrete building. We would be channeled like sheep through customs and make our way to the bus.  We were warned it would be quite different than Estonia and were encouraged to be early. Different it was. We were all quite tired, dehydrated and hungry as we stood holding all of our luggage.  Entering Estonia (thanks to the Schengen Agreement) consisted of letting a yellow lab sniff out knees as we walked toward to terminal.  Russian customs would require proof of tour registration, proof of accommodation, passport and student ID. Just the thought of dealing with customs intimidated me. This was Russia after all… aren’t you suppose to be intimidated?
Eventually we made our way to the terminal waiting room and were told to find our bus outside. Heading towards the parking lot I seemed to think to myself,
‘we’re not in Kansas anymore’. 
Taxi drivers with buzz-cuts, blue jeans and black leather jackets conversed as they waited for potential customers. Behind them, the skyline consisted of a few large smoke stacks attached to a rather dilapidated building. It looked as if these stacks were responsible for the gloom that was the sky.  A few of us joked that we should go back to the boat - back to Estonia.
We all loaded into a coach bus and were introduced to our Russian guide.  She would provide commentary as we toured the city. She welcomed us to her home and when commenting on the weather said, ‘it’s good you get to see the real Saint Petersburg, this is the way it is most of the time’.  O great.
The rain held off but the overcast conditions persisted as we drove around the city. It became apparent that the guide could talk constantly, barely pausing to breathe.  She filled us with Russian history and factoids as we passed countless buildings. I got the impression that she would feel guilty if she forgot a single detail, often clarifying and adding information long after we passed the site of interest.  When she eventually took a short break from speaking she said ‘If you have any questions please just ask, yeah?’
how could we possibly have any questions 
She seemed to answer her own call for questions by heading into another monologue about the founding of Saint Petersburg.
We lunched at the comfortable restaurant ‘The Idiot”, named after the Dostoyevsky novel.  It was well furnished with old chairs, couches and bookshelves.  And decorated with an eclectic mix of ‘stuff’ – from a half burnt/melted boom box to a formidable bust of Lenin. The food and atmosphere made this a great place to take a break while still getting a ‘taste’ of Russia.
After a few hours, including ‘photo-stops’, we went to check into our hostel. I was impressed. It was centrally located on the busy Nevsky Prospekt and afforded some great views of the city(from the rooms). It also featured a big kitchen and common room with both a TV and a few computers.  We were a bit stunned to learn we could not wear our shoes inside – at all.  It was suggested we find a shoe locker and take out a pair of thin fabric slippers.
You can’t be serious.
We all abided and ditched our shoes for these one-size-fits-all slip-ons. 
That night, we organized – through the hostel – a pub-crawl. A pretty large group of us were led to a few of the pubs and bars of Saint Petersburg. Mainly chosen as ones we might not find ourselves. One of the first things I noticed was people smoking. It had been a long time since I had seen people smoking in restaurants/bars. The smell of my clothes the next day made me appreciate the smoke free environment back home.  Smoke clouds aside, it was a fun night of trying to find the cheapest beer, socializing and seeing the city at night. One of the best views of the trip was when we walked over a bridge and saw The Church of Split Blood lit up against the night’s sky.  I think we were all glad we still had two more days in this place...