Training Up To Sweden

With no sleep and a full day of traveling ahead of us, Chase and I slugged some water and got our game faces on. Unfortunately, our journey to Sweden involved several transfers in the Netherlands and Germany before we could relax and sleep. We changed rails in Hilversum, Osnabruck, and Hamburg before boarding our final train to Stockholm. From Hamburg, we took the train right onto a ferry, which  allowed to reach Copenhagen and continue on to Sweden in one straight shot. It was an exhausting fifteen hours to say the least.

We arrived in Stockholm Central station around midnight and decided to sleep in the train station until we could check into our hostel. However, after two hours of rest on the most uncomfortable and oddly shaped benches, a security guard informed us that the station was closing. We now had seven hours to kill and nowhere to kill it. Once we exited the station, a bright McDonald’s sign caught our eye and essentially called us over to it. No joke, this was the best McDonald’s ever. Great food and fast service put us in a great mood to enjoy free wireless internet and clean, comfortable booths. Now it may sound like this McDonald’s isn’t all its cracked up to be, but it gets better. Along with being open 24 hours, this McDonald’s attracted every group of girls in Stockholm on their way to and from the bars and clubs. Answer this question. When was the last time you sat in a McDonald’s for 7 hours eating Big Mac’s and youtubing hockey fights, all the while being surrounded by dozens of beautiful, blonde Swedes? Let’s just say we had a very happy meal. Pun intended. If you ever find yourself in Stockholm with time to kill, McDonald's is the place for homicide.

Unfortunately, nine o’clock rolled around and we had no more excuses to hang out in McDonald’s. We walked to City Hostel, a hostel close to the train station and located in the heart of Stockholm, and immediately passed out after checking in.  An entire day of traveling and a busy night at Micky D’s really wore us out. We slept until the early evening and hit up the grocery store across the street for essentials once we were settled. Everything is ridiculously expensive in Sweden and we knew that we would have to be conscious of our budget for our entire stay. Our grocery list included: bread, sliced ham, smoked Gouda, corn flakes, milk, pasta with sauce, peanut butter, and two apples. One Big Mac at McDonald’s cost more than half of groceries, which turned out to be enough for around 10 meals. It was eye opening.

 

Once our bellies were full, we finished off the bottle of Chardonnay that Christine gave us and hit the streets around midnight. A hostel mate named Adam tagged along, but, later proved to be of less value than our first friend  named Adam (he accompanied us for the first ten days).  This Adam seemed to be wasted after his first beer and somewhat of a liability. Most places were an hour wait, and the ones with no wait had an age limit that excluded him. He was definitely holding us back.  Two O’clock rolled around and we were next in line to get into club “Oh Oh Oh”. Adam was a little drunk and angry about waiting in the line so he decided to go home. We did not try to change his mind. Next in line, Chase and I got ready to give the bouncer our id’s and cover fee when all hell broke loose. The bouncer began arguing with a large English man right next to us, which halted the entry process. The man was angry that he could not get in without waiting in line, while other locals and friends of the bouncers got in instantly. More words were exchanged and the two men began swinging at each other. We couldn’t have been any closer than that to the fight without being involved in it. The bouncer asserted his dominance and was eventually pulled away by friends and co-workers once the police arrived.  We were excited to have some story to tell people in the bar, but there was one problem. Because of the fight, the police said that no more people were allowed to get in.  O well.

We thought about calling it a night until we passed an outdoor bar at the bottom of a nearby hotel. No cover. No age limit. We were in business. After a few drinks with a group of Swedish girls, we made it to the dance floor before closing and enjoyed the rest of the evening.