I don’t think I’ve ever seen sideways snow before.
I had a nice leisurely breakfast then decided it would be best to brave Stockholm today because tomorrow’s weather is by all accounts going to be rather vile. I think this must be a relative assessment because today’s was far from the tropical glory I was expecting as I moved north and the complete antithesis of the spectacular weather of yesterday.
The public transport system in Stockholm is very sensible and getting on it and using it works just like the one in Tallinn; you bip your contactless bank card on the reader and that’s it. You’re valid to travel anywhere on the network for 75 minutes. I got on at Skogskyrkogården and took the green line to the central station where I was immediately confronted with an Intersport (where I could’ve bought ski gloves, almost certainly) and then a choice of what to do next.
I jumped on the first tram I saw and got off it when I saw something interesting. This must have looked rather suspicious as I found myself jabbing the door button just as a swarm of ticket inspectors started coming towards me only to have someone tap me on the shoulder and point out we were stopped at traffic lights, and not at a tram stop. In my defence, the button was green so it was a perfectly natural thing to do.
Outside the tram it was cold and the snow was falling sideways. I’d inadvertantly placed myself down on the waterfront at the Nybrokajen (looks nice on the Interwebs) where it seemed that every form of coldness known to man was being channeled across every cold surface in existence and then directly into my face. Luckily, I have come equipped with a snood (part of my one-bag packing-light mission) which I proudly deployed under my woolly hat and hood only to have my glasses mist up and seemingly freeze simultaneously, just as the snood absorbed all the moisture in the atmosphere and I understood why Host had questioned the wisdom of my visiting Stockholm in March. Some adjustments later, I mitigated what turned out to be the best of the weather by walking around with my head down, looking at my feet.
There were some attempts at photography while the light lasted but ulimately I should have heeded the advice of Host who’d suggested I spend the day on the metro looking for art. I, of course, know better than to follow the advice of a local, yet ultimately came to wish I’d spent the day on the metro looking for art. I did see some rather nice buildings and some shops I couldn’t afford to even look at, so it wasn’t a completely wasted day.
Once I’d got bored of snow — it took longer than I thought — and on a recommendation of Mastodon, I boarded a number 2 bus which deposited me at Hermans, a vegan restaurant with an all-you-can-eat lunchtime buffet (and I did) and, apparently, “a quite decent view.” It’s safe to say, given the conditions, that the food was better than the view and all-you-can-eat I did indeed. For about 15€, you’re given a small plate which requires you to go back to the buffet enough times for people to actually start looking. Undeterred, I went through everything for, frankly, it was lush.
Replete, I slowly waddled back to the old town to find some glorious tourist tat, then got myself back onto the green line and made it home to teach in the afternoon.
