#58 World Ice Hockey Championships 2013

For the next few weeks in Stockholm (and also Helsinki), the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) World Mens Championships are on. Tickets for most of the games (and super good seats) are only 75kr, and it's on at the Globe arena, so I had no excuse not to visit!

Obviously, ice hockey isn't a popular sport in Ireland, so my only knowledge of the sport comes from that Disney movie, The Mighty Ducks. I went to see the first game of the championships, Czech Republic VS Belarus. I was supporting Czech, and they won 2-0! It was low scoring which made it a little less exciting I guess, but I still had a really good time! It's a really fast paced sport, it was difficult to keep track of the players as they were skating so fast, and sometimes almost impossible to see where the puck was!

The Globe was made for sports like this, I know they have concerts there, but it really felt like it was made for ice hockey games! The stadium is great, and we had seats in the first few rows, but we went higher up on the break so we could get more pictures of the arena.

Take that Belarus!

You can get tickets for the games at ticnet.se, which is the Swedish Ticketmaster. The Globe is located at Globen metro stop, less than 10 minutes from the city centre.

#57 Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmo, Sweden

Last weekend I visited Copenhagen and Malmo. I spent a full day and stayed overnight in Copenhagen, and then on the way home I spent a few hours in Malmo (soon to be home of the Eurovision!). We took the train from Stockholm, which takes about 5 hours and for students cost about 400kr.

Copenhagen
We saw pretty much all of Copenhagen in one day, but we were really, really tired afterwards! I would think it would be better to stay for a relaxing long weekend instead. It's possible to walk everywhere, the majority of sights are at most 30 minutes away. We took a free walking tour which was quite good and showed us around nearly all of the sights - but they do expect tips at the end!

Here are my Copenhagen highlights:

Changing of The Guard (daily at around 12)

Nyhavn - the colorful harbour

 One of the four buildings of the Royal Palace

The square with the Royal Palace's

Cute little area near the mermaid statue

Here she is!! Small, and not very centrally located, but a good sight to see!

The very little Mermaid

The small area where you can buy and smoke marijuana

No pictures allowed!

Nice church (I think you can climb it?)

Along the main shopping street

View from a round tower

Nice view

Danish-Swedish Oresund brige in background

The lego store

The statue of author hans christian andersen

A sneak peek at the amusement park - Tivoli

Halfway to Malmo on the Oresund bridge

So, Copenhagen is a lovely place! Here are some more details of the notable places:

If you haven't already heard - the famous symbol of Copenhagen - the Little Mermaid statue - is disappointing. It is small - about lifesize or smaller, and she sits on a small rock. However, once you know this it's not disappointing, you can go and get a picture because she is still a famous landmark, small or otherwise! She isn't in the city centre but she isn't that far either, and you can easily walk, passing by many popular places such as Nyhavn harbour on the way. There are some boat tours that claim they take you there but be careful as many of them just drive by, and I imagine she's too far to get a good photograph, plus also face the shore you would also only see her back!

Lego is Danish, but the flagship store is less than remarkable - it has a four large lego characters and lots of lego sets - and that's kind of it! So unless you especially like Lego it isn't very interesting.

Christiania - This is a colourful street where you can witness people buying and smoking weed in little stalls. You aren't allowed take pictures here - so be careful. I thought it was a safe enough area - once you don't get in anyone's way or draw attention to yourself. Also lots of tourists pass through here - so if you want to visit I think it's fine, but I know some people are hesitant.

Nyhavn - This nice little harbour area is that one place you see photographed all the time, but it is a bustling street full of cafés and outdoor seating, and a lovely place to walk around.

Malmo

Malmo is one of Sweden's bigger cities, located within one hour from Copenhagen via the Oresund bridge, and now the home of the 2013 Eurovision. Malmo is a small place, but very pretty. I am not entirely sure why it was chosen for the Eurovision (after living in Stockholm and visiting Gothenburg, these cities are much bigger and nicer for tourists) as it is quite small - and we had seen most of the place in about two hours! 

It looks like a nice place to live - but it doesn't offer much in the way of tourist attractions. I would recommend stopping here for a few hours if you're going to Copenhagen - but don't plan to spend too much time here either.

Here are some of the Malmo highlights:

 Starbucks coffee! One of the three in all of Sweden

 The (temporary) Eurovision countdown timer

 City Hall

 Lilla Torg (the old square)

 This thing. . ..

 The canal with lots of places to sit

 The skyscraper

A bridge

So that was basically Malmo in about two hours! There's a big shopping street with lots of shops and restaurants, a big park (we didn't visit) and there's lots of places to relax beside the picturesque canal. It was pretty, but I didn't think there was much to see or do there if you plan to spend more than a few hours.

#56 Culture Night in Stockholm + Weather Report

Just a quick update on the weather; when I first arrived here 3 months ago, there were mounds of snow everywhere and it snowed heavily almost every day. Then, about a month ago, it began to snow less and the temperatures rose a little. Now, nearly all of the snow has melted and although the trees are still bare, you can see green grass starting to sprout. It has rained a little, but there are blue skies nearly everyday. Today in Stockholm it is +13 degrees, while when I first arrived it was -13! I think Spring has finally arrived in Stockholm. . . .

Yesterday, Saturday 20th April was Culture Night in Stockholm. This mean that almost every museum and gallery in Stockholm had free entry and special events from 6pm until midnight. Here are some of the places I visited:

Ethnography Museum (Etnografiska Museet)
Located at MuseiParken, Bus 69 from Sergels Torg

To answer your first question, ethnography is like the study of people and culture. This museum was modern and interesting, it had exhibitions on ancient tribes, Vietcong, Native Americans, Japan, Australia, Greenland etc. It was a fun and interesting place to explore the world, and I would recommend a visit. Entrance is usually around 100kr.

The Royal Mews (Hovstallet)
Located near Nybroplan, take tram from Sergels Torg

To answer another question, the Royal Mews is the transport section for ceremonial events for the Royal Family. Here you can see the Kings Horses, (as well as pet them) and the carriages and cars they use, and learn about when they have been used. A nice, interesting place that is not well known in Stockholm.

The Mediterranean and Near-Eastern Antiquities Museum (Medelhavs Museet)
Located beside the Royal Opera House, take bus 69 to Gustav Adolfs Torg

I only visited the museum briefly, but it isn't very big. It has lots of ancient Greek things, as well as an Egypt exhibition (which was closed). It's a nice place to visit, but unless you have a particular interest I wouldn't recommend it so much.

The Medieval Museum (MedeltidsMuseet)
Located under the bridge beside the Royal Palace. Bus 69 to Gustav Adolfs Torg.

I think this could be another one of Stockholm's hidden gems. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but once you enter this place is remarkable. It boats the only remaining part of the old Stockholm city wall, part of an ancient boat, as well as wax figures, a whole section layed out to look like a medieval street, and even a gambling games room with giant chess and dice games, as well as others.

The Royal Palace (Kungliga Slotten)
Located at the edge of Gamla Stan. Take bus 69 to Gustav Adolfs Torg or walk from the metro.

I was disappointed with the Royal Palace. I thought there were going to be more special events than on a usual day, but to me it was overcrowded and average, with a 20 minute waiting line to get in. You're not allowed take flash pictures, so most of them came out awful. You saw some random rooms, but I found it was nothing spectacular. There were people walking around in costume though which was fun.

Finally, there were also some old buses and trams taking you around the museums for free, which was really nice.