Since I have just been home, and am heading off in less than 48 hours before we are traveling again, I made sure to spend extra time in Stockholm, rather than working in my room. So after returning home and a day of class on Monday, I made it an effort to wander around Gamla Stan and Slussen areas within Stockholm. Gamla Stan, as mentioned before is part of the old town which has more coffee shops on every corner than Starbucks or McDonalds’ in New York City… if you can imagine. I had heard of the underground cafes in which the Vikings had first inhibited in the 12th and 13th centuries. These underground locations found were the lookout points and hang out spots for the earliest Vikings way before America was even discovered. Determined to find one of these cafe’s I wandered around Gamla Stan for well over an hour, enjoying all of the old town feel.
Upon wandering, I came across the old German church where I wandered into. The old Gothic styles had me entranced as I vowed to myself I should try to come to a Sunday service. The ceilings dipped low as a huge organ was the main focus on the side wall. After leaving, I managed to ask someone on the way out where I could head to find one of these cafes. Due to either not being able to follow directions sufficiently, or just being inadequate of understanding the street names, I finally made my way into the cutest old town cafe called Art Cafe. Opening the door, a steep stone stairway led down, where you had to make sure to duck your head, to a cafe where the doorways had low stone archways, a fireplace, and some of the best desserts and coffee drinks to choose from.
After ordering a hot chocolate to warm up in the stone dungeon type cafe, I sat down for hours of homework. Although the homework part seemed treacherous, it seemed to flow nicely while I was completely embracing this old town feel, and somehow, cozy cafe where I can only imagine the shenanigans that had happened there centuries ago. After hours of work, the flow of people coming in and out being constant, a woman approached me to ask to use a charger. Before I knew it, we were in an in-depth conversation about her personal life, Swedish traditions (including the cancellation of ice skating even down the Baltic sea due to the warm winter), and about what we have come to notice of the differences in the Swedish culture.
Evidently this was an unexpected conversation that went a lot deeper into personal matters than I might have even gone into with some of my friends at home. I say deeper in the since of opening up about different cultures, where we have come from, and the beauties of the differences we have experienced. For an afternoon where I wanted to experience more of Stockholm, wandering into this cafe has been a very memorable experience for me. It was a beautiful afternoon for me to embrace the old town, get into a deep, enriching, unexpected conversation with a stranger, and not to mention, finish my online class work for the week.
My Semester in Stockholm 