Vivian Goes to Stockholm

I went to Stockholm this past weekend for two days. It is definitely a very beautiful city, with of course, very beautiful people (Prince Carl of Sweden is a total stud muffin). They're almost as beautiful as Norwegians. :) Stockholm is actually an archipelago made up of 24,000 islands. Since it is the end of October, not too many boats are operating so I couldn't visit the other islands. Stockholm is modern but there's a very nice Old Town called Gamla Stan that represents Medieval Stockholm. There are so many places to shop! Swedes are known for fashion and design (Ikea = their greatest idea ever) so there are several large shopping malls and streets. Stockholm is superrrrrr expensive though (surprise surprise), less expensive than Oslo but still very expensive. I spent nearly $30 for a 24-hour pass to use the subway. Overall, I think Stockholm is an awesome city to visit. I don't know if I'd say the costs of visiting outweigh everything but that's just me. I'm cheap as hell. :)

 Nice little deserted beach

 Galma Stan

 Nobel Museum

 Royal Palace

 

 Parliament Building

 

 National Museum

 Main shopping street

Vivian Goes to Berlin

I spent a day in Berlin and I was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful the city is. It was the last place I was visiting and I was extremely exhausted so I wasn't very enthused about visiting Berlin. Quite frankly, I don't have the stamina to travel for two weeks... err 11 days. I really need to get back in shape... However, when I went to go sight-seeing, I started to feel a lot better. Berlin is a nice contrast to Prague. It has a rich history but is very modern since most of the city was destroyed during WWII. I visited some of the historical sites such as the Brandenburg Gate, remnants of the Berlin Wall, and Charlie Checkpoint, which is the checkpoint where people had to pass in order to go into West Berlin from East Berlin or vice versa back when the Berlin Wall was still intact. I also went to the Topography of Terror Museum, which outlines the history of Berlin from before WWII to after the Berlin Wall was torn down.
Overall, I really like Berlin, not as much as Prague though. It is extremely big so I didn't get to see much of the city but I saw the most important parts. I would've liked to have more time there but I'm definitely glad to be back in Oslo. Also, I'm pretty upset because airport security at Berlin-Schoenfeld confiscated two jars of Nutella that I had just bought. I hadn't even opened them yet! Nutella is extremely expensive in Norway, like everything else, so when I saw it for just 2 Euros a jar, I bought two. Stupid airport security. In what universe is Nutella a liquid? And what kind of person takes someone else's Nutella? That's just cruel. So great city, terrible airport.

 Near the Hauptbahnhof (Central Train Station)

 Some modern government building

 Parliament Building

 Brandenburg Gate -- icon of Berlin

 Jewish Holocaust Memorial

  Beer Bike... I don't think this needs commenting...

 Berlin Wall Memorial -- pieces of the Berlin Wall filled with graffiti and chewing gum (gross)

Potsdam Platz

Topography of Terror Museum with the Berlin Wall in the back

Small part of what's left of the Berlin Wall

Charlie Checkpoint - of course there's a McDonalds and a Starbucks right before the checkpoint...

TV Tower with rotating restaurant at the top

Famous clock that tells the time all around the world -- I don't know how they account for Daylight Savings Time though

Alexanderplatz -- they have a min-Oktoberfest set up

City Hall

I think this is the National Library

Cathedral