Copperfield's pub

A few weeks back I found http://www.canclub.org/, which is the website for The Canadian Club of Sweden which is for Canadians and all others who have a connection or interest in Canada and Canadians. Basically a social club. As it happens they were having a pub night at Copperfield´s Pub St.Eriksgatan 36 on Friday March 23. I decided I was going to join these people since we all had one thing in common, Canada.

That night I get home from work, make my dinner, and prepare to head out. I finally get out the door at 10:30ish, the other Canadians had planned to be there by 07:00pm. I finally build up the nerve to meet a bunch of strangers in a strange bar, in a foreign county, I pay my 20SEk to check my coat and I'm in. I head straight to the bar, and order a Carlsberg. I quickly scan the pub for a collection of people perhaps wearing toques or something distinctively Canadian. Nope. I spot a group of people, then realize they are communicating in sign language. Nope not them either. I ask the bar tender if he knows anything about a group of Canadian at this bar. He has no idea what I'm talking about. I then realize that the two guys beside are speaking in a familiar North American accent. I ask then were they are from, hoping they would say Newfoundland, Toronto, or something like that. Nope, they were from Seattle. They invite me to join them, and I ended up talking to these guys for the rest of the night. Ends up Daniel, and Jeremiah have lived in Sweden for 6 and 9 years respectively. They were giving me the low down on life in Sweden, and the reason they found their way here, and why they stayed. Americans are interesting people...

In short my mission to find Canadians failed, but the mission was interesting non the less. Maybe I'll find them next month.

Södermalm tour

I wanted to tour around Södermalm today, but when i woke up it was raining and about 6 degrees. Around 13:00, the weather cooperated and cleared up so I took the tunnelbana to the Slussen station.

My journey stated more-or-less in the same place as yesterday, at the Katarina Elevator (Katarinahissen). A couple blocks away is this great church the Katarina Kyrka (see picture). It's a replica of a the 17-century original which burnt down in 1990. Not too far from the church is a great cliff top viewpoint and a place called Ersta Diakonimuseet, with a hotel and cafe and an inter interesting Chapel (Kapell) in an octagonal shape and a pointed roof. Continuing on with my walk I came across a square named in Greta Garbo's honour. This square is home to a sculpture of three pink elephants frolicing. To be honest I've seen a lot of interesting street art. On the way back to the tunnelbana station, I came across some kids holding some sort of urban snowboard competition. Where they got he snow I have no idea.

bandy stick

Saturday in Stockholm, my favorite day of the week. I had big plans today, take some pictures, and buy an indoor bandy stick. What is bandy you ask? Well it's a game that also goes by the name of floorball. It's very similar to floor hockey in Canada, and it's very popular in Sweden and the other Scandinavian counties. Here are the Wikipedia entries for both floorball and bandy.

A guy at work invited me out to play last week. We played at a an Ericsson campus with a bunch of his friends who work there. He invited me to join them again, so I can be that bad! Anyway, I decided I should have my own stick!

My trip to buy a bandy stick took me to Gamla Stan (old city) and Södermalm. I knew full well where to buy the stick, but i went for an adventure walk as well. It was the first time I stepped foot on Södermalm. Walked around there for a bit, but my plan is to go back with the Lonely planet book and do a real tour to see the sights., perhaps tomorrow. I found my way to the top of the Katarina Elevator which is something like 10 storeys high. While I was up there I had the opportunity to see a cruise ship pulling in. So I whipped out my handy cell phone and snapped a pic.

One thing i noticed, it's 20mins to 18:00, and it's still light outside. Spring is here.... :)