Stockholm - wow

Well, so far, Stockholm is my favorite city. Norway is my favorite
country (in beauty - not in price), but Stockholm is gorgeous. It's
clean, there is water everywhere, the architecture is beautiful. It
consists of 14 islands connected with 50+ bridges. Some of the water
in the city is a big lake, other parts are the Baltic Sea. We didn't
have much time in Stockholm, but I hope to go back during the holidays
this year. It's health friendly and veggie friendly and a little
nicer on the pocket-book instead of Norway. However, it's still not
very cheap. Since we had limited time there, we did one of those city
bus tours to try to get a picture of the city and then we went to
their city hall, which is where the Nobel Prize banquets are every
year. I did not know that Alfred Nobel was Swedish, but alas he was
and that explains why the prize ceremonies and events are in Stockholm.

From what we've been able to tell, the swedish countryside is much
less varying than Norway. It is more like rolling hills and farmland
with lakes and trees sprinkled in frequently. Again, everyone speaks
English as a second language, so getting around was there was also
easy. I think we will be in trouble when we hit Poland. We've gotten
used to the English thing. Stockholm is much more touristy (or at
least has a much larger touristy section) than Oslo, but it is a
large city that has much more to offer and do. Similar to New York
having Time Square or San Francisco having Pier 39 or Fisherman's
Wharf - all touristy sections that you kind of have to go to if you've
never been, but if you care to get away from that and see the actual
city, then it's possible. As is the situation with most of these
cities we've been to or are going to, Andy and I quickly get through
the tourist sections and then move to the authentic city as soon as
possible.

Oslo in a Nutshell. We love Norway

Oslo was a really beautiful city. It's has a shore line for ships and
boats, etc. but most of it is off of the water. During our time
there, we were able to wonder around on foot quite a bit. It's
becoming a spread-out city as a lot of people are moving into the city
from the country and there is currently a building height limit in
Oslo. It's so expensive it, it's unbelievable. We had a medium
cheese pizza for $30, a smaller bag of chips for $7. The average
entree price was well into $25 (for like a salad) and then just went
up. It's not just Oslo, though. The whole country was expensive. As
we traveled to the west coast to Bergen and back, we stopped at many
small towns along the way and the prices were basically the same. The
cheapest glass of wine was $12. It's crazy.

However, aside from the expense, the country itself is really
spectacular. There was so much variation just in the parts we
traveled in, it was unbelievable. We were in farm land for parts of
it, cold mountainous areas with snow still around in other parts and
tons of waterfalls and water. There are many fjords in Norway and the
size of them is hard to comprehend. The general population looked
like an ad for REI. I think if you live there, you are raised outside
primarily. It's gorgeous.

In Oslo, we were able to walk around to various parks and go to some
museums. We enjoy walking around the cities to different places since
you can see so much more of the color of a city and get away from all
the touristy places. Oslo is touristy, but much less so than any of
the other places we've been to so far. People there are friendly and
helpful and everyone speaks English. So, getting around was pretty
easy. Although most restaurants aren't terribly veggie friendly in
dishes they offer on the menu, I had no problems what-so-ever in
eating establishments when I told the waiter/waitress I was
vegetarian. They were always more than ready to make me anything I
wanted within their ability. It was very nice. The city was very
clean. No smog, no bad car exhaust (unlike Madrid), clean sidewalks
and hardly any graffiti anywhere. There are flowers everywhere and
the buildings are very baroque in style (at least that's the style I
think they are). Overall, I would recommend visiting Norway - Oslo
itself, but also go see the countryside and the fjords - that is where
so much of the beauty and character of the country is.