TravelStream™ news feed for member gildo on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/gildo en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:56:42 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1254664516/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1254664516/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1254664516/tpod.html Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:56:42 -0400 Red Wings, Stockholm, oh my...

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Chicago, Illinois, United States

Our trip back began pretty early as our flight departed at 10:00 AM local time so we were up at 6:30 AM, on the "T" by 7:00 AM and on the Arlanda Express to the airport at 7:15 AM.  At the airport we checked in after having to move to another line since SAS only had one line set up but after that things went pretty smooth as we got through security and arrived at the departure gate without a problem.The flight back was long, but the inflight movies kept us both entertained and we arrived in Chicago around noon.It was a fun trip, but it is good to be back home!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1254700213/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1254700213/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1254700213/tpod.html Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:51:16 -0400 Red Wings, Stockholm, oh my...

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Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden

A cloudy day to start out with so I was deciding whether or not to bring the umbrellas that I had packed and in the end I decided against it.Wrong decision.Our plan for the day was pretty low key, we were going to go to the Nobel Museum and that was about it.  We left the hotel after noon or so and after a brief stop for shopping we found ourselves at Gamla Stan once more heading towards the Nobel Museum.The museum itself was pretty small as they were still constructing some displays but there were a couple of theatres where you could watch some short films on previous Nobel winners.  Aside from that, there was not much else to look at other than a limited amount of displays.  I happened to look outside at one point and noticed it was raining.  Curses on not bringing the umbrellas!After walking in and out of some shops, taking a break at a cafe and spending some time in the Gallarian, which was a mall that was near the tourist info center we headed to O'Leary's to watch game two of the series.  A disappointing night again as the Wings lost the second game so there were a lot of happy Blues fans at the bar celebrating.Heading back home tomorrow!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1254695778/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1254695778/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1254695778/tpod.html Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:34:29 -0400 Red Wings, Stockholm, oh my...

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Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden

Game Day!But before game day Danielle and I went to visit some museums to pass the time before heading over to the arena.  Our first stop was the Royal Armory at the Palace where they had a vast collection of weapons, clothes and carriages that were used throughout the years by Swedish Royalty.  That was the extent of the museum visits though as it took some time to get through even though there were some areas that didn't have any English descriptions.Afterward we hopped on the "T" and headed to The Globen to see how long it would take and to see if there was anything to do around there.  Alas, there wasn't much to do and the only thing that was really there was a shopping mall that we wandered through before heading back to Sodermalm.  We happened along a City Rent-a-Bike stand and happily pedaled our way down the main street of Sodermalm and then back to Gamla Stan.  To pass the time before the start of the game we ended up spending some time in a couple of pubs.When game time arrived we hopped back on the "T" and when we arrived at The Globen there was a much larger crowd so we decided to get into the arena and check things out.  The game itself was pretty good and our seats were great despite the Wings losing the first game.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1254471328/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1254471328/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1254471328/tpod.html Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:35:23 -0400 Red Wings, Stockholm, oh my...

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Stockholm, Stockholm County, Sweden

We spent a little time in the morning after heading out of the hotel in an effort to locate the retail stand which sold the City Rent-a-Bike cards so that we could use bikes to roll around the city.  I would have to say that the map for the Rent-a-Bike is somewhat inaccurate when it comes to the "retail shop".  The one we went to didn't know what we were talking about so in the end, we walked to the Tourist Information Center to get the card.  I would highly recommend doing this so that you don't walk around trying to do the same thing we did.After we purchased a 3 Day card using the bikes was easy as you put the card in front of the reader, the display will tell you what bike number you have been assigned and you just pull it from the rack.  Then away you go!Our first stop was the Vasa Museum which was quite an spectacular sight as it was a 333 year old man of war that had sunk on its maiden voyage due to being top heavy.  There are a lot of exhibits to see and we spent a lot of time there so by the time we made it across the street to the Nordic Musuem we only had an hour left to look around.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1254338333/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1254338333/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1254338333/tpod.html Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:30:07 -0400 Red Wings, Stockholm, oh my...

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Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden

Today was spent walking.  Not just some walking, but a lot of walking.  It started out after breakfast as we headed towards the docks where a ferry would take us to what orginally was planned to be Grinda, an island where we could walk around, but after further review while on the ferry we changed our destinatino to Voxholm where there was apparently more activities to do.The ferry ride was fairly quick, about an hour and 15 minutes or so and soon we found ourselves on Voxholm but as it was the off season, a lot of the activities that were there were closed so we nended up stopping at the Tourist Information Center so that we could see what else was available.  The island itself is only 3KM in length so after talking with the information person we just walked around the island.  There is a nicely kept walking trail that we used to get from one end of the island to the other and the weather was not too bad though as the sun started to set it became a bit cooler.Sore feet all around but tomorrow we are going to see if we can try out the city rent-a-bike to check out some museums and give our feet a rest.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1254318903/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1254318903/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1254318903/tpod.html Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:35:07 -0400 Red Wings, Stockholm, oh my...

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Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden

After a five and a half hour train ride from Copenhagen with a couple of stops in between we arrived in Stockholm about 15 minutes early.  That was okay as we needed some time to acclimate to the public transportation system here since the way finding was a bit on the difficult side.Danielle managed to get two subway tickets and with some help from the information guides who were posted in all the right places we were able to board a packed subway train and head off to our destination.  Good thing we arrived at the end of the work day so that made things that much more exciting.We checked into the hotel, which was everything like Samantha Brown described in here "Passport to Europe" show, though we do not have as nice a room as she does.  After getting settled in, Danielle had a brief discussion with the receptionist and we were off to the Tourist Information Center to inquire about additional items that came up in the convesation.  Sweden has city bikes available for rent so that was one of the things on the agenda, then there were the many islands that are within ferry range to visit as well as other activities to do while we are in Stockholm.Stockholm is a bit more vibrant than Copenhagen so it is no wonder that we managed to find a good tapas restaurant and eventually found ourselves in one of the oldest jazz bars in the Old City to listen to some gravelly dude and his band wail on his guitar and so on.The weather is a bit on the chilly side though but the couple of people we talked to mentioned that this was the first cold day they have had.  Looks like my jeans are going to be working a little bit overtime as it may be a bit chilly for shorts tomorrow.  The hotel here has a tower that has a SD card reader so I will be able to upload some pictures finally!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1254125618/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1254125618/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1254125618/tpod.html Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:50:07 -0400 Red Wings, Stockholm, oh my...

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Copenhagen, Zealand, Denmark

After yet another slow morning getting started we opted to check out the Hop On, Hop Off bus and took it around the city before ending up at the Danish Resistance Museum.  There were a lot of artifacts to look at and read about for a small museum and we easily ate up two to two and a half hours there before meandering our way along the waterways and around various parts of the city back to the hotel.It was finally a low key kind of evening as we spent some time at The Scottish Pub watching the Niners-Favkings game as we were the only ones interested in watching the NFL in the pub.  We ended up stopping in at the Mojo Blues Bar to listen to a couple of songs being sung by a local blues artist.As soon as I get to a computer where I can upload pictures I'll get that done.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1253886857/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1253886857/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1253886857/tpod.html Mon, 28 Sep 2009 04:24:08 -0400 Red Wings, Stockholm, oh my...

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Copenhagen, Zealand, Denmark

The day started out somewhat slowly as we both struggled to get out of bed after a somewhat late night spent at Charlie's which was a bar recommended to us by a gent we met at The Dubliner.  So after breakfast we headed back to the train station to see about renting a couple of bikes for the tour that Danielle found which started at 10:30.  We managed to find the bike rental shop pretty easily since it was located on the opposite side of the train station but after talking with one of the employees we found out that the shop was closing at 1:00 PM and that the bikes had to be back by then.  The rate was still 85K, which was the rate for a 24 hour rental, so we decided against the rental since we would be essentially paying for a 24 hour rental for only 3 hours.What the?!?!The funny thing was that there was a couple in front of us and then a group of seven or eight ladies that also came in wanting to rent bikes so it was crazy as it was basically 85K times 12 people.We decided to visit The National Museum then as it was only two blocks from the hotel and was easily accessible.  There were a lot of intersting exhibits at the museum but we only managed to cover the first floor which contained a lot of the early Danish history.  Heading back to the hotel afterwards we decided to head out to the pedestrian mall to walk around and check out a couple of the shops.The evening activities ended up a return to The Dubliner after a couple of pint stops at The Viking Pub and a wander through The Irish Rover.  Is there a theme here or what?  At The Dubliner I proceeded to be schooled by The Queen of Bar Sports at darts as I went zero for three at 301.  It is hard to compete when The Queen merely calls the number she needs and viola, the number is hit.  It is good to be The Queen.  There was live music that started up as well as we completed our round of darts so as Slainte started up we had a front row seat to that and then the crazyness ensued as in between sets, the DJ started up music that eventually had everyone...well mostly everyone up on the tables dancing to such classics as "Sweet Child of Mine", "I Love Rock and Roll" and "Living on a Prayer".  When Slainte returned I found myself doing some dancing with a local while Danielle recorded the event for posterities sake.  Somewhere afterwards and a few two or three or four pints in, we were back on the tables dancing and singing to the "Grease" remix.  Yes, you know the songs...Yes, another late evening.  LOL
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1253800446/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1253800446/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1253800446/tpod.html Sat, 26 Sep 2009 13:05:08 -0400 Red Wings, Stockholm, oh my...

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Chicago, Illinois, United States

Our flight left on time despite being oversold and we even arrived 15 minutes early.  Must have been a pretty good tail wind because of it.We spent the first few hours after our arrival claiming bags and figuring out what track the train we were suppose to take to Copenhagen was on.  Buying a train ticket was fairly easy after we figured out the machine, well, after Danielle figured out the machine since she was the one that purchased the tickets.  I spent some time trying to decipher the departure board for the train and in the end we were able to conclude that "Spor 2" was the track we needed to be on.  The train ride into the city was fairly uneventful and quiet and the scenery lacked the graffiti that we saw when we took the train from the airport to Rome when we were in Italy.  I would mention that when in baggage claim look for the free 3D maps available from a stand before you leave the baggage claim area as that map has proved to be quite helpful at navigating around.After a little bit of wandering around we eventually arrived at the hotel 27 which is right next to The Ice Bar so that is a good landmark for Danielle.  :)  Our room is pretty nice, it reminded me of the room in Hong Kong that I stayed in initially. Basically a bed, storage and then the bathroom. We wandered around after getting settled in, slowly working our way to the canal tour boat which was our end destination.  On the way to the location we found a sort of open market where vendors were lined up selling trinkets and such.  We spotted a couple of stands that had beer steins but we didn't know how authentic they were and the prices were a bit high so we passed on them.  The canal tour was pretty cool as it took us around the waterways around the city for about an hour and 15 minutes.To round out the evening we ended up at the Dubliner Pub, because when visiting a foreign city one should always stop in for a pint at an Irish bar!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1253743008/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1253743008/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/gildo/16/1253743008/tpod.html Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:15:06 -0400 Red Wings, Stockholm, oh my...

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Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

Exciting times!  One more day before the big trip and we are doing out last minute preparations before we go.  There are things to be packed though and that will get done tonight and then a little bit more tomorrow.  We have an evening flight so we should be pretty well rested and ready to scout about Copenhagen as soon as we get checked into the hotel.Stay tuned for more!
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