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Saturday 27 July 2013

Stockholm - There's SO much to see!

This time last year we were in Stockholm, Sweden. Quite why it's taken me so long to write about it I don't know, as it's among my favourite trips which we've taken to date.

The Vasa
We were there for 10 days and we crammed in a lot during that time. Flicking through the photos I'm actually pretty astounded how much we managed to do in such a short time, so I'll just cover the highlights!

As far as the tourist trail goes we did pretty well. First off we did the Vasa museum, a place which houses a 17th century warship, the Vasa, which sunk in 1628 but has gone on the become the most intact 17th century ship in existence today. It's simply beautiful, and took up a whole morning in itself wandering around the boat and museum (you can't go on it but you can go around it.) Rather than waiting for a tour we did it at our own pace, and waited for the English language showing of the video they show about the ship. It's actually pretty fascinating, the Vasa sunk on her maiden voyage, less than a nautical mile into her journey, and laid on the bottom of Stockholm's harbour until it was rediscovered in the late 1950's and salvaged in 1961. It's thought she sank because of the organisation of the ballast and weight of the guns in the hold, which made her more unstable, and also that she was sailed with the the gun ports open, which meant when the gun ports dipped below the waterline they further increased the weight and she capsized entirely.

Getting progressively more drunk and cold.
Next on our list of things to do was the Ice Bar! While they now have locations in London and Oslo, the Stockholm location was actually the original, and I've always been keen on trying this out. It's not cheap to get in, and then you have to pay for drinks on top, and boy do they hit you for the drinks, but I treated it as a once in a lifetime type of thing...and of course got promptly smashed. Once you get your ticket to go in they deck you out in a not very flattering blue poncho and mittens, you do feel a bit of a tit to start with but once your inside the ice you thank the heavens for them. You step in and are immediately blasted with cold air, and head over to the bar! The cocktail choice is actually quite varied and between the 2 of us I think we rattled through the majority of the menu, finding ones we each liked. You're given a glass made of ice to drink from, which I loved, and I suppose quite handy for them in that they dont need to wash anything, just chuck them out!

You're given 45 minutes in the Ice bar, which we thought was pretty meager for the ticket price, however there is a reason for it. I think we got mixed up with a second group of people who entered after us, and we actually got an extra 15 minutes, and after an hour in there I was beginning to get pain in my fingers and toes. Time to leave! By which point I for one was pissed as hell, we ended the night with a burger and tottered home.

Gamla Stan
Another day was spent wandering Gamla Stan, the Old Town area of Stockholm, the very centre of the city and I believe the area where today's Stockholm originated. It houses the Swedish palace, the Stockholm cathedral, the Nobel museum (I wish we'd visited this, I'll have to go back!) the Stortoget square, and it's beautiful cobbled alleys have seen much history. We spent the morning wandering here and were lucky to get there just as the palace changed their guard, so we hung around awhile and took in all the ceremonial pomp, as a marching band paraded through and played awhile, followed by some pretty intimidating guards.

Changing the guard.

We were in Sweden for Ian's birthday so we spent his day wandering the city, as just walking and exploring is by far our favourite way to get to know a city. We discovered the island of Skeppsholmen, where we also came across a hostel/boat which is permanently moored on the island and has a bar! Much fun was had just chilling here! (See right for a picture of this beautiful boat!) If your ever staying in Stockholm maybe look this place up, I haven't looked at reviews but it seems to me an awesome place to stay. We also discovered the neighbouring island Kastellholmen, where we sat and took in the views of the city, and took a look at a small (teeny in fact) castle.

Another day out we spent at Skansen, an open air museum and zoo on the island of Djurgarden. Skansen includes many buildings which have been bought and moved to the Skansen location piece by piece, in an effort to protect the rural way of life and tradition customs, and range from the 18th to the 20th century. They also include replica exhibits, where tradesmen which include tanners, bakers, engravers and shoemakers demonstrate their respective skills. Skansen also includes an animal section where we saw brown bears, wolves, foxes, elks, owls, seals and Scandinavian breeds of pigs, cows, goats and sheep. We even saw a bright red squirrel running around. All round a great excursion that took up much of the day, and was very informative about the Scandanavian culture and history, and is also surrounded by some of the prettiest gardens I have ever seen!

Outside 'Lisbeth's' apartment - Girl With the Dragon Tattoo tour.
Next we made sure we booked ourselves up to do The Millennium Tour. (That's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo tour to those less book orientated.) We had both read and enjoyed the Millennium trilogy, and seen the Hollywood version of the first book (the one with Daniel Craig in, not the ones in Swedish, but we've since watched those too!) so we were keen to see some of the sights mentioned and which acted as inspiration for the story. With the city of Stockhom being so deepseated in the book, it was amazing to see the areas in real life, such as the particular buildings where the main characters Blomqvist and Salander were supposed to live, a cafe they regularly drank in and one where Larsson apparently wrote portions of the book, (incidentally we later went back to both for coffee) a restaurant they eat at, the office Blomqvist works at, and various other locations. The tour was great, it lasted a few hours but zipped by really quickly, I loved our tour guide Mia who was very enthusiastic about the books and stories, and had lots of little inside bits of information on the films, and she seemed to relish people asking her questions, she certainly knew her stuff.

Last but not least was the food. We ate out a lot in Stockholm, as it was a holiday we wanted to make sure we tried as much as possible. One place did amazing plank steaks with sauce and the most humungous burger I've ever seen (the place was recommended to us before we went, and we loved it so much we went three times!) another stand out dish was meat balls with lingon berries. Another day I tried veal... it was pleasant but all things considered I'm not sure I'll eat it again. Alcohol is very expensive in Sweden, so barring the Ice bar we only went out for drinks on one other evening, and though it had a cool relaxed atmosphere we didn't stay till very late.

But the stand out meal for me was eating out at Eriks Gondolen restaurant close to the Slussen T-Bana station (that's Stockholm's metro system.) To get to Gondolen you take a lift up the building, the restaurant is high up and has fantastic views of the city. I can't actually remember what we ordered but I do remember being very impressed, and then following our meal walking out onto their balcony and taking in the beauty of the city as the sun went down.

My favourite shot of the trip.



Stockholm is beautiful, fun and an exciting city. The people are kind and friendly, it's easy to navigate and unintimidating. There is so so so much to do, I could go back for another 10 days quite easily and not get bored, there are still so many things we didn't do. Stockholm is most definitely on the list of places I need to revisit, as well as checking out other areas of Sweden.

Thursday 18 July 2013

Adventures and Interviews!

Siwash Rock!
Recently we've quietened down on the whole tourist thing and gone low scale, choosing to do cheap and cheerful activities, and things which are a little more off the beaten track.

Last Tuesday we took another opportunity to tackle Stanley Park. The first time we went a month or so ago we walked a portion of the sea wall and then cut through the middle, and with me in my crappy cheap trainers which I brought back in the UK, was a sorry mess by the end of it. Good shoes are a must, and quite frankly I was in agony by the end of that day. This time I was more prepared. I have purchased some ridiculously comfortable shoes (thank you Payless Shoesource!) and armed with those and a crap load of water we were off. This time we walked down Davie street, past English Bay and went clockwise around Stanley Park. Along the way we came across Siwash Rock, a beautiful rock formation which we had to clamber across a rocky beach to get to and sat on for a considerable amount of time, taking in the gorgeous views and watching the boats drift by. A very memorable and beautiful experience.

View of the sea wall - taken while sitting on Siwash Rock!
I'm in the Hollow Tree!
We continued further along the wall, going under the Lion Gate Bridge and then cut into the Park to take in some of the stunning trails available. After a considerable amount of walking (and for a portion of it going round and round in circles as I'd forgotten my map) we eventually stumbled across the Hollow Tree, a huge Western Red Cedar stump, estimated to be about 700-800 years old. The stump was almost removed in 2006 after it was damaged in a storm, but locals formed a society to save the tree, and thus it still stands.

All in all, we had a great day, and were both knackered and fulfilled by the end of it. Stanley Park is such a beautiful location and one that just keeps on giving. There's so much of it to see.

This weekend we dived back into Chinatown again, I think it's fast becoming one of our favourite areas. With the Chinese Market taking place every weekend, I can't get enough of the place, and this was my third visit (so far!) We were there for Chinatown's second Outdoor Film event for this year, where we watched Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon. Again we came prepared with pillows and snacks, but we couldn't help feasting on Chinese food from the vendors. I snacked on my favourite - sweet and sour pork and then some delicious stir fried rice rolls from the Dim Sum Express stall, which where incredibly filling and I would highly recommend. The film experience itself was brilliant (if a little dark to begin with, but they fixed the contrast eventually!) and if they had more films planned, I would definitely go. Next up for Outdoor films is Raiders of the Lost Ark, however this one takes place at Second Beach, so I realise it's going to be very busy and a different experience entirely.

For some reason it makes me look rather small!
On Sunday evening we had a lovely meal out with another couple - our first 'double date' in 3 years, which was great fun, we had a meal at The Templeton (yes again, we really love that place) and then one evening this week Ian and I hit up our local pub again. It was the day before I had a big session of job interviews, to help steady the nerves of course!

The last few days have been a blur of job interviews for me, things have finally started to come to fruition so I have high hopes something will appear very soon. I've had a real mix of opportunities crop up suddenly, including one for a bakery, one for a hostel and one for a contact lens company. Once I nab that elusive job I'll make sure to post about my job hunting experience.

This afternoon I had another job interview, one I'm rather excited about getting as it's in a pretty cool location, and I'm very enthusiastic about. Fingers crossed I get a call back from them for a second interview!

I've also been rather busy with Birthday plans, as it's my better halves birthday this coming Tuesday. I have a surprise lined up for him which I'm really looking forward to, I think it's pretty awesome and I can't wait for him to find out what it is! I hope he likes it! More on that later!

Sunday 14 July 2013

Vancouver - On a budget!

So moving to Vancouver can be pricey. We heard it before we arrived, we heard it when we got here, and we still hear it now. And I'm not going to lie, a lot of things you pick up, take one look at the price tag and put it straight back down again. Sometimes I get the urge to bellow 'Ian! Ian! Come and look at this!' across the shop because I can't quite believe my eyes.

So things that are expensive:
  • Food - Certain foods, such as chicken, sandwiches, (really, don't bother with them) most kinds of processed food, even some veggies are more expensive than at home. I got taken for a ride at a salad bar recently. I won't be doing that again.
  • Toiletries. Bring your own, as much as you can possibly pack. Its ridiculous.
  • Banking - Here it is normal to pay for your bank account, and the basic ones seem kind of reasonable but some of the crazy ones with all the bells and whistles are extortionate. Free banking is definitely something we take for granted at home.
  • Events and attractions - Lord some of these are really expensive, do your research before you turn up or you could end up forking out quite a lot to get in!
  • Transport - I have heard getting a car out here is ridiculous, and buying single tickets or dailies can soon push costs up if you're traveling regularly, which we were.
  • Tax - Its easy to forget that they add tax onto EVERYTHING. (OK not literally but onto a lot.) You pick something up and smugly have all the correct change clutched in your sweaty paws, and then realise when you get to the till that you forgot tax again and that's another 12% please.
Since we've been here we have devised quite a few little ways to save money, and it does soon all add up. We are in saving mode to be honest, so I thought I'd share a few little nifty ways we've devised/found to save ourselves some dosh!


To begin with I'll address the list above and how we have chosen to deal with them.
  • Food - So certain foods are expensive, but if you are careful with what you buy in supermarkets it can make a difference, bulk buy products when you see good deals (things like loo roll and meats tend to do this) and generally shop smart, you can really bring your total down. Helpfully a lot of places give prices per 100g/1kg so you can compare brands and get the cheapest. We shop at Safeway and they have a Club card, certain items throughout the store have special club prices for those with the card, which honestly can knock off quite a bit of money. When deals are on for non-perishable stuff grab it and store it somewhere.
  • Toiletries - Buying from supermarkets or cosmetics places seems nuts, get shampoo and soap from cheap shops like Dollorama or the Army and Navy shop, it's all the same stuff just with a smaller price tag.
  • Banking - If you're coming over a newcomer to Canada, I would recommend Scotiabank. They don't actually advertise it much but they offer a program called StartRight which is designed specifically for newcomers to the country. You get unlimited transactions and they wipe all account fees for the first year. So far they've been pretty good to us, they did accidentally charge us for the first month, but we got in contact and they quickly reversed the charge. We also get cheaper films as they have a deal with Scotia Theatre, where you earn points and then get free cinema tickets!
    Make Music Vancouver - One of many free events!
  • Events - Now this ones a favourite of mine. Vancouver so far has been awash with cheap/free events so far, we have managed to spend very little on days out and such. Keep an eye on events online and in local papers and advertising, there is so much free/cheap stuff to do! So far free events or attractions I've rocked up to include: Make Music Vancouver, the Chinese Night Market, the Dragon Boat Festival, Vancouver Jazz Festival, outdoor films, the Canada Day celebrations and Lynn Canyon. The Chinese Gardens are free for the last half an hour of the day, the Vancouver Art Gallery is entry by donation on Tuesdays, and things like Granville Island brewery tours offer 2 for 1 if you join their mailing list online. There are massive areas like Gastown, Yaletown, Coal Harbour and Stanley Park which are just gorgeous to walk around. Seriously, just go for a walk.
  • Transport - Living in Shaugnessy in May we soon wracked up quite a bill when it came to transport. We discovered you can get a monthly ticket for $90, on which you get unlimited travel within a zone of your choice. Fortunately for us we found our apartment in Downtown Vancouver shortly afterwards so our need for such a ticket disappeared as now we seem to just walk everywhere. But if you're living outside of Downtown or are going to be using public transport fairly regularly, it's worth looking into. (Note: They can be bought from around the 20th of the previous month and they do run out, so you have to be quick.)
  • Tax - Well, this one you can't really dodge, but do be mindful when you are buying things that just adding up the face value of what you're buying might not give you your total. They do add tax to a lot. Take note!

Friday 12 July 2013

Raider Rachel gets Facebook!

Hey guys, just a small announcement!

I've opened a Raider Rachel Facebook Fan page. Rather than bombarding my personal page with blog posts and travel babble, I've created a page solely for my travel bits and bobs and somewhere I can share my travel updates so people can stay in touch!

Please do Like and Share the page if you're interested!
You can find me at: Raider Rachel

Happy Travels!

Thursday 11 July 2013

A piece of Rock Legend!

This weekend was a quiet one for us, but we did go on a little jaunt to a place which is in my opinion a a pretty damn cool destination. Nestled on Union Street in Chinatown is a small building, which if you weren't looking for you really would miss. And there lies Vancouver's little Jimi Hendrix Shrine.

I've been a Hendrix fan for some years and as the place is only open during summer months it was a must for us to go and visit. Hendrix was born and raised in Seattle, Washington, just over the US border where his parents Lucille and Al met. His paternal grandmother, Nora Hendrix, lived on East Georgia Street in Vancouver and worked at this location on Union Street, back when it was Vie's Chicken and Steak House. As a child Hendrix was often brought here to visit her during the summer months, and he visited again for the winter of '62-'63 following his stint in the army. It is said he practised at Vie's after the shop hours.
 
I read in advance that it was a small slightly run down place and well...it was. But to be honest the chilled out vibe and laid back rock and roll style sort of added to it's charm. We wandered in and were greeted by the most enthusiastic man I've ever met. There is only one room of the building left now, which they believe would have been a storeroom for the shop, but the guy enthusiastically offered the idea that Hendrix could have jammed exactly on the spot we were standing on.






The walls are covered with posters and pictures. There are family photographs of his relatives when they were alive and news clippings about them, along with images of tickets to his shows and copies of his handwritten lyrics. There's a small section for merchandise, and the volunteer who greeted us very kindly gave us a guitar pick with the image of an album cover on it. The guy loved us. He said that we actually looked interested when he did his little introductory talk, and I think he loved that we were British, he kept talking about the 'British connection.

After we had a little wander round the room, we had a peek round the back where they have a small garden with seating, and a few people chilling out in the sunshine, and more pictures/murals of Jimi.

Overall, it is a pretty small attraction, but it's only there for a few months of summer, and run completely by volunteers. The guy told us he does it out of love, thanked us so much for visiting and told us just to 'Keep loving Jimi.' You get the feeling it really has been born out of love and respect for the man and his music.  Sadly the owner is thinking of alternative uses for the building, so it might not be there for much longer. If it's something that would interest you get down there a.s.a.p.

Personally, I loved the place and the experience and would love to now visit the Jimi Hendrix Exhibit in Seattle. It's been added to the To Do list!

Sunday 7 July 2013

Forests and Fireworks!

So last weekend was a three day one due to Canada Day, and boy did we make the most of it. The weather has recently blossomed into a gorgeous summer and I'm loving the constant sunshine, but not the heat of our bedroom, I swear its a sun trap.

Friday night we frequented the pub that we have fallen in love with, and somehow spent quite a lot. The food there was nice but not amazing (apart from the Yorkshire puddings which were great!) so we're going to stick to just drinking there. Saturday we had a chilled day, we had a chilled out morning with a jugo juice protein shake and short walk and later in the day I precooked our picnic for the next day. Sunday was our cool planned day out at Lynn Canyon Park so I wanted to make the most of it. Sunday morning and we were up bright and early, we took the Skytrain down to the waterfront, and then made our way to the Seabus (I was slightly apprehensive about the boat thing as last time I was at sea I was on a a catamaran for 8 hours and seasick for a large majority of the journey, however on the 12 minute crossing I was absolutely fine.) The seabus is pretty darn cool, you get amazing views of downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park as you cross the harbour. From there we took the #228 bus, (you can take the #228 or #229 to get there) the journey takes about 20 minutes, driving through North Vancouver, which I would say is very pretty, but much more suburban than downtown. It's more kids and families orientated than any other part of Vancouver I've seen so far.

On our way in we spotted a bear warning sign, which both excited and intimidated me equally. I have yet to see any bears, though I am tempted to soon go and see the ones at Grouse mountain, it's on my to do list!

Anyway, onwards we went and came to the canyon and suspension bridge. We choose Lynn Canyon as a day out mostly because it costs nothying. There is another, the Capilano Suspension bridge which is also in North Vancouver and is supposed to be amazing, but costs $25 to get in while Lynn Canyon is completely free. That being said, it was not disappointing. The bridge is quite big, and the drop is substantial. The damn thing moves and the more people who walk on it the more it sways. It might be safe as houses but when it wobbled I did not feel it. I'm a bit of a wimp sometimes, so I clung to the sides. Our first trip over the bridge wasn't too bad, as it was still relatively quiet, but later in the day when it was considerably busier, I was quite apprehensive at crossing.

Crossing it is very much worth it though. On the other side is the 30ft pool, a stunningly beautiful water pool where you can swim and play or in our case, as we hadn't bought any swimwear with us just dipped our feet in. On the plus side it was so hot outside your feet dry off very quickly, and the coldness of the water was very refreshing. We walked more around the area, checking out the Twin Fall waterfalls further down stream and walked through the gorgeous Park, which is classed as a temperate rainforest. We snacked on our amazing picnic of homemade salsa (Mango, cucumber, red onion and lime juice) and cold pizza and crisps, and finished the day with ice cream from the cafe. (They love their peanut butter flavours out here! T'was delicious!) And finally on our way home I managed to take some cool shots of Downtown from the front of the Seabus!

The following day was Canada Day, so we got up with the aim of wandering down to Canada Place to check out the festivities. But on our way we were waylaid by the Busking Festival going on along Granville Street and we spent most of the morning there instead. Some of the artists were so talented, there was the artist who drew a Pit of Terrifying Doom on the ground (see right) Bendy Em, a contortionist who fit her body into a small box, Reuben Dot Dot Dot, a strength and gymnast type act who performed feats of strength on a pole (It's more impressive than it sounds) and many more to take in.

In the evening we headed to the Canada Day parade, where we enjoyed seeing floats and exhibitions from different communities of Vancouver. The emergency services and army, (we saw mounties!) UBC, people from so many different ethnic communities it's impossible to name them all, Chinese, Japanese, Saudi Arabian, Philippinno, Thai and Latinos are just a handful. There were also representatives for Gay pride, dance troups, Vancouver Canucks, BC Lions, the list goes on and on. From there we had a cheeky dinner, then hit up Canada Place again for the fireworks. We got a pretty good spot just behind the Olympic Cauldron, and though my firework photography was awful, I got some pretty good videos. Below is some pictures of the parade, and then the firework finale for your enjoyment. And then we trekked home and collapsed into bed, ready for another week!

Mounties!



 



And the video: