pere·gri·nation: back by popular demand: part one

it's finals week, and my loyal contingent of law school friends demand something to read.

ask, and you shall receive.

Tobias, Chach, and i spent the first week of April touring Sweden. as usual, when i told people about our destination, i saw a lot of puzzled faces, inevitably followed by the question, "well, that's...interesting. why would you go to Sweden?"

why go to Sweden? the simple answer is, "why not?" the more complex explanation entails explaining to their inquisitive little heads the wonders and joys of travel at anytime of year to any destination. just because it isn't a particularly popular or well-known tourist spot for early April, it was still a fascinating journey. now, i wouldn't necessarily advocate mid-summer touring of Baghdad (maybe in a few years), or perhaps a sunbathing expedition to Brighton Beach in December, but there are plenty of places around the globe that are just as awesome to visit offseason as they are at peak season. i've written about a few of them already: Guatemala, Belize, and Iceland; the latter of which we went to in the dead of the Arctic winter and was one of my top five trips of all time.

now, practically speaking, the flights were cheap, it was Chach's spring break, and Tobias, our trusty new travelling partner, was looking for a vacation (he hadn't gone on one in, like, 5 years). so on April 3rd, after a fantastic 7 hour flight on Malaysia Airlines - one of only four 5-star airlines in the world - we landed at Arlanda International Airport, loaded up the old Volvo S40 Flexifuel, and headed out onto the open Scandinavian highway.*

*this isn't a figurative description. Sweden has a fine network of highways and byways that are very much devoid of major traffic outside the cities. Sweden is about the size of California, but with only about a quarter of the population.

Viking mounds and burial grounds

by the time we got to Uppsala, we were excited, but running on vapors, having not slept much on Malaysia Airlines. the problem with Malaysia is there was too much On Demand entertainment to take advantage of and too much unlimited red wine to drink. therefore, sleeping was not an option on the way over. i had way too many movies to catch up on.

we walked sleepily around the Viking burial mounds at Uppsala and casually explored the museum devoted to former inhabitants of the area. there isn't much left in the way of Viking artifacts or ruins. most are contained in the museum or were extracted from the mounds in the 18th century. the museum explains how the Vikings saw the world. they had a complex belief system that was rooted in Norse mythology and paganism, worshipping gods and giants like Odin, Vidar, Loki, or Freyr. of course, dying in battle was the ultimate honor for a Viking warrior, so they did a lot of pillaging and looting on their way through the British Isles, Eastern Europe, and even as far away as modern day Iraq. however, dying in battle wasn't good enough for Vikings. after being escorted into Valhalla - Odin's heavenly hall - by hot Valkyries (female shieldmaidens,) they will eat and booze it up for an eternity until Ragnarök, which in Viking eschatology is the mother-of-all-battles. and people wonder why it took hundreds of years to subdue the Vikings under Christian rule? who wants to go boring old Heaven when in the Viking afterlife you can drink mead out of bullhorns and eat mutton off the bone served by gorgeous Norse giantesses, and then are guaranteed one last chance to lop someones head off at the end of all things?

from Uppsala, we quickly made our way to Västerås, which is Sweden's sixth largest city, and found ourselves in the Klipper Hotel where we had a quick Thai meal, shopped for provisions for the first leg of our road trip, and quickly fell asleep for 12 hours.

runes, runes, runes, and problems pumping petrol

on the road to Göteborg, we made a group decision to stop at Points of Interest along the way and absorb some of the local culture, as well as stop at spots that were a little further removed from the normal tourist trails. our first big stop was at the Ramsund carving, which is an important depiction of the Volsunga saga and the story of Sigurd, a famous Norse folkhero.

in the midst of all this rune-hunting, i noticed that the gas in our tank had reached a perilously low level. we pulled into a rural Preem gas station and spent about 20 minutes awkwardly trying to figure out how to pay for and pump gas, since there wasn't an attendant in sight. we spied on some natives from the backseat of our Volvo and tried to copy their actions at the pump, but to no avail. finally, a young man pulled up to the station and started pumping gas. after he finished, i cautiously approached him and ask him in mangled Swedish, "Do you speak English?" to which he replied to me, in English, "What?" upon hearing that, i reaffirmed his "What" by saying, "oh, so you do speak English." his reply, of course, was, "of course!" i'm not sure why i was surprised. the Scandinavians (including Icelanders) have an uncanny handle on the English language. not only do they speak it fluently, but they often have a British or American accent when speaking it.

i recommend the lodging at the Hotel Vasa

if you have a chance to travel to Sweden, visiting Göteborg (pronounced in Swedish something like Yer-te-bair) should be a top priority on your places-to-see list. it has the biggest port in all of Scandinavia, a fantastic "continental" feel, and more shops, restaurants, bars, and museums than you can absorb in a mere three days. it's also one of the cheaper destinations in Sweden, which means a lot when you realize the dent Scandinavia puts on your credit card after a few days of travel. we checked into the Hotel Vasa, after fruitless attempts to find a cheap and conveniently located hotel anywhere else. not only was the staff helpful and friendly, but they had a sauna and steambath on the premise, parking, and a fantastic breakfast spread complete with my new favorite breakfast item, caviar paste. this delectable breakfast spread comes in what resembles a toothpaste tube, from which you squeeze the contents on to toast, bread, or hard crackers. if anyone has any idea of where to find this stuff in NYC, please comment immediately. and according to a study i just online, it's also pretty good for you. so, recap: caviar paste made from cod. it's orange. smells very fishy. amazing on crackers.

we all live on a Scandinavian submarine

Göteborg was one big highlight reel. (it wasn't that the rest of the trip was average or even dull by comparison, but after Day Two in this lovely maritime city, we were hard pressed to think even Stockholm could be as impressive a place. far from ruining a big surprise, those thoughts were quickly negated.) we woke up early for a quick breakfast of caviar paste, fresh rolls and assorted cheeses for me, and the same thing minus the paste for Chach and Tobias, and headed directly to the Maritiman, which is Göteborg's fantastic outdoor ship museum. we spent the next three or four hours crawling around the holds of several large cargo ships and tugboats, manning the helms of some coastal patrol boats, and exploring the depths of the Smaland destroyer, a Swedish naval vessel that looks formidable, but i doubt ever fired a shot in anger during its service. by far the most interesting ship was the submarine Nordkaparen. i had never been inside a submarine before and i quickly understood why the maximum height of its crew can't be more than 5'9. Tobias, Chach, and i would not have made a good crew with the cramped wire bunks, the one-and-a-half foot diameter passageways that connect the ship, and the fact that there were no vegetarian options on the galley menu.

we smelled the metal in our noses and on our hands for the rest of the afternoon after climbing up and down ladders and opening hatches on the ships all morning. but, it soon dissapated upon dinnertime where we dined at Smaka; an upscale Göteborg restaurant that offers a variety of traditional Swedish comfort food. i had smoked reindeer on dark rye bread topped with fresh salmon roe as an appetizer; it's best described as the closest thing to swedish sushi. Tobias had a red onion and tomato salad, which seems to be a popular starter above the 50 degrees north. i'm not sure why this dish has persisted in northern climes throughout the years considering tomatoes are only in season in the spring and early summer. while it was a light start, Tobias redeemed himself by ordering the quintessential Swedish dish, meatballs with mashed potatoes and lingonberries. i asked for the homemade blackpudding with fried pork and lingonberries, to which upon my request the waiter looked at me with a bemused smile and ask, "you know what that is right?" i nodded in serious affirmation and he smiled again, complimenting me on my choice (or my bravery.) if you aren't sure what blackpudding is, it's basically animal blood cooked with a filler such as barley, oatmeal, or bread until it congeals. you can also add meat as a filler to make the pudding more sausage-like. while it sounds disgusting, it is quite flavorful because of the spices that they add while cooking. Chach didn't partake in this meatfest (traditional Scandinavian cuisine is not very veggie-friendly) so we stuffed her with some street falafel before dinner and then she had dessert at the restaurant. i can't excatly recall what she had, but it was delicious and the lingonberries surprised us all by really complementing every dish we ate; from pork, to meatballs, to the black pudding.

and for the record, Chach's falafel was slightly above average. the lack of eggplant as a garnish is a big turnoff, in Chach's opinion.