Scandinavia Trip: Day 1 – Uppsala and Stockholm

After my return from Oxford, I only stayed at home for a day and a half. I spent much of that time unpacking all my things and repacking a fraction of them in a carry-on bag that I would take with me on my trip to Scandinavia. On Monday afternoon, I set off. Boarding the 13:15 plane from Prague, I arrived at to Stockholm Arlanda Airport shortly after 15:15. My plan was to board one of the many trains to Uppsala and spend the afternoon there.

This was easier said than done. Although I found the Central Station relatively easily, it took me a moment to make certain that I was indeed to take a train and not a bus. None of the information bureaus were staffed, and the signage was not the most helpful. At long last, I purchased my tickets from a ticket machine, guessing under time pressure that “Uppsala C” meant Uppsala Central Station and not “the C station in Uppsala, far removed from stations B and A”. My attempt to scan the ticket at the turn-style, however, did not work, and I had to be waved through by the lady at the ticket desk.

While on the train to Uppsala, I wondered about my unlucky first impressions of Sweden. Not only was the public transport system rather complicated, but I also had some unexpected culture shocks. While exiting the plane, for example, a number of people did not give priority to those ahead of them, and I was poked a few times as well as having the back of my shoe stepped on. These initial impressions were not helped by a sight I saw later on in Stockholm Central Station, where a lady walking a massive greyhound let it pee directly under the glass dome and left without seeming the slightest bit embarrassed.

Uppsala is one of the historical centres of Sweden. It was the home of Sweden’s earliest (and legendary) kings, and it harbours the oldest university in the country. Uppsala Cathedral is the largest cathedral in Sweden and used to host the coronations of the nation’s monarchs. Nevertheless, present-day Uppsala is not a very large city. Its skyline, as seen from Old Uppsala, comprises little beyond the cathedral and the castle.

I toured the centre quite quickly and proceeded to take the bus to Old Uppsala, where the Thing of All Swedes was once convened and where a series of hills belies the existence of massive barrows. Legend has it that the hills were the resting place of Odin, Thor, and Freyr, though another fantastical explanation held them to be the burial site of the legendary Ynglings of Beowulf fame. At present, the barrows cannot be climbed due to erosion (or at least should not, for I saw people climb on them myself).

I returned from Old Uppsala by bus, marking the last time I would use the Uppsala public transport application I had specifically downloaded for the occasion. I was parched and hungry, so I stopped by a local shop before boarding the train back. This time, I could not even figure out how to buy tickets from the ticket machine, so I gave up and eventually bought them while sitting on the train. Because it was still quite bright by the time I arrived in Stockholm, I decided to have a leisurely walk to my hotel. I made a stop at the glorious Town Hall, which offers views of the city but is itself an impressive sight to behold.