Atomium, Mini Europe, Brussels Comic Book Museum, Brussels, Belgium, Day 3 and 4

On the 26th of June I visited Atomium in the morning and then later in the afternoon I went to Mini Europe.  The original plan was to visit the inside of Atomium, but it unfortunately it was closed.  I took some photos then went to Mini Europe instead.  I walked around for a few hours then went to have some lunch, which was mussels, and then caught the metro back into Grand Palace where I met another friend, Dominika, at the Starbucks and then we went to the comic book museum.  We spent about an hour there then I went to have dinner again which was mussels again and then it was back to the hotel where I saw Belgium beat Hungary 4-0 in the Euros.

On the 27th of June I had to fly back to Stockholm.  I headed straight to the office after my flight.  It was a fun filled couple of days.

Atomium, a huge massive structure depicting an iron crystal.

Bruges, Market Place, Belfry, Belgium, Day 2

This morning was an early start.  I bought a ticket with Sandemans to go to Bruges, which is where the movie "In Bruges" was shot.  It's a very picturesque town.  Later in the afternoon I walked up the Belfry of Bruges, a medieval tower with 366 steps which a spectacular view of the town.  And after that it's back to Brussels where I visited the St Michael and St Gudula Cathedral.

Welcome to Bruges.

Grand Place, Manneken Pis, Triumphal Arch, Brussels, Belgium, Day 1

On the morning of the 24th June I flew into Brussels, an early morning flight at 7:05am.  Since it was midsummer, the roads were completely deserted.  I caught the T-bana into Stockholm Central only to discover that the central terminal was closed so I couldn't catch the flybussarna which is the private airport bus, and had to catch the exorbitant Arlanda Express instead which is twice as expensive.  But I paid for it anyway since I had no choice.

I walked a record 24 km today, first getting a sim card for my GPS needs then going to the Sandermans new brussels tour.  Later in the evening I met a friend who I met last year in Berlin during Xmas.  I had dinner with him and two of his friends, then later we sat in front of the Triumphal Arch, had something to drink and then went to another bar, sat down a bit more then I went back to the hotel after that.

I always thought they spoke German in Brussels but I was so very wrong.  They speak mostly French here.  They also have an astounding 1500+ different beers.  The most famous ones are the trappist beers.

Grand Palace, huge square with lots of people (omitted on purpose).

My apartment, a wedding and Ikea

On the 9th of June I finally moved to my small cosy apartment in Solna.  It's ridiculously small but liveable enough for one person.  I pretty much live next door to my landlord which is very convenient.  It's close to work as well which is good for me, only 10-15 minutes away by t-bana, i.e. the metro.   Unfortunately I only have this place until 31st December which means I may need to find another place before then.  But let's hope I will get to stay at least for another year!

The 11th of June was Fred's wedding, and I and a few others from work attended.  The wedding was small but formal.  I didn't have that formal clothes to wear so I was a bit underdressed!  But it was a nice ceremony with plenty of singing.  After the wedding me and Kosta who is another work colleague walked around in the city.

On the 12th of June I went Ikea furniture shopping, or rather my friend went and I tagged along.  I ended up buying a clothes basket, and of course also had Swedish meatballs.  And some cake later in the afternoon!  The Ikea in Stockholm is simply massive, and also listed as a tourist attraction.

On the 24th to the 27th I would be in Brussels, since it's the midsummer holidays I bought tickets to Brussels, Belgium!

View from my (one) window.

Tower Bridge, Greenwich, London Zoo, Natural History Museum, London, England

The highlight of my 4th week in Sweden was spent in London.  I spent 3 nights there, 3rd June until the night of the 6th of June.  Monday the 6th of June was Sweden's public holiday and I didn't know what to do so I thought I would fly to London.  All of this was very last minute.

Summary

Day 1 - 3rd June evening

I flew into Gatwick after work, my flight being delayed by an hour.  After catching the Gatwick Express to Victoria I discovered the underground had stopped working since it was already past midnight.  Thereafter I spent about 30 minutes getting lost trying to find the bus from Victoria to Paddington, not helped by the fact that one of the staff working there gave me incorrect directions!  But I made it eventually where I would stay at the Chrysos hotel in Paddington, it was ridiculously expensive for what it was, but at least I had a place to stay considering all of this was pretty last minute.  

Day 2 - 4th June

After breakfast I went to the nearby Three shop where I bought a sim card for my phone.  Then I caught the underground to London Bridge Underground and walked to the Tower Bridge where I spent a few hours.  At 2ish I was done and walked around a bit.  Had some pumpkin soup with potatoes then I caught the overground to Greenwich around 3ish.  When I arrived the observatory was already closed, but there was a free area where you can take a photo of the Prime Meridian Line where the longitude is 0 degrees.  Basically you're in the middle of two halves of Earth.

After greenwich I caught the underground back to the hotel, rested a bit and then had dinner at a nearby Italian place and then went to Whiteley's to watch "Me Before You".  Honestly I had no idea what the movie was about, I simply looked at imdb's rating and saw that it was well over 7.0 and so with 15 minutes to go before the movie started I bought the ticket and watched it.

I arrived back into the hotel probably around 12ish or so.  I messaged my friend Kat and we decided to meet at St John's Wood (I know, what a name)  around 10:00 the following day.

Giant chess set in Paddington.