Day One - Arriving in Stockholm
It was a dreadful flight aboard a US Airways 757 with no onboard entertainment, which is a must for an overseas flight. A couple Ambien improved matters dramatically, however.
The Arlanda Express is a nice way to get from the Stockholm Airport to the city. It comes every 15 minutes and takes about 20 minutes to reach the Stockholm Central Station. Stockholm itself is comprised of 14 islands, some larger than others. My hotel was on the island of Södermalm, more of a residential region, made up largely of younger, artsy types. It's a fairly quick ride on the Metro, which was very easy to use and well-organized.
Stockholm was very cold and rainy this day and it was somewhat difficult to explore. I ended up visiting a lot of pubs and following the soccer matches. My first local beer was a Spendrups, which was decent enough. At Patrick's Bar in Södermalm, I tried the Falcon Export, which I much preferred.
At the end of the evening, I ended up meeting some locals who were going to see a band. I joined them, though I should have asked for more details first. It was some sort of speed-metal band that played fairly caustic and quite loud music. The fans seemed to enjoy it, however. After about 10 songs I'd had enough and called it a night.
