Stockholm's Bus Strike - Summer 2013

We were sad to see our beloved ancient Lidingö tram close down for renovations last week, but the city promised a replacement bus line that would run more frequently with hopes of being even more efficient than the tram.

However...what we didn't count on, was a bus strike to occur at the same time as the tram closing for renovations.  That means there actually is NO replacement bus, because there are no buses running throughout the city.  Last Friday was a holiday and many people were off at their summer homes, so clearly no resolutions have been made over the weekend.

Jon woke up to check the www.sl.se website and found this nice message, which he copied/pasted to his manager.

Continued strike on bus services on MondayJune 23

No changes have occurred during midsummer.Municipal union strike by bus drivers continues. The buses will then also on Monday to be completely set on many routes in Stockholm, Solna, Sundbyberg, Sollentuna and Södertälje and replacement services on Lidingöbanan and Saltsjöbanan (Neglinge-Saltsjöbaden).

We do not know how long the strike will last. Follow developments in the media and here on sl.se.

Travel Guarantee does not apply to strike.

Many bus services suspended due to strike action. 

It'll be a work-from-home situation until the bus strike is resolved.  We simply cannot walk to the nearest T-bana station (it would take 2 hours) and consequently, cannot leave Lidingö for social meet ups, lunches, dinners and of course, work.  Not sure how this will affect Calvin's daycare as many of his teachers used the tram to get to work, but we could all be house-bound for a while. 

We certainly aren't the only ones affected by this strike. Hundreds of thousands of folks in Stockholm rely on public transportation as their only means of transportation. Figure it out folks and get those buses moving again!

A coastal rivalry -- Gothenburg vs. Stockholm

Since moving to Stockholm, we have been traveling a lot outside of Sweden.  Our travel within Sweden has been limited mainly to the Stockholm area with a few exceptions -- Jonköping, Uppsala, and Visby/Gotland.  We have really enjoyed our time outside of Stockholm and we wanted to explore more of the Swedish countryside, which has always overwhelmed me with its simple beauty.

Jon thought it would be great to take a scenic train ride to Gothenburg/Göteborg, and spend a long weekend exploring the city and southern archipelago.  Calvin loves trains and I love exploring, so why not? We have heard lots of good things about Göteborg from people who used to live there and we wanted to investigate the second largest city in Sweden for ourselves.  We have heard rumblings from Swedes from each coast boasting that their city is the best and Jon imagined a Biggie vs. Tupac type rivalry between the two cities.  NY vs. LA - which city is better?  People from Göteborg say that their city is friendlier, easier to make friends and more open to foreigners.  Stockholmers say there is no contest, Stockholm wins.  They don't provide much evidence because it just is so evident that no further explanation is needed.

We hopped on a train where Calvin blissfully slept during the whole journey, and when we settled into our apartment in downtown Göteborg, it became clear to us why the city has the nickname, "Little London."  The nickname wasn't earned by Göteborg's historical importance, architecture or function as an economic hub for the country, but mainly because their weather is driven by the Atlantic coast.  We left sunny, warm Stockholm, for gray, dreary and surprisingly cold, Göteborg.
 

Now, I know fully well how weather can affect your impression of a location, so I tried really really hard to give Göteborg the benefit of the doubt.  We wandered around the city, shopping district, and historical center for an entire day.  The weather ranged from cold and gray to sunny and bright, and we went through 4 different outfit changes in just a few hours.  The parks were lush and green and there was a beautiful canal running through the city.  We wandered down by the water and looked at the ships.  There is even an opera house on the water, to which Jon slyly asked, "What city, outside of Sydney, has an opera house by the water? Oh, Göteborg, of course!"
                 

The next day, we were supposed to head out to the archipelago but the weather was absolutely awful.  It was cold, drizzly and didn't look like it would improve until 3pm, when we were scheduled to be back at the apartment anyway.  We canceled the archipelago idea and instead, took Calvin to the Alfons Åberg's Kulturhus for some warm, indoor imaginative play.  He had a great time and we stayed warm and happy.

 
Whenever we change our travel plans last minute, I just keep repeating the mantra, "Adapt or die. Adapt or die."  I really didn't feel like being on a boat for an hour+ and then wander around outside on an island in horrible weather.  That wasn't going to be fun for anyone.
              

We left Göteborg with the feeling that Stockholm wins as the better city.  We cannot compare archipelagos because we didn't get to see Göteborg's islands, but in terms of cityscapes, Stockholm wins hands down.  Göteborg looks like a great place to study, work and live.  It felt very friendly and they have an extensive tram system that zips around to all city locations very easily.  It just didn't seem like any place a tourist would really want to visit for any length of time.  There just isn't that much to do if you don't live there. If we took a trip to the archipelago in nice weather, our opinions may be different.  However, you can't argue that your city is better if you have to leave the city to enjoy it's best parts.  In my amateur opinion, Stockholm wins this round.

I am very glad that we went to Göteborg and we will continue to set out to other regions of the country to explore.  I'd like to travel up to Kiruna or the northern region to see the northern lights and I'd love to see Småland with its picturesque little red houses and yellow fields.  I'll be returning to Visby this summer - one of my favorite places in Sweden so far, so it'll be nice to revisit an old friendly town.

House Hunters International - Stockholm, Sweden and us

We were on tv last night!  Thanks to my parents and some extra large cups of coffee, we were able to wake up early (4am) and FaceTime to watch our episode of House Hunters International live on their television in NY.  Fortunately they were recording it as well, so we could rewind and catch some of the parts we missed due to our screams and sidebar commentary.

Prior to watching the show,  I think Jon and I were both worried about how we would be portrayed.  Over the course of filming 4 days we said so many things that we had no idea how they would piece it together.  Being 4 months ago, we don't even remember a fraction of what we said or did.  At the heart of it, my worst fears were actually being accurately portrayed and just not liking what I saw.  You know how when you hear your own voice on a voicemail or tape recorder that you are absolutely shocked by what you hear?  I was afraid of that but in video form...for 18 minutes straight...seen nationally.

My parents set up their ipad to face the tv so we could watch it like we were in their living room.
I love technology!

When we began FaceTiming with my parents (thank goodness for iPads), our hearts were racing and we were freaking out (internally).  Hiding behind our first mugs of coffee, we watched the first clip.  It was really interesting to see how they pieced together all of our scenes. For instance, they show us at a coffee shop ordering food -- it was a French coffee shop and they asked him to speak Swedish.  Poor guy has the most French-accented Swedish diction ever.  Perhaps not a Swedish cafe representation but it gives off the right impression -- that we are overwhelmed by the new language.

Throughout the episode, I think that the entire experience is pretty positive.  I come across as a penny-pinching tightwad but then again, that's not that far off from the truth.  Jon was told to be a little more "loose" with the budget, which of course he was not. Other than that, they recreated our house hunting experience pretty well.  The realtor was fantastic.  She was very positive and helpful. I wish we had her help during our own experience looking for a place.  She earned our future business though as I'm sure we will be looking for a new place in the upcoming 1-2 years.

I wish they had shown less of the houses and more of Calvin.  It was so nice to revisit him at his age during the taping -- 14 months. He has changed so much so quickly.  It was also nice to revisit Stockholm in the summer time.  We'll be replaying our dvd during these dark winter days as a reminder of just how beautiful the summer can be in Stockholm.

We couldn't share these pictures with you before the airing of the episode but here are a few "behind-the-scenes" pictures of our episode.  Look for our full episode on hgtv.com or hulu.com whenever they update their episodes.

Thanks to everyone for watching and posting screenshots of us on their televisions to Facebook.  It was a surreal experience for us and we had a lot of fun!  We hope that our episode entices some of you to book a trip to come visit us, in the summer of course!


Behind the scenes pictures!

Calvin loved Christian -- the sound guy

Don't look at the camera, don't look at the camera

Ase, our awesome realtor

Our producer, keeping us on task

Butterfly house - carp tank

Swings!

What a great crew!

Why do we love Stockholm?

This video on Youtube showcases some of the reason why we love living in Stockholm.  We aren't nearly this creative, innovative or funny but it's nice to see that this city attracts interesting people.

Enjoy the magic!