Stockholm

I ended my adventures around Europe in Stockholm, Sweden, which turned out to be the cherry on top of a fantastic 12 days travelling. The short amount of time I spent here were the best yet and here is why.

The best bits:
Stockholm is a beautiful city, with places like the picturesque island of Gamla Stan a beautifully preserved, medieval Old Town surrounded by still water. The city is quiet and the clear blue skies I encountered gave the place a wonderful sense of serenity. I recommend spending a mere 40 SEK to climb the City Hall which gave fantastic views over the entire city.

The City Hall

Military parade outside the Royal Palace

Transport by ferry is the best way to get great views of the entire city - it's part of the cities public transport too! 

There are many, many other small things that made me really enjoy my trip to Sweden - no wonder they are often high up in polls for the happiest countries in the world. I am going to list them below as I would be here for a very long time if I were to fully elaborate on each point individually.

1. Friendliness of the people: if you stop someone in the street, they all seem to be very willing to help in perfect English. The moment I boarded my Scandinavian Airlines flight to Stockholm Arlanda, I suddenly felt at ease. Customer service is also very polite and helpful. 
2. Sense of trust within society: there was nothing stopping you from getting free unlimited re-fills at Max, the Swedish equivalent to McDonalds or stealing from supermarkets with their self service checkout schemes, but one assumes that there is enough trust among Swedes otherwise this would not to be the case.
3. Sustainability at the forefront of public concern: none of the many supermarkets I visited during my trip offered free carrier bags and all had recycling points that rewarded those who returned bottles or cans. This made me very happy as someone who cares a great deal about our planet. 
4. Great public transport: the city is easy to navigate and it's not too expensive either

However, there is no doubt that the best aspect of my trip was visiting my Swedish friends. They were incredibly generous to welcome me into their homes and I am so happy that I have made so many meaningful friendships with people from around the world. There is so much that I can learn from each one of them and I am excited for when we meet again.

The worst bits:

Everything in Sweden is expensive. Food from the supermarket can be two to three times more expensive to the UK. However with Sweden, I suppose this is one of the many cases in life where you get what you pay for. 

So that's it! The end of my 12 day trip around Europe. I come back having lost an entire bag of toiletries and 120Euro after missing my train from Amsterdam to Berlin, but having gain a whole wealth of life experiences, funny stories, feeling more confident than ever about my ability to travel solo. I am just beginning my journey of exploring the world and meeting many wonderful people along the way, making me very excited for the future indeed.