Getting lost in Stockholm

Today was my first full day in Stockholm, and I spent it tiring myself out walking up and down and around the streets of the city center. I brought along what I thought would be a very useful aid, my lonely planet travel guide. While the guide admittedly helped me reorient myself after getting truly lost, my pride kept me from really using it too much. I think that I was the shiest tourist about. I was a true hipster about the whole ordeal, and kept not wanting to look like a tourist at all. Imagine me bumbling about, trying to look certain, hiding my camera in the sleeve of my coat. I must have looked quite silly, really. 

And I sounded silly too. The oddest thing happened. When I went to buy my month pass for the t-bana, I was jittery. Living in Montreal has already given me a healthy fear of speaking English which I have seemingly carried with me to Sweden.  So when I had to ask for help at the t-bana, a strange voice came from me. It was English yes, but oddly I spoke it with a pseudo-British accent: not my accent for sure, but a far leap away from the queen's English or whatnot. 

The t-bana is quite different from Montreal's metro. For one, it doesn't smell like pee. At least, not in the stations I frequented. I had been told that many were designed by local artists or something, but I had not been told that they actually look like caves. I should have taken a picture of them, they looked like a chicer version of the batman batcave. Like if Batman had gone through an art-deco phase. 

Above ground, I had the mission of finding Stockholm's alleged equivalent to Montreal's plateau, a place where hipsters roam the streets in a similar fashion: apathetic yet painfully trendy. However, I got off the t-centrallen and went entirely the wrong way. But it was okay, I found some churches and museums along the way and the token tourist photo ops. To be honest, by the time I got to hipsterland (Sodermalm) I was tired, hungry and afraid of all the prices in SEK. "20SEK for a coffee? No, that can't be right. That's not a number easily divisible by 6.3! And even if it was, or even if I could figure it out in my head, that's too much!" Similarly, I went in a grocery store and panicked when everything was in the double digits. This is going to take some getting used to. 


I've included one of my favorite pictures from the day. It is of a sign advertising lobster that is (I'm assuming) from Canada. 

 And if anyone can identify who this charming fish-wielding fellow is, I would be quite appreciative.  I forgot to check the name on the plaque and the quality isn't too great. I don't know whether it is supposed to be a full grown man or else a child whose parents have a sense of humour concerning hairstyling. "Here Gustav, go pose with the fish! Ja, Ja, your hair looks fine!"