Sverige /Stockholm/ (I)

Leaving Riga was not without drama. Blame Ryanair! I paid for a 20kg luggage but somehow the system showed I only paid for 15kg. [And I later found out something must have gone wrong becos I really only paid for 15kg – same thing happened to many other people on our flight who claimed to have selected 20kg but ended up paying for 15] So we had to re-pack my suitcase right in front of the check-in desk as many others did who flew with Ryanair. Luckily, Gary’s bag had some more room for a few more kilos so we shared the loads. What’s ridiculous was you’re actually allowed a 10kg hand-carry bag! But only one bag - no matter if it’s lady’s handbag or suitcase. It has to be 1 item only. So if you have a huge IKEA bag, for example, you can stuff it with 10kg! Sorted… and my hand-carry almost exploded!

Sergels Torg

Arriving in Stockholm felt good – I won’t lie. It was a relief to be back to a big city finally, where I could just melt into the crowd. I got so much looks when I was in the Baltics, especially in Riga. I reckon I saw less than 10 Asians during my 3 days there. We wouldn’t have to look over our shoulders anymore in Stockholm. And what’s more uplifting than being able to drink from the tap again! When we were at the Baltics, you couldn’t ask for tap water at a restaurant. Because, as we were told by a waitress in Tallinn, they “couldn’t guarantee the water quality”. It did really help when bottled water here cost more than HK$20! 
 
Now something that needed adjusting to was the price. HOLY CHRIST! We were so used to all the good food and cheap prices in the Baltics now we had a hard time! A 3-day metro pass and our first night dinner at Stockholm cost me already half the Swedish Krona I brought =.= Gonna rely on plastics in Sweden!