We couldn’t afford to go to Stockholm. To compensate for this fact, we only went to Stockholm for two days.

We also couldn’t afford to stay in a gorgeous hostel right in the heart of Gamla Stan. However, since this hostel put us within walking distance of various key sights we felt justified in the splurge. Never once did we pay for the over-priced metro!

Stockholm is a beautiful city. This is widely agreed upon. However, up for debate was the beauty of it’s inhabitants. In the States, Swedish women are stereotypically regarded as tall, blonde and attractive. In Poland they are commonly referred to as dogs. (Poland was attacked by Sweden in the 17th century and Poles have long memories so this may color their judgment in the matter.) Now that we have been to Sweden the dispute has been settled: US 1 PL 0.

Now back to the beauty of the city. It’s situated on an archipelago, which is always a plus. Where the city is old it’s charmingly so. Where the city is new it’s so sleek and well designed that you don’t even miss the old town’s charm. This is a marked contrast to a post-communist city like Warsaw, where the old town is the only respite from concrete block housing. Anyway, I’m big into water and architecture so Stockholm is high on my list.

What else an I big into? Food. Stockholm delivers in this category as well. We ate at the central market and at small cafes, since restaurants were way out of the budget. You see, the key to splurging is to limit the number of splurges per trip (particularly if the entire trip can be placed in the splurge category) and thus avoiding splurge addiction which is a common affliction given the intensity of the splurge rush.

Avoiding the food splurge proved to be a smart decision since the quality is fantastic everywhere you go. Just ask amateur food critic Radoslaw Dudek where he ate the greatest salad of his life.

Now we agree that the city is beautiful, the chicks are hot and the food is world-class, but people may find it odd to visit Stockholm so close to the solstice when the sun rises at 8 and sets at 2. But the premature onset of night inspires countless candles, public Christmas trees, reindeer-meat-selling Christmas markets and most importantly Glogg drinking. And thankfully for us, at 20 SEK a pop and with free ginger snaps included, Glogg was surely in the budget.