Day of firsts

Saturday was a "day of firsts" for me... I will start at the beginning. The day began with an all-you-can-eat brunch at Kvarnen. Paul had three friends in town from New York, so we all decided to try a new restaurant. When I saw the white chocolate fondue fountain surrounded by brownies, marshmallows, cakes, and pies at the dessert table, I was in heaven. But then I saw the table filled with herring, prepared about five different ways. Okay, I think I can be somewhat adventurous when it comes to trying new foods, but herring scares me a little bit. Somehow after almost three weeks of being in Stockholm, I've completely avoided trying it...until the brunch. I loaded up a plate with small bites of each kind of herring, and also grabbed a piece of bread and some mushrooms in case I needed a chaser. All in all, I tried five different herring dishes and I liked 2.5 of them. I gave the pickled herring a half vote because I liked it at first, but the aftertaste lingered too long. Good thing I had the fondue to ease my pain. After brunch we walked around and showed Paul's friends Gamla Stan. I think it was the first time that I felt kind of like a "local." I was pointing out things and sights and and easily navigated my way through the streets. I'm living in another country halfway across the world, no big deal. Our next stop was the Nobel Museum to learn about the origination of the prestigious prizes, history on Albert Nobel, and look at a few exhibits. Later after we had all rested and relaxed, we met up with a plan to try a metal bar. Paul's friends from New York are "metal heads" and very into the metal scene in New York and worldwide. So we ended up at Harry B. James bar and restaurant expecting something different than what we found. Not really knowing much about the metal scene, I didn't know what to expect and I was a little worried. I guess we didn't do our research about the place because when we arrived Def Lepard's "Pour Some Sugar On Me" was playing and I busted out laughing. If this was metal, then I loved metal! I guess it was KISS night at the bar, and that was confirmed by the amount of people walking around with painted faces. Needless to say the New York friends were very unimpressed, we gulped down a beer, and booked it out of there as quick as we could.  Paul suggested we go to Sky Bar, which was at the top of the tallest skyscraper in Stockholm, had no cover, and was a little more upscale. After the "metal" bar, we were all ready for something different. The walk to the metro was a little more than chilly. At -14 Celsius I knew it was cold, and my trusty metric unit iPhone app told me it was 6 degrees Fahrenheit! What? It was probably the coldest I've ever been in my life. Another first. In the metro we found the train we needed to take and all jumped into the elevator to save some time. The doors closed, it moved up about two floors, and then stopped. We all looked at each other in fake panic, internally thinking, "Yeah right, this thing will move any second." It didn't. I started doing the nervous, hysterical laugh and the boys started pushing any button they could find. The capacity on the elevator said eight people, we had six, but it was still pretty cramped. A voice finally came on the intercom in the elevator and said help was on its way. I didn't want help on the way, I wanted it NOW! Forty-five minutes later, we were finally freed. Rob joked that now we knew how the Chilean miners felt, and once I was free, I could actually laugh about it. Our imprisonment almost ruined the night, almost. We made it to Sky Bar, tentatively taking the elevator up 23 floors, and Noa and I ordered tequila shots. I don't think Sweden does tequila shots because the guy hunted around for a while looking for Patron. He came back with something similar, but it ended up being really good. Then again, any alcohol at that point would have been good. What a night. I'm all for trying new things, but this "day of firsts" was a bit much.

My plate of herring, prepared five different ways.

Our "aftermath" drink at Sky bar.