WHAT JJ WEARS

Hi darlings!

Is it okay to still write a blogpost about a trip you did 1.5 years ago? Well, I guess it is, ’cause here we go! In October 2021 I went on my first ever solo trip to Scandinavia. It was a period where I didn’t really knew what I wanted in life. So, this felt as the ‘perfect time’ to challenge myself and take a break from normal daily life. Immediately I knew I wanted to travel by train, bus and boat. Just trying something different, instead of taking the plane. I decided to visit three capitals: Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo. When I booked this trip I wasn’t 100% sure if I could actually travel to these countries/cities, ’cause of COVID-19. In the end everything turned out fine. It was a month where there weren’t many restrictions left in these countries. A day before I would actually leave, I got kinda nervous and I didn’t really knew if I still wanted to go. I got scared. This scary feeling lasted all the way ’til the moment I stepped on the first train and waved my family goodbye. From then on I only had one goal: get to the first hotel. It was quite a long train ride: 9 hours, where I had to change trains two times. Luckily, there weren’t any delays and in the evening I got to my first hotel. After I checked in, I videocalled with my family. I let them know I got to the hotel safely, but also that I still didn’t knew if I wanted to continue this trip. The nervous feeling was still there. 

The next morning, I woke up feeling kinda okay. I slept fine and was excited about having breakfast (because of my lactose-intolerance, I’ve searched for hotels that could serve a lactosefree breakfast). The view from my hotel room was really nice and the room itself was also okay. After I got a really nice lactosefree breakfast, it was time to really enter the city. Beforehand, I decided which places I definitely wanted to visit. Since the hotel was on a perfect location, I could walk to all the tourist attractions. The best parts about Copenhagen were: the Botanical Garden, Rosenborg castle, Christiansborg castle and this place were they have the best oatmeals. I also visited Tivoli (the world’s second-oldest amusement park) during Halloween season and I must say the whole vibe was magical (it was a bit crowded everywhere though). Personally, I think I would have enjoyed it more if I weren’t there all by myself but with a friend or family member. I did get a yummy vegan burger and sweet potato fries at this place next to Tivoli.

After a few days I got onto the train to the next city: Stockholm. I chose the high speed train, which would take me in 5h18m from Copenhagen to Stockholm. In the late afternoon I arrived at my hotel. The hotel was easy to find and I was really happy I got there. I was kinda tired from the long trip and from walking around in Copenhagen (some days I even hit 20.000 steps). After I checked in, I got into my hotel room. The hotel room was quite small and located on the lowest possible floor, but all the necessities were there. Since it was somewhere around 6pm, I needed to find a place to eat. Just a few blocks away I spotted Bastard Burgers: I chose the vegan nuggets and sweet potato fries (I just love sweet potatoes, hihi). Later that night when I wanted to go to bed, I heard people running down the corridors. It sounded like girls who were making themselves ready to go to a party. I also heard loud music from some kind of bar. It was really annoying, since I just wanted to sleep (the music didn’t stop until 4am). The breakfast at this hotel was great though. Highlights from Stockholm were definitely: Halwyll Museum, City Hall (Guided Tour) and The Royal Palace.

The last city on my list was: Oslo. The day I needed to travel to this city, there weren’t any direct trains from Stockholm to Oslo. So, first I had to take the train to Gothenburg and from there I took the bus to Oslo. This was quite a long journey. The train ride took me 3 hours and the bus ride took me 3.5 hours. When I finally arrived at Oslo Central Station I only wanted one thing: find my hotel. As soon as I walked down the streets, it started to drizzle. After a 10 minute walk, I arrived at the hotel. I must say, this was the prettiest hotel of all three. I just loved the hotel lobby, my spacious hotel room (with Rituals products) and the beautiful breakfast room. The location of the hotel was also perfect. Just a few blocks away I found a great place to eat: Nordvegan. The best parts of Oslo were: the Natural History Museum (+ Botanical Gardens) and the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace. Other than that I didn’t visit a lot of other places. I was kinda tired and a lot of places were closed.

Last but not least, I needed to take the ferry from Oslo to Kiel (20h trip). From Kiel I would take the train back home (4.5h trip). Well…..things didn’t go as expected. At first I was really excited when I entered the ship. I loved the way the boat was decorated and I loved my room. The room had a big round window with beautiful views. A few hours later I noticed I got really dizzy, I couldn’t walk in a straight line anymore. In the evening I also got really nauseous. I locked myself up in my room and just layed on my bed for the rest of the evening: I felt so seasick. That night was horrible: I didn’t get any sleep. The next morning we finally arrived in Kiel. I still didn’t feel great, but managed to eat something. From that moment on, I just wanted to get back home as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the train had a major delay, because of some fallen trees on the train tracks. It was a chaotic situation and hundreds of people were desperately trying to get back home. The trains were so full and packed with people. Luckily, I found some fellow Dutch people and in the end I managed to get back home (over 4 hours later then expected) around 9:30pm.

A general thing I would like to mention about my trip to Scandinavia is the fact that it was quite easy to find places to eat as a person who is lactose intolerant (there was also plenty of vegetarian and vegan food to find). Even the supermarkets had lots of plantbased products.

In the end I was just really proud of myself and I kinda still am. It was an interesting experience and I’m happy I pushed through. Find out more about the all the places I visited below.

Copenhagen (13/10 – 16/10)

Stockholm (16/10 – 19/10)

Oslo (19/10 – 21/10)

Hopefully you all liked this post! Let me know if you ever visited these cities or if you have any questions left :)

X Jen