Skates, Bikes, and Busses

The transportation theme of this post refers to two epic adventures and one epic discovery here in Berlin. As to the first, Kara Jones and I spent a fantastic week season jumping from Stockholm, Sweden, which is experiencing its coldest winter since 1868, to the balmy 70 degree weather of Barcelona, Spain.



In Sweden, I took a boat tour around 5 of Stockholm's 14 islands. Our ferry crunched through about six inches of ice, and I was mesmerized! While it hit nearly 20 degrees below zero (degrees Celsius) while we were there, Kara and I loved Stockholm. The Old Town of Gamla Stan looked oh-so much like a Christmas village. Other highlights included a visit to the city's Dance Museum and the Vasamuseet, a salvaged shipwreck from 1628. Stockholm was a very expensive city overall, but the most fun thing we did was totally free! Our hostel lent us skates, directed us to a public park's ice skating rink, and away we went!



In Barcelona, after ooh-ing and ah-ing at the green grass, the view of the ocean and beach from the airplane, and being nearly shell-shocked by the balmy temperatures at 6pm, we explored Las Ramblas (of course!), revelled in the fresh markets, and rented bikes to explore the city on for two days.

And what was my epic discovery in Berlin? After spending almost the entire below-freezing winter dreading that 10-15 minute walk from my house to the nearest S-Bahn station, I discovered a bus that runs nearly door-to-door. Yup.