Lisa Sabol-Sikorski's Blog
Posted by Lisa Sabol-Sikorski
Scandinavia and Finland Airfare Deals
SAS Airlines has just reduced its fares between certain US cities and the Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, and Finnish capitals for travel in the month of May 2007. For example, travel from New York, Chicago, or Washington, DC to Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Oslo is $498 round trip and to Helsinki $538 round trip. From Seattle you can fly to the Scandinavian capitals for $598 or $658 to Helsinki. Flights to other cities in Scandinavia and Finland are also reduced.
Fly June 1-22 for $40 more to Helsinki and $60 more to the other Scandinavian capitals. The fares don’t include taxes of $80-$120. The fares require a Saturday night stay. Flights will fill up quickly at prices these low. Book online with SAS.
Scandinavia and Finland Hotel Deals
The Nordic-owned Scandic Hotel chain (a Hilton Honors partner – don’t forget to become a member so you can get airline or hotel points!) are offering a 15-30% discount on their regular rates for those booking at least 7 days in advance. These “early” rates range from 62-122 euros in Stockholm; 94-164 euros in Helsinki; 93-190 euros in Copenhagen; 124-187 euros in Gothenborg, Sweden; from 80-110 euros in Malmö and Lund, Sweden,; and 123-155 euros in Oslo. Rates include a breakfast buffet and many of the hotels allow children under age 13 to stay in their parents’ room for free. The Scandic Copenhagen has a spa package for 152 euros/night, which includes a choice of four different spa themes (Finnish sauna, Turkish spa, Roman bath, or Indian Sweat Lodge), an upgrade to a superior double room and a free smoothie.
Posted by Lisa Sabol-Sikorski
May 1 in Finland is known as Vappu Day, a combination of workers’ day and a celebration of spring. While meteorological spring starts on March 21, May 1st is the real start of spring in Finland, when the days are longer, the mercury reliably stays above the freezing mark, and the snow has melted (hopefully). The Vappu-related reverie actually starts on April 30, when students in Helsinki parade through town and spray the naked Havis Amanda statue near Market Square with champagne while perching a white graduation cap on her head. With 16.5 hours of daylight and a 9:30pm sunset, the parks fill up with partiers drinking, playing music, and playing games well into the night.
On May 1 everyone goes outside to spend time eating, drinking, and socializing. Finns don their own white cap with a black brim and an insignia in front from their graduation day, no matter what their age or how long ago they matriculated from school. To this American, it looks like a sea of festive boat captains walking around. In Helsinki’s popular park along the Baltic Sea, Kaivopuisto, people stake out a spot early in the day, pitch a tent and tables to prepare for their day of celebration. Acoutrements and fare range from pickled herring served on fine china under an elegant tent, to beer in a cooler and sausages on the grill, to wandering bands of young revelers eating a sandwich and carrying a 6 pack of Karjala, Lapin Kulta, or some other Finnish brand of beer. The ice cream huts along the water are open, regardless of whether the temperature is 5 degrees or 20 degrees, and people queue up, eating their ice cream and walking along the waterfront.
Vappu falls on a Tuesday this year. It would be fair to predict that fewer people will be going to work on Wednesday May 2, trying to dodge the splatters of aging vomit peppering the sidewalks on their morning commute. There will probably be many people “calling in sick” Wednesday or taking the day as a holiday, since Vappu only comes once a year.
Posted by Lisa Sabol-Sikorski
Easter celebrations in Finland tend to be subdued and reserved for families to spend time together, eat sweets, perhaps have an Easter sauna, and enjoy nature. The weather has been uncharacteristically warm lately, with temperatures ranging between 40-50 degrees F (5-13 degrees Celsius), so people are outside enjoying the sunny (albeit windy) weather, sans the snow and ice that normally cover the ground this time of year. Buying ice cream from one of the outdoor stands that have flung open their shutters since the weather turned warm and walking along Helsinki’s seaside is a popular activity for those who have not left town to spend the weekend at their countryside cottages. Business and shops close on Good Friday and stay closed through Easter Monday, although some grocery stores and restaurants open Saturday and or Monday. Unlike in the US and other countries, there are no “Easter sales” in the stores.
Witches and Sweets
On Palm Sunday, the week before Easter Sunday, children dress up as “Easter witches” and go door to door to collect candy. The Fazer Mignon egg, which is a mass of solid chocolate inside a real egg shell, is one of the most popular types of chocolate candy to eat this time of year. Pulla, a sweet, ball shaped pastry filled with cream and fruit jam, start appearing on bakery counters around Easter.
Easter Events
Finland is not a particularly religious country, but all of the churches have an Easter celebrations, whether they are Lutheran (Finland’s official religion), Eastern Rite Orthodox, or Catholic. Helsinki’s outdoor museum, Seurasaari, has an Easter bonfire where children dress up as trolls, sing songs, and recite poems. The Via Crucis dramatization (also known as the Way of the Cross) on Easter Sunday starts from Helsinki’s main church on the Senate Square and continues through downtown Helsinki, to the delight of spectators lining the streets. Over 100 volunteer actors take part. On Suomenlinna, Helsinki’s island fortress, the Toy Museum opens its doors to visitors after being closed all winter. There are thousands of toys on display, with the oldest dating from the 19th century.
Easter in Finland is a good time to relax and enjoy the slow pace.
Posted by Lisa Sabol-Sikorski
Long flights in coach class, with cramped seats, surly flight attendants, and (on some airlines) having to pay for a drink of water, can be uncomfortable and trying on your nerves. Business class seats, which can cost four times more than coach seats, not only offer more room to stretch but they have other amenities to make your journey more comfortable. I recently had the opportunity to travel in business class on trans-Atlantic and inter-European flights, which got me thinking – how can I re-create this more civilized travel experience the next time I fly coach?
Goody Bag
Business class travelers get a bag of goodies for the flight, like socks to keep your tootsies warm when they crank up the re-circulated air, travel sized hand lotion, a teeny tooth brush and toothpaste, ear plugs, and eye shades. These things are easy to get before you travel and bring onboard. Besides, at least you’ll get the brands you like. Put the liquids in a clear, plastic bag before you go through the security checkpoint so they don’t end up in the trash bin.
Drinks
You never get enough water in coach class. After the security check, buy two bottles of water (or your drink of choice) to bring with you. I don’t drink on airplanes (who wants to be dehydrated or running to the stinky airplane bathroom anyway?), but you could certainly bring little travel sized bottles of alcohol to make your own rum and coke mid-flight.
Food
Airplane food is disappointing, regardless of the class. It is cooked 24-48 hours in advance and re-heated on the plane so you can’t expect much, regardless of how much you paid for the flight. The business class menu may say steak with béarnaise sauce, but the steak is usually an overcooked piece of shoe leather. Choose the pasta, usually the least offensive option, and know that savvy travelers in business class are doing the same. So what you’re using a plastic fork in coach instead of a metal one in business class?
Attitude
Those who pay seem to get the nicest service. Perhaps it was just the individuals on my flights, but I was surprised at how much nicer the flight attendants treated passengers in business class. Do they adopt a different personality once they get past the business class curtain to treat the coach travelers like the uncouth cattle they think they are? Either way, I try to be polite when flying coach but ignore the attitude.
Seats
There is nothing you can do to about the small coach seats on trans-Atlantic flights that offer little leg room for those of us over 5”4 tall. You can try your luck and call the airline 48 hours before your flight on the off chance you are able to reserve an exit row seat. But, if you are taking a short haul inter-European flight from Copenhagen to Helsinki on SAS Airlines, for example, you’re not missing anything in the spaciousness department. Business class seats on short haul flights don’t have any more room than the coach seats, making the exhorbitant business class fares not worth it at all, in my opinion. Know that your coach experience is virtually the same!
Posted by Lisa Sabol-Sikorski
Copenhagen’s Phoenix Hotel is a good choice for travelers not on a budget looking for comfortable accommodations in the center of Copenhagen, Denmark. The hotel is decorated in the neo-classical style, with soft colors, white pointed furniture with gold trim, and watercolors depicting 18th and 19th century Danish life.
Rooms
The rooms are not big but they are elegantly furnished and the beds are comfortable. The rooms have safes and a selection of international TV programming. Soaking in the large bathtub after a long day of sightseeing was just what I needed.
Location
In addition to being a comfortable place to stay, one of the best features of the hotel is the location. Within five minutes, you can walk to Kungens Nytorv square, Nyhavn, Amelienborg Castle, Frederick’s Church, and Stroget (the main shopping street). Design hounds will like the location on Bredgade Street, steps away from the Danish Design Museum and Danish design shops.
Amenities
The Phoenix Hotel has free Internet access and a selection of international newspapers in the lobby. Eating at the breakfast buffet in the hotel’s Restaurant Von Plessen is a wonderful way to start your day, with a selection of eggs, danishes (called wienerbrod in Danish), meats, cheeses, fruits, cereals, and juices/coffee/tea.
Cost
I paid 990 kroner (around 180 USD) for a double room in March. Prices can be higher in the summer months. Check their website for specials, including a Tivoli package (the park opens April 13, 2007), an Opera package, and a romance package.
Posted by Lisa Sabol-Sikorski
This time last year, my husband and I were driving from Helsinki to Lahti, Finland for a weekend of winter sports and saunas. The sun was shining but temperatures were in the 20s (-3 to -6 Celsius) during the day and not much different at night. We had a great weekend navigating snow covered, frozen lakes on nordic skis, walking our dog through snowy forest trails, and taking saunas at night to stay warm. This year, Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Oslo are seeing sunny days, spring-like temperatures in the 40s and 50s, and the snow is virtually gone from the landscape.
Weather is a huge topic of conversation in these parts, mostly because it is so cold for most of the year, and it is incredibly dark for a good three or four months per year. I noticed last year, and I am noticing this year, that when the weather breaks people come out of their shells a bit. Their moods seem lighter, they seem slightly less dour, and people spend more time outside basking in the sunlight. When spring finally descended upon us last year I thought they were making a big deal out of nothing, but this year I totally get it! Four months of darkness was more than enough. While it didn’t snow as much this year as last year, I welcome the warmer temperatures, which melt the ice that stubbornly cling to the sidewalks and parks until normally mid-April, making a walk to the store a treacherous undertaking.
This morning at the dog park I was talking with a fellow dog owner about the wonderful weather we’ve been having. He predicted that winter will try to rear its ugly head one last time, because that’s what always happens whenever spring tries to arrive in March. Last year I spent the mid-April Easter weekend skiing in Lahti, enjoying the sun and the snow. Let’s hope this Easter morning that when I invite friends for brunch, it will be warm enough for us to sit in my glass enclosed balcony with the sun streaming in the windows, listening to the birds sing.
Posted by Lisa Sabol-Sikorski
Don’t expect perfect strangers in Finland to be talkative or effusive. In customer service situations, whether in a store, restaurant, or office, there are certain rules most Finns follow when interacting with customers, who are essentially strangers with whom a Finn needs to engage. There are exceptions to every rule, but in my experience the generalizations I make below apply to most customer service interactions in Finland.
.If you are in a Finnish store or an office and you are looking for information, you should know the right question to ask to get the answer you need. Open ended questions generally don’t work so you need to be specific. For example, I once asked a travel agent if she had a phone number of another branch office. She responded “yes.” Full stop. She didn’t volunteer the phone number. I had to ask her if she would please give me the phone number. While this example is extreme and most people are much more helpful than that travel agent, I think it demonstrates a mentality that people in customer service situations can be very literal. People will not freely volunteer information. When I am trying to get an answer to something, I’ve taken to asking, “is there anything else I need to know to get this done/make this work?” Finns don’t view their attitude as being unhelpful, they view it as not interfering or being bossy, so don’t take it personally.
Another obvious difference is that the clerk who is helping you probably won’t make any small talk. If you attempt to engage him /her in a conversation about the weather, whether or not they are having a nice day, or any other seemingly harmless subject, chances are you will make the person very uncomfortable. They’ll likely shoot you a look that I reserve for crazy people.
A benefit of dealing with Finns in customer service situations is that they are generally honest when they are selling you something. They won’t try to talk you into buying a more expensive model of something if it seems to be frivolous, nor will they try to sell you a bunch of unnecessary add-ons to a product or service. Unlike certain stores or restaurants in the US, people don’t jump on you as soon as you walk into a store or interrupt you mid conversation during a meal to ask you if you need anything else.. Sometimes Finnish customer service can be frustrating, but sometimes I welcome their low key approach because it can be unhurried and relaxed.
Posted by Lisa Sabol-Sikorski
Every year, the Economist publishes its’ Big Mac index. The philosophy behind the index is that the price of a Big Mac is an equalizer representing the purchasing power of different currencies, including those in Scandinavia. The Economist researched the price of a Big Mac in 46 different countries and compared those prices to the price of a Big Mac in the US.
Not surprisingly, the Icelandic kroner is the most overvalued currency based on this index, which is 131 percent overvalued when compared to the US dollar. The most undervalued currency in the list is the Chinese yuan, at 56% below the dollar. Other Scandinavian countries faired slightly better than Norway, but all of them are overvalued compared to the dollar using this index. In second place out of 46 countries is the Norwegian kroner, at 106% above. Currencies in Denmark and Sweden were slightly less overvalued, at 50% and 43%, respectively. The euro zone amounted to being only 19% overvalued while newer European Union members like Poland and Estonia came in at 29% and 23% undervalued when compared to the US dollar.
What does this mean for the traveler? According to this measuring stick, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland are the more expensive travel destinations in the world. Be prepared for sticker shock for everything from a cup of coffee, to an Icelandic wool sweater, and everything in between. But, you only live once, and seeing the northern lights, staying at the Swedish Icehotel in the Arctic Circle, riding Icelandic horses in Iceland, taking a sauna where they were in invented, and traveling through the majestic fjords of Norway are such unique experiences, so spending a little bit of extra money to do these things is worth it, in my humble opinion.
Posted by Lisa Sabol-Sikorski
Finns are affluent people due to their well developed economy, strong welfare state that virtually prevents the development of an underclass, and excellent education and health care systems. Even with all of this affluence, my opinion is that shopping behavior and consumer spending patterns are different from those in North America. As an American who has lived in Finland for 18 months, I believe that there are fewer opportunities and temptations to spend money in Finland.
Why? It is hard to say for sure. One simplistic reason is that shops are not open very long so you have less time to spend your money. Most shops are open Mon. – Fri. from 10:00 to 6 or 7pm, Sat. from 10-3, and closed on Sunday. This includes grocery stores. During the summer and before Christmas, stores have “Sunday hours,” meaning they open from maybe noon until 6pm.
While there are shopping malls and multinational chain stores, I think there are fewer than in other Western capitals. Finland has a few “big box” stores like IKEA, Bauhaus (hardware chain), and ONOFF (electronics) located in one or two areas outside the city, so it is less convenient to stop by regularly. People usually travel there to get something specific. Also, Finland lacks stores like Target or Wal-Mart, catch all retailers selling a million different things, where it is easy to walk in for some batteries and walk out with $50 of stuff you didn’t even know you wanted or needed before it enticed you with its low price and perceived usefulness.
The larger baby stores in Helsinki pale in comparison to Babies R Us (American chain) in terms of selection, attractiveness of the store, and price variation. While there are sales in Finland, they don’t occur often and my impression is that merchandise does not turn over quickly. Maybe people don’t buy so much may be because many apartments and homes tend to be smaller than those in the US, making it hard to store the 48 rolls of toilet paper you got at a great price from a bulk warehouse.
It is not that people don’t consume or have nice things – look at all of the nice cars driving around Helsinki, the trips to warm weather resorts during the long, bleak winter, or the cell phones glued to the ears of teenagers. It’s just that consumerism is low key and there aren’t flashing neon signs, sale circulars in the newspaper, coupons in the mail, and round the clock shopping opportunities tempting you to buy that bread machine, foot massager, or other item that seemed like a great time saver/life enhancer but eventually sits unused in a closet, collecting dust and creating so much clutter it prompts you to give it away four years later during a fit of organization and streamlined living. But, sometimes you just want to go to a store on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 and have such a wide selection that you stand there, studying the features on different variations of the same product for twenty minutes before heading to the checkout, finding the store club card, and rubbing the coupon with a coin to see if your discount will be 5%, 10%, or 20%.
It’s a cultural difference.
Posted by Lisa Sabol-Sikorski
During my travels and my time living abroad, I try to keep in mind that certain things I take for granted as “normal” are really the result of my cultural upbringing and the accepted norms of the society in which I was raised. Thus, some of the things that strike me as “odd” when I travel or deal with people from other cultures have to be viewed in that context, so if I find something odd from an American prism or point of reference it is possible that it is considered completely normal in another culture.
I have been living in Helsinki, Finland for 18 months and something that I find to be odd, unsettling, and difficult to get used to is the Finnish concept of personal space in public places. On many occasions when I am walking down a busy Helsinki sidewalk in what I consider to be a fairly quick gait, people come up behind me, getting so close to me that I sense their presence and I react by turning around to see who is there and why. They usually don’t see me turn around and as soon as there is room to pass me, the do so. I feel they have invaded my personal space. If I were to pause for even a second, they would collide with me, since there is only 5 inches of space between us. My uncomfortable surprise does not even register with the offending Finn. They don’t look at the situation the same way and they don’t see the look of alarm or irritation on my face. They are merely doing what they need to do to pass me on a busy sidewalk.
The first few times this happened I became angry because I felt the person was rude to me for no reason. Then I noticed this happening often and that these people don’t appear to be exhibiting aggressiveness toward me or others whom they are passing, I came to the conclusion that they aren’t being rude to me. Their behavior is a norm in their society. When I’ve brought this up with Finnish friends, especially those who have traveled to Western Europe or the US, they acknowledge this behavior. They usually say that Finland has traditionally been a rural society and that people aren’t used to dealing with crowds. Or, they’ll tell me that Finns are straightforward when they want something or more trusting of their compatriots, so this behavior is not seen in a negative light.
Whatever the reason, I’ll accept it as a cultural difference instead of a personal affront. But, I’ll admit that I still have a hard time not becoming even slightly irritated when this happens now. No one’s perfect.
For more on this topic, see the Cultural Differences: Consumerism or Cultural Differences: Customer Service blog. Or, read about cultural differences others have experienced or share your own stories in our discussion.
Posted by Lisa Sabol-Sikorski
Yesterday was a beautiful day for skiing in Lahti – six inches of fresh powder, no wind, and no real crowds. I was able to go to the top of the 120 meter ski jumping tower, affording me awesome views of the city, the snow covered forests, and the frozen Bay of Lahti. Not only did I take in the natural beauty, but standing at the top of the tower, above the ski jumper’s starting point, was amazing and gave me a real appreciation for the nerves of steel that the ski jumpers, lean, athletic looking aliens in their helmets and brightly colored spandex suits, must possess.
Only groups can go into the ski jump tower, but there are lots of other things to do in Lahti (see this week’s article), like downhill skiing, horseback riding, and snowmobiling. In Lahti, you can stay in a cabin in the woods on the cross country ski slopes, so all you have to do is wake up, have a hearty breakfast, and ski out your back door to start your day of skiing. Or, there are smaller cabins with kitchenettes close to the downhill slopes and ski rental center.
If you are visiting Helsinki and want to do a bit of skiing in the Finnish countryside, Lahti is a convenient choice. It is only an 1.5 hours from Helsinki, accessible by car and train. Now that the snow has arrived in Northern Europe, everyone is outside, taking advantage of the great weather and some of the best of what the Nordic countries have to offer – nature and winter sports.
Posted by Lisa Sabol-Sikorski
Regular readers will be familiar with my…comments…musings…complaining?…on the unusually mild winter weather and dreary grey skies. Well, all of that has changed. Last week, the temperatures have dipped below the freezing mark in Helsinki and snow has been falling almost every day. Stockholm, Oslo, and most of the Swedish/Norwegian/Finnish peninsula are experiencing the same thing. Excited children have dug out their plastic disks and sleds to take to the hills of Helsinki parks. Hard-core cyclists have changed their tires from regular to snow tires, complete with chains. Everyone is sporting their snow boots and their warmest winter coats. Finally, conditions are ripe for Nordic skiing, snowshoeing, and other winter activities.
Besides being able to enjoy the winter wonderland outside, people crave a white covering of snow on the ground to brighten up the world around them, literally. As of January 26, it still stays dark until 8:45 in the morning and the sun sets around 4:00. We have about7.5 hours of real daylight. The days are getting longer by less than five minutes per day, so that means it will be another 3 weeks or so before we get another hour of daylight. Any bit of brightening helps a lot.
The topic of conversation lately has been whether or not the Baltic Sea will become cold enough to completely freeze. Normally, by this time of year, the sea is totally frozen and people are strolling across the sea to the islands surrounding Helsinki, or cross country skiing on the perfectly flat, snowy surface a frozen sea offers. I have even heard of people driving their cars on the frozen sea in winters past. There are a few precarious ice blocks floating on the sea, but by watching the pigeons stand on these little floating ice disks, it doesn’t appear that they could support the weight of any heavier life forms.
Growing up in the northeastern corner of the US, I used to dream of tropical beach vacations during the cold, dreary months of January and February. I never thought I’d rejoice over blustery winter weather, but I guess I’ve been living in Northern Europe long enough to change my tune. Bring on the snow!
Posted by Lisa Sabol-Sikorski
Exhibits at the Nordic Travel Fair (Matka) 2007, held at Helsinki’s Fair Centre (Messukesus), were broken into the geographic categories of Southern Finland; East, Central, and Western Finland; Lapland, American, Asia, Africa, and Australia; and Europe. Some of the more interesting booths featured a woman wearing a country-western outfit to promote a country-western themed inn in Southern Finland (who knew that is popular enough to spawn an inn in Finland?); reindeer sausage samples at a booth in the Lapland section; an espresso bar in Italy’s booth, with a group of Italians striking a bella figura sipping espresso and chatting with colleagues; and free henna tattoos, courtesy of the Tunisian Tourist Board. Even Iran was there, promoting itself as a tourism destination.
All in all, it was a great opportunity to get information about places I've always wanted to visit and I've never heard of to inspire my travels in 2007.
Here are a few interesting facts about tourism in Finland, according to Matka 2007 press releases:
- Finnish states and municipalities spent 261 million euros in promoting the travel industry in 2004
- A third of the Helsinki travel marketing budget goes to marketing Helsinki as a travel destination among foreign audiences
- According to the Association of Finnish Travel Agents (SMAL), Spain continues to be the number one destination for package deal foreign vacations among Finns. Thailand and India are growing in popularity as package travel destinations.
Posted by Lisa Sabol-Sikorski
We are entering the third month of impossibly grey skies, above freezing temperatures, a complete absence of snow, and unyielding rain in Scandinavia. The sky has been a homely shade of slate grey day after day unlike any I have ever seen anywhere else. For those of us who have not had an opportunity to take a trip outside of the region since late October, we’ve seen maybe ten days of blue sky. No exaggeration. The grey weather is affecting everyone to some degree. It is topic number one in most conversations, which usually start something like “I’ve never experienced a winter in Finland as warm as this in my entire life,” “This weather has been incredible,” “I can’t believe we haven’t had snow yet,” or “I guess global warming is really happening NOW.” Whatever it is, it has inspired me to write this little ditty to extricate my feelings about the weather. Writing the poem has helped me to feel better in the moment, but the weather forecast tells me when I roll over tomorrow morning at 7:00, with the sky as dark as night, the sun will rise above the clouds around 8:50, but the sky will still be the color of grey mush all day.
Where is the snow?
Where did you go?
I’m sitting here in Helsinki
Curled up with my binky
Watching the rain drip down the windows
Seeing people fight to walk forward as the wind blows
Outside, it is slushy and icy
Traversing the sidewalks can be dicey
My skis are in the closet
Lonely and unused, with no waxy deposit
How many more months of this must we take?
I can only hope the weather will soon break
Then I’ll see the clear, blue sky
Even it is cold and dry
I’ll put on my multiple layers and warm boots
To soak up the sun and get back to my roots
Maybe experience a proper Nordic winter
Instead of this awkward, miserable, seasonal splinter.
Posted by Lisa Sabol-Sikorski
If there are two things Sweden is famous for around the world, it has to be ABBA and the Vikings. So why aren’t there any museums in Stockholm dedicated to these world famous Swedish exports? Well, that is about to change…in the future.
Organizers of the planned ABBA Museum say that they will open their museum in Stockholm in 2008. The museum will feature costumes, instruments, and handwritten song lyrics. Until then, ABBA fans visiting Stockholm will have to satiate their desire for more ABBA at the ABBA permanent exhibition in Stockholm’s Music Museum (Musikmuseet). This exhibition also features costumes, instruments, and other ABBA memorabilia. The Music Museum is located at Nybroplan behind the Royal Dramatic Theatre at Sibyllegatan 2.
It is believed that the Vikings sailed from Sweden to Britain, Ireland, Russia, Turkey, and North America. They have been romanticized throughout time and there are many myths about their lifestyle and their exploits. The planned Viking Museum in Stockholm will examine those myths and compare them to the realities of Viking life. According to the Local, Sweden’s English language newspaper, organizers are probably four years away from getting any funding for the museum. The Viking Museum is expected to draw more tourists to Stockholm, the capital of their homeland.
See Museums in Stockholm, Stockholm's Maritime Museums, Stockholm's Royal Palace, Shopping in Downtown Stockholm, and Stockholm Dining Recommendations for information on other attractions and things to do in Stockholm.
Posted by Lisa Sabol-Sikorski
Iceland Air is offering inexpensive fares and package travels deals from the US to Iceland this winter. Departures to Reykjavik, Iceland from Boston, New York, and Orlando start at $342 in January. Fares from US cities to Oslo start at $360, from US cities to Copenhagen and Stockholm from $370. Tickets at these prices are non-refundable and require a Saturday night stay. In the spring, Icelandair will begin offering flights to Bergen, Norway – starting point for visiting the fjords – and Gothenberg, Sweden.
If you book by January 14, Icelandair is offering a Valentine’s Day package from New York, Boston, and Orlando starting at $723 per person for two nights based on double occupancy (extra nights available for $49). The package includes airfare, a double room, breakfast, airport transfers, dinner and drinks at an Icelandic restaurant, and a trip to the Blue Lagoon (Iceland’s man made, outdoor steam bath). You can purchase add on activities like snowmobiling, hiking, dry suit snorkeling, visiting Iceland’s geysers, aerial tours of Iceland’s natural wonders, 4x4 off roading on glaciers and lava fields, or spa packages at the Blue Lagoon spa.