Thursday, 30-May-2024
While wandering around Gamla Stan, the old-city part of Stockholm, one comes across quite a few tourist destinations. Souvenir shops, tours, events, everything is calling your name (primarily your wallet). I avoided most of them, as a general rule – stopping into some shops to buy interesting postcards, or into a particularly appealing looking cafe when hunger starts gnawing at me.
I have an interesting relationship with Tourist Restaurants. On the one hand, I don’t like “tourist” things… in general, I prefer seeing a bit more of the truly native experience of a city. That being said, I also want to experience the traditional culture of a city. And, as I learned in Greenland, most “native” restaurants don’t really serve traditional food, since people would normally just cook that for themselves at home.
Connected to that… I am, at the end of the day, a tourist. I am touring. Sometimes the best way to see the traditional culture of a place is, simply, to be a tourist.
Aifur is an example of me diving into my role as a tourist head-first, full power.
It’s a tourist destination, no two ways about it. In the center of Gamla Stan, with big signs hawking a “Viking Experience”, and a wait-list at least a day long, it’s absolutely targeted toward people who don’t live in Stockholm.
And you know what? That’s great, and I had a blast!
I was announced as a I walked in, and sat at a table with two whole people who spoke English, out of maybe 8 or 10 total. We communicated out best, shared a bottle of mead, and took silly pictures with a Viking helmet, sword, and axe. I ate Pike, which I don’t think I’ve ever had, and devoured a glorious berry tart. I learned the correct way to pronounce “Wieliczka”, a place I’ll be visiting in Poland, and failed miserably at pronouncing many other Polish words.
It was ridiculous, silly, delicious, and fun. In my mind, a good tourist experience!
