First bon voyage from Sweden

About to make it to my first week in Sweden, why not leave?

The first official week of classes started on the 16^th through the 20^th of January. This is called the kick-off week and has lots of planned activities including parties (Akademia-the university club), fun games, and dinner parties; all planned in the interest of incoming international students to get to know each other. Well, since I did not have classes this week I decided I wanted to go off on a trip and trade the fun and wild escapades that the rest of the students would partake because who knows when would be the next opportunity to travel for one whole week.

First Stop- Gothenburg

A big reason to plan this trip was also the fact that I needed to go at some point to get fingerprints taken at a Swedish Migration office so that I could finish the process of acquiring my Residence Permit (Note: If one will reside in Sweden for more than 3 months or 90 days, you must apply for a Residence Permit which is valid for 1 year(Instructions on how to apply). The closest Swedish Embassy is in Washington D.C.  So the easiest thing to do is to apply for a Residence Permit online with at least 1 month before leaving (you’ll receive a confirmation in less than a week if all documents are submitted and accepted) and enter Sweden without any special permits. Note: Citizens of **these**countries can enter without any visa. Just make sure you have bought a round trip ticket or have the Residence Permit acceptance letter on hand as you may be asked for these when arriving into whatever connecting city you first land in within the European Union (i.e. I flew into Brussels, Belgium from Washington D.C. and since it is the first entry point it was where they checked my passport and had to go through customs—shouldn’t have any problems though).

Anyway, the first stop on my trip was Gothenburg. I'll touch here upon the leisure traveling, sightseeing, experiences, but more information on how to arrange for Residence Permit, getting to the migration office, etc. look into my other blog where this and much more information can be found InfoBlog.  

 Second Stop- Copenhagen

Oh, the poor city of Copenhagen, plagued by fires over and over again. Denmark has quite an amazing, rich, ancient history, but the city of Copenhagen has been rebuilt over again because of these unfortunate disasters. I would recommend taking this same route and spending two days in this quaint city, because it can get quite expensive spending time in Denmark. 

HOSTEL:

I would definitely recommend staying at Danhostel  Copenhagen Downtown which you can book through hostelworld.com

It is located in a prime location to see all the key city sights, near the city center, also for finding good pubs and clubs nearby at night. It has it's own bar and can get decently priced drinks during their happy our. The environment is friendly, the 10 bed dorm is hospitable and relatively economical. 

It's also easy to find from the bus stop for Swebus. Let me know if you need directions.

There is a free tour that you can take actually comes by to pick up at that hostel and you can see all the important landmarks as well as learn much interesting history. I would recommend going as well to the Christiansborg Palace to see the Palace itself, the ruins, and the royal stables for 80 Danish Kronor. 

One sight I missed myself, but would definitely recommend if you get the chance is seeing the Kronborg Castle which lies somewhat on the outskirts of town. 

If you plan on traveling somewhere else and through plane like myself, you'll need to take the train to the Airport. If you need help with this just email me
One small suggestion. If you need to take the train, try to buy it by card and get the child or cheaper ticket to save some money. Cost around 36 DKK regular price and 24 DKK discounted and exchange was 5 DKK/$

Off to Germany - Berlin

I couldn't wait to go back to Germany and finally have myself an amazing Weizen beer. I also had never gone to Berlin and playing such an important role during World War II and the Cold War, it is a special place with a very complex recent history and culture that shadows over all of Germany. 

You'll have more than enough to see and at the hostels they can recommend were to go and what not to miss, but I would definitely ask around for a free tour given by the same company as the one in Denmark. It's one of the best I have ever taken, and it's just based on tips. 
 I will suggest one place. If you are into history and especially as interesting as Berlins was with the influence on the recent 20th century wars, I would tell you to not miss the Story of Berlin. It's a virtual world, taking you back through Berlin's history, highlighting World War II, the Berlin Wall, etc.. (www.story-of-berlin.de). You can get a student ticket for 8 EUR.

I unfortunately never made it here, but I would try and make it into the Museum of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Another important museum of course is the Deutsches Museum. 

However, I will, strongly recommend you stay in the Meininger Hotel which you can book here or through hostelworld.com It has probably the best location, because you can take sophisticated metro anywhere in the city within a few steps from the hostel door. Also, if you maybe want to travel somewhere else, it is right next to the Central Station (all in one where the metro is as well). Meininger is pretty well known and has good reputation so stay there, trust me.

I flew to Berlin to the Tegel Airport (TGX) so let me know if you need advice or help in getting from the airport to the city.  

Berlin, has not only this rich, eerie history, but an amazing night life, and amazing beer and food. Basically, you can see I love Germany haha. 

If you like dancing latin music or want to give it a try (they even give free lessons which you can take part of- I did) ask around for Havanna club (www.havanna-berlin.de)