My First Fika, Trip to IKEA, and Taking the Bus

Today was a pretty eventful day. I met up with my buddy, Jasmine from Stockholm, and this other girl, Jiune (June) from Korea. We went and had fika at a cozy Swedish cafe called Storken. Coffee or Kaffe in Swedish is about 3 USD. There's not really any good translation into English for fika, but basically it's when you go and get coffee and hang out with other people. Jasmine pointed out a lot of places on my map, karta, and it was very helpful. I now know where book stores, second hand clothing stores, and TGR (a store that sells school supplies and random nick-nacks) is.

I went with Amanda and Cassandra to IKEA, which the Swedes pronounce with an E, rather than an I. I had never been to an IKEA before, so it was very exciting. I was told you can buy basically anything at IKEA, and it's a huge store so I believe it. We did the walk through of the room designs and then bought our bedding. I bought a nice wool blanket, that was expensive, but I think it will keep me very warm. My dorm room is cold. I also brought with me a micro-fleece blanket.

To get to IKEA, we took bus 13, right? and IKEA is the last stop and one end. Well, Amanda and I missed our stop and took it all the way to northern Uppsala. We got to see some more of the town, but it was dark out, since the sun sets so early. Luckily, the bus turned around, and we were able to get off at the correct stop. Then we walked to central station, where I walked back to the dorm from there. It started snowing as I walked! It was a long walk, so next time I will take the bus.

Taking the bus is very easy in Uppsala. There are two types, green and yellow. I'm not really sure what the yellow buses go, but the green ones are the city buses. It costs 20 crowns to buy a card, and then 20 crowns for each bus ride. I bought a card and loaded it with 200 crowns (which is roughly 25 dollars and will get me roughly 10 rides). I don't plan on using the bus that much, since I can pretty much walk every where. However, Amanda lives far away from everything, so she will have to take it more often. I don't have class tomorrow, so I will do some more walking around the city.

For more information on buses in Uppsala see here: http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Sweden/Uppsala_Laen/Uppsala-169265/Transportation-Uppsala-MISC-BR-1.html#tip=759240