Anyways, here are 10 reasons why I definitely have no interest in ever living in the USA again.

10)The fact that the United States has become a modern day Nazi Germany, nobody can stop the United States government from doing whatever the hell it wants.

9)The fact that the United States government is willing to bankrupt itself to protect the interests of Israel.

8)The fact that you cannot be president of the USA without being religious, and of course religious means Christian.

7)The fact that you cannot be president of the USA without pandering to Israelis, nobody else in the world, just them.

6)The fact the the USA executes people while at the same time not allowing a human being the individual freedom to choose when they want to die peacefully, without living in miserable pain.

5)The fact that the US puts people behind bars for a small amount of marijuana, absolutely ridiculous on so many levels.

4)The fact that the US government has money for wars but no money for health care.

3)Election fraud in the US, by a government that prances around the world preaching “democracy.” Meanwhile, we have electronic voting machines with no paper trail and we elect presidents who receive less votes.

2)Taliban Christians. These people want to send American education back to the dark ages and politicians support this agenda to keep people dumb and blind.
1)The fact that the US government can’t even balance it’s fucking check book. So what else should they expect from their citizens?

Sounds like I’m a real un-patriotic asshole, and perhaps I am seeing as how I don’t wear a US flag lapel pin. But I am American and I have a right to my opinion. Despite what any fascist, police state supporting fuck nut might otherwise say.

photo credit: me

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Amsterdam residents prefer that you piss in their canals, rather than their buildings.

Post from: Sirened

But if you’re game, expect to shell out some cash as pretty much everyplace charges about 250 Swedish kroners ($42 US or 26 Euros) for reindeer steak. I had to seriously contemplate this expenditure but given my love of trying different animals, I just had to give it a go.

We decided to give a place called Restaurang C C a try because they boasted their specialty in wild game. In fact, there are only about 7 main dishes on the menu, including boar steak, regular deer and wild salmon for fish eaters.

Unfortunately, this place was a mistake and given that the restaurants sign has a reindeer pictured should have been a dead giveaway to steer clear.

Like most restaurants in Stockholm’s Gamla Stan (old quarter), Restaurang C C is nice inside, but given that the weather was good we chose to eat outside. The experience was terrible from the get go, the service was slow and we were given no bread-I can’t think of ever experiencing this in a restaurant of similar stature, anywhere in the world.

The reindeer steak was served in 2 small mignons, accompanied by boiled potatoes (pretty stock standard side in Sweden). Normally I eat steak medium rare but I asked that they serve the reindeer the way it normally comes, which is medium well. If you prefer your steak medium rare, I suggest you ask for your reindeer to be cooked the same rather than trust the chef like I stupidly did.

The food was decent, but for the money it should have been great. It was also not a large portion of food. If you want to try reindeer in Stockholm, I would suggest giving Slingerbulten or a restaurant called Movitz a go (both in Gamla Stan as well). They both serve reindeer steak and my wife and I had fantastic experiences at these two restaurants. Restaurang C C is a gimmick that needs to get its act together.

photo credit: me

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Thank goodness we visited Birka Island’s Viking Museum or we never would have learned that there were dragons back in those days.

Ah, Sweden’s glorious past.

photo credit: me

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Ericsson has really gone to hell in allowing the Finnish company to do this in Stockholm. If they weren’t such pushovers they would have this thing blown out of the sky!

photo credit: me

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One of the things that I’ve always wanted to see in life is a day with no real night. And if you’re in Stockholm close to the summer solstice like I was, you’ll see just that. Stockholm is in the eastern part of the Central European Time zone so it’s official sunset isn’t insanely late (around 10:20pm at summer solstice), but if you’re looking to the north this is the light you’ll see from around 11:30pm-2:30am. At around 2:30am it starts getting lighter because sunrise was around 3:30am when we were there (July 2nd-4th).

Stockholm is around the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska so if you’re bothered by light at night, make sure there are good drapes where you are staying! On the boat we stayed on there was only one small window but for god knows what reason, the curtain was just a white flimsy thing. So I took a black t-shirt of mine and hung it over the worthless curtain, which helped immensely.

Seeing light around the clock is a pretty surreal experience and if you get the chance, I highly recommend checking it out, somewhere in the world. Like most cool things, the pictures don’t it justice, but here are some shots from around 1am in Stockholm.

photo credit: me

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We decided to give a cute place called Slingerbulten a try because their posted menu had Swedish meatballs for 98 kroners and salmon for 148 kroners  (both dishes a whopping 50 kroners less than everything else we saw posted).

The decor of Slingerbulten is nice too, chandeliers are pretty common in Swedish restaurants and this place sports some medium sized ones along with several pieces of classy art work. Although Stockholm restaurants are very expensive, they are generally very nice.

The portion of Swedish meatballs isn’t huge but it’s filling as the brown gravy sauce is rich, heavy and delicious. It took a few bites to get used to the taste of a savory gravy, mixed with cranberry sauce on a meatball, but once I did I thoroughly enjoyed it. My wife’s salmon dish was excellent as well and wonderfully presented.

I highly recommend this restaurant for the food, service, decor, price and overall value by Stockholm standards. You’ll enjoy the food and you’ll save about $17 US dollars off two very nice meals. The address of the restaurant is Stora Nygatan 24 and is located on the corner of Kokbrinken.

photo credit: me and my meatballs

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So why is this magical drink that “gives you wings” banned in several countries? Apparently it’s all because a few people have died from it and these governments are concerned with the high levels of taurine and caffeine in the beverages. In fact, a new Danish friend that initially brought this to my attention said “it’s dangerous because it has a lot of caffeine,” saying this as she smoked a cigarette and had a vodka and fizzy drink in hand.

And the Danish government is clearly weary of high caffeine doses because they’ve also banned caffeine pills. But what’s the big deal anyways? Coffee contains a lot of caffeine and is far from banned in any of these countries. In fact, last time I checked, the French were known to enjoy a latte or two.

Red Bull also contains glucuronolactone which improves concentration and memory. Additionally, it contains inositol which can lift your mood by pumping extra serotonin to your brain. So a Red Bull is kinda like a coffee mixed with Ritalin and Prozac. No wonder it gives you wings!

Luckily here in the Netherlands there is no ban on Red Bull or equivalent substitutes. In fact, I am currently enjoying a beverage that is simply called “Energy Drink” and carries all the same ingredients as a Red Bull. “Energy Drink” also tastes practically identical to Red Bull but is a fraction of the price as it is produced here in the Netherlands.

You can pick up “Energy Drink” at a Dutch grocery store for as little as 29 euro cents! I was initially blown away by this seeing as how no energy drink in the United States is that cheap. So if you enjoy Red Bull and are traveling around Europe, make sure to stock up before a visit to France, Denmark or Norway. Otherwise you are sure to lose your wings!

photo credit: flickr

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The Danes have it all…does life really get any better than boobs, beer and burritos??

photo credit: me

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Truck in Stockholm…Best beer in the world?!?

Brewery in Copenhagen:..Best beer in town?!? Seems like they’re totally fucking with the Swedes, who for the most part don’t have good beer, and which may be retribution for IKEA naming door mats after Danish towns.

photo credit: me

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