Scandinavia 2008 - Day 7
My main goal for the day was to find ProCenter Camera and purchase myself a new tripod. I walked all around in the rain for nearly an hour before I found it just a few paces from where I first started looking. What looked like an average apartment building was actually a high-rise office building; I guess sometimes advertising and signage isn’t all bad. In fact when I walked in the door and began looking at camera gear the clerk was amazed I had found them and wanted to know how I knew about them. I upgraded to a slightly better tripod, a new model Manfrotto. But more importantly I plunked down a super sweet chunk of change for a portable photo vault, the 40 GB Jobo Gigaview Pro. I can tell I am going to enjoy this new toy.
I wasted nearly the whole morning trying to find procenter, so that did affect my pre-planned schedule, but I was in a mood to take it easy so I went the national museum. It was much smaller than I expected but it had some nice stuff, I especially enjoyed the works by Carl Larsson and the small collection of Lucas Granach’s. They also had some particularly lovely sculpture.
The highlight of my day and what I will remember the most though was dinner. I read about a small Czech beer tavern in my travel guide so I got directions and took the metro to a nearby plaza that was bursting with life and energy in the cool night air. I found the tavern easily enough, but finding a seat wasn’t so easy. Eventually I found a small table in the very corner and sat down. The bar was simple, and dimly lit, but it was packed full of after work and mid-week partiers. It has been 2 years since I last had fresh cold Czech beer, warm dumplings, and spicy goulash. I ordered a much-coveted Gambrinas and a plate of sausages to hold me over until my main dish could arrive. I relaxed, took a sip of my beer, and immediately memories of Prague came back to me. I reflected for a few minutes on good days, then pulled out my drawing supplies and proceeded to finish up my postcard of Tallinn.
I was aware that I was hogging up to two extra precious seats by sitting by myself so I keep one eye on the bar door looking for someone who arrived by themself. Eventually I spied an older guy looking around for a seat and I pointed at the chair at my table and he came over and said some words in Swedish. I replied, “have a seat” and English and he sat and began to chat. There was nothing notable to note about him, other than he had good taste in beer and food. He lived about 30 miles away but took a few days off work and was taking a vacation in the city. When my food arrived the conversation pretty much ended, but that was due to my delight in the dumplings and goulash I was eating while washing it down with a Pilsner Urquell. I think I had three beers that night, and my bill for those three beers alone was near $24. It was an expensive but necessary luxury, besides I deserved it.
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