STOCKHOLM: MISSION 2.0 by Elisa Casañas Quintana

Stockholm is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Europe, how not to feel honoured to be sent there? Time passed quite fast as soon as we got to Arlanda airport, where we were picked up by a very kind taxi driver who brought us directly to the hotel and showed us some important things of the city on our way.

The day after, we started the castings at 10.00h, and because there had not been any time to give out flyers, there weren’t as many people as in Reykjavic. Nevertheless, it was not easy at all to choose only four ambassadors to come over to the Canary Islands.

Something we noticed was that they all looked like having, generally speaking, quite a high purchasing power. One of them told us that the sun had not been shining in the last two months, and it was shining that exact day. This fact made him think we had brought the sun from the Canary Islands, and at the same time, this thought made us feel very happy and privileged.

We made a lunch break in which we had some time to relax, speak and comment about the candidates, and afterwards we went to the City Hall, where the Nobel Prices are given. There we were taking some pictures, singing and performing to record some videos with the campaign’s song: “Smile it’s a wonderful land”. Immediately we got back, as we had to keep interviewing some more people; and when we were done, we had a little walk around the city and bought some souvenirs.

Our swedish helpers were absolutely nice to us. We all tenderly remember Walter, the guy who kept sending people up to the casting; Richard, our lovely pal recording all the time and who we kept calling “Horchatín”; and Anders, the big bald guy who accompanied us at lunch and also wanted to be interviewed. The three of them did their best so we were comfortable at all times and we had everything we needed.

Well, it must have been the influence of how early the sun goes down in this time of the year up there in the north, since it got dark at 15.00h, what made our trip so short. No wonder they have the so-called “winter blues”!!! However, we all keep great memories of it and I personally think I will live in one of those northern countries someday. At least for a while.

No Winter Blues - Stockholm Experience by Joy

On Wednesday afternoon Elisa, Daniel and I met up at the G.C. Airport and we were so anxious to get on that flight that would finally take us to Stockholm, via Barcelona. At the BCN Airport we met up with Dara and Daniel, two ambassadors that were also going to join us on this mission. We knew very well it was gonna be a long day but we also knew that it would be worth all the effort. At 11pm we got of the plane and, wow, it was quite freezing! About -5ºC.Our taxi driver pointed out a couple of places worth seeing while driving through the city, Stockholm seemed like such a nice city and with all the Xmas decoration it felt just like being in a postcard.Our hotel was located downtown, the perfect place you would wanna be at if you're staying just a couple of days in Stockholm.Later on that night we all went out to take a look around and we finally ended up at a cool nightclub close to the hotel, where we had a great time until it was time to head back to the hotel and get a couple of hours of sleep. Thursday morning I got up around 7am, had breakfast and then we headed to Hotel Kung Karl, on the famous Birger Jarl Street, just a couple of meters from our own hotel. Working as a jury interviewing Swedish people was actually really fun!! We had a blast. Four lucky Swedes would have amazing opportunity to spend a whole week on the Canary Islands for free and it was our job to make sure that the right people were selected. We ended up seeing an striptease by an very outgoing young Swed, some salsa dancing by an couple who had never met before, some singing but, above all, a whole lot of laughing. The casting turned out to be just as entertaining for the nervous Swedes as for the members of the jury.After lunch we headed out to the Town Hall, Stadshuset, to take some pics and record a video of all of us singing our own Christmas carol. It was surprising to see sunset around 3pm. That's when you really realize how peoples life can get so affected by the cold and the darkness, and why so many of the Nordic population suffer of winterblues. We continued the castings until 6pm and after that it was time to do sightseeing and some shopping! Stockholm is a really beautiful city and we all felt sad that we could only stay a couple of days. We all had dinner at the hotel and after that we went out to enjoy the nightlife a couple of hours before it was time to head back home. Everybody treated us very well, specially at the hotel and I'm positive we all share good memories from our trip as ambassadors to Sweden.