But they were really off on the two nights I spent there.

First of all, they deleted my booking. I brought along a copy of my reservation, so they then offered to let me choose the room where I wanted to sleep on a mattress on the floor for the night. One room stunk, the other was full of guys on a stag party trip. So they put me in an unseen room, not telling me it was also full of guys on a (different) stag party trip. I'm pretty patient with hostel shenanigans, but being woken up around 4 am to the sound of puking and guys sitting on my sad little mattress on the floor falls outside my OK realm. Breakfast was just so-so.

The next night, I had the room to myself. Two stars because this place could be cool, and they have a rooftop patio that I imagine could be fun in summer.

" It brings a funky, eclectic and urban touch to downtown Great Falls.

I used to sit at the counter in middle school, excited to concoct endless lotions and potions with the changing tray of essential oils. My shower was an absurd jungle gym of gels there for a while.

Although the build-your-own body product option still exists, now I head down to Planet Earth for irreverent cards, lovely jewelery, fun wallets (including many from vegan line Matt & Nat) and that weird little thing that makes a gift complete.

The handpainted wooden ceiling in the thrift shop is worth the stop, but the goods on offer here range from big name Scandinavian design to nautical oil paintings by forgotten no-name artists. There's also a broad range of prices--if I had had more than a backpack and lots of travel left to go, I would have picked up a serving platter or a lamp at unbelievable prices. In the end, all I took away was a little antique plate for about 4 dollars.

At the warm, wood floored cafeteria, plan to share a table with a mixture of Swedish businesspeople, young hipsters, and the (very) occasional tourist. The 75-kr daily special served here (which includes salad, a main dish, and coffee) would be a steal at twice the price. Plus, both lunch and shopping benefit Stockholm's poor.

The Stadsmission also happens to be just across the square from the Nobel Museum. If I had a few hours to spend, I would lunch in the Stadsmission cafeteria, wander through the Nobel Museum and marvel at the rotating display of laureate photos, treat myself to Nobel ice cream at the restaurant there, complete with chocolate Nobel Prize replication (don't forget to look under your seat--it's signed by one of the Nobel prize winners), and then stop into Stadmission's Butik second hand shop. A wonderful way to spend the day--and surprisingly cheaply by Stockholm standards.