On the 16th we took the ferry out the Gotland, an island in the Baltic off the southern coast of Sweden. The word ferry doesn't really adequately convey the sheer size of the ship. The one we took out to Gotland can hold up to 700 passengers and many, many cars. The inside is like a 757 airliner on steroids. It even has seats just like an airliner, the only difference is that between each seat, under the console, is a life jacket. There was a playroom for the small children to play in. They even showed a movie, just like [View Full Entry]

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Today we visited the island of Björkö which has an old Viking village excavation on it. Since Bjöokö is an island itself we took an excursion boat over early in the afternoon. They have a sort of living history exhibition about the Vikings and the trading that went on there from the mid-700's to the 900's. The exhibition was very interesting--we chose the "dramatic tour," which had students acting out roles of the various people in the village while they were talking to us. This is another world heritage site and is well worth visiting. The weather here has been absolutely [View Full Entry]

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We spent a really laid-back day today at the country house of our friends Sverker and Annika. After breakfast we drove into town and did some shopping in the town center. Most of the stores were filled with summertime visitors and most had big sales going on. Annika told us that it was better to go shopping in Nyköping because the stores are less crowded that in Stockholm and the things they sell are just as good. Many of the brands of clothing and shoes are the same as we see in the U.S. In fact many goods had price tags [View Full Entry]

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We drove with our friends Sverker and Annika from Stockholm to Nyköping (nee-shipping), a smallish town about 120 kilometers down the road. Near Nyköping they have a beautiful country cottage near the Baltic, which they have restored. Here it is so quiet that all you can hear is the wind blowing through the grass and the occasional moo of the neighboring cows. Most of the houses we have seen are what we would call barn red with white trim around the windows and doors and terra cotta tiles on the roof. These seem to be the typical Swedish design. Sometimes the [View Full Entry]

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After a good night's sleep we woke up feeling as though we had been reborn. The sky was bright blue, the temperature was warm, and there was a nice breeze blowing in off the water. After a huge breakfast we all set off for our first day of sightseeing. Our first stop, though, was the airline office to pick up my tardy baggage. We were able to visit Drottningholm, the royal palace and home of the Swedish royal family. This feels like what a royal palace should be--built on an immense scale with many gardens surrounding it. It is on [View Full Entry]

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First, let me say that we made it from Louisville to Stockholm in one piece safely, but traveling, especially with airlines, is hardly ever a straight line. Our original plan called for us to fly from Louisville to Newark, layover for about an hour in Newark, then fly on to Sweden. Unfortunately our plans were doomed right from the start because the flight to Newark was delayed for almost precisely the amount of time we had for the layover, so we arrived in Newark about three minutes after our flight to Stockholm had taken off. We had found out, however, [View Full Entry]

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We are leaving on Monday, so we’ve been spending the last few days getting everything ready and trying to anticipate what we’re going to need when we get to Sweden. We’ve also been going through the guidebooks and trying to decide what things we want to do and see when we get to Stockholm. I lean more toward history and museums and scenic areas, while my husband is more interested in the people and the contemporary culture. We’ve been using the DK Eyewitness Guide to Sweden and the Rough Guide to Sweden. The DK has nice color photographs and good [View Full Entry]

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