Summertime Travels Part 1

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Alright, so I have a lot to catch up on so I'm going to do this one in three installments but it might be more pictures than text because I think they can tell the story better than I can!

First stop, Stockholm Sweden! Right when I came to Europe in the back of my mind the one country that I really really wanted to make an effort to go to was Sweden. My dad has Swedish ancestors on both sides of his family, making me 1/2 Swedish, woo hoo! And although I didn't get the chance to find the heritage museum and try to look up my lineage, something about Stockholm just felt very homey to me 😊 The people were the nicest Europeans I have met yet and it was a drastic change from the seemingly all dark-haired-dressed-in-black-and-gray monotony of France. And we got there just as spring was in bloom so everything was gorgeous: the water, the trees, the flowers, and the weather. The language is also very beautiful. I would love to take Swedish as a third foreign language but sadly I know this is not practical...everyone in Sweden already speaks English.

Stockholm is set on an archipelago (a word I can spell but for some reason can never pronounce out loud...) and is made up of multiple islands so just flying into the city is a sightseeing adventure in itself! The countryside just looks like it's all flooded because there are so many lakes. It actually reminds me a bit of Minnesota (no wonder that state is so inhabited by Scandinavian folk...)

The first night we were there we just walked around a bit looking for something to eat. Unlike France, the Swedes eat when we eat (around 5:30 or 6 opposed to the French who will start eating maybe at 7:30 or 8:30) and so tons of restaurants were already closed. We settled on a Mongolian grill equivalent of HuHot for our first 'Swedish' meal.

We really didn't have much of a plan for Stockholm, so the next day we just set off on kind of a walking tour and ended up at Skansen, the open-air museum. It's a microcosm of Swedish society back in the day and you can go to the old-fashioned shops (including a yummy bakery), watch some glass blowing, and see authentic buildings and homes that were re-located to Skansen and that re-create the downtown of historic Stockholm. And about half of the park is a zoo with native Swedish animals such as the Elk, wolverines, and even REINDEER! I guess they do exist...

Another bonus was that we got to sit down and eat a meal with a Swedish family. Damon's host sister from when he was a wee little lad is now grown up and has a family of her own and invited us to have dinner with her. It was a great way to learn about Swedish culture from a personal perspective.

Our final day in Stockholm we just decided to walk and sightsee... so here's where I'll leave the explanations for the pictures, but overall Sweden has been my absolute FAVORITE country that I've visited and I definitely plan on going back someday!

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Photos

First view
View of Sweden from the airplane

Glass Obelisk
The glass obelisk fountain that is in the center of Stockholm. Everything in stockholm, from the statues to interior design, seems to be very modern and innovative.

Ponderous
I just thought this was funny... a raving nightclub set on top of a McDonalds. Classy.

Architecture
Stockholm is such a picturesque town... every building has so much detail.

Water
Water water and more water...everywhere.

Water
Another view of the docks

For Grandma Davidson
For you, Grandma :)

Hard labor
Damon trying his hand at some old-fashioned work.

Bakery Goods
Traditional Swedish pastries. The smaller one is kind of like a cinnamon roll and the larger one is like a doughnut with applesauce inside. Both greeeeat.

Skansen View
View of a part of Stockholm from Skansen. You can see the blue rollercoaster of Sweden's oldest amusement park.

Glass blowers
We were captivated by this for a good hour.

Soldattorpet - The Soldier's Cottage
Between 1682 and 1901 farmers were obliged to provide soldiers with housing, food and a uniform. This is an example of a cottage that would be provided. Goose not included.

Elk
We decided that they look like a mix between mules, deer, and a kangarou.

Reindeer!
They do exist!

Peacock
What a beauty... but no matter how much we cat-called him, he wouldn't fluff out his feathers for us.

Surveying
That's the Royal Palace in view.