The Swedish Friends

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Hi! We are finally getting some photos from Europe on the blog!




Helsinki, Finland

August 30th--Our flight left Thailand at 12:30am and 10 1/2 hours later we arrived in Helsinki @ 6:330am. It was COLD!!! We had to change into our warmest clothes (which still were not very warm), then bussed into the city to explore. Fall was already here with all the leaves beginning to change colors. The city was smaller than we expected so we walked everywhere, and the mix of old buildings with modern ones along with some cobblestone streets made it quite charming. And we were definitely ready to be back in Western culture. (though we stuck out like sore thumbs in our Icebreaker wool jerseys, quick-dry pants, and hiking shoes 😊 A good day of sight-seeing, then back to the airport for a 9:30pm flight to Stockholm.

Stockholm, Sweden

A late arrival at City Backpackers, thank goodness we only had a 15 minute walk from the train station. Only one day to see Stockholm (definitely not enough time) and we woke up to blue sky and sunshine. The city is actually made up of several islands, some only separated by canals

and others a good ferry ride away. Old buildings tower above, everything is super clean--it is a beautiful city.

We watched the Norwegian military band perform in front of the old palace, walked through the old town, Gamla Stan, with it's narrow cobblestone streets, quaint restaurants and cafes, boutiques, and tourist shops. The central downtown area was more modern, and we enjoyed strolling the sidewalks and people-watching, wandering by the river and watching all the boats come into the harbor at sunset, and just soaking up the city.




Gothenburg, Sweden

Our final stop in Sweden on the west coast is the home of Heidi's family friends, Thomas and Elizbeth Petterson. We stayed with them for nearly a week, and it was so nice to stay in a home after 4 months of traveling.

The first night we went to a traditional crayfish party with some of their neighbors. A GREAT time. We went to their family cabin at a lake a few hours away over the weekend where we at our meals outside and cozied up by the fire at night, had delicious food and wine, and Heidi even did a sauna and bathed in the freezing lake. We had lunch in Mariestad at Karina and Bjorn's home, a small town near a huge lake. Back in the city we did some sight-seeing, celebrated Heidi's birthday, and had an evening on a small island off the coast where we had a picnic and walked around on the huge rocks as the sun went down. We really enjoyed getting to indulge in Swedish culture.

One more flight took us back to Helsinki for a day, this time we took a ferry to a small island, Suomenlinna that used to be a fortress in the 1700's: old forts, canons, and huge walls against the sea. Unfortunately the weather turned bad and we were stuck in the library for a few hours drinking coffee and tea and reading travel books. Eventually we bussed back to the airport to find ourselves some cozy couches in a lounge for our beds that night....yep, we slept in the airport since our flight was early the next day!

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Photos

Tuomiokirkko, and the Senaatori
The Lutheran Cathedral--the first of many European churches--and senate square in Helsinki. A beautiful place, but so many tourists!

The Crayfish Party
About 20 of us, eating fresh crayfish from the Baltic sea, drinking schnapps and wine, wearing funny hats, and singing the traditional songs...quite a crazy and fun night!

Visiting the Coast of Sweden
Most of the small coastal island are rocky like this

Heidis Birthday dinner
Dan, Heidi, Elizbeth and Thomas Petterson, our hosts.