Sweden aka: Sverige

The first thing I did was eat Prinsesstårta at the airport. This was the greatest thing I ate during my entire time in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.

First night was spent at some kitschy motel built inside of an airplane in Uppsala. Funny at the time, but next time I’d just drive the extra few kilometers from the airport to lodge somewhere normal.

When I was in downtown Stockholm, all the Swedes wore jeans cuffed at the ankle with keds.

Stopped in Malmo, but nothing memorable to report. Ate lunch at the first IKEA in Almhult, which was the best. Spent the last night in Helsingborg, at a Best Western which I could not recommend enough. My room had an enormous window and wood floors!

I would come back just for the wildlife alone. Elderflower, Queen Anne’s lace, little red flowers dotting green hills, evergreen trees all over the place… It was so nice that I bought (for only 30 kr!) a botanical print somewhere in Stockholm I think.

The last thing I did was, yep, ate more Prinsesstårta at the airport.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/sweden/7838161/Sweden-to-build-new-nuclear-power-stations-in-defiance-of-a-1980-referendum.html

http://www.sweden.se/eng/Home/Lifestyle/Traditions/Celebrating-the-Swedish-way/Midsummer/

http://goscandinavia.about.com/od/annualeventstraditions/a/midsummerseve.htm

I’ve been to Björklinge, and Uppsala. I originally went there for a friend’s wedding, which was held in a castle that was older than the United States itself! There was even original artwork in it! I got there a bit ahead of time to spend time with friends, and they definately gave me my money’s worth. We visited Uppsala often, and I had arrived there just in time to enjoy the celebration of what would be the United States’ equivalent of a high school graduation. There were huge trucks with graduates in well dressed uniforms, blasting music a drinking. It was definitely a party to be at.

The host family I stayed with were SUPER hospitable. They housed a large number of people, and fed us all well. To help out, every once in a while, my friend and I would head to the forest to cut down a tree and gather firewood, both for the stove at the house and for bonfires in the park.

In Uppsala, we would walk around town, and travel by public transportation. On the bus, no one would talk to eachother, unless they knew eachother well. When finding a restroom, one had to pay 5 krona. Sometimes people would hold the door for you when exiting the bathroom, so you didn’t have to pay. Others would purposefully shut the door and pay before they went in. Near by, someone had even scratched in “Stäng inte dören,” to which my friend told me meant, “don’t close the door.”

The latitude of Sweden made for an interesting time for sleeping, as Sweden is far enough north that the sun would not completely set in the summer. Night would only look like 9pm in the U.S. in the summer, and the sun would start rising. When we would have a bonfire, we easily lost track of time when the sun would not set, and be out there until 5 am.

I thought before I went there that I would exchange money ahead of time. This was interesting, since the exchange rate was about $1 to about 7-8 Krona. I thought that I would be pretty rich over there with 750 krona, but I was sadly mistaken. I was truely blessed with a great host family.

There was so much more to tell, such as getting lost and visiting the largest church in Scandinavia, but I had better get some sleep. I can’t wait to visit again, and have been learning Swedish for a year now. God natt.

i wasnt there long i wish i was but i only went there for shopping. i was in Norway and we went everywhere and my aunt which we were staying with said why dont we visit Sweden and you guys can do a bit more shopping so we did that. the trip there was, we took a ship, a small dont know if you can call it a boat and we stayed there only a day and come back to Norway at night. but i liked it even though i didnt see much of the place. it was good shopping and the sea was there so it was a good day. i will visit again for a loger time i hope.