Reunited in Sweden

Over the weekend Rachel and I took on Stockholm, the capital of Scandinavia. I met her at the Stockholm Arlanda airport, me flying just an hour from Vaasa and her flying all the way from Dallas. It was a lovely weekend full of art, bad luck (that we laughed at, I'll get to that), cardamon, and exploring. With the Stockholm card in hands, which gained us entry into almost every museum and free public transportation, we wandered around the unique districts in Stockholm, and soaked up all the exciting city had to offer.

Our first day we explored Gamla Stan, where Stockholm was first built after its founding in 1252. A hundred shades of gold accented by pink flowered trees and bright green overhanging vines. We wound through the cobblestone streets, peeking at Swedish design boutiques, tacky souvenir shops, and endless cafes boasting of the best fika in Stockholm. And then some bad luck struck. Basically, you won't notice if your shoe picks up a piece of garbage when you're already stepping on imperfect cobblestones. A plastic tie--maybe it had a 10 in. circumference?--got picked up by one of my feet, and it was probably just within the next step that my other foot found its way in also. I fell to my doom in the middle of a Stockholm street, first landing on my knee caps and then flat on my face. A few nice Swedes made sure I was ok, but I said thank you and scurried away to save my pride. I only lasted a few steps, though, before I realized that both of knees were swollen and in a lot of pain. That must have been quite the scene, especially with Rachel standing there laughing at the event (no offense taken). I hobbled back to the hotel led by Rachel and spent the rest of the evening icing both of my knees.

The next day we were determined to make up for lost time, so we took a bus to Djurgården, a green and cheery island in Stockholm that is chock full of museums. We visited five that day--the Vasamuseet, ABBA: The Museum, Nordiska Museet, Spritmuseum, and Fotografiska. They were all wonderful, each one offering something so different than the last. From a shipwreck salvaged from the 1600s, to controversial emotive photography, to the Sami people, to alcohol in Sweden, to the Swedish Music Hall of Fame, we saw a little bit of everything! Plus with walks through bright spring greenery and lunch and an ice cream cone in between, it was a great day. We topped it off by visiting a couple of bars in Sodermalm, known as the hipster district of Stockholm.

I got to see Rachel, I got to use the Swedish I've learned this semester, anf @I got to experience a little bit of the country from where half of my heritage originates...a successful weekend indeed!