Final update on our trip...

Leaving off with Stockholm:
We spent lots of time walking around and met Jesper's friends.

We took the high speed train to Gothenburg and were picked up and stayed by and with Dag. Dag is a former professor of Jesper's from Chalmers. Dag and his wife have two adopted kids, age 1 and 4. They made it a very lively stay.

In Gothenburg we attended Elle's master's thesis presentation at Chalmer's (in Swedish). I knit with her permission. In the evening, we all went to dinner to the fanciest restaurant in town. It was so fancy, I had to opt for the vegetarian option since I am not an eater of pate or fish roe. It was so delicious though. We had port wine with the chocolate mousse. YUM!!

We did lots of walking and a little shopping in Gothenburg. Jesper supplied me with a pair of wooden shoes. They are actually comfortable and I'm wearing them today at work.

Our final day included meeting another of Jesper's college friends who started out physics major, ended up a professional gospel music writer and organ player. After that, Jesper, Elle and I went on unlimited rides at Liseburgh amusement park. I was a hard sell to get on the scary roller coasters, but I ended up doing it and having a lot of fun! What doesn't kill you makes you stronger! OR... in Jesper's case, may send you to the chiropractor.

Anyway, it's really slow at work today and dumping rain. I am happy to be cozy in a sweater at home now that fall is here.

Click here to see all the photos (WARNING: there are a lot!)

Before I fall asleep, I'll add a few photos :)

The famous buildings in Copenhagen.

Beautiful Stockholm.

I got wooden shoes!

The largest amusement park in Scandinavia and we had unlimitd ride passes.

Jesper says 'Hey Doh" (goodbye) to Elisabeth (sister).

Rant:

I just realized that I left a bag of mine on the train. Two crystal items and my most recent HAND KNIT SWEATER!!!! grrr.
You know when you put something somewhere and tell yourself that you better not forget it? That's what I said to my self when I put it in the overhead bin. Sigh...

Bright side: Someone will get a nice hand knit sweater this winter from a train employee and a vase and a beer glass.

I am flying out tomorrow AM. I'm in Copenhagen now.

I haven't had internet acccess in Gothenburg. Anyway, it's good to be able to head home and I'm looking forward to seeing my kitty Stella and my friends and to be able to speak English all the time.

We had PERFECT weather this for our trip and I think itøs going to start raining after we leave. We caught the last window for the season of sunny skies.

Sorry it's taken me so long to write!!

So.... (That's a typcal Swedish expression at a silence in the conversation.)

Copenhagen was nice, but I had a horrible experience with a rude shop owner in a yarn store and so that made me not so impressed with Danish people anymore. On the bright side, renting a bike was a perfect way to see Copenhagen in a day. There are thousands of bicycles and they blanket the city. My hotel rented me one, so I cruised and shopped all day. Even though it rained, it always stopped and so that wasn't much of an issue. I was excited to buy real teaspoons (for tea) which are totally impossible to buy in the US, but a standard part of a flatware set in Europe and the UK, and downunder.
Tuesday last week I took the train North to Kalmar to stay with Jesper and his family. I was greeted at the train station and got a quick driving tour of the city. When we got to their house, they had put up both the Swedish and USA flag. They were so welcoming and made me feel at home as much as possible. We brought Bisquick to make American pancakes for breakfast. One day we went on a tour of the Kalmar castle and I follwed the tour, but since it was given in Swedish, I got pieces translated by Jesper. One day we went to the glass area, very near Kalmar. We hit 3 towns, th last being Orreforrs. We have quite a collection of glass and crystal to bring home. One glass already broke, luckily it wasn't one of the special pieces.

The last day we were in Kalmar, we all went out on the family sailboat in pretty high winds and ended up having a pretty wild ride. It got even more exciting when the engine started threatening to die on the way back. We decided to turn into a nearby marina and the engine did end up dying, but it restarted and we were able to dock. Since the marina was downtown, we did a little shopping and Jesper's dad made a duct tape engine repair. I bought a cast iron griddle that has four heart shapes on it, I may regret it if I decide to carry it on the airplane to get my tax rebate. It's so heavy!

About Sweden... typical breakfast is open-face sanwiches. Or sandwich rolled in a bread similar to flour tortillas. Tea and newspaper reading. The big election is coming up, so there are debates on TV and posters everywhere. National policial change is a common topic of conversation. There are about 7 parties here, so it's hard to keep them straight.

So.

We are now in Stockholm. I would call this city the Paris of Sweden. It is very beautiful and the old town is very neat to walk through. We've been staying with Jesper's friend he grew up with in school, Magnus. He and his girlfriend Jennifer are both professional photographers and are really talented. They have a cool flat where they just remodelled the kitchen. Very modern and sleek. We took a trip out to the water and went for a quick swim on Sunday and today we took a ferry out to an island and explored the beach and had a nice lunch. Last night we went to a jazz club, but it was improv jazz, so a little hard on the ears!

Not a ton of knitting done. I've ripped out about 5 hours of work on my colorwork socks and am still working on the other socks I brought. There is a yarn store here on the same block as we are staying, but they don't have anything really special, so I am not buying any yarn. I picked up my other Swedish souvineers yesterday, so I think I am a little sopped out.

I'm here, but counting the hours to bedtime after my nap. I've been wandering around today and took a city bus tour. I've found it strange not having any conversations-being a lone traveler. I DID find one out 3 knitting shops I walked by open. Sunday mornings are DEAD here! All the people I saw in town this morning were just tourists. I might rent a bike tomorrow. Biking is the thing to do here.

Today I am on an airplane to Copenhagen.

I'll be visiting Copnehagen, Denmark

Kalmar, Sweden

Stockholm, Sweden

Gothenburg, Sweden

I might be posting a few times while I'm abroad.