Saturday Candy Day

I must begin with a minor correction: Helen is actually Helena (Hel-ee-en-a) and Yohan is really (much to my disappointment) the very traditionally Swedish "Johan"! 

So that being said, I begin with the tales of today's adventures...

After a night of a terrible headache and very little good sleep I was less than impressed to be awoken by screaming children, but really what is to be expected when of four children the oldest is 8?  

We went to a sort of village today with an old castle (though not in the way one might think of one) that outdates our country by over 100 years.  On one side of a sort of river is the castle and several large and beautiful houses, and on the other are what were once homes of steel and wood workers (now they have textile displays and little restaurants).  

This is the main Castle place on in the village.  Built in 1620, according to the brochure

Back in the 1600s, this was the larges Iron gate (largest or longest, I'm not sure) in Sweden, or so I'm told

I don't have a clue what this is but it was old and cool 

Another view of the main house and the previously mentioned river thing/body of water

This is another big fancy house on the property! Rich people lived here, I presume

There was also a sort of play place for the kids in one of the first buildings.  It put McDonald's to shame.  Complete with an underground part, tons of levels to the above ground place, and toys that I have never seen before in real life.  

I personally enjoyed the giant hamster wheel... 

The kids just loved to pull themselves up.  You pull the chain and the box slowly lifts... as if my magic!

All of these animals on the little put put course are made of old things: mufflers, pipes, pliers, even an ax for the flamingo's head

After we hung out at the village place for a few hours, we drove back into town to visit one of the grocery stores to get candy.  I am told it is a tradition that the kids not eat candy during the week, but on Saturdays it's basically a stuff-your-face-fest... I don't know if that is a family tradition or a Swedish tradition... that was never clarified!

Swedish Fish.  Made me think of my brother.

After spending some time with the Candy-ed up kids, I have reaffirmed the decision that I don't want children for quite a few more years!

The WALL of candy that exists in just about every store I have been in to both here and in Stockholm 

Then the kids went down the street to play on the playground at the local preschool where Oscar (the 5 year old son) goes to school.  I opted to stay behind with Johan and start on dinner (which was AWESOME by the way).  I made a salad and dressing, chopped vegetables (yes, they let me use a knife) and helped make something that, though I can't spell it, is pronounced Totziki (its Greek apparently). 

Dinner was so good, grilled vegetables, really good pork, salad, the aforementioned totziki (of questionable spelling), and a glass of wine.  I have to admit, I'm starting to get a taste for good wine.  It will be sad when back in the states I am no longer legal and also, more importantly, can't afford any! 

I leave this post with this: 

1st: according to twitter there is a man named Fire Penguin Disco Panda.

2nd: In Sweden apparently there is a saying that kids have after dinner.  It translates roughly to: 

Thanks for dinner, 

it was good.  

Half the people threw up 

and the rest died. 

The Swedish Countryside

Today we left Stockholm to travel north (the location was described to me as either the top of the bottom third of the country or the bottom of the middle third... sort that one out yourself!) to a place called Östhammar which is very near the coast.  

We are staying with Yohan (or Johan... I'm not sure) and Helen (not sure about the spelling but it is pronounced Heneeen... strong E) and their two sons. 

It is about an hour and a half north of Stockholm, and has a similar feel to Tornio in Finland, but at the same time not the same.  It is beautiful here but less vivid; less bathed in bright sunlight even though the sun is shining.  That has its advantages and disadvantages, though.  Here, it is maybe not quite so remarkable nor so effortlessly picturesque, but it is more believable and I imagine it will be easier to sleep, since it will be darker outside.  

Not as dark as Stockholm, but still dark.  

There is SO much nature here.  Everything is green and growing and flowering! Maybe even more than in Finland, maybe just different than Finland. 

Helen LOVES to Garden.  She grows grapes, American blueberries (apparently they are different here), these things that look like mini strawberries, flowers, vegetables, seasonings like Oregano and basil and tons more!  This is their back yard. 

This is the view of the back yard from the left side of the garden looking out.  

These grow wild.  They are just so pretty!

Helen told me that there is a law in Sweden that says the woods cannot be owned by anyone, so people are free to walk through them and pick wildflowers and berries!  

One thing in particular I have found interesting about Sweden as compared to America, is the difference in perspective on time.  When we say something is very old in America, we mean two, maybe three hundred years.  Here there are churches everywhere that vastly out-age our entire country. When they speak of something old, they mean five hundred, seven hundred, even nine hundred years ago!

Also I found out tonight, in the midst of a heated agreement with Yohan (I'm choosing the Y spelling because I like it better) about things from politics to religion (basically everything you're not supposed to talk about with strangers) that Sweden has a very liberal point of view on most things.  

Yohan and Helen lived in the states for 2 1/2 years and they really I think feel that the Swedish healthcare system and childcare systems are far preferable to those in America.  The universal healthcare system they have here sounds pretty good, but I don't really think it could realistically be implemented in the US because our system is too screwed up to be fixed, in either a right or left wing direction.  

The biggest thing I have realized today is that a week or two in a place is enough to see it, but not enough to understand it.  I don't understand Swedish life any more than the Titanic understood the tip of the iceberg (hahaha aren't I funny... please be amused, I'm really proud of that one) But seriously, you really do have to spend more time in a place to know it.  

I'll just have to come back one day and stay longer. 

Like I said at the beginning, I feel like this is just a first step!

SHOPPING

So today I spent the vast majority of the day shopping in Old City and Downtown Stockholm with Vanja and her friend Jessica (pronounced yessica) and Jessica's dad's girlfriend's adorable Cocker Poo and it was great fun!

Vanja

Jessica and the dog (name of which I can neither pronounce nor spell)

Don't they both look so stereotypically Swedish! I was quite amused... but really though, there are  a lot of blonde people here, which even they pointed out!

It was really a great time to hang out with people my age and they were both so nice! We took the subway and walked around a bit then had lunch outside because really it was a spectacular day.  They were the first people not to tell me that I look like my mom, though I imagine that would be because they don't know what my mom looks like. 

We shopped and hung out for about 4 and a half hours until Jessica had to go home, and then Vanja and I hung out for a bit longer and then I headed back to the apartment for dinner.  

Stockholm is really such a cool city and really unlike any of the US cities I have been too.  Plus one of the coolest things was buying a drink with my own ID... nothing major just what they call a citer (basically flavored sparkling water with a LITTLE bit of alcohol in it... as seen in the above pictures) It was cold and nice, since it was pretty warm here.  

This and the two above are a part of what they referred to as the Old City, which is right next to down town

This restaurant that we passed had a tree growing in it, and all of the seasonings were fresh growing on the table for you to pick and put on your food... I think it was a pizza place. 

This and the ones above it, but below old city are all located in downtown.  I don't know what all of the buildings are but they were cool and some were quite old. 

I also saw the Jesus lady... apparently a legend in the city... known for chasing people around (literally) screaming at them that they are going to hell... Vanja and Jessica were adequately uncomfortable until she went around a corner to shout at some other people. 

There was also an ice carving thing for kids in honor of the newly coming Ice Age 4 (..... yes, FOUR) and a Manny made of coke bottles. 

I guess no stranger than some things one might find in New York or DC, but in any case cleaner!

While there were some very, very cute clothes (some of which I bought.  My spoils include a shirt, a skirt, and a cool pair of shorts... and yes a pair of cool black stripy heals) But we also saw many, many bad things, sparkly things, faux snakeskin things, SEQUINED things... one of which was a long black pencil skirt adorned with tons of blueish-greenish sequins... it looked like genuine mermaid hide.  

Also there was this beauty:

I saw a surprising number of American flag things here...

It was a really fun day, and good to get away from the family for a bit and be around people my age! 

Tomorrow we are leaving to drive north to a coastal city that begins with an O to stay for the weekend, but we will be back in Stockholm on Monday.  I really do miss home, but I can't believe how fast this whole trip is going by!

The Monarchy, The Walk, The Family

So yesterday I discovered that Sweden is a monarchy... They have a king and a queen and a crown princess and everything... I had really never thought about the politics of Sweden before, but I was really excited about the discovery, because though I have actually been to several I have no recollection of ever being in a monarchy.  Cool.

On the walk that will be mentioned shortly, We saw this building, which is actually one of the King's castles, though he doesn't live there.  It was apparently where they lived regularly a couple of hundred years ago, but is now primarily used as a military academy

 The Castle extended wayyyyy down both sides. 

Anyway, after dinner Therese, Ali and I went for a walk (the previously mentioned walk, in fact)... We went down a street and through a tunnel and over a bridge and down to some nature area and a marina (the marina is technically not a part of Stockholm, but it is a part of the greater city area)

It was so cool... there were people running everywhere and the walk was really just so pretty! And get this-- Stockholm has an infestation... of RABBITS!

They just basically roam the city, and people will throw food down in places that are known to be homey to rabbits.  This is sort of an area of construction connecting the tunnel that I mentioned to the bridge... that I also mentioned.  The babies are CUTE too!

The walk was very nice... so pretty! Stockholm really is beautiful! Some photos for your viewing enjoyment...

View from the bridge

View right before we got to the castle/military academy

There is so much nature, and it's so accessible! It's even a part of the city!

 

*wow formatting these pictures is a royal pain (well I guess not technically royal)

AAANNNYYYYWWWAAAYYY... Today we went to a different part of Sweden, about an hour away by train! (the trains were so cool! They had who stories!)

Moo Moo and Tessa at the train station

shitty picture (we were in a hurry) but you can kind of see the top part!

stairs leading to the top floor

 I do apologize for the crummy quality of the photos... and also for how long this post is... but I digress... and now proceed...

We met Therese's sister Jessica and Threse's best friend-- Jessica (they have known each other since they were SEVEN, crazy, especially since Jessica lived in London for 15 years and even though she is Swedish, she is exactly how I imagine a British woman).  We went to her Dad's house that is on a river.  He died a few months ago though, its too bad.  He seemed like a cool guy.  We hung out and had lunch and just chatted. It was really nice, and the kids LOVED the hot tub. 

My Swedish has been getting better, (and by better, I mean better not BETTER or even BeTtEr)  I've been trying to write down all the new words I learn in a journal Moo Moo got me. 

We came home and had a good dinner and hung out for a bit and now here I sit... Typing away, when really I should be watching Bones. 

Tomorrow I am going shopping with Vanja (the Js are pronounced like Ys so its kind of like "vahnya" the "a" is soft, not like aaah!" so hopefully that will be fun! 

Take Two

Sorry for the rapid fire posts here, but I just felt the need to update with my accomplishments.  After the grumbling in my stomach became too much to bear, I ventured out again into the streets.  This time with success.

I ventured a little bit farther outside of my comfort zone, took a different street, and managed to find a 7-eleven where I purchased a small microwave pizza and a vitamin water.  After receiving an unchomporhemnding stare, the nice man kindly asked me if I would like a bag, in English... seeing as jog taler inte svenska.

On the way back I saw a vote little bakery and stopped to get a sweet almond bread thing.

AND even found my way back on the FIRST try!

...jog taler inte svenska

walking around did not go quite as planned... you see, I speak basically no swedish, I read even less, I am terrible at directions, and I didn't think to bring an umbrella...

So after an hour of walking around back and forth, up and down streets I return wet, with no food... but at least I found my way back.

The only restaurant that had some english on the menu clearly said LUNCH 11:00-14:00.... I'd say 1pm qualifies as within that time... and yet, the doors did not seem to want to open (and yes, I pushed AND pulled)

Also, there was a cool looking antique store that I tried to go into, until I figured out that it is only open by appointment... What makes them so special... anyway, then it started to rain.  What a waste of perfectly good straightened hair.

and it came out of no where! The skies were blue with puffy white cloud scattered around... and then... rain.

view down the street... its very pretty but please note the clouds.  Those were not there a few minutes prior 

The place on the left is where we are staying!  The living room is the big rounded corner

Hopefully on my next outing I will have a little bit more luck.  And hopefully I can find SOMETHING to EAT!

Childless

Today I actually get some time away from children!  Not that I don't like spending time with the kids, but three kids ages 3 4 and 6 are a bit overwhelming... (Therese and Magnus have a 4 year old daughter) 

Everyone left to go to a child theme park sort of place featuring Swedish children's stories and such.  It would have been fun to get a little taste of Pippi Långstrump, who I loved as a kid, but I took door number 2 instead.  

So I have free range to the apartment, most importantly to the food and wifi, a key, some money and a bus pass.  After relaxing in the apartment for a bit, soaking in the quiet, I think I'll head out and do a little exploring in North Stockholm.  I could go for a nice meal for lunch and maybe a little bit of shopping.  

should be fun...

The Apartment

Therese and Magus were living in the apartment they are in now, a beautiful place in North Stockholm, with shops, restaurants, everything you could need all in walking distance.  There are trees everywhere and not a bit of trash anywhere!

Therese and Magnus and their girls live on what is sort of a ground floor (there is a store underneath  that is kind of half in the basement half above) and out the back, there is this little place.  There is a grill and everything for outdoor meals and cooking.  

They have a big open living room (this picture doesn't do justice) with a pretty view of trees and some of the surrounding homes

The houses are a few stories up up and down the street, all colorful, but not too much.  There are a lot of trees near the homes, less when you get to shops and stores, but its all really pretty!