Stockholm Summer (Part Two)

June 10th

Guided Tour of Old Town

All that happened.


Then we all wound up back at Solveig's (minus Trevor due to work, plus Max because he took us around the island and we had been hanging out) and we made my potato soup. Then we played a few rounds of Bullshit and fell asleep.

June 11th

Tammy's Birthday!

Tammy has had internet friends in Sweden for a couple years now, so for her birthday we decided to go meet them. She wanted to go to meet one friend, I wanted to go to see if he was a serial killer. My research into the matter is still inconclusive. We woke up early and left for the bus station. Tammy got her cell phone situation sorted and we had some coffee while we waited for a bus. I got a Mumin coloring book so we could have something to do while we waited. We got on the Swebus and were whisked away to a land of man-made waterfalls and bone-chilling wind. Her friend Martin met us at the bus station with a friend of his own, and they greeted us with Starbucks. He was tall, with a serious case of Swedish face (Tammy and I have a theory that people who look very Swedish are either gorgeous or hideous. There is no middle ground.)He was wearing ghastly harem pants and concealer over his stubble. Why would you do that? Why wouldn't you just shave? Anyway, his friend noticed the coloring book and mentioned that there was a Mumin exhibit in town, which we decided to do instead of the aquarium or the zoo since both were closed. It was fun, but I understood very little. We wandered around and looked at some other exhibits before deciding it was time for soda and ice cream. There was this adorable (and freezing when the clouds came out) little place for snacks and drinks, so we stopped there to take in the glorious day. We sat down in an area for four, until Martin's friend wandered over to a swing. He followed, leaving the two of us with two empty seats and some confusion about etiquette. His friend needed something from the store so off we went to this magnificent and confusing shopping center. I may or may not have gotten lost for a while because the Swedes wandered off speaking Swedish privately and then Tammy had to find a bathroom. We all met up again and Martin and Tammy decided to try each other's cigarettes. They both called the other's brand gross. The weather took a turn for the worse and it was time to get back to the bus station. We got back to Stockholm, met up with Solveig, and went to Max's apartment to celebrate with Swedish pizzas. One was a bananas and curry pizza, which is apparently a logical combination. I thought it was gross. We watched a Batman movie and headed back to Solveig's.

June 12th

Blueberry Trail

Sounds like an adorable hike, right? It was, except for the feathery demons who were eyeballing me while we ate. Solveig and Lisa led Tammy, Stevie, and I there and we had DELICIOUS cake to celebrate Tammy's Birthday. It was beautiful there and as a cruise ship passed us, we got some of the passengers to wave to us.

June 13th


Touring
Tammy went to visit another friend. The rest of us went to the lake.

June 14th

NO SANTA! NO!
        Tammy went to visit a third friend, and I went out to see the city with Solveig and Stevie. Stevie was a shutterbug that day, and she got some great pictures.

                                            

                                     

We made our way to Stockholm's smallest street. When we got there, there was a portly man with a white beard and a red turtleneck staring very intently at us out a window. Some time between these:

And this one.

The man came out of the house, completely naked. He was just staring at us. I told Stevie and Solveig that there was a naked man and that we should leave as fast as we could. Stevie started packing up, trying to avoid seeing, but she accidentally turned the wrong way and saw naked Santa. She froze in shock for a minute.. Solveig didn't think I meant that he was totally naked, so she looked too. She froze too. It was like seeing Medusa. Turning the opposite way down the street we ran from the Medusa man, we decided to go to the cutest little cafe to calm down and eat. We got Swedish pancakes and then ventured back out into the world.

We returned to Solveig's to share our horror story with Tammy.




Part Three up next.

Highlights of Stockholm (Part One)

                So finally (eight months later) I've decided to post about my incredible trip to Sweden. Let's take it day by day!
June 5th
The Ride

After having to stop to snag some forgotten vital items, we headed to the airport, arriving three or four hours early. We had a hilarious trip there which resulted in pictures like this one. We got there and I panicked, remembering I had forgotten to call my bank. The reception in the terminals at McCarran sucks, go figure. After I dealt with that business, I sat down with Tammy and almost immediately got another call. This time from my aunt Nikki to tell me to be safe and that she was very excited for me. Tammy and I play a cool star puzzle game until we boarded. Then we said goodbye to Las Vegas and hello to Tammy's first plane ride! She didn't really know what to expect, but she handled it very well. For the following sixteen (was it sixteen?) hours, we played the star game, watched Funny Girl while we ate a delicious dinner. Then we drugged ourselves to sleep (only with Benadryl) and when we woke up, it was time for a very refreshing breakfast. We landed soon afterward.
June 6th
Assault on Germany

The Bee Gees was playing as we were lead off the plane  and into a misty, rainy day in Germany. The Frankfurt Airport was amazing! It was so huge and we got German chocolate as we got off the plane. I purchased my first alcoholic beverage ever. I ate a pretzel. We found a secret microphone hanging from the ceiling, so we decided to say things that could potentially get us in trouble. There were a lot of Nazi jokes.

Our layover was four hours, and we thought it would be too long, but we actually enjoyed the airport so much that we didn't mind. We forgot to request seats near each other, so for a couple hours we were separated, but we (accidentally) caught a nap on the way to Stockholm. 

On arriving in Sweden, we got horribly, terribly lost at Arlanda. We wandered around a while looking at the shops and wondering where we were supposed to be. We finally found Lisa, Trevor, and Stevie and I was greeted with a running hug from Lisa. I hadn't seen her in so long and I was so tired, I might have teared up a bit. Then we packed up the car with our enormous luggage and off to Lisa's house we went. We met her parents and her sister Sara, which was nice because we had heard about them for so long. Then we ate Sweden's most bought car with Lisa and Trevor and went to bed.

June 7th

Picnics and Swedes

The day before Lisa's graduation we went to a store to get our transit passes (and super chocolatey muffins and things) and then to the picnic with her classmates! They taught us this fun game where you use pegs to knock down other  pegs and you are on teams and... It was fun. I can't explain it, but I would gladly play again. We went to a store with out of order bears and got SO MUCH BEER for the beer truck.

 Then we went back to the house and talked about life and gossip on the swing in Lisa's yard drinking orange juice. It was a very relaxing day. Lisa's parents made a fantastic dinner with this delicious meat substitute and I don't remember what it was called, but we ate dinner over stories about Lisa's younger life. I believe this was the night we watched Dirty Dancing (I had never seen it before) but I don't remember. 

June 8th

GRADUATION!

This was the reason I went to Sweden in the first place. We got there early, loaded up the beer truck, and waited. It got crowded and then Solvieg showed up. There was a great running of the students and then a grand reunion!

Then we got on the beer truck! We got on, shook up some beers and sprayed them all over. We cheered as we went over the bridge into Stockholm where we weren't allowed to be. We were very cold until about halfway through. Then things started getting... Dizzy. Although I hadn't actually ingested any beer, somehow I was still drunk. There was singing, dancing, loud music and hilarious people. Then it was time for Lisa's graduation party. We had to get cleaned up and un-beer a little, but then we went to go be with all the lovely people there to celebrate a milestone in Lisa's life. There may have been a little too much champagne in my system on too little food, because when we left with Solveig to go stay with her, the weight of my suitcase dragged me backward down an escalator. Not fun. We got back, learned how to work the shower, showered up, and went to sleep.
June 9th
Biological Warfare

Solveig had been in Ireland before we arrived, and due to a chain of awful luck, she wasn't able to arrive in Stockholm until right before Lisa's graduation started. While in Ireland, she contracted a foreign cold. A cold she was kind enough to pass on to two of her three visitors. Tammy and I took a sick day while Solveig and Stevie went out adventuring. By the time they got back, we were feeling up to an excursion so we went to see Moonrise Kingdom. We stopped for McDonald's on the way home.

Part Two to come later.

Life Since Moving

So I don't really update this a whole lot, but I have such an awful memory that I probably should. I moved in October from tiny stifling Southern Utah to larger, overstimulating Ogden. Since moving, a lot has happened and changed very quickly. I now seem to have developed a slight case of agoraphobia (which darling David and lovely Tammy are forcing me to overcome every chance they get,) I've started school, I've got an awesome job, I have fallen in love, and I have gone through terrible loss. I'd like to start with those last two.

This itty bitty darling is Jiji. He was brought to me by Tammy when she came up for orientation at Weber. He was playful and sweet and he loved laps. He did not seem to realize, however, that laps belong to people. Once in a while, people need to move around. He would walk up, claim your lap as his rightful throne and then grump and bitch and complain whenever you got up to eat or shower. He was the sweetest little thing that ever walked the Earth. Little did Dave and I realize, he wouldn't be walking the Earth for long. Our poor Jiji was infected with FIP, a disease that most cats get, but a small percentage can't handle. We didn't realize that, having been a stray, he was at an increased risk of dying from it. We didn't even know he had it until we took him to the vet and they told us the kindest thing we could do would be to put him down. I'll spare you the heart-wrenching details of that visit, partly because it's so depressing, partly because I can't even think of it without crying. Jiji lived with us a month, but losing him felt as heartbreaking as losing someone I'd known my entire life. I still can't help feeling like it's my fault, but Dave and Aunt Nikki, as well as the kind vet who guided us through our tears, told me there wasn't anything we could have done.

Then school happened.

I realized I picked the right major when I tried to tell my professor that his class was the high point of my week and all his responses were as rushed and awkward as mine. He's by far the most interesting professor I've met and I'm enjoying Anthropology 1000. Not so much my English class, but that's to be expected.

I interviewed for and got a fantastic job.

My hair has grown like weeds.

I have found a new favorite store.

A new favorite person to argue with. (This is a lie. Dave and I have been together a year and a half. Not that new.)

And I've discovered an appreciation for tea that I never had before. This face is because of being sick at the time, not the tea. The tea is lovely.

Life is pretty great.

P.S. I also went to a a masquerade with Kayla and Solveig that was SO MUCH FUN! And Tammy couldn't go, haha Tammy.