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.