Today is my last full day in Stockholm. It's hard to believe that this time tomorrow I'll be on a plane heading back to America. I've had a wonderful time in Sweden. I'm going to miss all the friends I've made here. I'm also going to miss living next door to a forest preserve and a beach, and this city in general. Stockholm is my favorite city that I've been to (though I haven't been to many). I won't miss sharing my kitchen with strangers.
Only packing and a 9 hour plane ride until I am home for the rest of the summer. I can't wait to see all my friends and family back home!
Monday, July 30, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
Svalbard Synopsis
Hey guys! So since it's been over a week since I was in Svalbard, I figured it was about time to write about it. I probably can't give a good overview of it anymore, so you can check out this blog: http://eucenterillinois-abroad.blogspot.se/ instead. This is where people from my class post about each day, so they're really detailed. You'll have to sort through some other guy's blog too, but most of the posts are from us. My favorite part of the trip was probably the glacier hike (shown on the right), even though I loved it all! I'm planning on going back to the Arctic when I retire so that I can see an actual polar bear.Since we got back, I've pretty much just been relaxing since Svalbard was so intense. We have to write papers in groups of 3 that are 7000-7500 words. I finished my part at about 2,200 words a couple days ago, so I'm free of that until we write the conclusion. On Wednesday, a group of us went to Drottningholm, the palace where the royal family actually lives when they are in Stockholm. We didn't pay to get a tour of the inside, but the grounds were HUGE so there was lots to look at for free. It was a very beautiful place and I would imagine it would be a nice place to live except for the crazy amounts of tourists. I wonder what it was like there before the tourists...Here's a picture of me in the garden at Drottningholm.
Yesterday I was going to head for Barcelona for the remainder of the trip, but unfortunately my travel buddy got really sick, and we ended up not going. I guess I'll just have to come back to Europe another time! For now, I'm enjoying the time that I have left with the people who are still here. Today we are planning on going to see the Olympic Stadium from the 1912 Olympics, find a beach in the city, and then watch the opening ceremony later tonight.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Last 10 Days and I'm about to leave!
So much has happened in the last 10 days, so I'll do a quick list and then elaborate on anything especially exciting. You can also look at the pictures can be seen on my facebook, and I give you props if you make it through all of my excessive pictures.
I guess I sort of talked about everything that's happened anyway, haha. Tomorrow we leave for Svalbard/Spitsbergen. I'm so excited!!!! It will be a long day of travelling because we have to take 3 flights and there's a long layover for one of them, but it will be so worth it to get this chance to go to the Arctic circle. I just wish I didn't have to write a paper when I got back :(.
- Natural History Museum
- Out with Sofia
A few of us went with Sofia, a Swedish girl in our class, to a restaurant/bar just outside of Stockholm's city center. It was a really nice place where you could sit outside and get a view of Gamla Stan and the rest of the city. I got some great pictures of the "sunset"
- Indian Buffet
- Skeppsholmen/Kastellholmen
These last two were done on the same day. The Indian Buffet was in a really tiny building in Gamla Stan, so to conserve space they had the food in drawers in a heating cabinet. It was really strange, but the food was good. Afterwards we went for a walk on Skeppsholmen and Kastellholmen, a couple of small islands next to Gamla Stan. Kastellholmen has a small castle-type building and was originally used as a military base, but now the two islands just have museums.
- City Hall
Stockholm's City Hall is AMAZING. They have the dinner for the Nobel Prize presentations here. There is a room that is entirely covered with 23.5 karat gold. It took 10 kg to cover the room with the mosaic pieces. There was a lot of symbolism in the building too, such as the three chandeliers in the "Tre Kronor" room. The word for chandelier is the same as the word for crown (kronor) in Swedish, and the Three Crowns is a symbol of Sweden.
- Nordic Museum
- Ice Bar
This is a MUST for any tourist of Stockholm. This bar is entirely made of ice, even your cups! They give you a coat and gloves to wear, and you stay in the bar for about an hour, which is plenty because it's cold! Every year the Ice Bar is rebuilt with ice form northern Sweden.
- Djurgarden
Derek, Noel, and I went for an innocent walk around Djurgarden, a HUGE park/forest right in the city of Stockholm. Djurgarden used to be the royal hunting grounds, but is now just a park. We ended up walking for almost 5 hours because we wandered almost to the end of the island, but we saw a lot of cool things along the way. We found the most AMAZING playground ever, were practically able to touch a swan, and saw some hot air balloons take off. We ended our walk with a run to Gamla Stan for delicious ice cream.
- Uppsala
9 of us took a day trip to Uppsala, Sweden. Here we saw Uppsala Cathedral, Uppsala University, the Silver Bible, botanical gardens, Uppsala Slott, and Gamla Uppsala. Everything was so beautiful. In Gamla Uppsala we saw the burial mounds, where people (probably ancient kings) were buried in huge mounds in the earth, kind of like a pyramid, but way simpler. There was also the old church, which used to be the main church of Uppsala. I liked it because it was like a mini version of the Cathedral. There was also an old-style graveyard around the church. We were lucky because while we were in the Cathedral, a brass quintet was performing, and in the old church they were practicing the organ. I took videos of both, so you should go check it out.
I guess I sort of talked about everything that's happened anyway, haha. Tomorrow we leave for Svalbard/Spitsbergen. I'm so excited!!!! It will be a long day of travelling because we have to take 3 flights and there's a long layover for one of them, but it will be so worth it to get this chance to go to the Arctic circle. I just wish I didn't have to write a paper when I got back :(.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Midsommar and More!
I should really update this more often so that I don't have to cover as much each time I do it.
Friday the 22nd was Midsommar, one of Sweden's biggest holidays. You can watch a video about it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8ZLpGOOA1Q. Basically everything in that video is entirely true! We did not have a sudden downpour, though. A few of us made the flower crowns and we all danced around the pole. It was a great day. Elin, a Swedish student, lives in the same housing area as us now, so she came with us when we celebrated in Bredang, a suburb of Stockholm. We got to see people in traditional clothing do the more complicated dances too. Here's a picture of Elin and Rachel being elephants!
Later that night we had a fire down at the beach. On Saturday, we went out to dinner at Vapiano's, an Italian restaurant. The food was delicious, and the atmosphere wonderful. I wish it was easier to find traditional Swedish food here, but there is too much influence from the immigrants.
On Saturday, a group of us took a tour of the Royal Palace. We also saw the Treasury, the Tre Kronor Museum and Gustav III's antique museum. All were amazing and beautiful, but pictures were not allowed. While we were at the palace, we saw the Changing of the Guard Ceremony. The band from the Swedish Navy marches in and has a sort of concert while the guard changes. It was really cool. I took videos, so I'll figure out how to put those up at some point.
Today a few of us went to Hammarby Sjostad, a place on the outskirts of Stockholm that is being rebuilt into the ultimate sustainable city. It was really cool! Basically what they did here was tear it all down and start over from scratch. You can find details about it here. http://www.hammarbysjostad.se/inenglish/pdf/HS_miljo_bok_eng_ny.pdf. If I were to live in Stockholm, this is where I would probably choose to live. Because I love sustainability! There are very few parking spaces, so as to encourage people to bike or use the public transit. You can even take a boat as transportation! Sadly not included in my SL access card. My favorite part was the trash receptacles, haha. Here they are:
Friday the 22nd was Midsommar, one of Sweden's biggest holidays. You can watch a video about it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8ZLpGOOA1Q. Basically everything in that video is entirely true! We did not have a sudden downpour, though. A few of us made the flower crowns and we all danced around the pole. It was a great day. Elin, a Swedish student, lives in the same housing area as us now, so she came with us when we celebrated in Bredang, a suburb of Stockholm. We got to see people in traditional clothing do the more complicated dances too. Here's a picture of Elin and Rachel being elephants!
Later that night we had a fire down at the beach. On Saturday, we went out to dinner at Vapiano's, an Italian restaurant. The food was delicious, and the atmosphere wonderful. I wish it was easier to find traditional Swedish food here, but there is too much influence from the immigrants.
On Saturday, a group of us took a tour of the Royal Palace. We also saw the Treasury, the Tre Kronor Museum and Gustav III's antique museum. All were amazing and beautiful, but pictures were not allowed. While we were at the palace, we saw the Changing of the Guard Ceremony. The band from the Swedish Navy marches in and has a sort of concert while the guard changes. It was really cool. I took videos, so I'll figure out how to put those up at some point.
Today a few of us went to Hammarby Sjostad, a place on the outskirts of Stockholm that is being rebuilt into the ultimate sustainable city. It was really cool! Basically what they did here was tear it all down and start over from scratch. You can find details about it here. http://www.hammarbysjostad.se/inenglish/pdf/HS_miljo_bok_eng_ny.pdf. If I were to live in Stockholm, this is where I would probably choose to live. Because I love sustainability! There are very few parking spaces, so as to encourage people to bike or use the public transit. You can even take a boat as transportation! Sadly not included in my SL access card. My favorite part was the trash receptacles, haha. Here they are:
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Beginning of the Arctic
Yesterday we had our first class that is specifically on the Arctic. And we got to meet the Swedish students! Even though they're all masters or PhD students, the class doesn't seem too daunting....yet. Not all of the new students are from Sweden either, one is from Spain and a couple are from the US. Two of the Swedes are also female engineers, so I'm looking forward to getting to know them.
Most of the work we have to do for this class is reading, but we also take turns writing an entry for a blog on the Illinois European Union Center's Website. My partner's name is Aaron, and yesterday was our turn to do an entry. You can check out our blog here http://eucenterillinois-abroad.blogspot.se/2012/06/politics-campfires-and-peace-prizes.html
Most of the work we have to do for this class is reading, but we also take turns writing an entry for a blog on the Illinois European Union Center's Website. My partner's name is Aaron, and yesterday was our turn to do an entry. You can check out our blog here http://eucenterillinois-abroad.blogspot.se/2012/06/politics-campfires-and-peace-prizes.html
Saturday, June 16, 2012
June 13-16
Not too much has happened the last few days. On Wednesday we went to Skansen, a sort of living museum. Skansen is set up like a mini Sweden, so that you get all of the history there has been, and they are all in the correct location. Such as the Sami Camp is in the northern part of the park, and in real life the Sami are from the north. While we were at the outdoor museum, it decided to pour rain on us, so had to wait for a half an hour under an overhang until it stopped raining. Afterwards it was pretty nice, though. We went to one building where a woman taught us about how fibers are taken from the flax plant and then spun into thread to be woven into clothes. It was quite the complicated process.
On Thursday we went and bought a cheap frisbee so that we would have something to play with. Then I went with a few people to a thrift store, which wasn't quite as thrifty as one in America, so I didn't buy anything. Then later, when we were at the beach playing frisbee there were a couple people skinny dipping....at 6pm.....so that was interesting.
Friday we went out to eat at a bbq place. I kept myself from getting the unlimited ice cream bar, even though it looked delicious. It's hard to find authentic Swedish food here because of the influence of immigrants here. In class we learned that in the 90s one in five Swedes were foreign-born. And this all happened suddenly. After dinner we tried to go watch the football game in the park, but we were too late to find a place to see, so we just went back to our dorms to watch it on TV.
Today we had originally planned to go to Uppsala, but the weather didn't agree, so we went to the Nobel Museum instead. The museum was interesting, but it was kind of small. They had an exhibit where a photographer had done interviews with some of the more previous recipients of the prizes. The recipients were told to draw their discovery on a poster sized piece of paper and then they had their picture taken. The way that the photographer did these interviews showed the humorous sides of the scientists, so it was fun to look at the pictures. Now I have to write a 500 word essay about the history of Scandinavia and read about 100 pages for Monday, so I have a fun weekend ahead of me!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
First Couple Days
The last few days have been pretty relaxing. On Saturday I went to get some groceries since I'll be staying in one place for a while now. The cheapest store here is called Lidl, and it's set up EXACTLY like an Aldi. No joke. The only problem is that they don't sell peanut butter, and I'm almost halfway through the jar I brought :(. In the evening we decided to go see a movie at Filmstaden Sergel, the biggest theater in the area. We had planned on seeing Snowwhite and the Huntsman at 8:50, but when we got there around 8:15 we found that there were only 16 seats left and we had 13 people, so we chose the 11:45 showing instead. The weird thing about the movie theater is that you order your tickets on a computer and you have to reserve which seats you want as well. To get into the bathrooms you had to enter a code that was on your ticket to unlock the door. And the theaters were so huge that they had balconies. It was quite the experience. When we got out of the movie it was after 2 am, but it was bright enough out that we all felt wide awake and had trouble falling asleep.
Sunday a few of us went to Woz Cup 2012, the 7th World Cup for Segway Polo. Yea, that's right, people play polo on segways. It was probably the strangest thing that I had ever seen in my life. We also went to this little beach that is down the road from our dorms and worked on our homework for class. It's not warm enough to swim, but it's nice to be out in the open air.
Monday (yesterday) was our first day of class. Class goes from 9-12 but we get a half hour coffee break in the middle. We went to a 711 for our coffee break, where they sadly don't have slurpees, but they do have iced cappuccinos. In the evening our professor took us for a walking tour of Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm. There are lots of historical buildings in this area, including the Royal Palace and the Nobel Prize building (in front of which 82 people were once beheaded). We also walked down the narrowest street in Stockholm, which is barely wider than my shoulders.
Today after class we went to the Vasa Museum. This is a museum for a ship that sunk on its maiden voyage in 1628, but was found in 1961. The ship is the only almost fully intact ship from the 17th Century that has ever been salvaged. It was really cool to see all the intricate carvings that went into the construction of the ship. After the museum we went to dinner at a cafeteria-style restaurant where I got my first meal of Swedish Meatballs! They were soooooo good! They also gave you bread with your meal, and I may have brought some home with me haha
Sunday a few of us went to Woz Cup 2012, the 7th World Cup for Segway Polo. Yea, that's right, people play polo on segways. It was probably the strangest thing that I had ever seen in my life. We also went to this little beach that is down the road from our dorms and worked on our homework for class. It's not warm enough to swim, but it's nice to be out in the open air.
Monday (yesterday) was our first day of class. Class goes from 9-12 but we get a half hour coffee break in the middle. We went to a 711 for our coffee break, where they sadly don't have slurpees, but they do have iced cappuccinos. In the evening our professor took us for a walking tour of Gamla Stan, the old town of Stockholm. There are lots of historical buildings in this area, including the Royal Palace and the Nobel Prize building (in front of which 82 people were once beheaded). We also walked down the narrowest street in Stockholm, which is barely wider than my shoulders.
Today after class we went to the Vasa Museum. This is a museum for a ship that sunk on its maiden voyage in 1628, but was found in 1961. The ship is the only almost fully intact ship from the 17th Century that has ever been salvaged. It was really cool to see all the intricate carvings that went into the construction of the ship. After the museum we went to dinner at a cafeteria-style restaurant where I got my first meal of Swedish Meatballs! They were soooooo good! They also gave you bread with your meal, and I may have brought some home with me haha
Friday, June 8, 2012
A Whole Week of Wonders
So I didn't have my computer with me while I was in Berlin and Switzerland, so I wasn't able to blog at all while I was there and therefore I already know I'm going to leave a lot out, but it will still be a long blog ha. And you'll have to look at my facebook for pictures because there are over 700 and I don't feel like searching through them, haha.
We got to Berlin early in the morning on Saturday, and after we dropped off our luggage at our hostel, we decided to go find some food. We went the direction that the guy at the hostel said to, but we didn't really see any places and kept on wandering down the street when we stumbled upon a farmer's market type place. We found a place where they were selling dessert-type foods and couldn't resist buying some mousse cake things. I got rhubarb and it was sooooo good. I was also tempted to buy many other things that I didn't need, but passed up on them (even the vegetables that looked so fresh and good, I couldn't buy them because I had nowhere to keep or cook them). We also found this awesome park that we couldn't play on because it was fenced off. After this we began our walking tour and headed towards Brandenburg Tor. On the way, we found Berlin's largest park, which apparently has a lake in it, but we only walked along the edge path. On our self-guided tour we saw the Reichstag, memorial slabs for politicians who were kicked out during the nazi era, Brandenburg Tor, the Holocaust memorial and museum, and wall crosses as a memorial for those who died attempting to escape East Berlin. After this we were really tired from all the travelling we had done and went back to the hostel to take a nap. For dinner we went to a restaurant where you eat in the complete darkness. And I really mean that you can't see a thing, I had to use my fingers to find out what was on my plate. The people who served us were either blind or partially blind. It was really fun to eat here.
On Sunday we finished off the walking tour by going to see the Berlin Parliament, the Topography of Terror, and Checkpoint Charlie. At the Topography of Terror they have the last 200m of the wall that have been kept as preserved as possible. Sadly, people had drawn graffiti on the wall, but some of it was funny. They also had the history of the Hitler/Nazi era, and how it came into effect. It was interesting to see the ways that they had used propaganda to make people like Hitler and the Nazis. At Checkpoint Charlie we got our passports stamped for 5 euros. We 6 stamps total: Russia, America, France, England, West Germany, and East Germany. It started to rain pretty good at this point, so we went back to the hostel where I found a coupon for a Museum of Technology. This was a fun museum, and they had a huge display on Wind Turbines, which I really enjoyed. Sadly, their horse stairs exhibit was closed, so we couldn't go see those. After the museum and dinner, I went to go see the East Side Gallery even though it was still drizzling. The East Side Gallery is a place where the wall was preserved and artists were allowed to paint sections with whatever they wanted. A lot of the paintings were really moving, and some were just funny. Again, you'll have to see my facebook.
On our last day in Berlin, we went to the top of the Berlin TV Tower to get a panoramic view of the city. We were over 200m up. Afterwards we saw the Red Town Hall, Berliner Dom, Deustcher Dom, French Dom, Konzerthaus, Book Burning Memorial, and the Altes Musuem. These were all near eachother, so they didn't take long to see. For lunch I had a real German meal, though I forgot to take a picture of the menu, so I can't remember what kind of sausage it was exactly, but I also had potato salad and a German beer. It was all good, except the beer was not all that great haha. After lunch we trekked out to the New Synagogue, a sort of memorial synagogue for one that was burned down on Kristallnacht. Then we did some shopping and headed to the airport to go to Switzerland!
Olivia picked us up at the airport and we took the train most of the way back to her house. It was pretty late by the time we got back, so we just went to sleep. On Tuesday, Olivia drove us to Austria and Liechtenstein. Apparently there is a castle in Liechtenstein where the prince lives, but Olivia couldn't find it. The prince is also not really a prince. He is called a prince because he is the head of the Principality they have in Liechtenstein. In Austria, we stopped at a random church which turned out to be a good one because it was not ugly like Olivia said it would be, and it also had a memorial for soldiers who had died or gone missing during the World Wars. When we got back to Olivia's we rode bikes to the lake by her house and ate ice cream while enjoying the view of Germany and Austria across the lake. For dinner, Olivia's mom made a traditional Swiss meal (I never learned the name) where you melt cheese on a little pan in the middle of the table, and then put it on potatoes and vegetables that you have on your plate. It was really good. For dessert she made sussmostcreme, which tastes like apple pie, but its just a cream thing like apple sauce but not chunky. They made me pronounce it in order to have some, so I made Olivia's brother, Jonas, say it in English so that he could have some because he is learning English.
The next day Olivia had to go to school, but Sarah and I took the public transportation to go to Hoher Kasten, a mountain in the Swiss Alps. We took a cable car to the top, and OH MY GOODNESS THE SIGHT WAS AMAZING. Our mountain was one of the littler mountains, but that didn't even matter. I loved it. While at the top of the mountain we ate at a restaurant that rotated while you ate so that you could get a view of the whole landscape. After we ate we hiked down the mountain and saw snow and lots more amazing sights and we saw goats and cows. It was so much fun, I'm definitely going back someday. There was also a guy who ran up and down the mountain while we walked down and stopped for pictures. For dinner we had tacos made by Olivia, and I got to meet Olivia's boyfriend, Ramon. The four of us played a game similar to trouble/sorry/parcheesi, except that there were a lot more rules and tricks. It was a lot of fun.
On our last day in Switzerland, Sarah and I went to school with Olivia. It was pretty much her last day, so nothing really serious was happening. We went to her Economics and Law class, and her teacher there was really funny and spoke fluent English, as well as fluent every other language haha. After Econ, we went to her French class to eat croissants. I also got a Swiss drink called Rivella. Rivella is supposed to be good for mothers who a breastfeeding, so I told Olivia that I was going to buy a bunch when I have a baby (hopefully I'll remember because this is going to be a long time from today haha). After school we went to a farm where they have a bunch of Ostriches. Ostriches are the goofiest birds. Then we went back to Olivia's and hung out and went on a bike ride where I saw a swan, it was gorgeous. We had to leave at 3:30 for our plane, even though our flight was not until 7:30. It was sad to say goodbye to Olivia, but I had a great time while I was there, and her family were great hosts. Thanks Olivia, Carmen, Jonas, and Res for hosting us!
The flight from Zurich to Stockholm was supposed to have a 40 minute layover in Berlin, but we were delayed 45 minutes in Zurich because of a storm. So when we got to Berlin, we had to run to our terminal and take a bus to the plane out on the tarmac to get to Stockholm. Then in Stockholm we just missed the bus we needed to take, so we had to wait a little longer, but I was still able to be asleep by 1:30 am.
Today we had orientation for our trip, and we've already been assigned readings :(. I guess this is when I have to remember that I am here for school, not just travel :P.
We got to Berlin early in the morning on Saturday, and after we dropped off our luggage at our hostel, we decided to go find some food. We went the direction that the guy at the hostel said to, but we didn't really see any places and kept on wandering down the street when we stumbled upon a farmer's market type place. We found a place where they were selling dessert-type foods and couldn't resist buying some mousse cake things. I got rhubarb and it was sooooo good. I was also tempted to buy many other things that I didn't need, but passed up on them (even the vegetables that looked so fresh and good, I couldn't buy them because I had nowhere to keep or cook them). We also found this awesome park that we couldn't play on because it was fenced off. After this we began our walking tour and headed towards Brandenburg Tor. On the way, we found Berlin's largest park, which apparently has a lake in it, but we only walked along the edge path. On our self-guided tour we saw the Reichstag, memorial slabs for politicians who were kicked out during the nazi era, Brandenburg Tor, the Holocaust memorial and museum, and wall crosses as a memorial for those who died attempting to escape East Berlin. After this we were really tired from all the travelling we had done and went back to the hostel to take a nap. For dinner we went to a restaurant where you eat in the complete darkness. And I really mean that you can't see a thing, I had to use my fingers to find out what was on my plate. The people who served us were either blind or partially blind. It was really fun to eat here.
On Sunday we finished off the walking tour by going to see the Berlin Parliament, the Topography of Terror, and Checkpoint Charlie. At the Topography of Terror they have the last 200m of the wall that have been kept as preserved as possible. Sadly, people had drawn graffiti on the wall, but some of it was funny. They also had the history of the Hitler/Nazi era, and how it came into effect. It was interesting to see the ways that they had used propaganda to make people like Hitler and the Nazis. At Checkpoint Charlie we got our passports stamped for 5 euros. We 6 stamps total: Russia, America, France, England, West Germany, and East Germany. It started to rain pretty good at this point, so we went back to the hostel where I found a coupon for a Museum of Technology. This was a fun museum, and they had a huge display on Wind Turbines, which I really enjoyed. Sadly, their horse stairs exhibit was closed, so we couldn't go see those. After the museum and dinner, I went to go see the East Side Gallery even though it was still drizzling. The East Side Gallery is a place where the wall was preserved and artists were allowed to paint sections with whatever they wanted. A lot of the paintings were really moving, and some were just funny. Again, you'll have to see my facebook.
On our last day in Berlin, we went to the top of the Berlin TV Tower to get a panoramic view of the city. We were over 200m up. Afterwards we saw the Red Town Hall, Berliner Dom, Deustcher Dom, French Dom, Konzerthaus, Book Burning Memorial, and the Altes Musuem. These were all near eachother, so they didn't take long to see. For lunch I had a real German meal, though I forgot to take a picture of the menu, so I can't remember what kind of sausage it was exactly, but I also had potato salad and a German beer. It was all good, except the beer was not all that great haha. After lunch we trekked out to the New Synagogue, a sort of memorial synagogue for one that was burned down on Kristallnacht. Then we did some shopping and headed to the airport to go to Switzerland!
Olivia picked us up at the airport and we took the train most of the way back to her house. It was pretty late by the time we got back, so we just went to sleep. On Tuesday, Olivia drove us to Austria and Liechtenstein. Apparently there is a castle in Liechtenstein where the prince lives, but Olivia couldn't find it. The prince is also not really a prince. He is called a prince because he is the head of the Principality they have in Liechtenstein. In Austria, we stopped at a random church which turned out to be a good one because it was not ugly like Olivia said it would be, and it also had a memorial for soldiers who had died or gone missing during the World Wars. When we got back to Olivia's we rode bikes to the lake by her house and ate ice cream while enjoying the view of Germany and Austria across the lake. For dinner, Olivia's mom made a traditional Swiss meal (I never learned the name) where you melt cheese on a little pan in the middle of the table, and then put it on potatoes and vegetables that you have on your plate. It was really good. For dessert she made sussmostcreme, which tastes like apple pie, but its just a cream thing like apple sauce but not chunky. They made me pronounce it in order to have some, so I made Olivia's brother, Jonas, say it in English so that he could have some because he is learning English.
The next day Olivia had to go to school, but Sarah and I took the public transportation to go to Hoher Kasten, a mountain in the Swiss Alps. We took a cable car to the top, and OH MY GOODNESS THE SIGHT WAS AMAZING. Our mountain was one of the littler mountains, but that didn't even matter. I loved it. While at the top of the mountain we ate at a restaurant that rotated while you ate so that you could get a view of the whole landscape. After we ate we hiked down the mountain and saw snow and lots more amazing sights and we saw goats and cows. It was so much fun, I'm definitely going back someday. There was also a guy who ran up and down the mountain while we walked down and stopped for pictures. For dinner we had tacos made by Olivia, and I got to meet Olivia's boyfriend, Ramon. The four of us played a game similar to trouble/sorry/parcheesi, except that there were a lot more rules and tricks. It was a lot of fun.
On our last day in Switzerland, Sarah and I went to school with Olivia. It was pretty much her last day, so nothing really serious was happening. We went to her Economics and Law class, and her teacher there was really funny and spoke fluent English, as well as fluent every other language haha. After Econ, we went to her French class to eat croissants. I also got a Swiss drink called Rivella. Rivella is supposed to be good for mothers who a breastfeeding, so I told Olivia that I was going to buy a bunch when I have a baby (hopefully I'll remember because this is going to be a long time from today haha). After school we went to a farm where they have a bunch of Ostriches. Ostriches are the goofiest birds. Then we went back to Olivia's and hung out and went on a bike ride where I saw a swan, it was gorgeous. We had to leave at 3:30 for our plane, even though our flight was not until 7:30. It was sad to say goodbye to Olivia, but I had a great time while I was there, and her family were great hosts. Thanks Olivia, Carmen, Jonas, and Res for hosting us!
The flight from Zurich to Stockholm was supposed to have a 40 minute layover in Berlin, but we were delayed 45 minutes in Zurich because of a storm. So when we got to Berlin, we had to run to our terminal and take a bus to the plane out on the tarmac to get to Stockholm. Then in Stockholm we just missed the bus we needed to take, so we had to wait a little longer, but I was still able to be asleep by 1:30 am.
Today we had orientation for our trip, and we've already been assigned readings :(. I guess this is when I have to remember that I am here for school, not just travel :P.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Crazy Swedish Day
Today was a really long crazy day. It started out with being 4 hours early for my flight! So I got to just sit around and relax for a while, but I couldn't get internet access at the airport without paying, so I got bored really fast. The plane ride was lots of fun, though! I enjoyed having a screen to myself so that I could watch the plane take off and watch movies and play tetris. We also got a full dinner and breakfast, both of which were delicious. They gave us Greek yogurt for breakfast, it was sooooo good. I probably didn't sleep much more than 2 hours on the plane, but that was ok because they gave us super strong coffee at breakfast and I was all hyped to be finally in Sweden!! There were a couple of kids sitting in the row next to me, probably ages 2 and 5. They were really good the whole flight, except that the 5 year old had to be woken up for landing, and he was not happy about it. We got to hear multiple cries of, "I never want to go to Sweden ever again" and "I NEED WATER NOW I'M ILL!" it was cute and funny though.
When we landed, we had to buy tickets in order to have unlimited access to public transit for the whole month. This is super handy because we took 2 buses, a train, and a subway to get to where we are staying. We probably would have gotten lost, except that we met some Americans who had been to Stockholm many times (one of them is a professor who does research here) and they guided us practically all the way to where we needed to go. We got separated from them at one point and started to get confused, and then they appeared again to show us where to go! it was a miracle. We had to take a bus without their help though, and we weren't sure if we were going to get on it in the right direction. One of the guys in my group saw an info button, and said, "oh this will help!" Good thing it was all in Swedish, haha. A Swedish man going to the same place helped us get to our rooms though.
My room has one bed, a desk, a desk chair, a lounging chair, a couch, a bed, shelves, a closet, and a bathroom. ALL TO MYSELF! It's amazing, except kind of lonely. I've only met one person on my floor so far. The rooms are apartment style, with a shared kitchen on each floor. The six of us that came today are all in different buildings, but we are along the same street, so we're really close. The buildings are really secure too. You have a magnetic scanner to get into your building, a code to get into your corridor, and then a key for your room. I thought I couldn't open my door, so I went 5 buildings down to the office and had a guy come up (I live on the 3rd floor, also the top floor) to fix it, but then turned out I just had been putting my key in the wrong way. Yep, I'm an engineer.
When we landed, we had to buy tickets in order to have unlimited access to public transit for the whole month. This is super handy because we took 2 buses, a train, and a subway to get to where we are staying. We probably would have gotten lost, except that we met some Americans who had been to Stockholm many times (one of them is a professor who does research here) and they guided us practically all the way to where we needed to go. We got separated from them at one point and started to get confused, and then they appeared again to show us where to go! it was a miracle. We had to take a bus without their help though, and we weren't sure if we were going to get on it in the right direction. One of the guys in my group saw an info button, and said, "oh this will help!" Good thing it was all in Swedish, haha. A Swedish man going to the same place helped us get to our rooms though.
My room has one bed, a desk, a desk chair, a lounging chair, a couch, a bed, shelves, a closet, and a bathroom. ALL TO MYSELF! It's amazing, except kind of lonely. I've only met one person on my floor so far. The rooms are apartment style, with a shared kitchen on each floor. The six of us that came today are all in different buildings, but we are along the same street, so we're really close. The buildings are really secure too. You have a magnetic scanner to get into your building, a code to get into your corridor, and then a key for your room. I thought I couldn't open my door, so I went 5 buildings down to the office and had a guy come up (I live on the 3rd floor, also the top floor) to fix it, but then turned out I just had been putting my key in the wrong way. Yep, I'm an engineer.
I had my first meal in Stockholm today. It was a pizza. I know, so Swedish haha, but we were hungry and it sounded so good. We also went to the grocery store today and it was really confusing. Instead of items being characterized by canned/boxed/crackers and such, it was italian/mexican/indian food sorted. I wanted some granola bars to have for when I'm in Berlin, but I looked everywhere and found nothing. Then, I was going to get some soup, but it was different from soup here, so I opted not to get it because I couldn't read the directions. I'm really glad I brought peanut butter because the jars at this store are teeny tiny
Since tomorrow is Saturday, and I am leaving for Berlin early, the trains don't run often enough, so I have to leave my room at 3 am, walk to the subway station, and then take the subway to where I can get on a Flygbussana (Airport Bus) to take me to the airport for my 6:30 am flight. I can't wait to go to Berlin!
Since tomorrow is Saturday, and I am leaving for Berlin early, the trains don't run often enough, so I have to leave my room at 3 am, walk to the subway station, and then take the subway to where I can get on a Flygbussana (Airport Bus) to take me to the airport for my 6:30 am flight. I can't wait to go to Berlin!
Thursday, May 31, 2012
All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...
So I decided that since a few of my friends were blogging about their crazy summers, I would too! I'm leaving for Sweden today, and I still can't believe it! I packed all my stuff yesterday, so today is just pretty much about relaxing. I'll get to Stockholm around 8 am Swedish time, so I'll have a day there before I leave with Sarah, another girl from my trip to go to Berlin, Germany and Zurich, Switzerland where I'll get to see the beautiful Olivia Fischer!!! I can't wait for all the amazing sights I'm going to see and the adventures I'm going to have this summer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)