Stockholm - Sweden, Part 2

Stockholm Continued... to read our first installment click Taking Stock In Stockholm.

I mentioned in the last post about Stockholm about how expensive even fast food can be. So when you find a spot where you can feed your family of six on the cheap, you take it! And that is exactly what Mr. and Mrs. Point did with us. We were able to buy French hot dogs (I don't know what made them French, but Mrs. Point loved them) for a decent price and we stocked up.

Isn't Mrs. Point cute?

We continued to meander around Stockholm and we saw things like this.

And things like this.

Even the most well behaved children get tired of walking around historic cities and ours were no exception


We took our children to the Skansen, which is an outdoor museum that shows examples of traditional, rural Swedish life from occupations, to dress, to the homes they lived in and the food they ate.

The homes are all original, 19th century buildings that were dismantled and painstakingly shipped to the museum and reassembled piece by piece.

They are furnished with pieces original to the time period also.

In one home I glanced up at the ceiling and saw this magnificent piece of work. I was in awe. The amount of work that they went to just to decorate a ceiling was amazing.

They had gardens with flowers and vegetables that the early Swedes grew. They even grew some tobacco for rolling into cigarettes. Now that is being authentic.

Of course, not all of us were as impressed with how much work had gone into making the Skansen so authentic. Here is Andre, riding a cannon. Giddy-up son.

Here we are standing in front of a working windmill that actually grinds down wheat into real flour.

Little cottages dotted the grounds. You could go in most of them and explore.

It seemed like a idyllic life. Who wouldn't want to live in 19th century Sweden? Growing vegetables, and grinding wheat among the beautiful trees. BUT, remember, this is summer. The longest days of the year were upon us. The sun was going down at around 11:30 and coming up close to 3:00 am. How would life in rural Sweden be say in the dead of winter? When nothing is growing and it's dark for 20 hours a day? Give me modern day electricity and hot water heaters please.

They had a pole with a chain on it showing where I can only guess the bad Swedes of 19th century were strung up. Here is my sweet husband giving you an accurate portrayal. Let's hear it for Matt's acting skills!

Our day had been long and we had walked the greater part of Stockholm and it was time to head back to our home on the sea, the Costa Fortuna.

I watched Aidan and his friend, Tyler Point, walk arm in arm down to the port. I can only imagine what they were saying.

Due to the large amounts of daylight that we were receiving this far north at this time of year, I had a chance to sneak out on the deck early and take pictures. Here are just a few pictures of the islands between Stockholm and the Baltic Sea. Enjoy!

I hope you enjoyed this photo tour.

Coming up next - our first time in the former USSR, Estonia! And another blog giveaway!

Taking Stock In Stockholm - Sweden, Part 1

Next stop - Stockholm, Sweden!

This wasn't our first trip to Sweden. We had been there before when we picked up our Volvo last year. So we knew what to expect. Tall, blonde, good looking people well dressed in khakis and pricey fleece. Sweden is like one giant J. Crew catalog. We knew to expect that everyone would be able to speak English as good as we can. And we also knew to expect expensive prices. The Scandinavian area of Europe is considerably more expensive than the rest of Europe. We can't get out of a McDonald's in Scandinavia without spending between the equivalent of $50.00 - $70.00. Just on hamburgers and fries. And no, the expensive hamburgers and fries aren't any better than the rest of the fast-food slop you can buy in any other McDonald's around the world. 

We got off of the Costa Fortuna and hopped right on a bus that took us to the old town section of Stockholm. I have loved traveling to these old town sections of large cities in Northern Europe. Most of the large towns in Germany, like Berlin or Stuttgart, don't have an intact old town section anymore due to the extensive bombing Germany sustained in World War II.

Here are the kidlets in front of a fountain in the square Stortorget, the oldest square in Stockholm and basically the area that the whole town grew around. Stockholm can trace its beginnings to the 13th century.

The old town is called Gamla Stan, or Staden mella broarna which means the "Town between the Bridges." Gamla Stan is situated on the island of Stadsholmen.

Stockholm is full of old churches that were built by the different ethnic groups that settled in Stockholm. 

This here is a runestone. A runestone was usually a memorial to a deceased man. This particular runestone was brought here and used in the construction of the oldest part of Stockholm. This stone has been dated to 1000 AD, so it is 200 years older than the oldest part of Stockholm. It's known as the Kåkbrinken. Our good friend who was traveling with us, Mr. Point, was quite disappointed to find out that the inscriptions had been redefined and painted in red so that they would stand out. He kept walking along saying, "Now who would take a red Sharpie pen to a perfectly good runestone?" That Mr. Point. He's so funny. For more information on runestones, click here.

Next on our list was a church that has a wooden horse statue in it. When we arrived at the church, our group was very dismayed to find out that while children were free to go inside and look, adults had to pay the equivalent of $10.00 to rest our eyes on the splendor of the wooden horse. My husband and Mr. Point came up with the brilliant idea of sending our kids in (for free!) to take pictures so we could take a look. I told you we travel on the cheap.

Here are some pictures so now when you go to Stockholm, you don't need to pay the $10.00 fee to look inside either. You're welcome.

After Gamla Stan, next on our list was the changing of the Royal Guard.

It was an intimate experience that we shared with over 5,000 other people who packed themselves into tightly roped off areas around the palace.

We got there early and staked out premium spots in the first row by the ropes. Mrs. Point sectioned herself off from the crowds with her stroller. That still didn't stop hoards of people trying to muscle into our space.

Here is sweet Mrs. Point calming sitting, and silently seething while Mrs. "I Covet Your Front Row Spot" edges up and keeps shooting a look that can only say 'I will kill you in your sleep if you don't move.' I tried to get a photo of the look she kept giving to the top of Mrs. Point's head, but I only managed to capture this one, a look of complete annoyance. Crowds in Europe in the summer, gotta love it.

And it begins! The ceremony is in Swedish and English, so of course, it takes twice as long.

And what is a Swedish royal changing of the guard without a marching band!

And what is a Swedish royal changing of the guard if the marching band doesn't play the theme song to Batman by Danny Elfman. Wait... what? Is Danny Elfman from Stockholm? Why are they playing Batman? What about Gotham City's cry for help says Swedish nobility? Not much, other than the song sounds cool played by a marching band. In Stockholm. Don't worry, we didn't get it either.

The crowds dispersed and we started wandering around Stockholm. This is what we saw.

Stockholm sits in an archipelago of 14 islands where the freshwater Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea. 

Walking around this beautiful city, full of beautiful people, you get the feeling that the Swedes are an intelligent people. Capable of doing anything it would seem. But apparently not.

This building with masts rising from it is the Vasa Museum. The Vasa was a ship that was built between 1626-1628. It sank after sailing less than a mile on its maiden voyage. She was located again and salvaged in 1961 and then turned into the museum you see now. The Vasa was built top heavy and although it showed significant instability in port, it was still allowed to launch. It would seem nobody had the courage to tell the Swedish King Gustavus that his shiny new boat wasn't going to float. After it sank everyone stood around pointing fingers at each other saying, "Well, don't look at me!" So Swedes lack boat building skills and the ability to own up to mistakes. Should I worry that both me and my husband drive Swedish cars? Did I ever mention that within five minutes of getting in our new Volvo, still on the grounds of the factory it was built in, a little piece broke off on the inside? It's never a good sign to walk into a car factory holding a piece of your car in your hands.

Don't worry Sweden. No hard feelings. How could I ever hold a grudge against a place like this? 

Stay tuned for Stockholm - Part 2!

Until next time...

PS Want to read about where we before? Click on Coping In Copenhagen to read about our first cruise stop.

Where Are The Swedish Fish? - Sweden

We are back from Sweden. Ahh... Sweden. It was so beautiful. So green. So peaceful. So wonderful. I will sing the praises of Sweden forever, or for as long as I love my new Volvo.

Last week we flew to Gothenburg, Sweden on a budget European airline called Ryan Air. They have crazy cheap prices. The only catch is that you can only bring one small carry on and I do mean one. No purse, no camera bag. ONE carry on. If you want to check a bag it's more than your ticket.  Most people bring a back pack the size that children take to school so that is what we did also. In this smallish back pack we could only fit 4 shirts, 4 changes of underclothes and socks, and 2 pairs of pants and a few small toiletries. Packing was simple for a change. I am hoping that as we travel more that we become like a well oiled travelling machine. My kids will easily be able to grab the things they need and pack their bag and sling it on their back and off we will go. A girl can hope, can't she? Well, anyway, you can't bring too much on this airline so you end up looking the same in almost all of your pictures. People ask us if we did all this stuff in one day. No, we answer. We just didn't have a lot of clothing options. What is fashion though if you are in Sweden?

When we arrived in Gothenburg, the car company Volvo picked us up from the airport and took us to our hotel. That brings me to the reason for our trip to Sweden. My husband ordered a new Volvo XC90 for me! It is fabulous. I love it so. Although, since it has been 7 weeks since I sold my old car, my beloved GMC Yukon back in the States, I would have been happy with a tin can on wheels. I have felt so trapped here on this Army base without a way to get around.

We arrived on Friday and our car wasn't going to be ready until Monday so we took the weekend to do some sight seeing. First thing that we noticed is that everybody speaks perfect English in Sweden. Everybody. People would greet us with a 'hej' which is Swedish for 'hello' and sounds exactly like 'hey' in English. We would answer back 'hello' and they would slip seamlessly into English. A little side note on this - It felt very strange to walk into a store and be greeted by 'hey' and then to answer back 'hey'. I felt like I should follow it with a 'wuz up'. Seeing as how everyone (and their dog) spoke English we didn't feel too impressed to kill ourselves learning Swedish phrases. The only one we learned and really used was 'tack så mycket' which is pronounced 'talk sa mewkia' and means 'thank you very much'. Most Americans don't even bother with learning that so we got big smiles from all people that we thanked using their native language. 

The first day we walked around downtown Gothenburg, which in Swedish is spelled Göteborg and pronounced 'Yuh-te-borya'. Gothenburg is a small metropolitan area and is very, very clean and well maintained. Everyone is fair and thin and dressed well. It was a yuppy heaven. 

After walking around a bit we decided we wanted to see more of the Swedish countryside so we rented a car. Alexander and I walked over to the rental car store where I proceeded to pull on a door for a good 30 seconds while the Swedish car rental person sat inside watching me. Why did I pull for 30 seconds? Because it was a push open door. Since moving to Europe and travelling often I have tried really hard not to appear like a stupid American. I don't want eye rolling or muttering under breath about how ignorant Americans are. I want to impress people with knowledge and sophistication. Well, in this case, knowledge and sophistication were completely blown so I just owned my stupidity. I finally figured out the door and walked in and said loudly to the guy at the counter, "Am I an idiot or what?" and then pointed at my head and made a face with my tongue sticking out which made him laugh so hard coffee came out of his nose. We are now good friends. Another side note here- When we returned to the car rental place my husband and I walked to the front and Alexander and I were quiet seeing if my husband made the same mistake we did. He pushed open the door quickly and we shockingly asked how did he know to push and not pull? "See that word right there?" he said. "It means push." And he then gave me a face that pretty much said Really? As in, 'You really had that hard of a time opening this little tiny door? So I stuck my tongue out at him and said "Okay Mr. Albert Einstein of languages and door opening ability. I don't speak Swedish." To which he answered "Neither do I." With quite a smirk on his face. 

We took a free ferry to the island of Hono which is off the coast of Gothenburg. It was full of little neighborhoods and tiny mom and pop grocery stores. We loved it. Except for the wind. The wind was blowing about 30-35 miles an hour off the ocean. Brrrrrr...

We ran over the rocks and hiked around the coast. We watched wind surfers with a death wish brave the waves that were crashing on the beach. We watched an old man sit on a small pier and try to fish. We looked out at the vast expanse of ocean thinking about how far away from home we were.

After we felt we had obtained a sufficient wind burn for the day, we returned on the ferry.

We visited a local candy shop in Gothenburg looking for some local fare. And what could be more Swedish than Swedish fish! We asked the cashier (who spoke perfect English) where the Swedish fish were. She answered back were we looking for a fish restaurant? No! We want the candy Swedish fish! All she had was a bin of sub-par candy fish. Not called Swedish fish, but called pastel fish. Oh Sweden, you almost had the chance to be perfect. And yes, we bought the Non-Swedish pastel fish and they were okay. But nothing like we were hoping.

After the whole Swedish/pastel fish fiasco we took our children to a park in Gothenburg. Half the kids running around in this park had white blonde hair. I missed my lighter blonde hair. Swedish parks seemed much more fun than any park I grew up with. Check out this slide!

And check out these giant bowls that you can spin around in!

My husband and I felt short changed that we didn't get these things at playgrounds that we grew up with. So we tried them out too.

There are no words...

The next day we traveled up the coast to the village of Fjällbacka. A tiny town built into a little strip of land between a rocky coast and cliffs. It was gorgeous. 

There is a short climb up some steps built into the cliff side and then through this crack in the rock. It was like something out of Indiana Jones or that scene in the movie Goonies where the large rocks are suspended above your head. We all said silent little prayers as we walked under them.

Watch out.

After winding our way through this crack and up more stairs, we came to the top of the rock out cropping and we were rewarded with sweeping views of the whole village. Of islands out at sea. Of boats sheltered in the harbor. Of clouds coming in. And with wind. Again. Lots of wind.

Sweden was amazing. It touched a part of my soul that answers to oceans and wind swept beaches and cottages sheltered against rock. I could see myself here. I could imagine living here. Forever. But enough of that because it was Monday. It was Volvo day. I was getting a car.

Volvo picked us up at our hotel and took us to the factory. Upon arriving at the factory we found out there were five other groups of Americans who had come from the States to pick up their own Volvo in Sweden, drive it around Europe, and then ship it back to the States. Who wouldn't want to do that? You get a Volvo and a trip to Europe! It's this whole thing that Volvo has been doing for years! Why didn't I know about this? Future trips for Volvo's and Sweden are in the works.

We stood around with the other Americans comparing notes on which model and color we had all picked out. In the waiting room there is a glass garage where they drive your car out and present it to you. They then show you all the features of your car and then you get a chance to drive it on the test track out front where you can drive as fast as you want. 

When they brought my car out, I seriously almost cried. 

Yes. That is me hugging my new car. I wasn't ashamed at all. We got our car first so all the other Americans watched and laughed and applauded as I hugged my new Volvo.

After Volvo gave us a tour of the factory floor where we got to see a Volvo made from a painted shell to a fully functioning automobile (which if it takes about 55 hours like they said, why did my car take so freakin' long) and then a lunch of Swedish meatballs. Not too shabby. Thanks Volvo! 

After three long days I loaded my family up and we drove our new Swedish car into the Swedish sunset with long sighs of contentment. The whole time in my head I am thinking about what Volvo means. It means 'I Roll' in Latin. Hmmm, I thought. Not only in my new Volvo do I roll, I rock.

Now we had to drive home. We stopped for dinner at a Swedish steakhouse in Malmo, Sweden. Malmo had much more of a big city feel than Gothenburg. 

One difficult thing about Sweden is although they are part of the European Union, they are not part of the Euro Zone. The two entities are not synonymous. Sweden operates under their own currency of the Swedish Kronor. At the time of our trip the exchange rate was $1.00 to 6.6 SKR (Swedish Kronor). It made figuring out prices much more difficult than when we went to France and could carry the Euro we use in Germany straight over and use it there. 

Malmö, Sweden.

We had wanted to spend the night in Copenhagen, Denmark. But after further examination of the map, we realized that left us with far too many kilometers to drive the next day. We had to get further into Denmark. We pushed on to Odense, Denmark where we stayed at a yucky Best Western. Here another difficult item presented itself. Denmark isn't on the Euro either. It operates on it's own currency, the Danish Krone. After paying for the hotel I did some research. All the Scandinavian countries like Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark are part of the European Union but operate on their own individual currency called krona, kroner or krone. Come on Scandinavia. I know you want to maintain a sense of individuality and buck the trend. But if you can't go with the Euro, at least make a common currency among yourselves. Just something to think about. 

We returned home late on Tuesday. Put 950 miles or 1,528 kilometers on the new Volvo. It performed quite well on the auto-bahn. Vroom vroom!

We have resumed normal life here in Heidelberg once more. But a little piece of Sweden stayed with me. I can't wait to go back. 

Sigh...