Emily's Escapades

We took a one-day cruise in Sweden that went from the Stockholm archipelago to an island in the Finland archipelago. Since alcohol is SO expensive in Sweden, a lot of Swedes go to other countries to get it. So, it was basically a beer run!

(photo by Jon)
We had a couple of hours in Stockholm before we left, but it started POURING rain, and we’d left our umbrellas with our luggage. Jon and I sat down at a pub and watched the weather and had a couple beers.

It finally stopped raining as the ship left Stockholm.

Celia, Hanna, Andreas, Henrik and Jon in the dining room. We ate a couple smorgasbords. All very traditional Swedish food like herring and salmon.

Enjoying a last drink.

Celia the movie star… looking fabulous after a nice relaxing massage.

Henrik bought Hanna a Canon DSLR for a wedding present. What a sweet guy! She loved it. We teased them about bringing 4 extra people on their honeymoon, but they claim that the honeymoon isn’t until they go to New Zealand in December.

In Örebro, we also visited the castle. Instead of a traditional tour, they made the tour into a play of sorts. It was much more interesting than hearing a guide rattle off dates!

A person walking over the bridge is reflected in the moat.

I think this little ducky was laying eggs in this flower pot.

Cute little cabins that just sleep two.

Cute little nook – perfect for a cup of tea in the morning!! I want one.

There was dew or rain every day.

Hanging out by the lake, drinking beer around the fire.

The diverse group of people staying a few days after the wedding: Mattias and Anna (they are Finnish, but are part of the 5% of Finns who speak Swedish as their native language); Sven (German); Celia (Kiwi living in England); Andreas (German)

Sweden seemed like the cleanest, most peaceful place on earth compared to China!

When Hanna was in America, she said certain things were “SO American.” Like peanut butter and jelly. Here are some things that I think are SO Swedish.

Summer homes! Swedes get at least 5 weeks of vacation per year, so it seems everyone has a little cabin in the woods by the lake to get away to. Very nice.

Woods. Green things. Nature. Sweden has a law that every person has a right to hike through and put up a tent and camp on ANY land. Technically someone could sleep in your cow pasture or field two nights. However, Swedes are very polite and certainly wouldn’t set up camp anywhere that might bother someone.

Bread and cheese and meat for breakfast. Yum! Swedes have “tube food” which is just like it sounds – many different types of food processed and put in a metal tube. Flavors are things like: cheese and bacon, ham, salmon, and various types of cheese. We can get two kinds at our local IKEA, but they have whole aisles devoted to it in Swedish grocery stores.

Another cute little Swedish house. The majority of houses are red. If it’s not red, it’s yellow. It’s just the rule!

This was taken at 10 PM on the day we arrived in Sweden. We were driving to the cabin and we just had to pull over to take a photo – it was beautiful!

10:42 PM

11:58 PM

3:44 AM

All of these photos are right out of the camera – no adjusting levels or contrast.

Today we’re leaving for Sweden! Our friends Hanna and Henrik are getting married on the 4th of July… at a castle. OK, maybe not a fairytale castle, but the summer home of Swedish Royalty.

We went to Jönköping University in the Spring of 2003. Six full years since we’ve been there. We’re very excited to go back for a visit. We’ll be traveling around for few days with Hanna, Henrik and a few other international guests.

Henrik, Hanna, me and Jon at the international students good-bye dinner

We lived a couple blocks away from Lake Vättern.

The view over Jönköping.

I’m having some posts publish while we’re gone, so there will be new content while we’re gone.