We managed to stay awake until the fireworks as we had just returned the previous day from our 10 day vacation in Sweden. We had wonderful weather the entire time and found the Swedish people to be incredibly friendly and helpful, along with speaking almost flawless English. We started in Goteborg for four days and then took the train to Stockholm for the remainder of the time. There were too many fun events to capture them all, but here are a few highlights. We discovered that the Swedes love to have mashed potatoes on their hot dogs - yep there is a full hot dog and bun underneath all those potatoes. We never figured out how to eat them by just picking them up, so we used a fork and knife, but at least we gave it a go. Not too different from Bangers and Mash in England just using a hot dog instead of sausage
Our visit coincided with their Midsummer festival which as we learned basically shut down the country. Shopping is closed, museums are closed, and only a scattering of restaurants are open. Plus the locals completely disappear, we had the city to ourselves and I mean to ourselves. Almost no cars, buses, pedestrians, or anyone. We finally found them either at a Midsummer celebration around the Midsummer pole (think Maypole and you get the idea) or out sunning on nearby islands. The Midsummer pole celebrations consisted of traditional dancing although they are willing to go with the times and use microphones and speakers.
We toured around 20 museums during our visit and got to learn a lot of their history. Especially that being a king in Sweden was a good way to have a short life. They seemed to depose them via murder or loss in war about every 15 years or so. Also, that they haven't been in a war since around 1840, which in today's times is a admirable feat. We had purchased a 3 day museum pass in Stockholm which was a good deal, but also meant that since we are both so cheap we had to see how many museums where physically possible to see in 3 days - hence the high number of museums. Needless to say we were worn out as a result. So to rest up a bit we took a boat ride out to one of the islands in the Stockholm archipelago (in case you were curious, as we were, an archipelago is an expanse of water with many scattered islands) and after a short hike enjoyed the scenery and waterfront reading our books.
We finished our trip by spending our last day with Elinor and Per from Stockholm. Elinor worked with Jo and graciously volunteered to show us Sweden from a natives viewpoint. We went to a local small town and had a wonderful lunch where I tried the caviar, herring and schnapps. Just so you don't think I was too adventurous, the herring was cooked, not pickled. It was really great to be able to ask all the questions we had piled up during our trip - such as where everyone disappeared to at Midsummer and why everyone seemed to be outside in the sun at every opportunity (it is because the wonderful weather we had during our visit was apparently an aberration - so when the sun is out and it is warm, they like to get out and enjoy it). And to finally learn how to pronounce some of the Swedish words we had been butchering during our trip. We came back home exhausted but we had a great time. We would highly recommend Sweden for a vacation destination - although be warned, prices are somewhat steep especially food. Also, Jo found out that our camera will take panorama photos - see the photo of Stockholm above. So be prepared for lots and lots of those in the future.
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