Sitting in the airport, waiting for my flight to Newark, where I will transfer to another flight to Sweden. Airport security now has an actual mascot. It's a blue dog in uniform.????? Dad held it together well but mom burst into tears the moment we had to say goodbye, which in turn made me almost cry. I had to take deep breaths and remind myself that I'm going on a grand adventure. It's hard to believe it's actually here. I'm not sure it'll hit me until I'm in Sweden panicking because I don't speak the language. This has all come up so quickly, I don't feel at all prepared. But mom is so obsessive, I'm pretty sure I couldn't be more prepared. All the hotels are booked, I have about seventy zillion important pieces of paper, the only thing I have yet to acquire is a good looking European man. I've been dreaming of this for so long, it's hard to believe it's actually happening. I actually get to walk through Versailles and dress up for a Regency ball in Bath and see the Paris Opera Ballet. I can watch a period movie (ex: Pride and Prejudice), look up the house (ex: Pemberly) and say "OK, I'll go there`'. I might just be the luckiest person to have ever lived.
Well at this point I'm just killing time until my flight leaves. I probably shouldn't write too much so I'll have lots of space for Versailles gushing and the like.
Later:
OK, it's weird. Everyone speaks Swedish and alt he signs are in Swedish but I still don't feel like I'm in Europe. I kind of feel like I'm in Philadelphia actually, except for the architecture is nicer and more colorful. I was too tired to do any sight seeing so I just wandered around today. It's funny, all the buildings are so beautiful and then on ground level there's a 7 Eleven and sketchy Chinese place on every corner. There's also lots of hair salons and antique stores. I went into one that had all sorts of treasures, including a beaded reticule (purse) for a little over $50. I desperately wanted it but I wasn't sure if I could afford it, but mom gave me the go ahead so I'll go back tomorrow morning and hope it's still there. European antique shops > American antique shops.
While wandering, enjoying the weather and architecture, I stumbled upon a gorgeous church. It definitely looked new, but the architecture was very Viking-esque. It was a really cool building and I'm sure it has a name but I couldn't figure out what it was. I also stumbled on some sort of something going on in a really long traffic island park area. There were lots of young people in colorful jumpsuits building stuff out of trash, so I'm guessing it had something to do with sustainability.
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