Getting to Copenhagen was an adventure. Everything was fine until we got to a town with a name I can't spell but kind of sounded like Shepping which sounds very British in my opinion. That was when we all had to get off the train and get onto buses. They didn't explain why in English, but the Swedish lady I talked to told me that some of the railroad track had gone missing. She also said something along the lines of "Trust Sweden to loose its own railroad." How do you loose railroad tracks?!?!?!? I choose to believe that the metal parts were stolen by four boys from a small town with big dreams whose story will eventually get made into a movie that will make me cry every time I watch it. So we all got on buses that drove to the next railway stop in North Shepping. At least the crew had a sense of humor about the situation. A guy came over the intercom on the bus and said "We hope you enjoy this high speed X2000... bus. And the bistro is in the center of the bus." Then we got onto another train to Malmo, Sweden. At this point the trainw as two hours behind schedule, and a guy came ovr the intercom to say that because we were so delayed we wouldn't be able to cross the border into Denmark. It was almost 6 PM, I hadn't eaten since the small caesar salad I had at 11, I had been travelling all day, schlepping around my 30 lb backpack plus my 9000000000000 lb daybag and if I as going to be stranded in Malmo I was going to cut a bitch. I had a very eloquent speech prepared but then they said that if your final destination was Copenhagen then you could get on another train in Malmo. So three trains and a bus later I was in Copenhagen. That was when my left leg decided that every time I took a step I'd feel excruciating pain. I had been planning on walking to my hostel but since I was in so much pain (and still carrying like 40 lbs worth of stuff) I decided to take the bus. Except the one I needed doesn't exist. After walking all over, in pain, trying to find it, I said fuck it and started limping to the hostel. Do you know how hard it is to limp with a 30 lb backpack? Then I couldn't find the hostel, then I couldn't find where the entrance was, and then I heard some one shout "KATY!!!!" and I was engulfed in a hug by Sarai, who also got the Phillips and was meeting me here. You can only check in until 6, and it was like 8, but fortunately Sarai had not only arranged for us to room together but also for me to check in late.
Then I ate an entire pizza and passed out in bed.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Stockholm in Pictures
Sweden out the window of the plane.
Pretty roofs.
The national theater founded by Gustav III in the late 18th century.
Inside the Royal Apartments.
This room was based on the hall of mirrors in Versailles.
The Vasa.
Some of the intricate carvings. They were painted bright colors originally.
Me and a canon at the recreation of part of the interior of the Vasa.
A piece of construction equipment made to look like a giraffe!!
The Nordiska Museet aka Thornfield Hall.
Royal sparklies at the Royal Treasury. The hilt of that sword is all pearls.
At the Royal Armory, stuff that was in that Versailles exhibit!
Pretty dress on display at the Nordiska Museet.
Stylish Sopranos.
Singing a duet with Jenny.
Sven the snail.
Me about halfway through my nature walk, when I reached the ocean.
I'm sure this statue wasn't intended to be hilarious, however...
The back of an amazing uniform at the Army Museum. Why don't soldiers still wear stuff like that?
17th century cabinet at the National Museum with a little theater in the center.
Me and Marie.
Well, that's it for Sweden. You know for a city made up of islands, Stockholm has a surprising lack of seafood restaurants. And where are the meatballs!!! I am most disappointed.
May 18th
I forgot to mention that while I was eating my delicious burger after my nature walk I listened to classy jazz covers of 1980s pop hits (Don't you want me baby! Don't you want me oooohhhhhhhh!). No really.
Yesterday I went to the Nordiska Museet finally. It wasn't really worth the 80 sek it cost to get in which was kind of disappointing. I really enjoyed the fashion exhibit they had going on, which conveniently taught me about 18th century Swedish fashion, and I really liked the exhibit on table settings, but other than that it was kind of meh. They did have a little section of Strindberg's Stuff, including the original manuscript of Miss Julie and some of his paintings. I saw some more of his paintings at the National Museum today and I quite like them.
Anyways, after the Nordiska Museet I went to the Army Museum to see an exhibit about uniforms, but I ended up going through the whole thing. I actually really enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. They had some actual Viking swords! I just wish I had had somebody to go through it with me, because there were all of these dioramas and interactive stuff and it would have been fun to take silly pictures with them. The uniform exhibit was really cool, and at the end they had all these (adult sized- take note Royal Armory!) uniforms you could try on. Once again, not nearly as fun when you don't have a friend with you.
That evening I got started decorating my dress for the regency ball in Bath in July. It's going a lot quicker than I thought it would, all the roses are now attached and all that's left is Sequinpalooza 2011 Part 2: The Revenge of the Sequins.
Today I went to the National Museum which I really liked. On the first floor, among other things, there was an exhibit about Swedish design from 1500 to the mid 18th century, and they had the most amazing display of 17th century cabinets! This past semester I took directing, and the play we worked on was On the Verge (which you should read/see if you at all possibly can). For my directors notebook, which contained notes for my own personal production, I used cabinets of curiosities as a sort of visual metaphor. I even designed a set based on a cabinet of curiosity (that, according to my set designer friend Joncie, could never exist in real life but oh well). The point of all that is that I've always liked 17th century cabinets, but recently they've been on my mind. There was one that had a little theater in the center, with columns and a balcony and everything. Absolutely gorgeous.
On the second floor they had paintings and sculptures, and a special exhibit called Lust and Vice which I really enjoyed. It was basically about sex in art from the Renaissance to today, and they had a whole variety of things from little dirty doodles these two 18th century writers sent back and forth to each other (loved them) to great masterpieces featuring nude figures from classical antiquity to modern art. I especially enjoyed the 18th century dirty doodles, which were usually satirizing something or other. For example there was a whole series called The Priest and the Girl. The 18th Century France gallery was closed for refurbishment (woe and misery) but fortunately a lot of the pieces were on display in the Lust and Vice exhibit, like this gorgeous painting of Venus by Boucher. They also had the whole series of The Rake's Progress by Hogarth in prints, and a chastity belt.
After that exhibit I went to the 18th Century Sweden/Europe gallery, where I ran into Marie Antoinette and her two children! I didn't realize that particular portrait was in Stockholm. There was also a Gainsborough and a gorgeous painting by Roslin, among other beautiful works. I was quite happy until some one came over the intercom to say that the museum was closing in half an hour. Everything closes at 5 here which I think is lame. I need far longer than a half hour to look at 18th century portraits! So I quickly finished up and headed to the gift shop.
The gift shop had a great amount of 18th century portraits available to buy on a postcard. But the most exciting thing was that you could also get an 18th century portrait poster. Museums NEVER have 18th century art on posters, and especially never portraits. It's always the same ten Monets and Van Goughs and Picassos. But the National Museum had like three portraits and a couple group images! It's like finding bigfoot. THEY EXIST!!!!! I didn't buy one because I don't think I have room in my backpack and if I'm going to squeeze a poster in I'd rather wait to see what Versailles has to offer, but maybe I'll order a poster off of their website when I get back home. Sooooo exciting, you don't even know.
Tomorrow I leave for Copenhagen!
Yesterday I went to the Nordiska Museet finally. It wasn't really worth the 80 sek it cost to get in which was kind of disappointing. I really enjoyed the fashion exhibit they had going on, which conveniently taught me about 18th century Swedish fashion, and I really liked the exhibit on table settings, but other than that it was kind of meh. They did have a little section of Strindberg's Stuff, including the original manuscript of Miss Julie and some of his paintings. I saw some more of his paintings at the National Museum today and I quite like them.
Anyways, after the Nordiska Museet I went to the Army Museum to see an exhibit about uniforms, but I ended up going through the whole thing. I actually really enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. They had some actual Viking swords! I just wish I had had somebody to go through it with me, because there were all of these dioramas and interactive stuff and it would have been fun to take silly pictures with them. The uniform exhibit was really cool, and at the end they had all these (adult sized- take note Royal Armory!) uniforms you could try on. Once again, not nearly as fun when you don't have a friend with you.
That evening I got started decorating my dress for the regency ball in Bath in July. It's going a lot quicker than I thought it would, all the roses are now attached and all that's left is Sequinpalooza 2011 Part 2: The Revenge of the Sequins.
Today I went to the National Museum which I really liked. On the first floor, among other things, there was an exhibit about Swedish design from 1500 to the mid 18th century, and they had the most amazing display of 17th century cabinets! This past semester I took directing, and the play we worked on was On the Verge (which you should read/see if you at all possibly can). For my directors notebook, which contained notes for my own personal production, I used cabinets of curiosities as a sort of visual metaphor. I even designed a set based on a cabinet of curiosity (that, according to my set designer friend Joncie, could never exist in real life but oh well). The point of all that is that I've always liked 17th century cabinets, but recently they've been on my mind. There was one that had a little theater in the center, with columns and a balcony and everything. Absolutely gorgeous.
On the second floor they had paintings and sculptures, and a special exhibit called Lust and Vice which I really enjoyed. It was basically about sex in art from the Renaissance to today, and they had a whole variety of things from little dirty doodles these two 18th century writers sent back and forth to each other (loved them) to great masterpieces featuring nude figures from classical antiquity to modern art. I especially enjoyed the 18th century dirty doodles, which were usually satirizing something or other. For example there was a whole series called The Priest and the Girl. The 18th Century France gallery was closed for refurbishment (woe and misery) but fortunately a lot of the pieces were on display in the Lust and Vice exhibit, like this gorgeous painting of Venus by Boucher. They also had the whole series of The Rake's Progress by Hogarth in prints, and a chastity belt.
After that exhibit I went to the 18th Century Sweden/Europe gallery, where I ran into Marie Antoinette and her two children! I didn't realize that particular portrait was in Stockholm. There was also a Gainsborough and a gorgeous painting by Roslin, among other beautiful works. I was quite happy until some one came over the intercom to say that the museum was closing in half an hour. Everything closes at 5 here which I think is lame. I need far longer than a half hour to look at 18th century portraits! So I quickly finished up and headed to the gift shop.
The gift shop had a great amount of 18th century portraits available to buy on a postcard. But the most exciting thing was that you could also get an 18th century portrait poster. Museums NEVER have 18th century art on posters, and especially never portraits. It's always the same ten Monets and Van Goughs and Picassos. But the National Museum had like three portraits and a couple group images! It's like finding bigfoot. THEY EXIST!!!!! I didn't buy one because I don't think I have room in my backpack and if I'm going to squeeze a poster in I'd rather wait to see what Versailles has to offer, but maybe I'll order a poster off of their website when I get back home. Sooooo exciting, you don't even know.
Tomorrow I leave for Copenhagen!
Monday, May 16, 2011
May 16th
I was going to go to the Nordic Museum today, on account of it being the only thing open on Mondays, but I decided to give myself a little rest from sight seeing and instead took a ridiculously long walk. I walked past Gamla Stan and down the waterfront where I walked past the exclusive shopping district, the national Swedish theater founded by Gustav III in the 18th century, past the Nordic Museum and around the inlet labeled Djurgardsbrunnskiven on my map (pretend there's a little circle over the a). Today was the perfect day for a nature walk, the sky was blue and there were big fluffy white clouds and all the birds were singing and the trees were so green. It was so lovely and peaceful, all the sounds of the city were gone and I could just relax and meditate. I felt like Lizzie Bennet. Rural Stockholm is so beautiful and tucked away amidst the trees are these pretty pastel colored houses of Victorian or neoclassic design. It was so nice to take some time to be alone with my thoughts. The last two weeks have been so insane, I never really got a chance to breathe.
While starting on my nature walk I stumbled upon fellow fashionable opera singer Jenny Lind. Her statue is by the Nordic Museum. I tried to get some decent pictures of her but she was so backlit I'm not sure any came out. But I want to go back anyways and see if I can find some one to take a picture of me with her. I will title it "Stylish Sopranos".
About halfway through my nature walk I wandered off on a little side path through a nature reserve area, where I saw some gray birds (I'd tell you what kind of birds but the plaque was in Swedish) and at least 11 enormous Swedish snails. I've never seen snails that big before. There was also some sort of yak-looking animal that supposedly lived there but I didn't see any.
In total my nature walk was at least 7 km, that number not including the walk to and from the hostel and my short side trip. On the way back to the hostel I stopped by a restaurant floating on the water and had a really good burger.
While starting on my nature walk I stumbled upon fellow fashionable opera singer Jenny Lind. Her statue is by the Nordic Museum. I tried to get some decent pictures of her but she was so backlit I'm not sure any came out. But I want to go back anyways and see if I can find some one to take a picture of me with her. I will title it "Stylish Sopranos".
About halfway through my nature walk I wandered off on a little side path through a nature reserve area, where I saw some gray birds (I'd tell you what kind of birds but the plaque was in Swedish) and at least 11 enormous Swedish snails. I've never seen snails that big before. There was also some sort of yak-looking animal that supposedly lived there but I didn't see any.
In total my nature walk was at least 7 km, that number not including the walk to and from the hostel and my short side trip. On the way back to the hostel I stopped by a restaurant floating on the water and had a really good burger.
May 15th
I went to the Vasa Museum today which was the COOLEST THING EVER. The Vasa is the only surviving 17th century man-of-war. It was this huge enormous ship, and then as it was sailing across the harbor to get supplies it capsized and sunk. Then in the 1960s they raised it back up and fortunately the brackish Baltic waters preserved it. And it's seriously the coolest thing ever. There was a long line to get in, but it moved pretty quickly. And then you walk inside and there's this massive 17th century man-of-war right in front of you. And there were like seven floors so you could get a view of the ship from a whole bunch of different angles. And there were all these cool exhibits to go along with it. There was one with all the skeletons of the people that died when the ship sunk, and then osteologists went in and wrote up all sorts of stuff about who the person was and what sort of life they must have lived, all based on the bones. I want to be an osteologist now. Using my own extensive medical knowledge, I diagnosed one skeleton with scoliosis. They also had fragments of the sailors' clothes. One sailors' outfit was so well preserved that they had his whole jacket and his stockings and shirt and everything. Normal people clothes rarely last, because people wore them forever, so it was so exciting to get to see not only things from the early 17th century but things that were worn by a common sailor. That's a super rare and interesting find!! And the ship was so big and amazing, I was not expecting it to be so massive. And it had all these intricate carvings all over it of people and animals and stuff. I think even people that don't love old ships would love it. Best museum ever!!
I spent so much time marvelling at the Vasa that the day ended and all the other museums closed. So I didn't make it to the Nordic Museum. I did step inside though to find out if they'd be open on Monday, and while I was there I saw a flyer for Stockholm's "best preserved 18th century house". Which of course is only open on weekends. I found out about it at 4:45 on Sunday. Typical. I'm not too heartbroken though as I'll be in Versailles in a few weeks. So I went back to the hostel, stopping at an Italian place for dinner. I like it because the names of all the dishes are in Italian so I can pronounce them. For an appetizer I had garlic bread piled with parmesan and crushed olives.
I'm having a great time hanging out with my new friends from the hostel in the evenings. Last night we watched the Eurovision contest (Azerbaijan won which is total crap because Ireland should have won), and tonight we all just chilled and talked. There's all sorts of people from all over the world and they're all really friendly and interesting. I gave my new Australian friend tips on what to eat when she goes to the American South (deep fried pickles, cookout milkshake, cracker barrel, NC BBQ), and my new Irish friends have promised to help me find a nice British/Scottish/Irish man. I love meeting people from all over the world and all different cultures.
I spent so much time marvelling at the Vasa that the day ended and all the other museums closed. So I didn't make it to the Nordic Museum. I did step inside though to find out if they'd be open on Monday, and while I was there I saw a flyer for Stockholm's "best preserved 18th century house". Which of course is only open on weekends. I found out about it at 4:45 on Sunday. Typical. I'm not too heartbroken though as I'll be in Versailles in a few weeks. So I went back to the hostel, stopping at an Italian place for dinner. I like it because the names of all the dishes are in Italian so I can pronounce them. For an appetizer I had garlic bread piled with parmesan and crushed olives.
I'm having a great time hanging out with my new friends from the hostel in the evenings. Last night we watched the Eurovision contest (Azerbaijan won which is total crap because Ireland should have won), and tonight we all just chilled and talked. There's all sorts of people from all over the world and they're all really friendly and interesting. I gave my new Australian friend tips on what to eat when she goes to the American South (deep fried pickles, cookout milkshake, cracker barrel, NC BBQ), and my new Irish friends have promised to help me find a nice British/Scottish/Irish man. I love meeting people from all over the world and all different cultures.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
May 13th
I actually went and did some proper sightseeing today and NOW I feel like I'm in Europe. It's about a 15 minute walk to the historic area from my hostel, and it's a straight shot down a street with lots of shops and restaurants, which is very convenient for those of us that are directionally challenged.
I'm a lot more confident today. Yesterday I would either stare helplessly at the person until they spoke in English, or communicate with nodding. Today I actually would smile and say "engelska?" Most people at the shops and restaurants speak in Swedish first. I don't know if its because they expect English speakers to ask, or because I look so European they just assume I'm Swedish. I'm going with the latter. Swedish girls are very trendy. They all wear super tight skinny jeans or long leggings or tights with shorts.
The first thing I did today was stop by the antique store and get my reticule.It's so pretty, I am way too excited. Then I walked down to Gamla Stan, which is the island with the royal palace and other interesting things on it. On my way I went down the main shopping street, and stopped by a toursity shop to buy a keychain with a small stuffed moose on it. Or reindeer. Whatever it is that lives in Sweden. I also passed a store playing a work song. As most of you know, I worked at LOFT this past year. We had one CD that played the same songs over and over. And then they'd send s a new CD and we'd get all excited, only to find that it was the same music. I began to refer to this song set as work songs. And recently I've begun hearing work songs everywhere- CVS, Harris Teeter, etc. And then here I am in Stockholm Sweden and I hear a work song. Which did two things. 1. Confirm my suspicions that this is a worldwide conspiracy designed to drive every retail worker on the planet insane, and 2. Gave me a comforting reminder of home.
The historic area of Stockholm has like 50 thousand gorgeous buildings, and I didn't know what was open to tourists and what wasn't. The opera house seemed to be closed, which was a shame because I bet it was gorgeous inside. After eating lunch by a statue of Karl XII (who was pointing at something and looking important but birds kept perching on his outstretched finger and all I could think of was Disney princesses and then Karl XII started singing princess style in my head and I'm sure he was a great monarch but I can never take him seriously again), I visited the first of what I'm sure will be many old churches, then hit up the palace.
I started with the Tre Kronor Museum, which is in the basement and talks about the history of the building. It was very dark and medieval. My favorite part was the medieval shoes. Those were shoes that some one wore in the 1300s! They were alive 700 years ago and here I am looking at their shoes today. History is so cool you guys.
After that I went to the Royal Apartments which featured gilded walls and huge chandeliers and paintings on the ceilings and a hall inspired by the hall of mirrors at Versailles. Basically all my favorite stuff ever. The lighting was really dim so I'm sure my pictures aren't that great, but it was just so PRETTY. Except for the one room remodeled in 1998 for the king's something jubilee, which was just plain and boring in comparison. Rococo and baroque architecture and interior design are sooooo much better.
Then I went to the Treasury which is where all the royal sparklies are kept. I snuck as many pictures as I could before some guy came over a speaker and told everyone that there was NO PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE TREASURY. Of course no photo could show how prettily everything sparkled. There were some swords and pendant thingies, and lots of royal crowns. My favorite was this one from the 17th century which had all these interwoven tiny gold flowers all over it.
Then I went to the Royal Armory, which I should have done first because at that point I was pretty tired and I wish I was more alert because this is where the historic clothing collection is, among other things. I might go again tomorrow. They had the most beautiful stuff on display, including things from the early 17th century! There were all of these court outfits with the most amazing, intricate gold embroidery. And of course there were the silver and gold court gowns and suits from the 18th century that were featured in that Versailles exhibit a couple of years ago. It was so amazing to actually see them in person. It probably would have been even more amazing if I hadn't been so tired. Which means I'm going back! And there was this silver and gold 18th century suit with these stylized mother of pearl clouds and sunbeams made of gold sequins and it was so amazing. The only problem was that they put this blue dress worn by the current princess in 1995 right in the middle of the 18th century stuff which made absolutely no sense. And blocked all the pretty 18th century things.
Then I went upstairs where there was an exhibit about something, I think it was stuff worn by royalty. Most of the clothes were from the 1960s and70s which is BORING, but they did have a couple nice gowns from the early 1900s. The cool thing was that they incorporated scent into the exhibit. They had these jars with a hole in the top and you sniffed and then they asked what colors the scents reminded you of.
My only beef with the Royal Armory is that they had this kids area where you could dress up and sit on a throne or a carriage and have your picture taken. Why don't they have that stuff for adults?!?!?! It's not fair.
I'm a lot more confident today. Yesterday I would either stare helplessly at the person until they spoke in English, or communicate with nodding. Today I actually would smile and say "engelska?" Most people at the shops and restaurants speak in Swedish first. I don't know if its because they expect English speakers to ask, or because I look so European they just assume I'm Swedish. I'm going with the latter. Swedish girls are very trendy. They all wear super tight skinny jeans or long leggings or tights with shorts.
The first thing I did today was stop by the antique store and get my reticule.It's so pretty, I am way too excited. Then I walked down to Gamla Stan, which is the island with the royal palace and other interesting things on it. On my way I went down the main shopping street, and stopped by a toursity shop to buy a keychain with a small stuffed moose on it. Or reindeer. Whatever it is that lives in Sweden. I also passed a store playing a work song. As most of you know, I worked at LOFT this past year. We had one CD that played the same songs over and over. And then they'd send s a new CD and we'd get all excited, only to find that it was the same music. I began to refer to this song set as work songs. And recently I've begun hearing work songs everywhere- CVS, Harris Teeter, etc. And then here I am in Stockholm Sweden and I hear a work song. Which did two things. 1. Confirm my suspicions that this is a worldwide conspiracy designed to drive every retail worker on the planet insane, and 2. Gave me a comforting reminder of home.
The historic area of Stockholm has like 50 thousand gorgeous buildings, and I didn't know what was open to tourists and what wasn't. The opera house seemed to be closed, which was a shame because I bet it was gorgeous inside. After eating lunch by a statue of Karl XII (who was pointing at something and looking important but birds kept perching on his outstretched finger and all I could think of was Disney princesses and then Karl XII started singing princess style in my head and I'm sure he was a great monarch but I can never take him seriously again), I visited the first of what I'm sure will be many old churches, then hit up the palace.
I started with the Tre Kronor Museum, which is in the basement and talks about the history of the building. It was very dark and medieval. My favorite part was the medieval shoes. Those were shoes that some one wore in the 1300s! They were alive 700 years ago and here I am looking at their shoes today. History is so cool you guys.
After that I went to the Royal Apartments which featured gilded walls and huge chandeliers and paintings on the ceilings and a hall inspired by the hall of mirrors at Versailles. Basically all my favorite stuff ever. The lighting was really dim so I'm sure my pictures aren't that great, but it was just so PRETTY. Except for the one room remodeled in 1998 for the king's something jubilee, which was just plain and boring in comparison. Rococo and baroque architecture and interior design are sooooo much better.
Then I went to the Treasury which is where all the royal sparklies are kept. I snuck as many pictures as I could before some guy came over a speaker and told everyone that there was NO PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE TREASURY. Of course no photo could show how prettily everything sparkled. There were some swords and pendant thingies, and lots of royal crowns. My favorite was this one from the 17th century which had all these interwoven tiny gold flowers all over it.
Then I went to the Royal Armory, which I should have done first because at that point I was pretty tired and I wish I was more alert because this is where the historic clothing collection is, among other things. I might go again tomorrow. They had the most beautiful stuff on display, including things from the early 17th century! There were all of these court outfits with the most amazing, intricate gold embroidery. And of course there were the silver and gold court gowns and suits from the 18th century that were featured in that Versailles exhibit a couple of years ago. It was so amazing to actually see them in person. It probably would have been even more amazing if I hadn't been so tired. Which means I'm going back! And there was this silver and gold 18th century suit with these stylized mother of pearl clouds and sunbeams made of gold sequins and it was so amazing. The only problem was that they put this blue dress worn by the current princess in 1995 right in the middle of the 18th century stuff which made absolutely no sense. And blocked all the pretty 18th century things.
Then I went upstairs where there was an exhibit about something, I think it was stuff worn by royalty. Most of the clothes were from the 1960s and70s which is BORING, but they did have a couple nice gowns from the early 1900s. The cool thing was that they incorporated scent into the exhibit. They had these jars with a hole in the top and you sniffed and then they asked what colors the scents reminded you of.
My only beef with the Royal Armory is that they had this kids area where you could dress up and sit on a throne or a carriage and have your picture taken. Why don't they have that stuff for adults?!?!?! It's not fair.
May 11th/12th
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.
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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