Back to my roots...

So for this edition of my blog I traveled back to the place of my ancestors...Sweden!  My grandpa was a full blooded swede and was incredibly proud of his heritage.  He unfortunately never got to travel there but would have loved to.  This trip was in part for him.  When I was there and walking around there were many times I thought how much he would have loved it and how excited he would have been to be experiencing it.  I was staying in the city of Stockholm which I found out (I am clearly geographically challenged) is a bunch of islands.  You can travel in between them via bridges or boats.  When I finally arrived after my hellish day of travel (5am bus, 6am tube, 8am bus, 11am plane, 2pm bus) I asked at the info desk about catching the metro to Old Town and she looked at me like I was

Old Town Square

crazy.  She said" Don't you just want to walk?  It's only about 5 minutes." In my head I was thinking...if you only knew the day I've had you would not want to walk but I figured it would be fine...I can handle 10 minutes walking (I added 5 since I am pulling a suitcase).  So off I headed.  I have to admit it was a good intro into the city because I crossed one of the bridges and saw how the city changes from newer to old.  I also got a feel for how small the town really is.  I knew immediately it was my kinda town.  As I crossed over into the old town area I was even more excited.  It

Harbor view City Hall 

was medieval with cobblestone streets (rough on the suitcase but such charm).  The walk really ended up being about 20 minutes because of the location of my Hostel but it was worth it.  The place I was staying was perfect!  Walking distance to everything but removed enough that there was no crazy party noise. I had fantastic roommates and the place had a great kitchen which was much needed due to the crazy expensive meals there.  I had one meal out while I was there and it was about 22 dollars.  Now you might say that sounds ok...well let me just tell you what is was...one spicy tuna roll.  Yep that's right...no drink no

Still friends.....after 20 years!

 miso soup.  Nothing else...just that.  Crazy right!  It was all worth it though because I was having lunch with a friend whom I haven't seen in about 20 years.  We spent some summers together in our younger jump roping days and just haven't been in touch till now.  It was so great to see her and just catch up.  The photo is taken in her Design studio where she is an architect.  She is doing quite well as a host for a home type show in Sweden and then getting quite a bit of recognition for her buildings.  I was so happy to hear about how well she is doing and just to have her back in my life.  We were

Loving the views!

laughing because we haven't seen each other for so long but it was so easy to just pick back up again.  I will definitly be going back and seeing her.  She walked me around the area where she lives which was just across the bridge from where I was staying but was the more up and coming art scene area.  There were lots of cool shops and gorgeous views.  After lunch I just cruised around town and took in some more sights like the city hall, the palace, and the old church.  I had done a city walk the first day so I just used that as my basis and then just let myself get "lost" in the side streets and alley ways.  I felt really safe here.  Plus the cool part is there is day light all the time.  It

My Family...in Sweden!

doesn't start to get dark until about 10:30 and then is light again by about 3am.  It makes sleeping a bit tricky but gives you tons of time to explore!  Now I did get to do one other really cool thing while I was in Stockholm and that was meet some members of my family whom I have never met before.  Like I said I am 1/4 Swedish and recently we have had some family members doing some searching and connecting so I was put in contact, via some emails, with the Lundstroms' in Stockholm.  They were so kind and invited me over for a proper dinner (yes I ate pickled herring) and a chat.  It was a lovely evening talking about family heritage and how were are all connected.  It made me want to find out more.  It also made me miss my grandpa and all his stories that he told and the ones I will never get to know.  I really appreciate the family I have and the new ones I am meeting.  I realize now even more how much we need to just take to heart each moment.  On the morning I left Stockholm I also met up with one more friend whom again I haven't seen for 20 years!  Since she had been out of town for Mid summer (which is a huge celebration in Sweden) she got up super early to come meet me before I got on the bus so we could chat.  It was so great to catch up with her.  We agreed that next trip we have to plan more to do together.
As I left Stockholm I felt like I had just scraped the surface of what I would have liked to see there. This trip was just the intro with more to come here.  It was definitely more about the people I saw then the sights but that was perfect.  It is now with so much excitement that I head on for my next stop!  Check in soon for a bit in Germany.