Sweden is awesome. Once again, I’m amazed by the beauty of the place and the pleasant simplicity. I have been particularly struck by the awesome designs. The sofa bed at Hans & Anna’s place is SO COOL! It is a normal looking sofa, and then just does this magical seeming transformation. So sweet.

So yesterday, we did do breakfast, then got some key ingredients for a 5-hour chili, and then Anna went for her 26km run (she’s training for a marathon).

Hans & I got to spend some time exploring Stockholm and discussed US politics (what else??!) and basically how crazy the US political game is, and how insane it is that certain things are issues in the US, when in Sweden, they are decided. We stopped for some fika (snack), so I got to have one of these:

The old town part of Stockholm is so pretty, but seems very touristy. Not that I’m not a tourist…but still. Then we met back up with Anna after her run and made some ahmazing chili. I cooked, you guys!!


Quite amazing. And the recipe requires that you drink while cooking, so we were quite tipsy once we’d finished, which meant Hans stayed behind and Anna & I went out to a Stockholm bar so I could see Stockholm night life. It was pretty typical…nothing very remarkable, but nice.

Today, we got up, I made some awesome pancakes:

After breakfast, I learned the Swedish song for birthdays, and we called Ali since it’s her birthday to wake her up to some Swedish singing. We took a wonderful nap, and then we went for a 6 mile run/walk (we ran the first almost 2 miles, then walked around the palace, government buildings, etc, then ran a bit more, maybe 1.5 miles). Some photos:







Now I am so exhausted. But in a good runned out sort of a way. Tonight we’re planning on staying in and getting a movie, then tomorrow, I head to Helsinki!

So I arrived in Stockholm exactly 19 hours after leaving my apartment, and the lovely Hans and Anna met me at the bus station (cab–>plane–>bus terminal transfer–>plane–>bus to Stockholm City Center). That was a looooong trip.

When we got in, we collected some alcohol from Hans’ work (because, duh!), and then made our way to their apartment to drop off my stuff (got to ride the Stockholm subway, which is quite nice!). I got a refreshing and much-needed shower, some champagne, and then we headed to dinner at a place the translates, roughly, to the meat bar. It was amazing. After an appetizer of a meat plate (meats, baby pickled onions, bread, yuuuuummmms), I got a pulled beef sandwich. Oh my gee so delicious. And chocolate cake to top it off. The place reminded me so much of Williamsburg…except with Swedes. Apparently Wburg is popular or something….but pretty crazy to find that in Stockholm. Even if I’m not terribly surprised.

Today, we’re headed to breakfast, then to maybe a little walk around Stockholm and a run!! One of my goals on this trip is to run at each place I visit. So starting out strong! Tomorrow we’ll be doing either a boat or a bus tour and get to see a bit more. I feel pretty remarkably not tired (I’m always tired in the morning, but apart from that…), so hopefully I got this jet lag thing right this time. Hans and Anna’s sofa bed is super comfy and really creative!! Leave it to the Swedes…

Gotta run for food. Chat soon!