Sweet for Sweden

Native name: Sverige (SVAR-iuh)
Population: 9.4 million

Capital: Stockholm

People: Beautiful

Currency: Like monopoly money

Wildlife/nature: Puts England and America to shame

Food: Oh my. 

The taxi was on time Thursday at 3:30am to take us to the airport.  Just a few minutes into the drive I noticed a couple red flags: the driver shook his head violently and turned up the radio. Oh no.  The following hour was agonizing and terrifying. It was dark outside and pouring rain, and I was in a car with a drowsy driver.  My eyes watched his through the rearview mirror the whole time.  I couldn't do much; we tried talking to him but he couldn't hear us over the loud (and very gentle soothing music), and there was a language barrier since he mostly spoke Hindi.  I didn't have the heart to tell the other girls; they were completely oblivious that anything was amiss until the last 10 minutes, when he swerved off the road. Christiana, who sat right behind him, immediately began asking him questions, "So....have you been to Sweden?"  At one point he completely slumped over the steering wheel and she grabbed his shoulders.  "Sir! Are you awake?!"  It really was scary, and I advise everyone reading this to never get into a similar situation. Don't book a flight (even if it's cheaper) for 6 am.  You can't trust even a paid driver.  It's not worth your life!  We did arrive at the airport safely and on time, and the flight was much better.  I had gotten a half hour of sleep so I was pretty tired but unable to sleep on the plane (as usual).

We exchanged money.  Kronas are really funny. Check out this bill I carried around:

   A lot of money, wow!!  Actually, 500 SKr is about $64, or £44.  Haley's friends met up with us, and we saw the Royal Palace with a guard carrying a bayonet. Sweet.

Got Kebabs for lunch in Gamla Stan, or Old Town.

One of my favorite Mid-Eastern desserts is Baclava.  

Swedes are famous for some of the first vikings!

Ida and Beatrice took us on a tour of Old Town Stockholm, and we had fun looking around and shopping.

This is in front of the Stadshuset, or City Hall. Haley's UK phone home screen changes based on location, and it showed this when we first arrived, so we wanted to find out what it was. 

In Stockholm, there are beautiful open markets that sell fresh flowers and produce.  The men are hilarious. "HEY! Half price for you!"  You get used to ignoring them. We did buy a bouquet for Anna though.

Another very Swedish thing is the Dala Horse.  Take a minute to read the article about this, since I won't write much about this.  As you can see, they would thus be very expensive, so instead of buying one I have this picture:

Then Pelle and Gustav picked us up from the bus terminal, bought us a few Stockholm maps and guides, and took us home.  Gustav left and Johan and Olle came with us to dinner.  Every meal I had in Sweden was amazing. London food isn't fantastic.  We got to meet Anna that night, and the next morning we woke up and she made us a delicious breakfast.

Oboy is NesQuik on steroids. It's so amazing. 

Then Pelle took us out and we hit the city. Stockholm is made up of 14 smaller islands all connected by bridges, and we went to a few of them.  We started at the Fish market (REAL Swedish fish!).

We stopped at a beautiful church, and then on to the Vasa Museum, which according to Pelle, is one of the best museums in Europe. I admit it was one of the coolest I've ever been in. Here is Pelle, our navigator.

And now, the Museum. 

Here's the story: Gustav Adolphus, king of Sweden in the early 1600s,

wanted a grand ship to be built because the Swedes needed a stronger navy in the Baltic Sea, with their fighting with Poland and the 30 Years war going on around them.  But sometimes kings aren't wise. He was so adamant about making this a powerful ship that he ordered the shipbuilder to build another gun deck after the keel had already been constructed.

Despite the shipbuilder's resistance, it was constructed; this made the ship very top heavy, so when it set sail in 1628, it toppled over from gusts of wind and water filled the open cannon ports.

In 1955, the Vasa was discovered down in the seabed.  Using this gear

Scuba divers carefully extracted the ship from the sea and it now rests on the coast here at this museum.  

I also saw my governor at the museum!  I can't remember the reason he was there, but here is Arnie:

After the museum, we went to Skansen island, the coolest open air zoo I've ever been to.  This took us up to the top.

Then as we continued climbing, we caught a terrific view of the city.

We saw Elk, Moose, (including babies), Bison, a lynx, otter, seal, wild boars, bears, and Hedwig's long lost twin.  Here you can get really close to the animals.

Here was a new sight.  Wolverines!  Go X-Men.  I thought they were kinda cute.

While we were walking through the zoo, I heard a strange bird call I hadn't heard of. Kind of like an angry womanchild screaming.  Then this thing came charging at me.

This peacock meant business. It would have barreled through if I hadn't moved. See, there's my sweater. And the bird.

 We were tempted to make the peacock angry so it would plume. But we used better judgment.

Skansen is just so beautiful.  Here is some more of the scenery.

Give, Said the Little Stream, as it Hurried Down the Hill. You know the rest.

We left the beautiful park and got lunch ate at the Josefina, a lovely outdoor restaurant furnished with couches that gets packed at night time. 

This is what I ordered. I don't remember its name in Swedish, but it's essentially shrimp on toast.

After lunch, it was down to business. We went to find some amazing European chocolate, and happened upon beautiful tulips along the way. It reminded me of BYU.

Chocolate selection is wonderful.  I wish Sweden was the last place I went to before going back to the states; because I would fill my suitcase with this delicious goodness.

Here is some Swedish culture for you.  We chose a wild day to walk around town; it was the day the seniors were doing their party cruises.  To celebrate graduation, the seniors get old trucks, pack in like sardines, install amazing sound systems, and have dance parties as the truck drives through town!  Other than the beer, I think it's an awesome idea.

There is a short clip on my Facebook too.  We decided to take a ferry back to Vaxholm, the small village where the Helgessons live.  We waited in a fancy hotel and sipped hot cocoa.

If I had to pick a highlight of the day, it was the ferry ride on the Baltic Sea.  Prepare for a beautiful ocean, and artsy pictures.

We walked home from the ferry stop through the breathtaking (I'm running out of adjectives!) neighborhoods.  When we got home, Anna began making Swedish meatballs for dinner.  I thought I'd had real meatballs before Friday night. I was mistaken.

Those berries are called lingonberries.  They're like tiny cranberries, and a tiny bit sweeter.

Saturday was an equally extraordinary (help!) day.  Anna sacrificed her morning to happily drive us an hour and a half to the Stockholm Temple so we could do ordinances.  It was heavenly. 

One of the temple workers, Anita, had a remarkable experience.  After Haley finished her turn at Baptisms for the dead, Anita came up to her and said, "You were just baptized for my ancestors!  Today is my 68th birthday.  I couldn't ask for a better birthday present!"  It was a special day for all of us. After the temple, we went back into Stockholm city and spent the afternoon in the mall.  We met Johan's girlfriend, had lunch, and split off to go shopping; i.e., I made a beeline for H&M.

Then we frove back to Vaxholm, and stopped by the WalMart equivalent. I was determined to find me my Fazer chocolate.  We walked out of that store with pounds of candy in our arms.  

You thought I was joking, didn't you? Hah!  When we got home, we were surprised to find that Pelle had hung an American flag next to the Swedish flag in our honor.

We ordered kebabs for dinner 

Then Anna, the best and most lovely cook in Europe, made Swedish pancakes. 

We spent the rest of the evening singing and talking.  Pelle has the best stories of his mischievous childhood that had us laughing hysterically.  I hope I don't have a son like Pelle, although he turned out great as an adult!

The next morning we departed for London.  This is how we felt.

"Tack" for everything, Helgessons!   Goodbye Sweden. You were a dream, and I can't wait to go back. I will.