Sverige 2007

day 14

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 10:11:29 -0400

Everything has taken a huge turn for the worse.

As soon as I get everything packed, I’m off to Denmark for the rest of the trip. I don’t know if I’ll have internet there, so if not, I’ll talk to you all Tuesday when I land in Newark.

day 9

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 04:16:08 -0400

Shopping centre.

These flowers smelled exactly like chocolate.

day 7 - copenhagen, denmark!

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 15:36:36 -0400

Öresund strait (water between Denmark and Sweden)

Downtown Copenhagen

Blatant commercialism! (see the ad for McDonalds on the old building?)

A huge movie theatre.

Tivoli (an amusement park)

More of Tivoli

Random Arabic writing on a door

Canal

Road sign.

Pizza (with tomatoes, onion, cheese, pineapple, and artichokes)

Buildings…

More buildings.

Bridge

Another bridge

Lights

More buildings along the canal

Roof on a very old building.

Found at Trekroner, an old sea fort

Windmills

Halvandet Marina

There were a LOT of bikes in Copenhagen. Right to our right, there were just as many as there are in this picture.

At the train station.

A ride at Tivoli

Back to Sweden!

day 6 - the baltic sea

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 15:20:59 -0400

A few from Ikea, and the rest are from our trip to the Baltic Sea.

Ikea

DELICIOUS.

Some flags at a football match.

It started sprinkling…

And then pouring rain.

Maja looking crazy.

Maja and Nicole playing in a dog carrier, hah.

day 5 - jag älskar ikea

Thu, 02 Aug 2007 12:33:28 -0400

So today, we went to Ikea. If you haven’t ever been to Ikea, it’s difficult to describe. It’s a furniture and homewares store, but unlike anything in the United States. It’s HUGE (much bigger than a Wal-Mart Supercenter), has two restaurants, a playground, etc.

Here’s what I ended up purchasing today:

“Stockholm” pillow (129:-)
Yellow pillow (39:-)
White pillow (also 39:- and the yellow and white pillows match the Stockholm pattern)
A couple “fångsts” (I have no idea what the word for this in English — it’s hanging storage thing) for 49:-
Two sets of potholders (29:- each)
Bath towel (29:-)
Fleece blanket (39:-)
Stuffed animal (39:-)
Set of six cups (13:-)
Set of six bowls (13:-)
Piggy bank (29:-)
Cafetière (I don’t know an English word for this either… it’s a type of coffee maker. 99:-)
Suitcase (149:-)
plus some other things that are gifts and therefore I won’t mention

Total: 891:- (that’s about $130). Considering that a) Sweden is really expensive (expect to pay about $8-10 for a regular meal at Burger King) and b) Ikea is really good quality, $130 for all that stuff is an AMAZING bargain.

We also got two sets of track lights, a cast iron skillet, three pots/pans, a cutting board, a silverware holder and setting of silverware for 6 people, spaghetti strainer for around 800:- ($120).

After that, we went shopping at approximately 9075305309235 more stores but nothing worth writing about.

I took some pictures but nothing super special, so I’ll upload them later.

day 4

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 14:45:04 -0400

Maja on a horse toy in a clothes store.

Again.

Some ancient official-looking building in Stortorget (a big square thing).

Typical side-street in major European cities. You’ll see similar ones wherever you are, be it Paris, London, Madrid, etc.

Another familiar feature — abundant sidewalk cafés lining all the streets.

Falafel! Not exactly Swedish, but delicious.

Another street.

Buzzer/speaker at an apartment complex.

Flyer posted on a telephone pole.

A very reflective store. (MaxMara on the bottom floor.)

I love the mix of modern buildings with those that are centuries old.

Some sort of political event.

Another street with lots of people.

Really old bricks at Sankt Petri Kyrka (St. Peter’s Church).

Sankt Petri Kyrka.

It’s really tall.

A map of Malmö we used to get to the library.

Stadsbibliotek! (Public library of Malmö)

Aranciata (sort of a carbonated orange juice) at the library café.

Inside the library.

Another part of the library.

Through the very modern architecture of the current library, you can see the old Stadsbibliotek (which is still used as well).

A flower in the park by the library.

Another flower.

More flowers.

That one building again.

Old advertisements painted on the side of a building.

Swedish flag.

Some strange thing on the top of a building… no idea what for.

Candy.

day 3

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 13:19:35 -0400

There is a smörgåsbord every morning for breakfast, in the middle of the day, etc.

Maja about 2 minutes after I did her hair (and also about 2 minutes before she took it down herself).

A guy riding a horse on the side of the road.

Cat food.

Greek juice.

Coke is 14,90 for a bottle.

The animalpark (zoo).

Goat driving a tractor.

And eating.

Maja climbing a tree.

Goat climbing a tree.

Everyone climbing the tree.

Bees.

More bees.

Maja looking at a snake (you should view the full size of this; I love this picture.)

Warthog.

Steer… bull… yeah. I live in Kansas and I don’t exactly know the intricacies of cattle.

Otter sign.

Snail with a giant trail.

The snail again. They are huge. Some Swedes cook these and put the on toast or in sandwiches.

Raccoon.

Barbed wire.

Look carefully through the barbed wire…

A bear!

Bread.

Giant 750g box of cereal.

Comic on the back of the cereal box.

Cereal with yogurt, rolls, bread, toast, vegetables, fruit spread, coffee, tea, etc…

More veggies.

Butter.

day 1-2

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 14:04:36 -0400

My brother and Maja waiting together at the airport.

My brother attempting to make off with a Volvo that they have displayed at the airport.

My brother absconding with my venti caramel frappuccino with an extra shot of espresso (one of I think ten servings of coffee I had that day).

This is actually from the last hour of the flight, while flying over Germany.

Ice crystals on the window.

More ice on the window. (This is better if you view the full-size picture.)

One of several airport runways.

Svenska bullar.

Much larger versions available here.

Just a quick update to let you all know that after a lengthy journey through airports in three...

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 10:21:14 -0400

Just a quick update to let you all know that after a lengthy journey through airports in three countries, I’ve arrived in Sweden. It’s 4:15pm here now (9:15am in Kansas) and I haven’t really slept in a few days so I’m exhausted. I’ll upload a few pictures later, but it’s rainy here and I haven’t taken many.

contact information

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 00:43:15 -0400

You can call me on Skype. The image below indicates whether I’m online or offline. If I am online, feel free to call me — my screenname is loominade.

I’ll be on AIM as usual. My screenname is enlumina.

If I’m not on Skype or AIM, you can email me as well.

Keep in mind that Sweden is seven hours ahead of our time (Central Daylight).

I think that’s about it :)

itenerary

Sat, 07 Jul 2007 17:22:49 -0400

SUNDAY 29 JULY

United Airlines #6684
Depart: 2:21pm Wichita Mid-Continent (ICT)
Arrive: 4:15pm Chicago O’Hare International (ORD)
Seat: 11A / 1hr 54min | 592 miles
Time between flights: 1hr 42min

United Airlines #908
Depart: 5:57pm Chicago O’Hare International (ORD)
Arrive: 9:15am Amsterdam-Schiphol (AMS)
Seat: 32G / 8hr 18min | 4109 miles
Time between flights: 1hr 10min

United Airlines #9350
Depart: 10:25am Amsterdam-Schiphol (AMS)
Arrive: 11:45am Copenhagen Airport (CPH)
Seat: 7F / 1hr 20min | 393 miles

Total duration: 14hr 24min | Total miles: 5094 miles

Then we hop across the Öresund and spend a couple weeks in Sweden!

TUESDAY 14 AUGUST

Scandinavian Airlines #909
Depart: 12:20pm Copenhagen Airport (CPH)
Arrive: 2:45pm Newark Liberty Int’l (EWR)
8hr 25min | 3849 miles
Time between flights: 2hr 42min

United Airlines #651
Depart: 5:27pm Newark Liberty Int’l (EWR)
Arrive: 7:05pm Chicago O’Hare International (ORD)
Seat: 17A / 2hr 38min | 721 miles
Time between flights: 0hr 50min

United Airlines #1203
Depart: 7:55pm Chicago O’Hare International (ORD)
Arrive: 9:50pm Wichita Mid-Continent (ICT)
Seat: 17A / 1hr 55min | 592 miles

Total duration: 16hr 30min | Total miles: 5162 miles