Our first stop on our six week European adventure started last week when we left Finland for Sweden. We were really excited for our first location because we were headed to the island of Gotland off the coast of Sweden to visit my colleague, Marie. I've worked with Marie for ten years and she is a native Swede. We have heard for years how beautiful the island is and how much she enjoys returning to her hometown each summer so we were excited to get an insider's view.
Marie picked us up on Wednesday morning and was ready to show us the sites. We stayed in her beautiful home in Slite. Slite is famous for its huge cement factory. Many of Marie's family members worked in the factory and it seemed like everywhere we turned one of her cousins was passing by on the street or stopping in to say hi. Her family is well known in Slite and it is obvious why she loves coming back each summer. That first afternoon we needed to just rest and relax so we walked to a nearby beach and let the girls play in the water and attempt to catch fish with nets. We painted rocks with water colors and had a delicious homemade snack right on the beach - fika! Fika is the Swedish equivalent to Finnish pulla - a cinnamon bun topped with sugar. Marie's were delicious and Tea was the most excited to have them!
The next day we drove back across the island to the main town of Visby. Visby is a medieval town that is surrounded by a huge wall. The town is so quaint and the ruins were incredible. Unlike in other cities where many of the ruins have now been taken down completely, several churches have been left standing and it is possible to walk into these buildings and imagine the services there hundreds of years ago. Throughout the summer Marie said there are musical performances, art installations and even some Shakespearian theater performed in the different churches. The town square is surrounded by restaurants and shops but the tiny streets are lined with small homes and many are decorated with huge rose bushes. It was so nice to just walk around the town and learn the inside scoop from Marie. Marie also knew the best places to look for Gotland wool so I have two gorgeous skeins of grey waiting for just the right project. After a break at a really cool park we all went to the harbor and had ice cream at a shop that offered 120 different flavors. So many to choose from and what did my girls choose? Chocolate! I went for the watermelon sorbet and Adam had marzipan/chocolate and Marie tried the mojito. It was all very delicious and really hit the spot since it was a really warm day - much warmer than the typical Swedish summer day.
Friday was midsummer eve and it is a day of celebrations. A main reason we chose to go to Gotland at that time was so we could spens midsummer with a real Swede to get the true feeling of the holiday and Marie was an outstanding host. After breakfast we all went for a walk to gather many different wildflowers and long birch branches to make the traditional flower wreaths that the girls could wear as crowns. Marie made Tea's and I made Talia's. It was obvious one of us had been doing this much longer than the other. The crowns were really cool and the girls enjoyed each having one. Later that afternoon we went to a village celebration. A huge May Pole was decorated with flowers and branches and was erected in the town. Soon after the children danced traditional Swedish folk dances around the pole. Marie was a total trooper and danced with my girls (in the rain, no less!) so that they knew what to do. They had a fantastic time and loved dancing to the bear song that ends with the kids all running around trying to find their parents (or Mrs. Gold in our case!). Marie's cousin and aunt celebrated with us but unfortunately the rain chased us back inside earlier than we would have liked. Despite the rain the girls had a great time and we have great memories of our first midsummer. Later that night Marie's cousin and aunt joined us for dinner and throughout the evening they sang traditional Swedish drinking songs while toasting to midsummer. It was great fun!
The rest of the weekend was spent seeing the island and enjoying the warm weather. Adam and the girls spent some time at the beach. We drove to a small island inhabited by sheep and lined with rauks (large natural rock formations carved by wind and water). The girls almost gave Marie a heart attack as they climbed on the rocks near the water. On the beach we found a ton of fossils - it was SO cool to pick up rocks and find evidence of old shells and animals. I have never collected fossils before so that was really amazing. Later that night we went to a different beach and grilled hot dogs over a fire, painted more rocks and enjoyed the evening sun. Unfortunately we didn't get to see a beautiful sunset with the girls because the sun doesn't set until close to 11:00pm and that was too late for us to stay awake.
Our time in Gotland ended too soon, but on Monday morning it was time for us to head back to the mainland. We had two nights to spend in Stockholm and had some sights we needed to check out. On Monday we mastered the public transportation system of Sweden - by the end of the day we had been in a car, plane, bus, train, subway and ferry! We traveled by air, land and sea! We were told by many that the Vasa Museum was a must-see and that was our only stop on Monday afternoon.
The Vasa was a huge ship that sunk off the coast of Stockholm in 1628. No one took the blame for the sinking of the ship, but basically there wasn't enough room to put enough ballast in the bottom of the ship to keep it balanced while afloat. Shortly after leaving the dock for the first time the ship sank to the bottom of the sea. After 333 years underwater the ship was slowly brought back above ground and was in remarkably good shape. The ship is now on display and is 95% original. It was really quite spectacular. Some of the sails were even preserved under water and are some of the oldest sails on display in the world. It was definitely worth the visit and the girls thought it was pretty cool.
We met my Fulbright friend, Carrie, for dinner and headed back to our hotel via more public transportation. The girls thought it was very exciting to ride on all the different types of transport in one day. The next morning our only goal was to walk around the old city and to see the changing of the guards at the royal palace.
Stockholm's old city is located on one of the many small islands that make up the very sprawling city. The old city has lots of small streets and a lot of pedestrian streets and was quite charming. We wandered around the old town, stopped in some small shops and churches, and made our way to the Royal Palace by 11:30 to wait to watch the changing of the guards. The wait seemed long and there were only 3 guards outside so we weren't sure how exciting the change would be, but we were not disappointed. The Royal Marching Band arrived with the new guards and played several upbeat tunes and the guards went through their routine to switch guards. The marching band then performed a few tunes, and I guess it wouldn't be Sweden if they didn't play some ABBA and end with Dancing Queen. Tea thought the drum line cadences were the coolest part of the show. It was all great and worth the wait to see the ceremony.
We took a long bus ride south of Stockholm to stay near the airport since we had a 7:00AM flight the next day. Next stop...Paris! Tea's been dying to see the Eiffel Tower so we are going to make dreams come true!