Back in AU

We got back to our Aussie home a week ago Saturday. It was a long flight home, with a long layover in Singapore, but we made it safe and sound! We had all weekend to try and get back on Sydney time, but it probably took me until Thursday until I stayed awake past 9 PM. I guess I'm getting old!

It's solidly springtime weather here, but I get the feeling that the city is willing it to turn into full-on summer. There have been a couple cool mornings, and these tender Sydneysiders wrap up in coats and scarves like they're about to die. But it was a warm sunny day on Saturay, and it was shorts, sunnies, and sun dresses as far as the eye can see!

I went to a small birthday gathering for a new co-worker on Saturday. He's new here from Germany and so he wanted to have an Aussie barbeuqe on the beach for his celebration in true Aussie style. Unfortunately, it was at Bondi Beach, which any true Aussie avoids at any cost on a sunny Saturday, especially when the Sculptures by the Sea exhibition is on. Tourists, ugh! ;-) But many of us were good sports and made the trek out.

This is a typical bus ride to get out to Bondi on a sunny day

The forecasted thunderstorms had started to roll in by the time I arrived, but the disappearance of the sun and the arrival of a cold wind was stopping none of these beachgoers!

Lured by the cool breeze and the storm clouds coming up, Toby braved the Saturday crowds and met me at Beach Burrito Co. This consistently has been the place people have told us to try for Mexican food if the other places in Sydney have disappointed us.

 

And while we had a good time and were happy we tried it, sadly, we've not found our True Mexican Food source. We think we might be done with the search and just save our funds so we can eat proper Mexican food 24x7 next time we're in the States!

 

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Sweden day 11, 12, and 13

Day 10 of Sweden was spent mainly in checking out of our apartment and catching the train back down to Lund. We had another fun, first class train ride with snacks and games.

And then our last few days were upon us! We spent them hanging out around Staffanstorp and Lund, just chilling out and enjoying being together.

There was lots of good homemade meals, courtesy of Chris! Like mushroom risotto (with some Aussie Hunter Valley wine!).

There were homemade crepes for breakfast on our last day.

Michelle also contributed to our waistlines by making a Swedish dessert for us, kladdkaka. It was like a fudgy cross between a brownie and chocolate cake, and it was soooo good! This one's going in my recipe box.

Besides eating at home, we also went to a vegetarian Indian restaurant in Lund for lunch one day. Chris and Michelle discovered this on their very first few days in Sweden and have been waiting on us to visit so Toby could get his curry on with them!

We also went to a wine and cheese tasting at a cute little cheese shop in Lund. Even though it was all in Swedish, we had fun!

Here are the guys at the wine and cheese tasting. This is typically how it goes when I try to take pictures of them for my blog.

Sweden made sure we didn't leave without getting some legitimate Swedish weather. Our three days in Staffanstorp and Lund were very gray, if not downright rainy and cold.

But that didn't stop us from going out and doing some fun things! We spent a day checking out all the sights of Lund, like walking around a cool Swedish furniture store. Everything in it was so different and modern - I loved it!

We also did some fun window shopping in the city center of Lund. The streets in the main part of the city are all cobblestones and the buildings have heaps of character. So it was just fun to walk around all the cute shops. And, of course, the requisite H&M!

We also paid a visit to Michelle's office. She works at ESS (European Spallation Source). Her job is super cool: right now ESS is in the planning phase of the proton accelerator that will be built in Lund in the coming years. It's a partnership project between many European countries so their scientists can come and do research at the facitlity. Michelle does important work like planning the requirements for all the lab buildings, making sure they'll support the different types of materials that will be used in experiments, the building materials are sustainable, things like that. It's a fascinating project, and we are proud to know a scientist who's making such an impact on the future of science!

The rest of our time was spent playing games, catching up on TV shows, and hanging out with this guy.

Before we knew it, it was time to start the journey home. We had an amazing visit in Sweden! Stockholm was absolutely beautiful, as was Copenhagen. Our food experiences were fun, tasty, and adventurous. Learning about Swedish culture and oddities was fascinating. But, of course, the best thing was just hanging out with our friends! We can't wait to go back!

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Stockholm metro art

We mainly used the metro for getting from one place to another. But one cool thing I learned in my trip research is that almost every one of the Stockholm metro stations is painted or decorated with artwork. Each one has a different theme, like nature, math, archeology, etc.

I was really excited to see some of the stations. But since there about 90 stations that have artwork, there was no way to see them all. We did manage to fit in an after-dinner marathon metro ride to see a few! We spent an hour or two riding the metro, jumping off at a stop, checking to see when the next train came, and then doing a speed walk around the platform to check out the art. In some stations, there was art on other platforms or on the concourse, so we missed out on the full experience with this strategy. But we got a quick glance at several stations, all with very different art in them, so it worked for us!

Solna Centrum

This station was one of our favorites. It had a landscape theme, and the scenes were either really peaceful ones, like people fishing in streams, or ones about pollution or deforestation. It was painted in the 1970s, so it reflects the hot topics of the day.

Tekniska högskolan

This is the station for the Royal Institute of Techology, so the station art is themed with science and mathematic symbols. Michelle was especially excited about this one. =)

Stadion

This station basically screamed "rainbow!" It was actually designed to commemorate the 1912 Olympics, but it seemed to be all about rainbows to me.

Gärdet

This station was a bit weird, to be completely honest. It wasn't painted like most of the others we saw. Instead, there were glass cases along the walls that "fantasy beetles" were mounted in. I haven't been able to find any more of an explanation as to what or why with regard to the beetles. But it was unique and some of them were pretty cool.

Rådhuset

Rådhuset might have been the most dramatic of the stations we saw. It was painted an earthy red color, faux columns have been built into the walls, and there were other elements (like sculptured work boots) that are attached to the walls and ceiling. The walls are supposed to depict a fictional archeological find from the history of the Kungsholmen island.

T-Centralen

Central Station was one of the prettiest stations in my opinion - and how often can you say that about a central station?!

Different parts of the station had different art, but we saw blue and white patterned walls, as well as walls that are designed to be an homage to the workers of the city.

Kungsträdgården

The theme of Kungsträdgården is the "King's Garden." This might have been my favorite station of them all.

As fun and easy as riding the metro is, it did get old after a while. So we didn't to get to see as many stations as I would have liked. But that just leaves some unseen for my next time in Stockholm!

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Sweden day 9: Vasa and around Stockholm

The afternoon on Sunday was forecast to be rainy and cold. So we decided to spend the morning in Gamla Stan and get our fill of that cool area before the weather turned. First up was a hearty breakfast! One thing we've noticed in our time here is that if you're not eating smörgås for breakfast, then you're having a pastry. Now, the pastries have been amazing, but when you're going to be walking around all day, sometimes heartier food is needed! And just like T, I can have a grumpy face when that happens.

Ready for a snack

So we found a waffle places that also made sandwiches, which we made use of for our breakfast.

Fueled up, we walked through the streets for a while, and we also headed down to the water for a bit. We all liked it.

We all actually did like it (for real!) - it was just a tad bit chilly down by the water.

We had to go back to Djurgården to get to our next activity: the Vasa Museum. We took the scenic route: train to a walk to Skeppsholmen, then to Djurgården via the Djurgården ferry! Skeppsholmen is a small island that's connected to the rest of the city by a small bridge. It used to be all military buildings, but these days it's just museums and offices and such. The island is also really beautiful, especially with all the leaves turning.

It got a little cold and rainy waiting for the ferry, but everyone was generally happy!

Toby's happy face

Then it was off to the Vasa Museum! The Vasa is a warship that sank in Stockholm harbor in 1628. The ship was raised in 1961 and now it's a museum. The waters in Stockholm are so cold and brackish that a lot of the creatures that usually eat away at wooden shipwrecks can't survive, so the ship was in good shape when it was raised. Now it's been cleaned up, and scientists work on it constantly to keep it from decaying away.

We couldn't walk through the ship, but there were five levels of exhibits to get through. It was a good way to spend a few rainy hours. Then it was off to eat the best pizza in Stockholm, Dell'Attore!

Pizza and beers: a perfect way to spend the last night in Stockholm!

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