I was so happy when I learned back in February that Liz would be coming to visit me during her Spring Break at the end of March. Finally the day came when she arrived in Sweden and none too soon either! She was just what I needed to ward off any homesickness that might still be lurking :) I met her at the airport and we took the train back to Uppsala, talking and catching up the whole way. After we dropped off her bags, we went straight to Willys to get some food for the next week since I was only used to feeding myself and my fridge was pretty empty already. The next morning we got up early-ish...we missed changing our clocks for daylight savings before bed...and took the bus into Stockholm. We headed first to Skansen, a large open-air museum/park kind of like Connor Priarie but showcasing the different regions of Sweden. We spent most of our time watching the glass-blowers and visiting all of the Nordic wildlife such as owls, bears, wolves, seals, reindeer, and of course the moose! Next we walked to the National Museum of Art which was really cool. Not only did it have the works of Swedish masters, but it also had many other European artists and sculptures as well. They need to better tell people that pictures aren't allowed in the museum, like maybe with a sign or something, instead having the security guard yell at unsuspecting tourists. By this time we were pretty tired but not so tired that we couldn't enjoy a nice cocktail at the Absolut Ice Bar. Although it's a bit of a tourist trap, $20 for cover/parka rental/1 drink, it was still really awesome to be able to say we had a drink made with real Absolut Vodka served in a glass made of ice in a bar made of ice :) plus Liz met Lenny the bartender ;).
Unfortunately I had class the whole week, but I was able to get some afternoons off by working hard and efficiently. On Monday after class I took Liz on a walking tour of Uppsala before Swedish class and then Stephan came over and made his famous kladkaka (chocolate cake) for her to try. Tuesday afternoon we took the bus to Gamla Uppsala, the site of Old Uppsala, where there are several large Viking burial mounds. The museum was closed but we still got to walk around which was cool. I took Liz to Swedish on Wednesday so she could met Felix (my German friend who will be studying at IUPUI in the fall) and learn a little too even though she was on vacation. We learned vocabulary about furniture and Liz picked up really quick! Then we stopped by Kalmar for an Elvis themed pub night with some of my friends. Thursday we spent shopping and having fika. I had class all day on Friday so Liz went back to Stockholm to see some stuff that I've already seen before we headed to Värmlands for the infamous club night.
All of this was tons of fun, but the highlight of the week, at least for me, was on Saturday- the Nation's Choir Festival. We went to the aula of the main university building to watch various choirs from the nations perform individually as well as a combined choir. All of the groups were really entertaining and I finally got to see Stephan in action ;) The concert was then followed by a gasque. Luckily they let Liz, Stephan, and I all sit together. The gasque was themed "Hereos and Villans" but we only had an hour to get home, change, and get back to V-Dala where the gasque was. Liz and I went as Bonnie and Clyde (me in my pin-stripe pants suit and her in a black dress) and Stephan went as the Joker- Liz did an amazing job on his makeup- the only other guy dressed as the Joker actually won for best costume of the night. This gasque was so much better than the international one because it was mostly Swedes, so it was done right, and our dinner company was much nicer/more interesting. Plus each of the choirs performed a spex- a funny, paraody song/skit- for the honor of winning the Golden (Tuning)Fork. There are pictures under "Events" on Flickr. Check out the winner here:
The gasque was followed by släpp/afterparty as usual which made for a late night and an early morning seeing Liz off to the airport, but there was no time to rest because we (Stephan and I) needed to pack for our grand adventure throughout Europe.
Unfortunately I had class the whole week, but I was able to get some afternoons off by working hard and efficiently. On Monday after class I took Liz on a walking tour of Uppsala before Swedish class and then Stephan came over and made his famous kladkaka (chocolate cake) for her to try. Tuesday afternoon we took the bus to Gamla Uppsala, the site of Old Uppsala, where there are several large Viking burial mounds. The museum was closed but we still got to walk around which was cool. I took Liz to Swedish on Wednesday so she could met Felix (my German friend who will be studying at IUPUI in the fall) and learn a little too even though she was on vacation. We learned vocabulary about furniture and Liz picked up really quick! Then we stopped by Kalmar for an Elvis themed pub night with some of my friends. Thursday we spent shopping and having fika. I had class all day on Friday so Liz went back to Stockholm to see some stuff that I've already seen before we headed to Värmlands for the infamous club night.
All of this was tons of fun, but the highlight of the week, at least for me, was on Saturday- the Nation's Choir Festival. We went to the aula of the main university building to watch various choirs from the nations perform individually as well as a combined choir. All of the groups were really entertaining and I finally got to see Stephan in action ;) The concert was then followed by a gasque. Luckily they let Liz, Stephan, and I all sit together. The gasque was themed "Hereos and Villans" but we only had an hour to get home, change, and get back to V-Dala where the gasque was. Liz and I went as Bonnie and Clyde (me in my pin-stripe pants suit and her in a black dress) and Stephan went as the Joker- Liz did an amazing job on his makeup- the only other guy dressed as the Joker actually won for best costume of the night. This gasque was so much better than the international one because it was mostly Swedes, so it was done right, and our dinner company was much nicer/more interesting. Plus each of the choirs performed a spex- a funny, paraody song/skit- for the honor of winning the Golden (Tuning)Fork. There are pictures under "Events" on Flickr. Check out the winner here:
The gasque was followed by släpp/afterparty as usual which made for a late night and an early morning seeing Liz off to the airport, but there was no time to rest because we (Stephan and I) needed to pack for our grand adventure throughout Europe.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment