I've already been home for a week and before I put this off any further, I'm going to give a quick recap of my winter vacation to visit Stephan in Germany. Here's the highlights:
1) My Christmas present: tickets to see Rammstein live in concert. It was absolutely amazing! The special effects were fantastic (they set 2 people on fire, breathed fire, had giant fire spewing angel wings, crowd surfed on a raft again, oh and did I mention fire?) plus the music was even better live with thousands of native German speakers singing along. Here's a clip of one of my favorite songs from the tour (this is in Lisbon, not Berlin, but it's basically the same):
2) Seeing a lot of Stephan's family and friends over the course of several Christmas celebrations, eating tons of yummy traditional German food, learning a bit of the language, playing Werewolves, singing for our presents, Stollen, etc.
3) Going to a Christmas market. It's like the State Fair but German and in the winter and without the animals...
4) Going to the Pergamon Museum and seeing all the cool Greek mythological artifacts
5) Seeing Avatar
6) His present: a 2 1/2 day trip to Prague...we got to visit a beautiful city and see most of the sights despite it being freezing! Also as an added bonus we were able to catch up with a bunch of our friends from Uppsala who live in the city/were also there to visit.
7) Spending 3 weeks with my knuddellöwe!
So now it's back to school...one more semester left before graduation and grad school starts! I've already gotten accepted to Wisconsin and I fly out to Santa Cruz at the end of the month to interview! Stay tuned for more updates as they come...
I made my own text cloud using Wordle. Make your own at www.wordle.net. The bigger the word, the more frequently it shows up in your blog or other text that you use to generate the cloud. So now you can see what I spent most of my time in Sweden talking about. Enjoy!
Just one short week after I arrived home, my Deutsche löwe came to visit me in my country :) His two week stay was action-packed and neither of us had had time to recover from moving away from Sweden yet.
Act 1: Chicago I met Stephan at the airport in Chicago and introduced him to one of my high school friends, Anna, who works/goes to school in the city now. By the time we got back to our super-nice room at the brand new Wit hotel, it was already late and we were tired so we decided to just have dinner there. The rooftop restaurant/bar/lounge sounded promising but that seemed like the place to be on a Wednesday night so it was way to loud and crowded for our tastes. Instead we had over-priced "tapas" at the other restaurant: prime rib tartar and scallops with marinated mushrooms. Plus we got free desert because they were out of the one I wanted! The next day was so hot and we spent most of the time out in the sun walking around town. First stop- the Sears Tower. I know that Chicago has some big skyscrapers but I never realized how they could make someone nervous if they weren't used to such big buildings all the time. The sky was a bit hazy from the top and we just missed the grand opening of the new observation decks on the very top that have glass floors so you can see straight down the 103 stories. Oh well. Next stop- Millennium Park. Too bad we didn't have a change of shoes and socks, all the little kids looked like they were having so much fun splashing in the fountains. We kept walking down to the lake shore with the intent of going out to Navy Pier but we decided it was too hot, too far away, and not really worth going. So instead we followed the Chicago river along the Riverwalk area back to our hotel to get the car. Last stop- Museum of Science and Industry. We didn't have as much time as we would have liked to be able to really play with and see everything but we stil had a good time being big nerdy kids, especially in the space section. On the way back from Chicago we stopped in Lafayette for gas and dinner. We ate on the patio at McAllister's Deli and got a free show- a huge thunderstorm rolled in as we were having dinner with some great lightning striking in the distance so Stephan could see what a real Midwest thunderstorm was like, up close and personal!
Act 2: Washington D.C. After just one day in Indianapolis, meeting my family and going shopping/seeing town, we were off again- this time to our nation's capital. We stayed in Old Town, Alexandria, a posh suburb on the Virginia side and home to some of my family. The first afternoon was spent walking around Old Town, checking out little shops and the Torpedo Factory which used to be exactly what it is called but is now an artist enclave. After dinner we opted to take a ghost tour which was funny although a bit cheesy and juvenile. The first full day we used to check out the Smithsonian Museums: the main building, Air and Space, American history, and a fabulous and authentic Native American lunch at the food court at the American Indian museum. We also payed our respects to our nation's founding documents at the Archives where we got to see the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. We spent the evening visiting and having dinner with Uncle Mike and Aunt Debbie who helped us make arrangements for the next day. Debbie so nicely gave us a ride out to Mount Vernon was fantastic especially since we were one of the first groups to get to go through the house that day. Then we headed out to Arlington National Cemetary for the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. From there we hopped on a bus tour that took us into the Capital and let us all of the various presidental monuments plus finishing off the American History musuem (we saw the original Stars and Stripes!) and a quick look in the Natural History museum.
Intermission: We had two more days in Indy which we spent at the Children's Museum seeing the touring King Tut and Egyptian artifacts exhibit. It was really well put together and extremely interesting. The other day we drove up to Purdue so Stephan could see where I go to school, meet some of my friends, and visit with my Grandparents. Plus he had rootbeer for the first time! at Triple XXX along with the famous Dwayne Pervis burger :)
Act 3: Kentucky Lake/4th of July Friday before the Fourth of July, we piled into my dad's new car and took off for Kentucky Lake. My mom's entire extended family was having a reunion there for the holiday. We got to go tubing on the lake that evening and Stephan has now met just about all of my relatives! The actually 4th got a bit soggy when a storm came pouring down, threatening a tornado on our picnic pavillion. The big fireworks got rained out although one of my 2nd cousins was shooting some little ones off for the kids. The traditional "Kentucky Derby" horse race took place and Stephan was winning jockey :) The next day we drove back to Indiana and made it just in time to grab dinner and go downtown to see the fireworks at home which had also been rained out the day before.
Final Act: Saying Goodbye We had two more days in Indiana before he had to say auf Wiedersehen- one day we went to the zoo and the other day we just spent hanging out at home, the two of us. I was extremely sad to see him go because the next time I will see him will be at Christmas, hopefully in Berlin. Until then we are making due with video chatting and letter writing, trying to stay busy until school starts. So now I am finished writing in this blog, at least for now, as I am home and will not have such exciting adventures to share. But stayed tuned, because a sequeal maybe in the works detailing my next trip to see my love.
The last week in Uppsala was a busy mess of trying to sort through my things, pack, and clean the apartment on top of last minute paperwork and trying to see a few sites I hadn't had time for during school. To make matters worse, both Stephan and I came down with colds from camping out in the wet and cold. After returning from my vacation I found out that my TA (who was on vacation that week) wanted me to make some changes to my report and resubmit it even though the semester was technically over. The crappy thing was that all of the corrections were superficial formatting issues, not anything related to the content. So along with unexpected school work, Monday was spent helping Stephan's friend Enno get his stuff to the train station and having fika for the last time. Tuesday we went to Ekonomikum (the business school) to buy cool Uppsala merchandise, then we walked through the old cemetery to see the graves of some of the famous scientists who taught at Uppsala (i.e. Ångstrom and Arrhenius). On the way to the Gustavianum, the university museum, we stumbled across another exhibition showcasing the university's coin and medal collection. We got a private tour by the currator and learned all sorts of fun facts about old money in Scandinavia and the world. We snuck into the Gustavianum at the last minute to view artifacts from the university's history (1st telescope, Valborg memoribilia, etc.) plus the Augsburg art cabinet, the museum prize item, and the world's 2nd oldest anatomical theatre built by Svedberg. Wednesday was completely devoted to cleaning but we didn't finish and over slept the alarm on Thursday. Luckily the cleaning inspector was late and didn't look very hard at all at the room so I passed with flying colors. After finishing all of the necessary things we needed to do to leave, we set off on the train to spend the night at Arlanda airport in the hotel. Friday was flying day and we needed to be up early, around 5:30am for Stephan to make his flight. My flight took off a bit later and was the start to one day i wish never to repeat.
Since I changed the date of my flight, I lost the ability to choice my seat ahead of time. Plus the flight was actually really full so I ended up in the window seat next to a large Norwegian man. I tried to sleep but the plane was so hot because it didn't have the little air vents above you. So I tried to play games on the in-seat entertainment, but all of them kept crashing except soduku. Then I wanted to watch movies but by this time all of them were in the middle of the film and I can't watch a new movie from the middle so I had to settle for Chicago because I had seen it before. Remember that I'm not feeling well the entire time. After 9 hours I wanted fresh air so badly but unfortunately a huge storm had settled over Chicago. Instead of landing, we flew circles over Grand Rapids until we absolutely had to land in Milwaukee to get more fuel. By the time we got Chicago, I had missed my connecting flight. Actually it was cancelled I later found out and I was put on stand-by for the next flight to Indianapolis because I had the bright idea to call United rather than stand in a line 2 miles long. Another wave of storms came through and wiped out my stand-by flight. So I got put on stand-by for an even later flight. In the mean time, I found some other stranded Indianapolis bound young adults who had decided to try to rent a car and just drive. But none of the rental car companies would let us leave the car in Indy. I didn't make it on the last flight of the night, which left at midnight, because I was 68 out 81 standby passengers for a plane that seats 72. Thank goodness I know people who live in the city. Anna and her roommate Carl are my new personal hereos. Although Anna was home in Indy, she called her roommate to come get me at the airport and take me back to their place at Loyola (a 2 hour ride on the EL, fyi) so I could sleep in her bed and have my Dad drive up the next morning to get me. By the time I went to bed that night, I had been up for over 24 hours Sweden time. I didn't get back to Indy until 7:30pm on Saturday, a whole day later than scheduled. And my cold got worse. I'm finally feeling somewhat better and I'm re-adjusting my internal clock so I will be able to get all of my stuff done before Stephan arrives on Wednesday to visit for 2 weeks :) :) :) I think this is the only thing that is keeping me from getting totally "home"-sick for Sweden yet.
Sorry this entry is so late in coming but I've been super occupied by moving home so now is the first free moment I've had where I don't feel like crap (see next entry).
Anyways, Stephan and I decided to take a last minute vacation before we each had to leave Sweden (me for good, him for the summer). Since I didn't get a chance to go to the Swedish High Coast (Höga Kusten) with my friends a couple of weeks ago due to illness, we opted to take our own road trip there. We rented a nice Volvo S40 diesel from Hertz with our student discount and borrowed a tent from my Polish friend Pawel. Since we had a car, we decided it would be perfect to use it to move Stephan from his old apartment to his new one across town. Thursday was spent packing, moving, and cleaning. Finally at 7pm we were able to hit the road north.
We didn't have much of a plan, just follow the E4 north and spend the night at Skuleskogen National Park. Along the way we stopped at Dragon's Gate, huge Chinese themed rest area for a Chinese buffet dinner and some pictures. As we went further and further north, the midnight sun became more and more apparent. It never really got dark, just that grey time that you get right after sunset. This happened around 11pm when we hit Sundsvall and the detour. The detour off the E4 due to construction was not very well marked so we ended up taking a wrong turn and getting lost a bit but decided to turn around when we saw some other confused motorists stop to discuss how to get back to the highway. Finally we made it to the southern most point of the High Coast, the Höga Kusten bridge. Due to the delay from the detour, we arrived just in time for the sunrise around 1:30am. Just past the bridge is a rest area and scenic outlook where we climbed out to take gorgeous pictures of the bridge covered in clouds, the orange-pink sunrise, and the huge orange moon. If you haven't already, check out the pictures on Flickr. By 3:30am we reached the park but were too tired to hike inside to the campsite so we opted to sleep in the car.
When we awoke the next day we realized that this was real wilderness. A sign at the trail head warned us that we needed proper equipment and good health to reach the highlight of the park- Slåttsdalsskrevan, a gorge in the top of the mountain in the middle of the park. Wisely we decided to exit the park and drive north to find an outfitters store so I could get hiking boots and some other supplies. On the way we had to stop for a moose which ran across the road and luckily stayed long enough for me to jump out and get a picture. After getting a great deal on boots and other equipment we headed back to the park and set out on the trail around 3:30pm. We didn't get back to the car until the same time the next day. The trails were really steep and rocky due to glacial action which formed the entire area. The high coast is called as such because the glaciers caused the coast line to rise up to 300 meters (almost 1,000 feet) above sea level. But we managed to make it up to the gorge and a most glorious view of the Baltic Sea and surrounding landscapes (by the way, those pictures were taken around 9pm). Along the way we took a break at a stuga, a rest cabin set up as part of Svensk Allmansrätten- the idea that the forest is every man's right and is free for use as long as you don't ruin it for the next people. By the time we got down the other side of the mountian it was "dark" and getting colder plus we were physically exhausted. After some trouble due to the wood provided by the park being damp, we managed to start a fire, cook some dinner, and set up the tent. The next morning we set off on a coastal trail back to the car. Along the way we ventured to some burial mounds from the Bronze Age, an island off the coast, and an area where people can rent cottages for long-term stays.
After that adventure, we wanted some real, warm food and a break from hiking. We were too late getting to the ski lift that would have taken us to the top of Skuleberget, the highest point in the area so we deicded to drive around the country side from fishing village to village looking for an open resturant. Unfortunately we were about a week ahead of the tourist season so most places were closed either for the season or because it was too late in the day. Finally we found a place where we got some lax and fika (the warm kitchen had already closed) which happened to be next to a 16th-century fishing chapel. The building was so cool- built like a ship and made for people much shorter than Swedes are today. We also saw ruins of a church/a crypt from the same time period in another village. By then it was getting even cloudier and colder so the chance for some swimming or kayaking the next was out. Thus we made our way to Dalarna in the center of Sweden to visit the acclaimed Björn Parken (Bear Park) where they just got a new polar bear exhibit. As we drove through the night, the rain started to pour. Eventually we couldn't go any further but seeing as how we were in the middle of nowhere, we slept in the car again along the side of the road.
The next morning the weather wasn't any better and the outside temperature had dropped to around 5 celsius (40 fahrenheit), yuck! Depsite the crummy weather we had driven all the way to the Bear Park so we weren't about to leave without seeing some bears. The park was fantastic! When we arrived they were feeding the brown bears including the cubs. The fox had escaped from his enclosure and darted across our path to the bathroom so we were literally feet from it. In the tiger building, one of them came right up to the glass and looked me in the eyes! The polar bear enclosure was cool- huge for only two polar bears- because in the future it will have a snow mountain and real fish for hunting in the pond although now it seems a bit empty especially when the bears were sleeping. According to the park person who gave us a personal "tour" of the polar bear section, the whole thing is an experiment to see if they can keep the bears as wild as possible and get them to breed in captivity. I hope they manage to be successful. As we were leaving the park, we wandered into an observation booth in the wolf enclosure to be greeted by the entire pack resting across the ridge from where we were standing. Thanks to Stephan's zoom lens, we got some great pictures.
We finished off the trip by stopping in Mora for some pseudo-Cajun cooking (delicious blackened salmon, cheesecake, and Swedish mushrooms) before driving back to Uppsala. The entire trip back it rained. Apparently it had been raining for 72 hours straight while we had been gone. All of this wetness though lead to a problem- I had an ant infestation to take care of once I got home.
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