Last weekend I went to see my friend Viktor again. I hopped
on the train to Södertälje where he grew up. Once I was picked up in their BMW,
I knew I was in for one hell of a weekend. Viktor spent some time planning this
weekend and I knew I was in for a few surprises. I met Viktor’s parents when
Viktor graduated and his brother, Oskar, studied at Black River Falls for a
year so I know him a bit too. It was great seeing them again and catching up
since it has been quite a few years. Time has gone by so fast these past few
years.
Viktor, Oskar, and I headed into Stockholm with the BMW to
take a quick look around the city for a couple of hours. I cannot think of any
other words to describe Stockholm besides beautiful. Stockholm is situated on
quite a few lakes so no matter where you are in the city you are bound to find
water within a short walk. Some of my favorite quotes from this evening were
“You see everything that looks like gold, it’s real gold.” And “As long as that
flag is flying, Sweden is still Swedish.”
It was ironic that when we got back to Södertälje, we ate
cheeseburgers, the American classic. Most Swedes really love the USA with many
of them wearing American flag t-shirts, including Viktor that day. It is really
great to just have that friend that even though you don’t see them very often,
it feels like you were never apart.
The next day was the big day with a “surprise” for me. We
took the train to Stockholm and I figured out my surprise when we walked into
the Segway store. Yeah we went on a tour of Stockholm on Segways! About a three
hour tour to be exact. It really was a great way to see the city without
destroying your body by trying to walk everywhere. We must have covered around
25 km in the short period. They are a lot of fun to drive and I got the hang of
it easily. The only trouble with a Segway tour is that it is hard to take in
the beauty of the city in just that short time. There is so many things to see
in Stockholm that I think you could spend weeks there and not see or appreciate
everything.
Later in the afternoon we went to the Vasa Museum, a ship
that was built in the 1600’s and sunk within 20 minutes of it first sailing. It
was salvaged from the water in the 1960’s and has been a museum for a little
over 20 years. It is a massive ship and very well perserved for its age. It’s
something you have to see in real life to really appreciate. The tour guide
said it took only two years to build the entire ship, and it took them three
years to make a scale model of the ship!
That evening I got to experience something
The next day, I had to say “see you later” to Viktor since
we won’t see each other again before I head back to the USA. It’s always tough
saying bye to a friend, but this wasn’t bye because I know I will be back in
Sweden at some point, so this was a “see you later”. I wish I could see Viktor
more and hang out, guess that’s the trouble with having friends half way around
the world. Maybe next time I see him, I will be more fluent in Swedish. He was
already impressed with how much that I have learned in the four short months I
have been studying it.
After Viktor left, I headed into the open air museum called
Skansen. It was a really cool step back into history since there were old
Swedish workshops, farmers, and stores. While there it was easier to imagine
the olden days and how things were then. I even had a traditional Swedish
kanelbullar (cinnamon bun) there. There were also some Scandinavian animals
there including wolves, bears, moose, reindeer, and a few others.
My trip to Stockholm and Södertälje was one of the best
weekends I had while in Sweden. I wish I could share my experience in Stockholm
with my friends and family back at home. I guess these pictures will have to do
for now. Maybe someday I can bring them to this beautiful city and country.
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