Fleeting Sweden

I'm sleepy tonight as I had a busy day playing tourist in my hometown, which was fun! My dutch friend had a friend from home visiting, so it was a great opportunity to do the tourist things we had not done yet, and the weather was great. Sunny, blue sky's for the first few hours. Then the Swedish weather I am most familiar with, cold and cloudy, returned but by that point my day had been great so I wasn't too bothered. We went to the top of the water tower where we could see the whole city below as well as the surrounding countryside, it was really nice. We also walked around the centre and had the most peculiar hot dogs, mine was a "french" hot dog and was a baguette with a hole in the centre which was filled with a garlic mayonnaise and then filled by the hot dog! It was actually good, and warmed me up! Later, the four of us continued our very Swedish day by having mashed potatoes and meatballs; followed by apple crumble and ice cream. Needless to say I'm feeling rather sluggish and sleepy due in large to all of these things I ate today! How the Swedish people are so slim I have no idea, their food is a little ridiculous and slightly less than healthy; it really does not motivate me to move!

This past Tuesday I went to Gothenburg which was so nice. I had a really lovely day, and spent the perfect amount of time there. We were not rushed and had the time to have a nice, long leisurely lunch and watch the people stroll by in the comfort of this perfect cafe we stumbled upon. We also had the time to get lost, and find smaller things like the fish markets and this neat look out point on the side of hill. The art museum was also one of the best small art museums I have ever seen, with a great collection that spanned many artists and styles. I also saw a viking ship in the city museum which was pretty neat, its unbelievable that things as old as this are able to survive so long. It also felt nice to be on the ocean again, it feels that I am always so far and disconnected from it, and never close enough. Every time I stand by the sea it feels so good and I feel immediate comfort and ease. While I've never lived on or even near the ocean, I feel a very strong connection to it and even if its just standing in ship harbor as I was in Gothenburg; I could stand and watch it forever. I love the idea that the ocean reaches every shore of the world; its like any shore you look off of you are looking to the other side of the world. The water touches everywhere on earth at the exact same time and is so mysterious with its hundreds of miles of open space and depth. I was I had an aptitude for science, the ocean would be so incredible to research!

I can't believe how fast the trip and my time here is flying by. I want to suck every moment out of it, and take everything I can from Sweden and my time away. I miss all of those that I love at home (family, friends) but also don't want this all to end! Every day is the perfect blend of exciting and relaxing, exotic and comfortable. I have no regrets at all in coming and have loved every second of my time here. As I said, while I will be happy to be reunited with everyone at home; its going to be hard to leave. While it feels like i've been gone forever, its unbelievable that I'm over half way through my time in Orebro. I'm still waiting to wake up as this has flown by so short that I swear it could fit into one nights dream. Its like while i'm here, living and doing everything, my time is slipping out from beneath me. And really, the reality is that with such little time here (as is the case in any sort of travel) our romance, between Sweden and I, is fleeting. And so, this week I am going to make a big effort to do everything that I can, and to appreciate every minute of being here so that I don't wake up one morning with a week left, full of stress with all that I have not seen, loved, and done.

Life moves by so fast as it is, I can't believe how long I have been gone and here!

Talk to you soon,

Syd

xoxo

ps. All of the photos above are from my trip to Gothenburg