October 23
Wow, we actually made it to Sweden!
After 2 hours of sleep in the night we got up and headed for the airport. I am not a huge breakfast eater, especially at 4:30 a.m. so I drank some water and ate a few crackers. I purposely didn’t eat a banana or toast (that is another story from when I was in London with my sister Becca and my brother Scott…on the way to the airport I somehow had a weak stomach in the back of the car and threw up…and poor Becca was trying to pull my hair out of the way and got some of my puke on her and then she started dry heaving. Haha. We pulled over to the side of the road and after some calvin klein cologne, a bottle of water and shoving my smelly scarf in my bag, I felt like we managed to cover the puke smell. Haha. Sick, I know.) ANYWAYS, I am in the back seat of the car, Parker, Abbey’s brother is driving and Abbey has shotgun. I suddenly just felt ill and was like no!!! why!!! Yup, sure enough, Hil gets sick… and I puked and we pulled over and I puked again and again. And some random german guy in a car pulled over as I was leaning over and asked me if I was okay I am assuming in german and I just said I’m ok! And gave him a thumbs up sign! Haha. He laughed and then he drove off. Yeah…so I felt really stupid. We got tot the airport, checked in and everything. I drank some Coke and that helped a ton.
We climbed up the big stairs to get inside the plane, sat down together and then we were hoping no one would sit next to us because it was so tiny in there. I was laughing to myself because I think everyone is thinking in their head, please don’t let that guy sit next to me, or keep walking, keep walking…ha. I know whenever I am on a flight I am just watching as the people come closer to my seat and thinking those things and hoping its some nice girl or something that sits by me. Anyways we were lucky and the seat next to Abbey and I was empty!
There was this extremely European guy named Alexander and I took a picture of him just as he looked at me. The “blue steel” look just was so natural for him. Haha.
We got to the airport, saw our abandoned luggage on the conveyor belt, which for some odd reason was good enough to get a picture taken , and we moved on to exchange money to Kroners and then buy our train or bus ticket to Gothenburg. The currency is a lot different. We saw the prices for a train ticket which was like 1,1280 k and we were like what!!! And then I asked what it converted to in Euros and it was basically as though to take the last zero off, so it was 128 euros…which was still a rip off cause I’m poor, so we settled for a bus ride for 30 euros that took 5 hours. Haha. The train almost took the same so we thought it was fine. Everytime I would buy anything I was be like what because I am having a hard time wrapping my head around the currency. A drink of water is like 290. Then you pull out a hundred kroner bill and it just feels really weird.
The countryside is so beautiful with all the colours of autumn and the little cottages. I feel like I’m in a dream!
Abbey and I tried using our credit cards. She could use her mastercard to take out cash but for me, I was a lost soul. I couldn’t take anything out with my Visa. I couldn’t use it anywhere. I had some euros I exchanged but I didn’t have a lot so when I was out I was really worried I wasn’t going to be able to survive here. But, after a collect phonecall to my angelic mother, I was able to get money wired to a little convenient store in the train station and off we went. After being awake for almost 2 days, I felt extremely tired. The highs were starting to become really high and the lows were becoming struggles of just keeping my eyes open! While we were in the train station, in a little café I ordered a steamed milk and Abbey had never had one and thought it was weird, but she is in love with them now. Cinnamon steamed milks…mmmmm.
We asked a lot of questions to people to try and find our way around and there was a homeless man named Hawken and he was the most polite homeless person I have ever met.Then, the most beautiful Swedish girl named Louise helped us find out which bus to take. She was so nice and I just cannot believe how many kind and generous and helpful people are here in Sweden!! It made me proud to be Swedish and I kept telling Abbey that and I felt like I fit in perfectly here with my blonde hair and blue eyes. I really think I could live in Sweden. It’s sooooo nice!!
Our hotel was a dream come true. For the amount of money we paid I feel like we scored big time. The room was amazingly nice and the beds were soo soft and there was a pool, sauna, free breakfast (which I will get to because it was more like a free feast) and the after finding out about the sauna at 8 pm at night when we arrived, I was like, “Abbey….there is no way we are comng to Sweden without have a sauna experience!!” So while everyone was in their swimsuits at the pool, we went into the women’s sauna with just towels on and it was the most relaxing thing ever. I am definitely a sauna fan! After the sauna, we were barely even able to stay awake so we showered and went to sleep. It was the best night sleep I have had in a long time. I don’t think I woke up once.
I have been thinking a lot about my family history since being here and wondering what it would be like if my dad’s great grandfather hadn’t joined the church and come to North America. Would I live in Sweden?Where would I be? Or would I be in England or Ireland or somewhere else on my mother’s side of the family. I am really grateful for my ancestry and the courage and hardships they faced.I feel lucky to be born in such a wonderful free country and to have the gospel freedoms as well. So, I feel like my visit to Sweden is in some way a small tribute to them.
We visited the Universeam and there were these fish that looked like sting rays or something in this big pool of water…and people were sticking their arms in and trying to play with them and when one jumped up against the side of the pool I jumped back in fear. Then I looked over to my left and saw like a 6 year old sticking her whole arm in and I felt really stupid. Haha. They just swam around and around and people loved it. I ended up touching one afterall just because I felt like if I didn’t that little 6 year old girl was way braver than me. I couldn’t let her show me up! Abbey and I were both like ewwwww!!
Then we saw a ton of other animals, like a swordfish and a shark..and an anaconda and MONKEYS! They were so small and can just jump around freely in the rainforest. It was really funny to watch them and they were so cute. I really liked the monkeys.
We had a reservation at a nice restaurant located in the old part of town, which was gorgeous, that was recommended at the hotel for us and so we went there after meeting Alexander Sahlin. He came to see me and I was really happy to see him! It has been about 3 years and it brought back a lot of great mission memories.We ate smoked salmon and some potatoes in dill…It was sooo good and then we shared a dessert that was likethe smallest desert I’ve ever seen. When we were getting ready to order there was something on the menu that just said “Catch of the day” I thought it would be funny to just look at the waitress in all seriousness and say, Can I please have the catch of the day. Not sure why its funny to me but it is.
We went back to the train station after, had hot chocolate and then visited for a long time after while we waited for the trains and buses. It was really hard to say goodbye to him because I felt like I was having to say goodbye to a part of my mission that I might never see again… I hate that. It’s hard to explain. I have a hard time saying goodbye to people in general and I really was sad after.
Abbey and I caught our bus back and then we were about to get off at our stop but the bus driver never stopped!!! So we were like umm….and I was like its ok, we’ll get off at the next one and walk, we are good… and then the bus driver kept going and kept going and 20 km later we got off in a deserted area with an abandoned gas station, We looked at each other and started laughing so hard and then we noticed a castle and were like oh well, there is a castle there!! Cool!! Haha. We were cold and we waited for 30 min for a bus to come and wow, just to stay warm and stay awake we were doing really dumb things. I started making up a song and singing it. It was about my sister Becca and how I missed her. It’s probably a good thing no one but Abbey was there, because I was a little crazy. We caught the bus back, got safely into our hotel room and were out the moments we laid down.It was a really fun day. We have just been going, going going. I am so happy to be here with a friend. I knew I was getting a little lonely in France, but I guess I didn’t realize how lonely. It has been soooo great to be with Abbey. We have some great discussions and she is a great girl. I wish my mom and dad could see it here, and I wish I could have brought a few other people too. It’s always more fun to travel with people you love! Did I mention that I am in love with the peppermint chocolate they have here. It tastes like Christmas!! What could be better than that!
October 27
What a busy few days. Abbey and I are now sitting in a little coffee shop sipping our steamed milks and talking about our trip and other things. We are catching a bus in a few hours to the airport where we are going to be pulling an all nighter. My mother wasn’t too thrilled when she heard this, but Abbey and I were deceived by the HOTEL we stayed at the last 2 nights. I think they forgot an S in HOTEL. It definitely was hostel quality. Last night after our tour of Stockholm, which by the way, is ABSOLUTELY STUNNING, we headed back to the hotel completely exhausted. We packed so many things in during the day, and really just got a feel for the culture here. It was a lot of fun. The city of Stockholm is considered to be one of the most beautiful cities in all of Europe. I have to agree on that one. It is amazing here. There are tons of islands and the water with all the boats just makes you feel like you are in a picture! Anyways, we were so tired that we were only thinking of how we were going to manage a shower in this sick shared HOSTEL bathroom.By the time we got home and looked in the bathroom we were both convinced it was not going to happen… Abbey and I finally just decided to wash our hair. Yeah, that was just about too much for me. I stood over the drain with my shoes and sweats and my head upsidedown and washed my hair as fast as I could. There was no way I was getting naked in that shower. There was water all over the floor and mud and I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. So for all you readers out there… don’t judge me for not showering for a few days okay. I think I am actually looking pretty decent considering the situation on hand. The cold here just kills all the germs on me anyways. So if you are not a shower lover, moving to Sweden or one of the northern countries might be an option for you!
I cannot believe how kind the people are here. They all speak really good English and are always so willing to direct us or actually show us where to go. It has been quite an adventure with us trying to catch buses and the metro all through the city. We cannot believe how clean everything is here. I honestly would love to live in Sweden. It is the friendliest country I have ever visited.
Other than the weird noises coming from the room next to ours in our hotel and the lack of boat tours this time of the year, Abbey and I have been completely in love with Sweden.Everywhere we go, with all the autumn colours, and the bright cold days, we feel such a sense of peace here. It is a place I will miss and also I place I feel really blessed to have roots from. In a small way, I feel like this is home for me.
Walking around and experiencing the cultures in these European countries has been so much fun for me. I really just feel like Europe has a piece of my heart.
I hope that my mom and dad know just how much it has meant to me coming here. Without them, it would not have been a possibility. They have given me something I will never forget.
October 28
Just got back to Germany after spending the night in the airport and not sleeping. Holy cow. I am sooo tired. I am dirty and exhausted but really content because I am just having the most wonderful time. The funniest thing happened on our plane ride... as we were getting ready to land, there was this one man, and the seat belt sign came on and the stewardess said for everyone to stay in their seats for the landing. Well this one guy just busts off his seatbelt and heads straight to the back where I was assuming he was going to the bathroom. Abbey and I were at the very back so we were able to observe this whole scene. The stewardess stops him and says, Sir, Sit Down Now. He was not really listening and so she had to repeat herself a few times when finally acting all confused he saunters back to his seat. As soon as the plane hits the ground this same guy again, takes off towards the back where this time the male stewardess says, SIR SIT DOWN NOW, this isn't a joke. He finally slides over the arm rest in the last seat he can see closest to the bathroom, meanwhile I can see half of his butt because his pants are falling off. He was pretty gross. Then, as soon as the seat belt sign comes off he tries to open the door to get off the plane...and they again rebuked him. This guy was crazy! Abbey and I were laughing so hard. We met Abbey's brother and sister and bought pretzels and then drove home talking about the funniest stuff and honestly, it felt so good to be with good friends. They are so much fun. I haven't laughed that hard is forever. Now, its time to get clean and sleep and tonight have some more fun!!
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