Busy, Busy, Busy

We've been busy the last few days! On Friday we took a long trek via several types of public transportation (tram to underground to bus) out to the countryside to spend the afternoon and evening with an old colleague of Jeremy's and her family. They live on a beautiful lake that reminded my a lot of Gram and Gramp's place, only you couldn't see any other houses around the edge. We spent all afternoon talking in the shade on their back porch. I'm happy to report that I was able to understand almost everything said in Swedish between Maryanne and her son, but probably because we were all very relaxed... so unlike the typical conversation I hear on the underground in the city, the pace of conversation was much more relaxed as well.

On Saturday Jer and I explored Skansen, which is a cross between an amusement park and an outdoor museum. They have transplanted lots of buildings from across Sweden from various time periods to this one place and restored them to their original condition. They also have interpretive guides in period dress walking around inside the buildings to answer questions. It was very cool, although not in the literal sense, as the temperature has now risen to above 90 degrees F for the last few days. This wouldn't be problem, except no one in Sweden has air conditioning or fans!

That night we also had dinner with friends, and on our way home via the tram, we were told they would be stopping before our typical station and going no further due to "sabotage." After some probing, Jer found out there was someone with a green laser pointer terrorizing the drive every time he ventured past a certain point, so the infamous "they" had decided to shut down all public transportation to our part of the city. Only in Sweden!

Yesterday the same friends from dinner the night before came to get us and we all drove out to Drottningholm, which is the official residence for the current Swedish Royal Family. It was a beautiful palace built in the 1600s, with expansive traditional Baroque and English gardens. We enjoyed ourselves, but it was the hottest day of the year so far in Stockholm... hopefully it will cool off soon!

Below are some of my favorite pics from the last few days. Hope you enjoy!

Skansen...

Drottningholm...