Our Adventure to Sigtuna and Beyond

Readers I apologize, I did something inadvertently and lost most of my last blog. Search as I did, most of the night, I did not recover it. Alas, my technical  support was sleeping!
   
     To continue, where I left you, our first adventure outside of Stockholm, took us to the little town of Sigtuna. (We have pictures, but will need a few weeks to figure out how to incorporate them.) Sigtuna is Sweden's second oldest town and was founded in 980AD. As you might guess, it became a center of Christianity. Tom was thrilled to tour the remaining three churches of this medieval village. The main street was beautiful despite the years. It was lined with colorful wooden buildings and the town hall was the smallest in Sweden, built in 1744. We weren't sure what the towns outside of Stockholm would be like. Would they contain a hotel, restaurants, etc. Sigtuna did contain a hotel, it was lovely, perched on top of a cliff,  looking down on the water. It also had a few small restaurants and shops.
     From Sigtuna, we headed for the fourth largest city in Sweden, Uppsala. Uppsala is known as a university town. The first university in Scandinavia was built here in 1477. It is a busy city full of students and historical buildings. We had lunch and then explored the Gothic Catherdral, castle, and botanical gardens. As we were walking back to the car along the Gamla Stan (old city), we noticed a gathering of people and a blockade. We went to investigate and found they had closed off several of the streets. The Hollywood film crew was in town filming the movie Millennium. We stayed to watch many takes of a parade scene which came right down the center of town. We didn't see any of the major actors, but regardless, we felt very lucky to catch the filming. I had heard rumors they were filming in Uppsala, because Stockholm would not close off streets. But, everything has been kept quiet, so large crowds would not show up during filming.
     For those of you not familar with the Millennium movie, the film is based on the books by Steg Larsson. He is a Swedish author who sets his stories in Stockholm. Most of his good guys, live in Slussen. A southern suberb of Stokholm. Only one of his characters, the evil rapist, murderer, comes from our part of town, Vasastaden. If  you are coming for a visit, his three books could be fun reading. During your visit, I could incorporate a Steg Larsson tour, over some of the prettiest streets of  Stockholm. His first title is, The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo. I will leave you  to rush to your bookstore and check in with you later in the week!

Making Friends

Until now our social calendars have been a little flat. We have met a few neighbors. Joined one couple for wine and appetizers and another for dinner. Both couples were genuinely interested in us and very eager to help us get adjusted. No one could ask for more. But day to day, you really miss those friends you left behind! Last week was a great one because I joined the International Women's Club. While the Swedish friends I have made, can always be counted on for help and direction when asked. They have established friends, and unlike Americans, the more the merrier does not apply.
At the International Club, I found it quite different. Interestingly enough, I did not meet a single American, but many Brits, Dutch, and Asians. The common theme throughout was that we were all looking for new friends! For the first time since we arrived, my dance card is filled. I had three invites to lunch this week, a friend who wanted to revisit the Modern Museum, and a reception for a gentlemen publishing his first book. Knowing a few people certainly helps the adjustment.
Besides a social life opening up to us, Tom and I took our first adventure outside of Stockholm. It was a beautiful fall weekend, the tops of our trees are just starting to color. We ventured to a little town an hour outside Stockholm-

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

The most asked question on my blog is, how is the weather there? Our first week was spectacular! Sixty five to seventy five with bright blue skies everyday. I thought I was in heaven. It was hard to make yourself go inside. We took full advantage of our park across the street and had trouble walking past any sidewalk cafe. However, like life, things change, and you have to flow with them. And that is exactly what Gunnar and I are doing. Instead of our walk in the park, we swim it, OK, he really takes his little row boat Tom made for him. The rain began our second week, temperatures dropped to the fifties, and I am afraid winter coats are now out for the season! But my neighbor has told me we have about another month of good weather, OK. He must like rain, because it hasn't stopped for two weeks. No problem, umbrellas came in our air freight and we enjoy falling asleep to the sound of rain on our rooftop!
We have good news-we have been given our personal numbers! This opens horizons for us here in Sweden. Today will be special, not only because the boys are coming by to clean the ventilation system, but also because we will head to our bank this afternoon to set up electronic banking! I never thought I would get so excited about paying bills, but the alternative is facing us and I really don't want our electricity turned off.
My new stove is working like a gem, and again I have seen great growth in my domestic side, I look forward to planning and making dinners! Why do I hear some of you laughing, it is true. Today will also be special, because my imaginary housekeeper, Olga comes. And what a great job she does! Here in Sweden, no one has housekeepers, lawn people, tree trimmers, or staff to help them. they do it all themselves. Because of this landscaping and lawns are not kept to US standards, but are let to grow naturally. All people work full time, except when a child is born. Then, husband and wife have one year of fully paid time off to care for the child. This means the wife might take off nine months and then the husband three. Or they could split it, six months and six months. But, the husband must take at least three of the months off , or the family loses those months. It is wonderful to see so many Dads in the parks and with strollers, Swedes share child raising, on the whole, more evenly. After one year, the child must go to day care or a relative, both parents must return to full time work. There is no choice. The social benefits that each family is given, requires all citizens to work full time, for the government to afford it. Some of these benefits are subsidized health care, fully paid education through your masters if you qualify with good grades, and a pension. You can fully retire at sixty five or you can work half time from age sixty two to sixty seven and then fully retire.
Oh, excuse me, I'll leave you to your retirement planning. Olga just arrived, so we must get to work! That means , I've finished my third cup of coffee, and it is now or never for those bath rooms. have a great week, we are!

Houssehold Chores

     Tom has a busy week at work, including hosting his two bosses, a trip to London, and a trip to Copenhagen. His normal work week has him leaving here at 7:00am, and returning around 8:00pm, when he is in town. I am very happy I brought (aka Kalvin, our cat), he is now known as Gunnar, he feels he fits in better. Adjustment for Gunnar has been a little slow, he reminds me he is a country cat, in the city. Also, the only other pets we have come across in the building are toy poodles. Gunnar believes they move way to fast, and are very snippy and yippy! He has told us he could take them both on simultaneously,(he weighs more than the two of them added together), but he realizes this is not the reputation he is looking for.
     So with cat walks to the park filling my day, you can understand why I have taken a new interest in household chores. To begin, a few things we were promised, when we first saw  the apartment, didn't materialize. Most of you are aware our lease stated, "one cat", not the oral OK, they gave us for two. Also, the "parking in the building", did exist, but as a tenant, not the original owner, Tom was not eligible. So he continues to circle the block in search of a space, and I run out when he travels, moving it and paying the $15 daily parking fee. The lighting that was removed,  has been replaced, so it's a much brighter place. And believe it or not, when our landlord left, he left us with an oven and stove which did not work. Last week, my household chore was to replace it. Last night we had our first homecooked meal!
     We are piecing it altogether, but our sea cargo has not arrived, so a place to sit, is tough to find. And I am growing tired of laying on an airobed on the floor! It does motivate you to keep much cleaner floors, and here I have grown as a housekeeper! Besides the normal floors and bathrooms, there isn't alot of dusting necessary yet, Gunnar and I keep ourselves entertained by doing laundry. Our washer here in the apartment can hold a maximum load of three pairs of shorties (Tom's briefs) and two pairs of socks. OK, maybe a slight exageration, but pretty close. And of course, there is no dryer, again, something that wasn't mentioned during our original viewing.
     But I am getting plenty of exercise, I use the laundry six flights down and across the complex. That is no exaggeration! It requires walking outside so it should be fun when the snow flies.Anyway, it does have larger washers,but Swedes don't use a tumble dryer. Instead, you have bars that you hang your clothes across, you close the dryer and it bakes your clothes dry. Yes, that is true , when you take the clothes out, they have the texture of baked chicken skin.(Nice and crispy) I am exploring fabric softeners now, but they present one more large container you  must drag back from the grocery store! Highlight of my week, I now can shop without Tom's assistance.  I use to need extra hands to carry everything back from the grocery. Now I take the large black-wheeling suitcase, we sent our kids to college with, I wheel it down (about a mile), fill it to the brim, and wheel it back. There are a few groceries closer, however, if you don't want black bananas, and apples as big as walnuts, it is worth the trip!
      So goes our life here in Sweden, it has truly been great fun so far! We were warned, things will be different. It developes one's sense of humor. And we are saving all kinds of money on a gym-still no personal number. We do go across the street to the park and run. Probably, heading there shortly, not wash day today. Be well and appreciate those washer/dryers!

Safe Arrival

After twenty some hours of travel, and three kitty tranquilizers, (Tommy was considering a double dose himself), we arrived safely in Stockholm. The highlight of our excursion was an outburst of meows from Kalvin (our unlucky cat), announcing he was done, going to grab his two beers and take the shut. At a lose for what to do, in desperation, I lifted him from his box, and tried to comfort him on my lap. Everyone on the plane was trying to sleep and we had already exceeded the vets maximum amount of kitty tranquilizers.

It took about three minutes, and suddenly a half dozen passengers scattered in the rear of the plane(that's where all passengers with animals HAVE TO SIT, even if you are a platinum traveler and have flown around the world seven times in the last week. " You have pet, you sit by toilet in back of plane.") came down with the worst cold of their lives. Hacking, coughing ,sneezing, I was suddenly worried we were breathing bad air. ( OK, I know I am slow!)Then it dawned on me, I never knew so many people had cat allergies! And why would the airline seat them in the cat section? I was horrified I had made so many people uncomfortable! AS I jammed Kalvin back in his cat box , my husband was hysterical with laughter.

So Kalvin did not enjoy the flight, along with the other passengers. But we made it! On arrival, our realtor met us, to be sure there was only one cat! And we had the pleasure of inventorying the condition and contents of the apartment. Exactly what you need after twenty hours of travel! One thing we immediately noticed, all the lights had been removed from the apartment. It was dark, luckily our realtor had a flashlight! So our first task could be completed and with a clear direction of what we wanted to accomplish our next day-lighting we ended our first night. As Johanna left us it became very dark and we both quietly realized we were in for quite an adventure!