Hej Hej Sverige!! Day One

This weekend was marvelous and wonderfully Swedish in every possible way. If you had told me Wednesday afternoon that the next day I would be in Sweden (Sverige in Swedish), I would have told you that you were insane. I had plans for Thursday and cultural visits on Saturday. But talking to Thea, and realizing that we may not be able to see each other because of how all our dates were working out made me so sad that I got impulsive. And I pride myself in that decision. This is not something I normally do, but it was soo worth it and I'm so glad that I did. It meant I got to spend a great weekend seeing interesting and beautiful things with one of my favorite people.

Since it was three days of jam packed sightseeing and catching up, I'll divide my posts into each day I spent there. My story starts on Thursday morning, then, at 4am. I had to get up at an ungodly hour to catch the first métro of the day. Which brought me to a bus that I took to Beauvais- about an hour outside of Paris. This is where RyanAir flies out of- ridiculously cheap but a little too far. I'll keep that in mind in the future. Overall, I didn't mind going that far as I was able to book a ticket less than 12 hours in advance for less than $200. Where else is that ever possible? This is why I love Europe. Anyway, I made it to the airport and was in the air around 8. Which meant I was in Sweden by 10. The setup is similar once there, so I had to take a bus from Skavsta to Stockholm. And then to short train ride from Stockholm to Thea's university in Uppsala. This is all I packed- I wanted it to fit within my purse so that I could be mobile and not have to worry about a place to put any luggage. The only thing missing is my iPhone...which I had to use to take the picture. Sweden is easy to pack for since everyone just wears black.

My entire weekend in one very small purse

Once I got to Uppsala, I had a couple of hours to kill before Thea was done with class for the day. I ended up walking ALL over town and seeing the main sights. She told me to head towards the giant spires and I didn't believe here, but it's the perfect reference point while in town. The cathedral towers over everything else and was so easy to find. Uppsala is great. It's not just a university town, and boasts so many amazingly historical sights. Everyone rides bikes and it was so colorful. I've gotten used to the beige buildings in Paris that I was overjoyed to see so much color. And fall was in full swing, so being bombarded by colors was absolutely blissful.

Bike parking lots!

I wandered through downtown by myself and found the Uppsala Domkyrkan (pronounced Dum-sherka) or the Cathedral. Like I said, the spires tower above the city and and architecture is absolutely breathtaking. I walked around inside and learned later that the amazing tombs I saw belong to Gustav Vasa- a hugely important Swedish king. The inside was large and imposing, with gothic vaulted ceilings and a cavernous nave and impressive altar. 

The Uppsala Domkyrkan from the castle

And up close

Gustav Vasa's tomb

The gothic vaulted inside with its ornately painted walls

Another ornate tomb

 I wasn't completely sure what I was seeing most of the day, but it was all beautiful and that made me perfectly happy.

The streets of Uppsala

 I found a cemetery on/or next to the campus. I got turned around and guessed I was on the campus given the number of my age-looking people.

The cemetery

Something amazing about Uppsala is that they have these stones just casually displayed. But these aren't just ordinary stones- they are rune stones that date back around 1000 years- the 6th-11th century . These are no replicas. They're real and they're beautiful.

The rune stones in the garden

Incredibly detailed and impressive

 I also went up to the Slottet- or the castle. It's pink and on the top of a hill. Gustav Vasa had to updated in the 1500s to be one of the most modernly fortified castles of the time. He understood the need to adapt to new technology in warfare coming out of the time.

Slottet 

When Thea got out of class we met at the square in front of the Domkyrkan. It was such a great reunion and we hugged and squealed for quite a while. She showed me more of Uppsala, and since we missed the hours to get a student pass into a Nation, she brought me back to her dorms, which are in Flogsta, just a short buss ride out of town. The Nations are these really cool societies that everyone there takes part in. It used to be mandatory if attending the school, but now it's just highly recommended. I guess the best thing to compare them to is a fraternity, but it's so much better and there's no hazing or secrecy. Once you're a member of a nation you are a member of all and you have access into any of their events. Each has a center that houses their pub, restaurant, library, banquet halls, and much more. They're so old and gorgeous. And traditionally students would join their own nation- meaning if you were from the north, you joined Norrlands. Thea is a member at Norrlands. Every night of the week, except for Sunday, there is a nation hosting a party and the pubs are always open. I think it's such a great core for university life to bring people together and allow safe places to meet new people.

I got a Nation pass the next day...but that's an entirely different story. Thea brought me to the super market and I got to experience fun Scandinavian food. One of the oddest, and weirdly good, was Ost. Which is just spreadable cheese, but it comes in a whole array of flavors. We went with Räk & Kräft, or shrimp and crawfish. That with cucumbers, tomatoes and rye crackers made quite the Swedish appetizer. Then Thea made me open-faced sandwiches (smorgosar) while I met her friend Chelsea. We ate and talked and drank pear cider until we realized it was 10pm and then literally ran up about 6 floors to the roof to take part in the Flogsta yell (it's a tradition coming from the death of some students quite some time ago I believe. Every just starts yelling and howling and it's amazing). We yelled from the roof while simultaneously gasping for breath from our run.

Dinner time in Sverige!

It was such a great first night. It felt so good to be reunited with Thea and I instantly felt at home, so far away.