Winter shenanigans

Au pair friends- Kirsten from Rhode Island and Jami from Seattle.

A very sad attempt at ice skating.  This is an ice rink in the middle of Stockholm, but it is considered a family event to go skating on frozen lakes in the winter (yes it gets that cold!) and bring hot cocoa on a Saturday or Sunday.

Kirsten and I ready for a night out in Stockholm.

Jami and I.

Kirsten and I at Spy Bar a night club in Stockholm.

Proof that my family's Christmas gifts actually looked cute when I sent them.  Hopefully everything will get there in one piece!

3D Snowflakes made by Ella and I.

Kirsten and I.

Winter wonderland.

My jaw literally dropped when I saw a man entering the train with these on.  I quickly sped up and followed him on the train just to get a better look.  He wasn't the only one I saw wearing these though.  It turns out many guys wear them in the rain to protect their shoes.  There's the practical Swedes for you.  My host dad even has a pair, but in black, but he makes fun of the guys wearing the bright orange ones.

Ella and I baking Molasses crinkles for Gabriel's Christmas fair at school.

Christmas lights on houses are seen, but less common than in the US.  Large, beautiful, white or gold stars replace Christmas lights and cover entire windows. The stars are in every single window of homes, shops and restaurants and are so lovely to see when walking up to the house in the dark. It gets dark around 2:30/3PM here now. Depressing.

Snow covered Gamla Stan (photo taken from the train)

This large body of water would actually freeze during the winter here if it were not for the large cruise ships constantly passing back and forth.

Walking around the island on a cold sunny day.

Looking back on the houses of Brevik (our village).

Sail boat.

Children sledding down the hill in Brevik.

Brr...

Lidingö.

Långängens Gård: An adorable, cozy cottage in the woods on Lidingö.  Kirsten and I took a walk to this house on Saturday this past weekend.  After getting lost a handful of times, and asking every person we saw where "some cute little cafe" was, we finally found it.  Im still not sure how to pronounce the name of the cafe.  It is old fashioned on the inside, and serves coffee, fika, and lunch. It was great to warm up with a latte after trekking in the negative celsius degree weather.

View from my house.  Can you tell I'm absolutely loving life here?!

Thanksgiving in Germany

I booked a ticket to Nurnberg, Germany to spend Thanksgiving with Tiffany, my sister in law.  From Wednesday to Monday we ate, drank, knit, relaxed, shopped, watched movies, and laughed for hours on end. The definition of a great girls weekend. Thanksgiving dinner was absolutely incredible.  Everyone brought their best Thanksgiving dish, and we all had multiple helpings. Everything was so amazing, and I have to admit, it was nice to be surrounded by Americans for a little while.

Melissa, Tiff and I starting off Thanksgiving right with some wine.

Christmas shopping in quaint German villages.

Kathe Wolfhart ornament shopping! 

Barcelona

My host family went on vacation for ten days, and so I decided to do the same.  I flew to Barcelona for a long weekend and met up with some friends.  The weather was in the upper teens C, or upper 60's F.  The sun was always shining and it felt so warm compared to the freezing temperatures in Stockholm. It was nice not only being in the sunshine, but getting out of Stockholm to see everything that I was taking for granted. For example, how Swedes speak such great english, how clean the city of Stockholm is, and how nice and genuine Swedes are.

 Parc Guell on a hill, looking over the city.  Gaudi's park.

 Gaudi

 My friends arrived one day later than I in Barcelona, so I had one day to kill before they got there.  These were my three hostel roommates.  We were four girls all traveling alone, so we decided to spend the day together. They were from Spain, Russia and China.

Parc Guell- Gaudi

View of the city from Parc Guell.

 Parc Guell on a different day with my friends.

 Yay Barca! 

 Center of Barcelona

  Market off of La Rambla (a big shopping street)

 Each stand has spices, candy, meat, juice, produce, and fish piled high.

 The beach

Sagrada Familia with Monica, my friend from Seattle.

Gaudi's work is all so beautiful. The church is absolutely breathtaking.  

 Up in the towers of Sagrada Familia.  It was so pretty to be there right when the sun was setting on the beautiful city of Barcelona.

Standing above where the bars and clubs are right on the beach.

The Ice Bar cost 15 Euro (23ish dollars) to get in and that includes a jacket and gloves to use while you're there, and one drink.  Everything in the bar is made of ice, the sculptures, benches, walls, the bar, even the glasses you drink out of.  By the time Monica and I ordered and received our drinks we were freezing our butts off, and wanted to leave.  So we ended up chugging our drinks and getting out of there.  

Our drinks with the glasses actually made out of ice, sitting on the ice bar.

I thought I went to Barcelona to warm up?

 Party scene in Barcelona. (It is worth going to Barcelona just to see the clubs and the nightlife) We probably had a little too much fun that weekend.

 Monica and I

 The girls and a group of Swedish Business men that we met (and that bought us drinks). Wherever I go, I just can't get away from the Swedes.

Monica and I overlooking the beach and watching the sunset.

The lovely ladies I spent a weekend I will never forget with.  I had such an amazing time in Barcelona, but by the time it was time to leave, I felt ready to go back to Stockholm.  And most importantly I felt like I was going home. <3