Stockholm Summer
*Originally published 7/28/14*
The Swedish summer, there's nothing like it. Especially when you're visiting as the government issues the country's first heat warning ever.
Last Saturday marked the start of a one month long trip to Sverige for me. This visit is extra special because it involves more than a few days at Telefonplan with my colleagues. On top of Hyper Islanding, I'll be road tripping around the country for 2 glorious weeks.
Many Swedes are away, so Telefonplan has been eerily quiet. In fact, Stockholm itself is a ghost town because of industrial vacation that happens each year in the summer.
My journey has been spent meeting new and old friends and sometimes playing strategic post-dinner board games (e.g. Citadel). We tossed in a last minute weekend trip to the Stockholm Archipelago, staying in Kalvsvik. The home we stayed in faces east and has water views of the Baltic Sea. There we drank many glasses of delicious wines, ate tasty cheeses on hard bread, enjoyed a fresh smoked salmon for dinner, and kept each other company with the exchange of personal stories. During dessert I laughed so hard that I cried uncontrollably. Those are the kind of days I long for all the time.
One morning during a walk we picked wild berries growing in bushes along the path. Every few feet we stopped to snack on strawberries, raspberries and blueberries that grow freely in the countryside. I also took a couple of minutes to admire the neighbor's farms that had horses wandering freely.
When we couldn't handle the hot sun on our skin any longer, we retreated to the water where I reverted back to a child-like state almost immediately. We all sprinted to the end of a dock showing off our signature dives and moves while secretly trying to win the unspoken competition of who would have the best photo from the weekend.
When the time came to go, I felt myself resisting the idea of being back in the city and I took my time packing the bags. Our summer house was quite "mysigt" and for the first time during this warm season I felt completely relaxed. My weekend was kanon!
The adventure in Scandinavia has started. I can't wait to share the rest of it as we go... Stops include Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Karlskrona, Gotland, Linkoping, and more.
Stay tuned.