Katie and Rob i Sverige!

This weekend, Katie and Rob came from London to visit. It was jolly and good aka jolly good. A laugh a minute really, with many minutes full of laughs.

They arrived Friday around noon and we launched into typical Swedish things right away. We started out with going to Hollandia Bakery which apparently is a very old and traditional bakery in Malmo. Here, in the company of many seniors, we enjoyed Semlor. Though we weren't sure the best way to eat these cream-filled delights (clear by the fact I ended up with whipped cream all over my nose), we had joyous times watching others eat the pastries. I also gave them a crash course in Swedish basics, and contrary to popular belief it's tack sa myckett, not taxi myckett. Next we roamed the various squares to Malmo and some shops as well. We had a burger at the Swedish equivalent of McDonalds, got blown around by the wind, witnessed weird Swedish hippies chanting in an alley, and then headed back to my room for a much needed nap (Katie and Rob had been up since about 3am). Katie and I went to the wonderful world of Willy's and she was both shocked and amazed by the size of things there. Cheese was huge, deli meats came in packs of a thousand, and there were samples. Essentially, the best grocery store ever. We picked up some ingredients for the following days breakfasts and were on our way. After waking a very sleepy bear up, we hit the town for a Swedish meatball dinner. We went to a strange South American restaurant with cafeteria trays that happened to serve delicious and cheap meatball dinners. Atop our meatballs, we even put lingdon berry jam, how very Swedish! After this, we headed to a few pubs. The first was an Irish joint full of a bit of an older crowd but with the best music ever - from WHAM! to ABBA to Will Smith (two songs in a row). Though it was hard to part from this musical odyssey, we decided to try another place as well. We braced the cold and walked into Lillatorg and found a place with a spot on the patio (with heaters and blankets). We grabbed some drinks, bundled up, witnessed a near bar fight, then an almost on fire couch. Some girl threw her cigarette butt carelessly and it landed on a sofa cushion underneath an extremely flammable IKEA fleece blanket. Katie smelt something strange and Rob noticed some smoke. I went in for the investigation and found a smoldering butt eating away at the fabric. I immediately began to pat it out with my gloves and put some ice on it. Close call. We decided to call it a night after that, but not before a trip to Coop, another grocery store. Rob decided he wanted to eat some deli meat with his hands, so we picked up some salami and ate it on the way home. Yum.

The next day we were woken up by sunlight streaming through our window. Hurray! We made a killer breakfast of toast, juice, and scrambled eggs, then set out for a day of toursim. Starting with a coffee and pastry, we then headed to the System Bolaget to purchase some beverages of the alcoholic type for the nights festivities. We walked through parks, past a casino, past geese, ducks, and magpies, to the Malmo Castle. Here there is a museum, an aquarium, and an art gallery, all for the low price of 20 kronor. We wandered the museum for a while as a lot of it was quite interesting (read: the aquarium and animals were rad, the rest was okay). We then grabbed a coffee and watched a woman chug a 1 litre of juice ever so casually. We then decided it was time for a nap again as we are getting old, after (of course) purchasing ice cream bars and eating them outside after debating treats for 30 minutes in the store. We made a delicious home cooked meal and chilled out before a Summer themed party. We drank our 3L box of wine mixed with lemon & lime pop (to keep it classy) and mingled with Russian and Sloveians mobsters (one was wearing a doo-rag and a leather jacket with a snake on it, legit). As we partied the night away, we decided to keep our lives free of illegal drugs and cock fights and went to bed.

Sunday we again woke up to the scalding sun. By scalding, I mean a tiny bit warm, but as the sun rises on the same side as my window, it feels on fire when you wake up. Rob enjoyed the sun from a window ledge in the kitchen as Katie and I prepared breakfast and a picnic lunch. We then headed for yet another coffee and pasty and then off the Turning Torso and the beach. We took all the obligatory photos and then laid on a dock sheltered from the wind. We devoured our picnic and then enjoyed the sun on our faces (well Rob and I did as we were both laying on Katie). Once we started getting a little too chilly, we decided yet another coffee was the answer. All the shops along the beach were packed due to the nice weather and Swedes loving to get the most of their city, thus we decided to back into the city center and try another cafe. After having delicious lattes of the coffee and chai variety, we headed home to relax away from the cold. We met Katreace and Katharina for Thai food in Mollan. We shared many a laugh there at the expense of others (including ourselves) and had an all around good time. We had one last bus adventure home and kicked it for the rest of the night (refraining from a yogurt party).

Kat and Rob left this morning sadly. I will miss their weird animal noises, ability to seamlessly act like my children, as well as how much we laughed together. Proper laughing. Luckily I'll get to see them again in June (and maybe before then as I think they seemed to enjoy Sweden thoroughly.

As for now, I'm spending the week catching up on homework (common theme, I know) and then off to Stockholm this weekend.

Facts for you!

1. Baking is really hard without measurements like cups. Luckily I'm a master and my cookies were amazing.
2. Swedish people are a fan of coloured jeans. I dig it.
3. You can act like a penguin in Sweden and no one really seems to care. Case study on acting like other animals to commence soon.
4. Redesigning the currency for a country you know little about is interesting (aka difficult) but it pays off when the Swedes say they like it. Score.

Anyways it's past my bed time, godd natt.

xx