Welcome to Chaos !!

Met up my friends Monika and Carmen in City. Ate at Gunnarsons, I had to have the rhubarb pie with the vanilla creme again.....I'm suspecting I'm filling out but whatever, I am in Sweden eating delicious food. So I will most definitely go back here for more pie.



After that Carmen drove me to Tyresta By. That is a very special place. First of all, we both spent a lot of time there as children so we have many memories from that place. And Tyresta By is also amazingly gorgeous.

"Only 20 kilometres from the centre of Stockholm lies one of the most unspoilt areas of natural beauty in central Sweden – Tyresta National Park and Nature Reserve. The park extends over almost 5,000 hectares. It has been protected to preserve its exceptional natural values and to safeguard its importance for recreation. You can find primeval forest here with pine trees that are 400 years old, clear forest lakes and a large number of unusual plants and animals. You can also see broad-leaved deciduous woodland, open arable land and historical buildings of cultural interest.
A typical feature of primeval woodland is the great number of plant and animal species. Up to 8.000 species of animals can be found here which is four times as many as in exploited forests!" (from Wikipedia).







It was kind of cold and rainy at Tyresta By so I didn't take too many pics. Then we drove to out to our friend Madeleine that I haven't seen in a very long time. I have known Carmen and Madeleine since 2nd grade, we used to spend a lot of time together. It's great to have friends like that! Madeleine lives in one of the cutest houses I have ever stepped my foot in with six dogs and her daughter. I was very impressed!



Now I am home on the couch. I have to shower, wash my hair and get ready for bed. I am getting up at 7 am and leaving for Växjö tomorrow morning to meet my friend Rose-Marie and some other people. 🙂

I was too tired to write anything when I got home last night, I had a long but amazing day.
I started my day with going back to Rudan. Rudan is a lake close to where I live. There is Rudan and then there is Nedre Rudan, which means Lower Rudan. And then there is Rudans Friluftsområde, that is the forest part.....a large beautiful lush forest with open meadows and the trees are so green right now and everything smells soooooo good. So me and my brother went for a 2.5 kilometers walk through the forest.







Then I had to play a bit on the horse and on the swings in the play park, small kids and big kids (like me) are welcome. Then we walked to Lower Rudan which is deeper, darker and more mysterious looking than Rudan.





After this we went home. I met up with my friend Zakia for a few hours and then I came back home and me and my brother took pendeltåget (the train) into City. It takes about 25 minutes from where he lives. First we looked for some shoes for him, he is way picky and I tried on some clothes at Åhléns. Then we took the tram out to Djurgården, all the way to the end station and walked back to Djugardsfärjan, the ferry.....hopped on that and got off in Slussen. Walked to Flip Flop Burgers, because that is what my brother was craving, I had a veggie burger and the patty was yummy. Then we walked to the train and went home. Djurgården is amazing, it's sooooo gorgeous out there. Lots of large trees, greenery everywhere and beautiful architecture, here you can find some of Stockholm's museums. I would love to live out on Djurgården.
The tram.




View of Gröna Lund (an amusement park) and Stockholm from the ferry.



Some large boat. You can get on boats in Slussen and go to Finland and other places around Stockholm.










It's raining right now. I am about to get dressed, look for my umbrella and take the train into City soon. Meeting up with Monika at 11 and then Carmen and maybe Zakia. Looking forward to my latte and something to eat. And meeting my friends of course.

Talk about catching up! I'm tired but very happy. Busy day today, I had an appointment at the police station today. My passport is expiring next month so I had to apply for a new one.
Yes, I am a Swedish citizen.
I met some friends today. It feels like yesterday.....all my memories, time goes by so fast. I feel weird about that, scared and sad. In a way I don't want time to go by at all. I never have.
I wish I could be like this, like I am now - forever.
I met up with Monika this afternoon. Non stop talking for hours. Coffee, food, great company. It's going to be difficult to leave Sweden, I have wonderful friends here. And family.
I'm already dreading the return......I hate goodbyes. According to Monika I don't have a US accent at all. Some Swedes leave here, then they come back for a visit after some time and they have a heavy accent (preferably American to sound extra cool). No accent for me I am happy to say. I do have an accent when I speak English, although I can't detect that myself. People point that out to me a lot (in the US), some think I fake the accent. No, I don't.
Anyways.....I should get ready for bed now.

Ouff, I am tired and ready for sleeeeeep. My brother and I sat up until 4 am last night......then I went to sleep only to wake up four hours later, wide awake, I was tossing and turning in bed trying to sleep more. Today I went to the lake Rudan again with Marie and Timmy. Still no swimming for me.....it was too nice in the sun. Here are the pics from my day.











Swedish strawberries are so yummy and so sweet. No other strawberries will do.



After Rudan I went into City with my brother. He wanted to find some shoes......but first I needed nutrition. Can I have it all? It all looks so good! I had rhubarb and strawberry pie with Tahitian vanilla creme. OMG. Heaven. This time I went to Gunnarsons.





I found my new fave place to shop, Mood shopping gallery. That place is great. This is a statue outside Mood, as soon as I saw it (especially the shoes) I knew I would love Mood.
Great shops, very cute cafés. Love it.



Lagom. A Swedish word......best way to translate it would be....."just right". Look it up to learn more about it, lagom is a very Swedish concept. Am I lagom? Sometimes yes, sometimes no....it all depends on who you ask.

It's 10 am and I am up and ready to start my day.....feeling happy and excited. Have to start making some phone calls but it looks like I am going back to the lake Rudan, it's warm and sunny out. Yeay! Right now....enjoying my breakfast to the fullest. The Swedish classic.....filmjölk and a müsli called Start! that I love. They should sell Start! in the US.....filmjölk too, so good! I'm thinking about shipping five or so boxes of Start! to the US before I leave......if I leave.

I also went to a lake close to where I live called Rudan yesterday.....very beautiful. I went with my friend Marie and her son Timmy, I was certain that I was going to swim but I chickened out. Timmy was a real trooper, he dove in right away. I didn't manage to get in past the waist.....but I think we are going again tomorrow so I can make up for it. Instead I had Marie take a bunch of pics of me......and we all had a great time, plus it was gorgeous out! Summertime in Sweden! 🙂







I can't do this.....! My butt is too cold!