Gosh, golly, gee. I cannot adequately express through words and pictures how terribly exciting and wonderful Stockholm is. I love it. I love it. I love it. I am having such a fantastic time, and I don’t want to leave in two days!!! Mrp.

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The day began with a visit to an organic and Biodynamic (look it up) farm in central Stockholm. We ran around the Apple Orchard for a while because we showed up early, and it was positively beautiful.

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Then we got a tour of the farm, including this year’s ‘apple exhibit.’

The tour guide told us to smell the apples, so we did!  

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Then I spent a while convincing myself not to buy nine dollar fresh applesauce…

And then we worked on a compost pile! ‘Twas fun and very educational. We were also served some delicious squash soup and fresh bread in their cafe for lunch, made from ingredients from the farm, of course. I couldn’t get over how adorable the place was, like a fairytale. Apparently, some people even get married here. Can’t blame them. 

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Then, the number one tourist must-see of Stockholm: The Vasa Museum. Our teacher said, ‘Make sure you see the ship,’  on our way in. Uhm. She didn’t seem to know what the museum was all about, because the entire museum was literally… The ship. 

Sorry for the lighting, but it was dark in there to preserve the ship. It was a Swedish war vessel from the 1600s that sank 1500 meters from the harbor on its maiden voyage! Turns out there were too many cannons on top and not enough weights in the bottom. Whoops. The whole museum surrounded the ship and contained information about the people on board that died, the history, and the restoration. They managed to recover the entire ship in one piece in the sixties, spray it with a bunch of preserving chemicals for about seventeen years, and then prop it up in the museum. Pretty crazy stuff. 

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But my favorite part of the day was the little adventure Maia and I took after the Vasa. We went back up near the farm to a so-called ‘open air museum’ named Skansen. We got there right at five, and the rides, shops, and historical houses were shut down then, but we were still allowed to just walk around the park until six. Gosh, it is really hard to explain. There was just so much going on.

It’s kind of hard to tell, but pictured are some baboons and some meerkats… Not caged or anything but just kind of separated enough from people that they can’t get out too easily.

There were also tiny houses that were actually once lived in!

And beautiful views 

And beautiful buildings! There were also about twenty peacocks (including babies),  an entire lynx family curled together for a nap, a grizzly bear, Shetland ponies, and pygmy monkeys. I couldn’t handle it. Oh, and there was a dance floor, a carousel, and a two hundred year old bell tower. What is this place?! Honestly couldn’t tell you. Plus, we basically had the entire park to ourselves. It was strangely deserted and wonderful. Yay spontaneity!

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We finished off the night with a spontaneous dinner at a random Korean restaurant in the apparently most Asian restaurant-populated part of town.

It was delicious and unexpected.

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We also stumbled upon this little gem:

That is a Pop Tart pyramid in the window display, and inside they were selling Kraft Mac and Cheese for about eight bucks a box. I was tempted, believe me.

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And lastly, we found my dream library:

Gosh, I love books. And Stockholm. And life. I am just one happy camper this week. I reallllllyyyyy don’t want to leave. 

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Venlig hilsen / best regards,

Lizzy-wa