Thursday, we got a tour of Stockholm’s Royal Seaport and learned about the innovation behind its sustainable development. Highlight: they are building frog tunnels. What are frog tunnels? Excellent question. As far as I could understand, they are little, underground, frog-sized tunnels that allow frogs to move between the swamps and the forests without getting hit by cars and such. A. Dor. A. Ble. I know.

..

These are some really cool buildings that used to be used for gas chambers and are now being renovated internally to create gigantic concert halls. Renewability equals sustainability. Boom.

..

Then we went to Trädgård på Spåret, an urban garden located under a mess of bridges.

So cute!

Most of the gang!

..

We had some free time afterward, so Maia, Liz, Eva, and I travelled over to a different part of the city. When we got off the bus, I spotted a chocolate cafe called Chokladfabriken. Naturally, my first instinct was to yell, “Chocolate fabric?! Can we just cross the street really fast so I can look in the window?” Then I managed to sneak inside, and we ended up spending two hours there. Liz found the most perfect chatting spot: a set of couch-steps covered in pillows with little shelves for resting coffee cups, and we had to take our shoes off to go up.

Featured in the lower corner is my chocolate cake/truffle/espresso-nugget-infused delicacy. It took me the whole two hours to finish because it was so rich.

..

Next, Fotografiska, a photography museum. Some of the work was so powerful, I actually spent about half my time in there crying. We just missed a really cool close-up-to-celebrities exhibit by Martin Schoeller, but ohhhhh well….

..

And dinner at Herman’s. They had a bunch of vegetable puns written around the restaurant. For example: “May (insert cartoon drawing of peas) be with you.” We also made a trip up to a sky bar to see the city by night, and I got a lemonade. I’ve given up on trying to force-feed myself alcoholic beverages.

..

Friday, our last Swedish activity was a mini boat tour of the Stockholm archipelagos. It was beautiful and windy!

A view of Stockholm’s Tivoli! Check out that crazy purple coaster on the left.

..

While we waited in line for ice cream afterwards, some of the boys decided to show off their acrobatic skills in an artistic rendition of a piggy-front:

So great.

..

I ended up getting back home over an hour after what was originally planned because of signalling issues at one of the airports. We had to sprint to a train, I got Nutella everywhere (another story), we got kicked off said train and had to wait half an hour for a bus, and then our wonderfully protective teacher shoved us all on ahead of some other waiting bus-goers. Poor folks… but I was grateful.

..

Now, I’m lounging around on a lazy Saturday, baking chocolate chip banana bread and chocolate peanut butter cheesecake. Oh, and Jackson is here again. (: Did I mention it is our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY?! A year ago, I was trying to figure out if it would be awkward to go to a movie with him as friends (since I had a bit of a crush), and then he beat me to it and asked if I would go as a date. Boom. Here we are. About to go on a bike ride in Denmark. Who’da thunk it? He even made breakfast this morning. The best.

..

OH AND NOTHING TO DO WITH STUDY ABROAD BUT I HAVE THE BEST PARENTS EVER. Friday morning, I woke up to a stream of pictures from my mom about her trip to see the author that kick-started my love of books, reading, writing, sci-fi, and all things weird: Scott Westerfeld. They brought my new books for him to sign, and they chatted about me. I was beside myself.

Actually the greatest. Okay. Yes. I will go finish the cheesecake now. Best week ever.

..

Venlig hilsen/ best regards,

Lizzy-wa