Falun 7/30-8/1

When we got up the next morning we had some eggs and toast waiting for us. Shawn had over heard us talking about how much we missed eating eggs for breakfast so he made sure we got some before we left. We told them all goodbye and were off to the train station. We took a 3 hour train to Falun when we got there we called Justins sister Cierra and she came and met up with us. We walked around the small town for an hour and then headed to Justins uncles house in Sagmera where we were going to be staying. Sagmera is a small village about an hour away from Falun. It’s a beautiful place with many lakes and amazing tree covered hills. Justins cousin Linda also lives there and lives just down the street from his uncle Eeros house. When we got there we were able to hang out with Eero and talk about what we had been up to. Eero had surgery on his foot recently so he has a cast on and has to use crutches to get around. We set our beds up in the living room because he had other guests staying with him and they were occupying the guest room for 2 more nights. We decided to go and visit Linda at her work. She works at a clothing store called Lager 157 about a half mile away from their houses. In Sagmera there is a restaurant and Lager 157 and that’s it. Its such a tiny little place. We found Linda and said hello then we looked around for a while. After that we met up with Cierra and Milou. Milou is Lindas 5 year old daughter and she is so cute! She speaks very good English for her age. That night we took a bus with Cierra back to Falun to get some food. We went to a small pub called Harrys. We got an amazing hamburger. Our waiter was a stud and hooked us up with free drinks. We sat there and talked with Cierra until they kicked us out because they were closing and then went down the street to an outdoor bar that was having a concert. It was kind of expensive to get in so we went around the back and found an opening in the fence and snuck in. The music wasn’t really our flavor so we only stayed for a bit and then went back to the bus station. We had just missed the 12:30 bus and the next one didn’t come until 2:15 or so we thought. We waited around until 2:30 and it never came. We looked at the bus schedule again and realized the 2:15 bus was only on Friday and Saturday nights and it was only Thursday. We asked a taxi how much it would cost to get back and it was 100 dollars! We checked a few hotels to see if we could find something cheep but they were all too expensive so we had to resort to the taxi. By the time we got back the sun was coming up and we were exhausted. We were so happy to get to bed.
We slept in Friday morning to catch up from the late night. When we got up we took a bus to a nearby town called Bjorsas. They have a small restaurant that we went to for lunch. Swedish meatballs and potatoes with a berry sauce! It was so good. After lunch we went back and went running. That night Eero ordered us dinner. We both got a kebab pizza. The pizza in Sweden is much different then at home, its really thin so you can eat the whole thing by yourself. After dinner we went to bed.
The next day we went with Linda and Cierra to another small town called Luxen. They have quite a few small shops and a nice park. We walked around and then went to the park. There was a giant Dala horse that we all played around on. We sat down on the grass and took a nap in the sun. When we got back we did some laundry and we faced a hard reality….they don’t have dryers in Sweden! We had to hang our clothes on the line outside. Not only does it take forever to dry but your clothes get so stiff its like putting on a shirt made of cardboard. It makes you realize some things that we take advantage of when were home. We never had thought about how much we love our clothes fluffy and fresh.
We decided we wanted to go for a swim so we walked down to the lake and stopped at the first dock we saw. There was a sign that looked like it said no trespassing but it was in Swedish so we sat there for minute deciding if we should just go out on the dock anyways. Only a minute after we were standing there a guy came down from his house and started saying something we couldn’t understand. We told im we could only speak English. He knew enough to tell us it was a private dock and that we could use the dock that was a few miles down the road. We asked him a few questions about the lake and tried to butter him up so he would let us use his dock but it didn’t seem like we were getting anywhere with him so started down the street. We only got about two hundred yards before a car drove up to us. It was the guy and he told us that we should just use his dock. We are so good at manipulating people into giving us what we want! We jumped in the water and swam for a bit then went back to get ready for dinner at Lindas. She made us an awesome dinner. After we ate we made a fire in the wood burning stove and all hung out then talked until late. Then we were off to bed.

Stockholm 7/27-29

We woke up Monday refreshed and ready for the new week. We were starting to feel really bad that Shawn and Kristina were sleeping in Alex’s room and we were staying in their room and sleeping in their bed. We got up and went running next to the water and tried to work off some fat. It seems like we have been eating everything we can get our hands on lately. We decided that we would go check out some more of the sights. When we got down to the city center there were people everywhere and there were rainbow flags and pink ribbons hanging from every lamp post. We started asking around and it turns out it was gay pride week. It didn’t seem like there were any gay people around. Maybe the gay people in Utah just go overboard to make sure that everyone knows. We checked out some small shops and we went into three different malls. After a long day of walking around we decided to get some food. We went to a cool little restaurant and we both got the lamb burger. We sat there and enjoyed the atmosphere for a bit and then we went back to see what Shawn was up to. We cleaned up a little and then Shawn took us to a one of his favorite places to chill. We sat and talked and had a few beverages until it got late. We headed back and went to bed.
The next morning we decided we had taken their bed for long enough so we found a the only hostel that had vacancy and booked it for the night. It was about 2 miles away so we decided to just walk. When we got there it looked kind of nice but once we checked in and saw our room we decided it wasn’t good at all. Our room was the smallest so far and we had to share it with 6 other people. There was no place to lock up our stuff so we had to just leave it on the bed. We didn’t even want to leave the room because we were scared someone would jack our stuff. Luckily our roommates showed up and they ended up all being pretty cool dudes and we felt like we could leave without getting robbed. The only good thing about this hostel was the shower. It was like showering in a rainforest. It had these huge showerheads that poured down on you and was lined with black tile and had cool lighting. After we got ready we met up with one of our friends we had met a few night before. We all went and walked down by the water and then we went to a small little bar and ordered some appetizers. It felt like we were adapting to this place and it was becoming our new life or something. We felt right at home. When we were done there we decided to go back to the hostel. We told our friend goodbye and we were off to bed or so we thought. The beds were the worst beds ever. We would have slept better on the floor. There was a bar right in the center of the bed so it peaked in the middle of the bed. We had to pick a side to sleep on so we were trying to sleep on half of a twin bed. The next morning we realized we shouldn’t have left Shawns place. We still had one night left before we had to leave for Falun and we didn’t want to stay at that hostel one more night! We called Shawn and begged to come back to his place for the last night. He laughed at us and told us we were dumb for even leaving. After we got back to Shawns we headed down to a small park that had a turf soccer field. We met some guys and jumped in for a pick up game. They were all cool guys and we had a great time playing with them. After that we met up with Shawn and we went to a different part of town that we hadn’t been to yet and shopped around for a while. We found out there was a circus going on in one of the parks later on that evening. They have the circus a couple times a week and its free so there are hundreds of people that go. We went and got some bread and cheese to take with us and headed over to the park with Shawn and Alex. We got there kind of late so we didn’t get the best spot but it was still way cool. Everyone brings food and a blanket so you sit on the lawn and watch while you enjoy a snack. It was so fun. After the circus was over everyone sticks around and hangs out. We sat there for a few hours and relaxed then went back to get some sleep because tomorrow we are off to Falun.

Stockholm sleeps at 5 in the morning 7/25-26

We started off the day around noon which was perfect because Shawn would get home from his trip up North around 1pm. We had a nice little breakfast thanks to Kristina just before she ran out with Alex to get some good walking in. When Shawn got back we talked for a little bit and expressed our desire to go running because we were getting no exercise on our trip so far. He told us he would take us for a nice little run through the city a route that he is used to going on. It was a beautiful place to go running especially considering we were in the heart of the city. He took us up the cliffs along the cliff lines overlooking ocean, then next through more buildings down to the shoreline. We ran over a bridge and to another island in the archipelago that is Stockholm. This had mountain type trails to offer, it felt like we were not even in the city anymore. From there it came to a lake that connects to the ocean. We stopped to get a breath and Shawn told us that there is fresh water and salt water surrounding and running through Stockholm. We couldn’t tell the difference from place to place but after looking we realized the fresh water was calmer. Shawn then asked us if we wanted to go for a swim. It was warm, and we were sweating so we said sure. We stripped down to everything but our boxers (don’t forget this is the middle of the city) and dove head first off the dock into the water. It was a perfect 68 degrees which felt very nice and cool. We swam to the other side of the lake and after a little rest we swam back, got dressed and started running again feeling reinvigorated. We went over to another island, through a park, and then back to Shawn’s. It was about a 5 mile run so we were pretty exhausted. We took showers, got some food and chilled out for a little while talking about possible plans for the night.

Shawn and Kristina wanted to hang out for a little bit but couldn’t go far because Alex is only 14 months old and such a cute kid. So we made some drinks, got some chips and peanuts and went on the roof which had a pretty decent view of the city. While were hanging out up there another group of people that lived in the complex came up. Apparently having the same idea as us, and seeming like a bunch of nice people we all started chatting. After about an hour and a half they asked us what we were doing the rest of the night and if we would like to join them. They ended up being some of the coolest people we could have met. They told us they were going to the hottest club in town and we needed to come with them. It didn’t take much prodding. We quickly got ready and met them just outside the building to head over to the club which was called F 12. We quickly saw why it was the hottest club around, the line was very long and was moving very slow. This is because they are extremely picky about who they let in. The ratio of girl to guy had to be 70% women and 30% men. So being guys hearing this we thought we were in trouble. Not only that, but even though they still let in way more girls, they only let the attractive ones in, and same with guys. We had a secret weapon though that we didn’t even know we had, we weren’t from there. They like people from outside of the country way more than the locals. After a little waiting, and seeing many people ushered out of the line right next to us and not allowed in, eventually we got in. Can we just say that every woman there was extremely attractive and just leave it at that.

We felt like rock stars. Everyone wanted to meet us guys and girls. Girls would come up to us and say “You’re the two American Boys ya”? And introduce themselves to start dancing. (We found out later that our friends that had brought us were just running around telling all the girls they were there with two American guys, and that they should come meet us, needless to say we were ok with that). Even the guys were awesomely nice to us. Eventually we left the club with a particularly nice looking Swedish girl who wanted to show us another club. That club closed at 3, but apparently that’s when you’re supposed to go find another place to have fun. We said ok, but were going a little crazy because it was just shy of 3 in the morning and the sky was showing signs that the sun was about to say hello. We started off with her, she introduced us to friends of hers that said they could get us into the next place for free. We asked them how long we were supposed to stay out and they said “5, when everything closes of course”. We told them thanks for everything but that we need to go and get some sleep. We left to go get a burger at what was now 3:45 in the morning and didn’t get to bed until about 4:30.

We slept in very long the next day and when we finally got up we didn’t feel like doing anything. So we walked around the city a little, and got some dinner. After that we grabbed some ice cream for the movies we decided to watch and headed home. We watched In Bruges, and The Hangover which were highly entertaining and funny. We fell asleep to get ready for another fun day.

Sexy Town 7/24

So Friday we got up and got ready for yet another flight. We are sick of airports! Hopefully this is the last flight until we come home. From here on out we will be traveling by train and ferry. We had a cab scheduled to pick us up at 7:30am. We were able to eat some frosted flakes and honey nut cheerios before the cab got there. The cab driver that picked us up was super cool. He asked us several questions about our travels on the way to the airport. He told us that he had always wanted to travel and when he dropped us off he only made us pay half of the cab fare. Nice guy! We got on our plane and headed to Stockholm. We had to switch planes in Copenhagen and it looks way nice there but we will be back there in a few weeks. We got to Stockholm early afternoon. Our plan was to go to Justin's cousins (Shawn, Kristina, little Alex) house to enjoy a free room! We had only communicated with him through email until this point so we tried to call so we would know how to get to his place but that didn't really work since we are retarded when it comes to dialing phone numbers in Europe. There are like 74 numbers you have to dial and you have to add a plus sign or two zeros and subtract 3 numbers in different locations for it to work. What a joke! We were finally able to find out how to get to Shawn's place. We got on a train and it took us through the city all the way to his street. We got there and Kristina and Alex were there to let us in. Kristina gave us a bed to sleep in and set us up with sheets. She made us feel right at home. After we were situated we decided to go out and explore the city. Since their place is right in the middle of the city it doesn’t take too long to get anywhere we wanted to go. We walked down through the city and looked for a place to get a good dinner. We decided that we needed a good old fashion burger but when we started looking for a place that had one we realized we couldn’t read anything the menu said! (Sweden will be a great place for us to transition from English speaking countries to countries that speak no English. Everyone here speaks Swedish but most people can switch over to English like its no big deal. The people here are some of the nicest people we have been around in our lives.) When we asked people to help us read the menus they were happy to help us figure it all out. One place we went to we asked the waitress if she could help us to know what they had to eat. She gladly told us about everything on the menu. 15 minutes later when she was done we realized nothing they had was what we wanted so we told her nothing sounded good and asked where we could just get a burger. She didn’t seem the least bit mad that we had wasted her time asking her so many questions and she told us a good place to go. So we found a cool little place in a small ally way. We both ordered a chili burger. We were talking and we both had a picture in our heads of a big messy burger with chili and cheese everywhere. When it came out it was a small little burger with a spicy chili sauce on the side. They had put the lettuce, tomato, and onion on the side so we could choose what we wanted on the burger. We put all our toppings on and started looking for the top half of our hamburger bun....but it was no where to be found and we were both shocked that they had forgotten the rest of our buns. Then we realized that we were dumb and that they were meant to be eaten with a fork and knife :) It ended up being a really good meal and by the time we finished eating we were both worn out from the travels. We walked past 5 or 6 places that looked like they would be fun and had a lot of people to meet. We thought long and hard to figure out if we were going to stay out and meet some people or if we were just going to go back and go to bed. It was Friday night and we decided to be lazy and go back and watch a movie or go to sleep. We did stop at a small shop and got some waffle cones with really good ice cream. Most of the time we would let nothing keep us from exploring the night scene of a new place but this night eating ice cream and going to bed just sounded nice. After all we still had Saturday night!

In the eyes of Kings 7/23

We woke up feeling pretty refreshed this morning after sleeping in a little while. We had one thing on the agenda and that was to see the Edinburgh Castle. It certainly is the center of the city, sitting on a cliff that pretty much overlooks the entire city and the ocean. It is absolutely stunning for many reasons, but our favorite was because it reminded us of a Dragon defending castle. It has a green valley around the castle that starts to build on steep rocks that are also covered in green. This goes up from there to sheer tall walls and battlements. The only word that comes to mind is straight up Medieval!

We walked what they call “The Royal Mile” to get to the entrance of the castle. This is exactly what it sounds like. It’s about a mile long and has all sorts of shops, and pubs, and street performers, with banners hanging from building to building above us. It is a very epic way to enter the castle. When we got in the first thing we noticed was the view. We thought the view of the castle was as good as it could get, but once inside looking down on the world below our jaws dropped. Seeing the green surrounding the castle from on high to far below that eventually connected to the rest of the city that led to the water. Imagining that ships were coming out of the fog (that actually wasn’t there, it was a surprisingly nice day) to wage war on the fortress where we stood we continued on. There was so much to see, but what we thought was really interesting was to see how much they actually relied on it for a city itself. There was royal banquet halls filled with weapons, the war memorial was stunning, the cathedral where they still do weddings, and the vault where they held the jewels of Scotland. After what seemed like an entire day in the castle we decided to retire early and headed back to the hostel for a nice night of relaxation and conversation with the other travelers we had met while staying in Scotland. We went to bed early with a good anticipation of heading to Sweden the next morning. See you in Stockholm…….

Sandys Pub Edinburgh, Scotland 7/21

Scotland 7/21-7/22

We woke up and got ready to head to the airport. We were able to talk Randy into coming to Scotland with us. It was nice having our friend and brother along for the journey. By the time we left Rams place we realized we were running behind on time so we ran to the underground and caught our train to Kings Cross station (where they filmed many parts of Harry Potter). We then jumped on another train that took us out to the airport that was an hour away. We got to the airport got checked in and made the flight with some time to spare. We sat on the back row of the plain and it was the most uncomfortable flight ever! There was no room to move at all and since it was the back row the seats didn't recline. Good thing the flight was only an hour! We had booked the hostel the night before so when we got to Edinburgh we got a cab there. It was about 15 minutes away from the city center. Kind of far but it was nice to be away from city and get a more relaxed feel next to the ocean. The hostel was beautiful and comfortable. It looked like a castle. It had a good feel and there was a lot of room to relax. There was a game room that had pool tables, couches, TVs, a bar, and huge windows to look out and see the ocean. The hostel also had a theater room with lounge chairs and a continental breakfast. We checked in and got situated in our room. Then we went for a walk down to the water. We were all stunned by the beauty of this place. It was just how we would have pictured the ocean side in Scotland. It had been raining so everything was still wet and super green. After the walk we got ready and headed into the city to find some traditional dinner and live folk music. When we got there we walked around for a little while and enjoyed the medieval feel of the city. We found ourselves at a small corner Scottish pub and couldn't resist stopping in for dinner. After we ate we asked around and found a place that had live music. It was pouring and we were happy to get out of the rain. We met a couple guys from Romania and a dude from Norway and chatted it up for a few hours. We met this guy Gavin, a local and he was a total stud. he offered to take us on a little tour of the inner city and to show us a couple cool places. He took us down the street and gave us a small history lesson about the different buildings and streets. We ended up at another live music venue and sat around and talked for a few more hours. Randy had to leave us in the morning so we were trying to get the most out of what time we had left with him. We caught a taxi back to the hostel and then we stayed up until about four talking about how awesome our night was. The next morning we got up and headed back to the city. It was raining again so we bought some rain ponchos and headed over to check out the Royal mile before Randy left. The Royal mile leads up to the castle and is the main street that Edinburgh was built around. A week before we got there a 35 year old fireman had died putting out a fire in a pub. The funeral just happened to be going on as we walked towards the castle. The streets were lined on both sides with military all dressed in black. There were hundreds of people behind them on the sidewalks coming to pay their respects. We stopped to watch as a lone piper played as he marched down the road in the rain followed by a fire truck and and the rest of the funeral precession. It was a sad thing but cool thing to be able to witness. We looked around for a bit longer then we walked to the bus stop so Randy could get back to the airport. It was hard to say goodbye to Randy he is such a huge pimp that we love being around! After that got some food and went back to the hostel. The rest of the day was all about relaxing and doing computer work. We took a walk back down to the ocean and the we were shocked to see that the water level had gone down 20 feet since we were there the day before. We talked to a local lady that was walking her dog and she told us that the tides brought the water up and down twice a day. It was crazy to see how far the water had dropped. We watched the sun go down and headed back. We made some friends from Australia and we all went and watched Braveheart in the hostels movie theater. We ate some delicious chocolate covered ice cream bars and went to bed at about 2 am.