When nature calls

I'm typically a planner and very organized, and I hardly ever run out of household items and necessities. But I quickly realized this morning that I was down to my last roll of toilet paper. No big deal, right. I can just go to the store. I had a crazy work day and then had a bible study in the evening, so I ran from the metro station to the ICA (grocery store) ten minutes before closing. To my delight, there was actually a sale on toilet paper, so of course I bought the two packs to save money. I love a deal! I didn't really think it through though. Back home when I stock up on bulk items like toilet paper, I can easily schlep it from my shopping cart to the car without parading down the street. Not the case in Sweden since my mode of transportation is on a train. So I paid for my good deal toilet paper and walked out of the store with a pack under each arm. I only live two blocks from the ICA and it was dark, so I figured it was all good. As I turned the corner, a group of three very good looking Swedish guys were walking toward me. Needless to say I felt a little awkward trying to juggle my necessities while still acting cool. They all kinda looked at me and laughed to each other. Sweden makes me feel ashamed to buy toilet paper. Maybe the ICA delivers? On another note, I am going to Barcelona this weekend. Spain has been at the top of my list of places to visit, so I am beyond excited. Booking this trip might be one of the most impulsive things I've ever done considering I just booked my ticket yesterday. But my motto during this adventure in my life is to seize the moments and not hold back. Ironically enough, I have a friend who will be in Barcelona the same time I will, so it seems I will have a traveling partner. I can't wait to explore the Spanish culture and eat lots of tapas!

Up to Uppsala

I went up (as in north of Stockholm) to Uppsala for a Saturday day trip. Sweden's fourth largest city is only 40 minutes by train and is centered around Uppsala University, which is the oldest college in Scandinavia. I woke up Saturday morning and decided to head out on a solo adventure for the day. But as usual, it didn't start out very smooth. After running through the train station like the airport scene from Home Alone when the family is trying to catch a plane, I found my train with two minutes to spare. Thank you to the poor guy I dragged to the ticket machine to help me translate so I knew what I was buying. I didn't really have any clear plan for discovering Uppsala, so I arrived and just started wandering. I brought along my trusty Sweden guide book that my good friend Summer bought me and I mapped out some points of interest. I made my way to the center of town and saw the Uppsala Slott (Uppsala castle) high on a hill, so I hiked up to the top. The castle dates all the way back to the mid-16th century. The view from the castle was amazing and I snapped lots of photos. After I walked around the whole castle, I ventured down the road to the Uppsala Domkyrka (Uppsala Cathedral), which is the largest church in Scandinavia and consecrated in 1435. I went inside the cathedral and was blown away by the majestic architecture and history inside. The stained glass windows and painted ceilings were unlike anything I've ever seen. I didn't really feel right taking pictures since there were people lighting candles and praying in the pews, so I snapped one quick pic and left. The college is literally in the middle of town, so I got to see lots of the buildings and dormitories. The Carolina Rediviva Library, which is the University library, couldn't be missed and apparently it holds about 5 million books! From there I wandered around the streets and the downtown area where there were lots of cute restaurants and shops. I found a Victorian-style cafe and enjoyed a sandwich and a coffee. After three hours I had seen all there was to see in Uppsala and I headed home on the train. The chai latte and brownie I grabbed before boarding was a great end to my Uppsala adventure.

Uppsala Castle

View from the top of the hill near the castle!

Inside the Uppsala Cathedral

Uppsala is so pretty! You can see the cathedral steeples in the background.

Random photos

I've taken so many pictures while I've been here in Sweden, and typically my blogs are wordy and descriptive. So I decided to post mostly pictures this time. I picked out some of my favorite ones from the past seven weeks!

One of the first days I explored my neighborhood. I took this while 

walking down Hornsgatan after a huge snow storm.

After our trip to the Vasa museum, we walked around Djurgarden a bit more. This is the modern museet, which is the modern museum. I thought the building was beautiful!

My desk at the Bonnier office!

We all took a trip Bonniers Konsthall, the modern art gallery Bonnier owns. I thought this particular art was cool...and I made Paul pose in front of it!

I've now taken two pictures in front of anchors in Sweden. This was on the Vaxholm day trip Riku and I went on. I was knee-deep in snow at some points during the hike!

Yeah, these guys crack me up!

Inside the Pergamon museum in Berlin. The steps were massive, but it's hard to tell from this picture.

I loved this mural on the East Side Gallery in Berlin. 

The halfway point

This has been quite a busy, fun week in Stockholm and it marked the halfway point of my stay. Here is a breakdown of my life the past four days:

Thursday: I wasn't quite sure if Stockholmers celebrated St. Patty's Day, but I was on a mission to have a Guinness at an Irish pub. My friend Lauren got into town super late on Wednesday, so Thursday was our first night out. We started the evening at my apartment with wine, cheese, and bread, and then ventured to Gamla Stan in search of a pub. The long lines we encountered confirmed that Swedes, do in fact, celebrate the holiday. Or it's just another excuse to drink, not that anyone here needs an excuse! We had a great night filled with Guinness, meeting random people, and singing karaoke...Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" to be exact.
Friday: I had to work all day because we had the Bonnier Sales Awards festivities. Starting with an afternoon seminar and ending with the evening gala dinner, it was a looooong day for me. Lauren did some sightseeing and entertained herself while I was occupied with work. Here is a link to the article I had to write for the event. It gives a better idea of the grandioseness of the evening.
http://bonnier.com/en/content/evening-remember
Saturday: I woke up rather early on Saturday considering I didn't get home until almost 1 a.m. And my morning was spent writing the article for the Bonnier Sales Awards. Lauren and I ventured out for a day of shopping, with our first stop being Urban Outfitters. We wandered around Ostermalm and grabbed a much-needed coffee before heading to IKEA. After a 20-minute metro trip and a quick bus ride, we landed at the largest IKEA I've ever been to. The wonderment wore off in about ten minutes since every obnoxious child in Sweden just happened to be at IKEA the same time I was. We decided food was probably a good idea and ordered a plate of meatballs in true Swedish fashion. We rested at my apartment later that afternoon and headed to Icebar Stockholm. A bar completely made of ice? What a good idea! Lauren and I were cloaked in large hooded parkas and we enjoyed a couple sweet, fruity vodka drinks. After we defrosted, we met up with Riku and had a couple beers before heading to Le Bon Palais nightclub. You had to be over 27 to get into the club, so it was the first time I've felt young in a while. The dance floor was large and the drinks were good. Overall a fun, but very late, night!
Sunday: I may have felt young on Saturday night, but Sunday morning was a bit of a different story. I didn't leave my PJs until noonish. We found a coffee shop and ordered some breakfast and did some exploring in the SoFo area. I invited all my GROW friends over Sunday night for tacos and ping pong. It was a great way to end an amazing weekend and visit with Lauren!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

IKEA

An ice turtle!

Tearin' up the dance floor at Le Bon Palais.

Berlin adventure

The 48 hours I spent in Berlin were amazing. My trip began with catching a bus at 3:40am to an airport an hour and a half away. Part of my super cheap flight was the fact that the airport was not close. But it was pretty painless and I caught my flight and landed in Berlin at 8:30am. I made my way into the city by the airport express and navigated my way to the Brandenburger Tor where I was meeting the walking tour I signed up for. A few people had recommended the free walking tour in Berlin and it did not disappoint. With a Starbucks chai latte in hand, I started the 3.5 hour tour ready for some history and culture. The knowledgable guide named Alex took us through the Brandenburg Gate, The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the site of Hitler's former bunker, Luftwaffe headquarters, the June 17 Memorial, The Berlin Wall, the former SS headquarters, Checkpoint Charlie, Bebelplatz, Gendarmenmarkt, The Book Burning Memorial, Neue Wache, the TV Tower, and Museum Island. I even made a Brazilian friend who was living in the Netherlands for a year. She was also on a solo trip to Berlin, so we had something in common. After the walking tour, I spotted an outside street market and bought currywurst and a pretzel because I wanted to get a taste of some local food. It refueled me and I headed to the Pergamon Museum and saw some of the most breathtaking artifacts and collections I've ever seen. After two hours meandering through the museum—with aching feet—I headed toward the TV Tower in Alexanderplatz. I was so tired by then that I decided to find my hotel in East Berlin and call it a night. My hotel was an eight-minute walk from the S Bahn and I checked in, showered, and was asleep by 9pm. I woke up refreshed and ready for another day of discovery. The east side of Berlin is much different than the west side, so I was really glad I got to see it. The East Side Gallery was right across from my hotel, so I walked the whole 1.5 km. It is basically part of the Berlin Wall that was turned into a tribute and celebration for overcoming the Iron Curtain in Europe. Apparently artists from all over the world have come to paint murals on it. So cool! After my cultural walk, I visited the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe. I spent two hours enthralled and emotional listening to the audio tour and experiencing the intenseness of the museum. It was something I will never forget. I headed to the West End afterward and took a tour of the Charlottenburg Palace, which is the largest palace in Berlin and it dates back to the 17th century. I worked up an appetite sightseeing, so I found a biergarten back in the middle of the city at Alexanderplatz and ordered a big beer and schnitzel. It felt so German and fun! To end my day, I took a trip up the TV Tower at sunset and got a 360-degree breathtaking view of Berlin. My 48 hours in Berlin were action-packed and exciting. I am so glad I was able to visit and I truly enjoyed the culture and vibrancy. Traveling to a city by myself and exploring completely on my own made me feel exhilarated and independent. My next trip will probably be to Finland in a couple weeks with the other GROW people. I feel so lucky to be living in Europe where travel is somewhat affordable. I have the travel bug now!

The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Good morning, East Berlin!

Walking the East Side Gallery

My proper German meal!

Down with the sickness

I can honestly say that one of my fears when coming to Sweden was getting so sick that I needed to see a doctor. I know Sweden is far from a third-world country, but I just didn't want to deal with the hassle and I was afraid of socialized medicine. After fighting the sickness over the weekend, it got the better of me yesterday and I couldn't ignore it any longer. My co-worker took me to the "urgent care" in Sweden and after $250 and two hours waiting, I was told I had a bacterial infection, given a prescription for penicillin, and sent on my way. The whole process was pretty much painless, despite the golf ball stuck in my throat making it impossible to swallow. I got my prescription filled at the Apotek (pharmacy) and it only took ten minutes and I was outta there. So much easier than the battle I usually have at CVS in the States. So now I am locked in my apartment for a few days, forcing myself to get better as fast as I can. I have a big weekend planned and being sick does not fit into my agenda. I'm heading to Berlin, Germany, at an ungodly hour on Saturday morning...3:30 a.m. to be exact. I booked a hotel for two nights and I head back on Monday morning. This will be the first time I'm exploring a foreign country all by myself. I've been mapping out my limited stay and already booked a 3.5 hour walking tour, bought a ticket for the TV Tower, and found a few museums I want to visit. I will post some pictures of my Germany trip next week, but for now, here are a few from last weekend's adventures. 

Changing of the guard at the Royal Palace on Gamla Stan.

Having a drink with the GROWers at Sky Bar.

Back to my roots

I'm a writer at heart, but I've been on a kind of "sabbatical" for three and a half years. My journalism path began in college, first at Irvine Valley and then at Cal State Long Beach, where I worked as a reporter, photographer, and sports editor. But as I graduated college, I drifted toward the role of a copy editor in the journalism world. I laugh sometimes when I think about it because my grammar class in college was the hardest class I've ever taken, and I squeaked by with a C. Grammar is like understanding math formulas, but only harder because there are so many exceptions and rules depending on the circumstance. So, I became a copy editor for a business newsletter company and then found my way to TransWorld where I've been for three and a half years. I love being a copy editor because I'm a word nerd and making corrections and finding errors is like a challenging game that I love playing. But my role now is more of a behind-the-scenes gig, and I like to think that I make other people look good. I don't do much of my own creative writing anymore, so I feared my edge had dulled. Now, I really don't think I was a great writer; it's just that I enjoyed writing. And doing something you enjoy is the most important thing. Long ago, I decided that I was a journalist, and I ventured down that path knowing what I was getting myself into. It's often not glorious, and the salary tends to be average at best, but a career that I was passionate about was the most important thing to me. The opportunity to work in Sweden was enticing because of the thrill of an adventure, but also because the job description detailed a lot of writing duties. As of now, I have two bylines on our corporate website and I'm working on four more, and it's a thrill I haven't experienced since the first time I was published 10 years ago. These humble interviews I'm writing are short and sweet, but it makes me remember why I'm a journalist. I'm reminded of my passion that may have dulled over the years, but it was never gone. All I know is that working in Sweden is probably the best opportunity of my life, and I'm embracing every moment and experience. Wow, that was a wave of nostalgia I wasn't expecting, but thanks for reading.

http://www.bonnier.com/en/content/meet-rikard-sj%C3%B6berg
http://www.bonnier.com/en/content/meet-johan-danielsson