Life in Sweden: 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.