Life in Sweden: Savoring sunny Stockholm

I had a five-day weekend for the Easter holiday. Since it was my last weekend in Stockholm, I decided to make the most of every day. Thursday started with a GROWers picnic in the park by the water. We raided the ICA for meats, cheeses, bread, and fruit and sprawled out on the grass for a few hours. The sun was out for most of the day, and in true Swedish fashion we basked in the warmth! Friday Riku and I ventured to Djurgarden and visited Skansen, which is a living history amusement park. It feels like you are back in time and exploring old Sweden. There are tons of cobblestone paths, Swedish houses and buildings, and lots of Scandinavian animals. When I read that Skansen housed wolverines in the zoo area, I was perplexed. Wolverines are real? I mean, I love the X-Men movies and Hugh Jackman is amazing, but I didn't think wolverines were a real species. Yep, they are real. But to say I was disappointed would be putting it mildly. They are puny animals and at first I thought I was looking at a badger! After Skansen, we took the ferry across the water and enjoyed the skyline view from the boat. The last time I took a boat across from Djurgarden there was so much ice and I could barely stand outside without fearing frostbite. This time I stood toward the end of the boat in the sunshine, pretending I was "the king of the world!" Saturday I visited Millesgarden, which was the home of Carl Milles, artist and collector. There is a ton of original art and a lot of famous pieces too. It was amazing! Saturday night I was invited out by my coworker Linnea for a girls' night with her friends. It was fun to meet some new Swedish people and have a few drinks. Easter Sunday we had celebrated at Tiina's house where I attempted to cook lamb for the first time. I waited too long to grocery shop for a leg of lamb, so I had to settle with lamb steaks. I made my own rosemary garlic marinade, but ended up slightly overcooking the lamb. My garlic mashed potatoes made up for it though and we had a ton of other yummy dishes. It was fun to have a "family" dinner in Sweden with all the GROWers. Then on Monday Tiina and I went to Drottningholm Palace where the royal family resides. It was a gorgeous, sunny day and we took a 45-minute tour and then walked around the park and gardens. Some crazy Swedes were laying out in bikinis on the grass. I'm all for warm weather, but it was definitely not that warm! On the way home we met up with Riku for a mini picnic at Kungsholmen park. I would say we took advantage of the warm weather as much as we could! This past weekend made me forget the dreadful February snow...almost. I leave Stockholm in four days and then head to Italy for a week before I head home to California. Is this a three-month dream I'm going to wake up from soon? Seems like it should be.