Journeys with the Johnsons: October 2011

Ben and I went to Sweden the last week in Sept. Ben's company is headquartered there and he had to go for work. Ben's mom graciously came out and babysat for us so that I could join him and make it a little vacation. We stayed in Uppsala, the 4th biggest city, and Ben took the bus to Gimo, a tiny town where the plant is located, so that I could explore and shop a little while Ben worked. Uppsala is a college town with a historic quarter so it's almost like the city is divided into 2 worlds.....a young, modern, commercial side and an old, royal, historical side. We really enjoyed Uppsala. They LOVE riding bikes in Uppsala! I've never seen so many bikes in my life.

Ben's counterpart in Sweden, Tove, brought us out to dinner one evening to Pepparpeppar. It's a fancy restaurant that has won the award for the city's favorite restaurant 3 years in a row....and now we know why. Ben had pepper filet mignon, the house special, and I had reindeer. Reindeer tasted just like steak to us. Both of our dinners were fantastic. We finished with a white chocolate mouse cake and creme brulee. One thing that was interesting is they don't ask how you want your steak prepared. Everything is simply cooked to a medium rare temperature. Luckily for us that's exactly how we like it.

The Swedes like their pants fitted....even the men. They prefer the super skinny jeans and leggings look. It is a rare sight to see a female without a scarf on too. Naturally, I came home with some new scarves and leggings. Clothes are more expensive there, but we enjoyed no sales tax on clothing.

One day I took the bus to Gimo and met Ben at the plant. I liked seeing everything and being able to visualize where Ben came for all his work trips to Sweden. The bus ride allowed us to see a lot of the countryside. Many of their homes resemble wooden cottages that are painted red - almost like a barn. I kind of found it funny when we passed a field of sheep instead of cattle. I love seeing different places and how other cultures live.

We visited Stockholm 2 days. We met Tim & Katie one day and they showed us around the beautiful city. Tim worked with Ben in Westminster before he took a position in Sweden. He and Katie have lived there for almost 3 years and know the area well. Their Swedish was impressive too. We visited the Royal Palace and several cathedrals. We toured the Royal Palace and it was so pretty. Our guide told us they had to ask the band at Princess Victoria's wedding reception last year to calm down the beat of the music because all the wild dancing was shaking some ancient chandeliers.

The weather was nice. It got chilly at night, but it actually got into the 70s during the days. I loved seeing the country and we had a wonderful trip. It was really nice to spend some time together sans kids and have grown up conversations.