Holiday: Sweden, part 1

The conversation between Nick and Eli went something like this:

"What would you like to do in Europe this summer, Eli?"

"See Alex."

"Alright...I'll see what I can do."

And see Alex we have! (Alex was Eli's Grade 2 classmate....his family served on the Africa Mercy during our first year on the ship) 

Once we decided that we were going to do a bit of traveling in Europe this summer, Sweden has been at the top of the priority list of places we wanted to visit.  We arrived yesterday and the Borjesson's have been the most excellent of hosts.  

We spent today exploring Stockholm -- we visited Skansen (for you Columbus types, think "Westville"), a small zoo, the Vasa Museum and then ended the day with a delicious meal at McDonald's (seriously, a really good meal!).  

You never know who you might see walking the streets of Stockholm

The kids got to "help deliver the mail" -- there was horn blowing as part of the process...

Camilla was really good on the stilts!

Long row of benches...not sure why but it was captivating

One of our favorite memories of the Borjesson's from their time on the Africa Mercy was the day they invited us to their cabin for a "Swedish Fika" (coffee break!).  We had a Fika today...complete with homemade cinnamon rolls (see the 5th picture from the top) and coffee (they were even thoughtful enough to provide milk and sugar for those of us that can't handle "real" coffee!)

 In other news, the Cash kids touched a boa constrictor and a tarantula today...

All in all, a terrific day!  We'll do a little more sight seeing tomorrow morning and then we're off to the country side for a couple of days....

So very grateful for the experiences we're having...so very grateful for a change of pace and a change of scenery (multiple changes of scenery....).

Surely there will be more to come.