Sweden!

Yesterday I got back from a quick trip to Sweden. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed seeing an old friend from high school.

Friday I got up really early (4:30) to catch a bus to the airport for my 6:55 flight. It was very easy and I made it in plenty of time then waited at the gate for a bit. This was my first flight with RyanAir, which kind of reminds me of Southwest. I've heard that they have terrible service and really cramped seats, but super cheap flights. The first I didn't experience, but definitely the last two are true! On the plane I mostly slept and talked to 2 nice Irish people sitting next to me. Upon arriving in Sweden (at a tiny airport an hour outside Stockholm) I got on a bus to Stockholm and marveled at the gorgeous scenery. It is really pretty in Sweden, lots of tall trees and frost. At the bus/train station in Stockholm I got lunch and the woman at the counter scolded me for not eating my vegetables (they were tomatoes.. ick!). Then I got on a train to Uppsala to see Jaime :)

In Uppsala I found Jamie and we walked through the town then through a cool graveyard. There was a grave in there from the 1680's! Jamie lives in a dorm/apartment outside the city so we took a bus there and went grocery shopping to make breakfast tacos with her corridor-mates. Jamie and I chopped and cooked the veggies and other people brought stuff and we made delicious tacos for dinner. Then we went to a Swedish club, all of their clubs are run by student "nations" that all students have to join. People go out really early in Sweden, the place was packed by 10 and we left by 12 - really weird! Sadly I lost my scarf there :( which bummed me out.

The next morning we just bummed around the apartment and talked then went to one of the nations again (this one was a pub) for dinner then back again. I went to sleep really early because I was tired, despite a nap in the afternoon, and because I had to get up early again to go back to the tiny airport for my flight out.

The next morning was when the excitement (read sarcasm) started. I thought there was a 6:00 train to the bus station, but it was really at 7, so I missed the first bus to the airport and had to take one that got there at 10... my flight left at 10:30. I tried to sleep most of the ride so I wouldn't have to think about it, and then ran into the airport with another guy on the same flight and thankfully the airline let us check in (they technically close check in 40 min before the flight) and we ran through security and customs (first time I'd had to go through it on the way out) and made the flight. I was very thankful, and highly recommend never checking luggage if you can help it (this is the second flight in my life I would have missed if I had checked bags) but I made it back to Dublin safely and very thankful :)

The rest of that day was relax/veg (aka, finish season 1 of Gilmore Girls :-P ) and I went to bed early, too many early mornings! It was a really fun trip but I was surprised to realize how much I missed Dublin after only 2 weeks. And its good to be back in the not-so-freezing cold :D