August 12, 2013
My last day in Europe.
I made it to Stockholm last night. Once I found my hostel, I ate, had a shower and hit the hay! This morning I was slow getting up. I had a great brunch at the hostel, read- I'm still reading?!- and headed out around 1pm.
Being in Stockholm has been a little emotional for me. I don't know anyone here, Nina was the last friend I would see on my trip. So there's that, but I believe the main reason is that it's the one place I've been able to visit that I know some relatives are from. From what I know, my great grandmother, Tyra Bergman (Anderson), spent her youth here in Stockholm. She, an orphan, was adopted by a family heading to Canada. I'm not sure how old she was when she came over. I was trying to imagine her here and what her life would have been like. I was hoping she was with me in some way while I was lost last night- though I never knew her- I hear she was a great person. It's cool to be here. I'd love to see where my great grandfather was from in Sweden- though I believe it's more rural- I'll save that for the next trip.
Here are some photos of walking around Stockholm today. I didn't do anything super touristy- just walked around and found a bunch of second hand shops. It's a good, clean, fresh and hip city.
One thing that I've continued to be impressed with while here in Sweden is the elderly women. These Swedish women seem to age so gracefully. I have a hard time guessing their ages. Their posture is so nice, they are fit and move quickly with lots of energy, it's inspiring to see. It's just something I've noticed here.
Also by people watching in Belgium I determined that men are fairly handsome there, with bold features. In Amsterdam and Copenhagen all the young people are so well dressed and fashionable- seemingly effortless. I also thought that once I hit Brussels, people started looking at me in the eyes again while walking, it just became a bit more personal, conversations became more open too. - Maybe these are strange generalizations, but it's what I've noticed-
When I'm older, I hope I age like the people around here do.
I made it to Stockholm last night. Once I found my hostel, I ate, had a shower and hit the hay! This morning I was slow getting up. I had a great brunch at the hostel, read- I'm still reading?!- and headed out around 1pm.
Being in Stockholm has been a little emotional for me. I don't know anyone here, Nina was the last friend I would see on my trip. So there's that, but I believe the main reason is that it's the one place I've been able to visit that I know some relatives are from. From what I know, my great grandmother, Tyra Bergman (Anderson), spent her youth here in Stockholm. She, an orphan, was adopted by a family heading to Canada. I'm not sure how old she was when she came over. I was trying to imagine her here and what her life would have been like. I was hoping she was with me in some way while I was lost last night- though I never knew her- I hear she was a great person. It's cool to be here. I'd love to see where my great grandfather was from in Sweden- though I believe it's more rural- I'll save that for the next trip.
Here are some photos of walking around Stockholm today. I didn't do anything super touristy- just walked around and found a bunch of second hand shops. It's a good, clean, fresh and hip city.
One thing that I've continued to be impressed with while here in Sweden is the elderly women. These Swedish women seem to age so gracefully. I have a hard time guessing their ages. Their posture is so nice, they are fit and move quickly with lots of energy, it's inspiring to see. It's just something I've noticed here.
Also by people watching in Belgium I determined that men are fairly handsome there, with bold features. In Amsterdam and Copenhagen all the young people are so well dressed and fashionable- seemingly effortless. I also thought that once I hit Brussels, people started looking at me in the eyes again while walking, it just became a bit more personal, conversations became more open too. - Maybe these are strange generalizations, but it's what I've noticed-
When I'm older, I hope I age like the people around here do.
