On our last free weekend in the program, several groups took short trips to various places in Europe. Tyler went to Switzerland, Alex went to Nice, and Steph, Jess, Christina, Sam, Beto, Kearby, and I went to Stockholm. The really notable thing about Stockholm is that the sun never sets - ever - Until winter when it never really rises. This really threw us off on the first night there, but we learned to either stay up late or close the blackout curtains.
The timing for our Stockholm trip was subpar, as we arrived in Sweden in the middle of their Midsummer Holiday. Basically, this meant that the city was deserted, as everyone celebrated in the countryside. (Picture Jess’s face light up at midnight as she see’s a single person walk past the empty bar we’re sitting in: “Oh! There’s a person!”) We were still able to visit all of the touristy sites on Saturday, including the changing of the guards at the Royal Palace and a boat tour of the city.
One of the coolest parts of the trip was that the Volvo Open Ocean Race was in the midst of a stopover in Stockholm that weekend. All of the sailboats were docked right in front of the palace, and there were stands set up with music and promotional bars and vendors from Puma and Ericsson, which sponsored several of the teams. Most importantly, there were some very attractive sailors walking around.
On our final day in Stockholm, Jess, Steph, and Christina went to one of the first three Ikea stores, while Beto, Kearby and I kayaked around the harbor. The sailboats were doing exhibition races that morning, so we got to paddle right past them, which was awesome. We finally made it back Monday evening, and since then have been working on our final projects and trying to soak in our last week in Copenhagen.
~Mary Griffin
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