an american girl in stockholm: the most wonderful time of the year

while my bout with laziness and sleeping in til 1pm (or kl13, as the Swedes would write - meaning klocken 13...the clocks at 1. i guess that's what it translates to?) is still in full-force - my excuse is the weather, the sun is rising at 8:30am and setting around 2:45pm - i finally dragged my butt into the city last night to do a little bit of shopping and meet up with some friends of mine. it was a GOOD idea - i definitely needed some fresh air and a bit of a city adventure. here on the island it's easy to forget that i actually live in a bustling, metropolitan city cause we're completely in the woods. and it reminded me just how happy i am to be here and just how much i do love stockholm.

i was only in two main parts of the city last night, Sergelstorg and Gamla Stan. There's a big square where the Tunnelbana's (subway train) main station is located, so i jumped out there and got some shots of the square and the surrounding buildings. all the tents set up in the middle are not typically there; it's a Christmas Market, of sorts. they're selling kind of random things, though, like socks, deli meat, purses, alpaca wool sweaters, blankets...kind of reminded me of a market in a third world country.

sergelstorg

i went and met up with nikki and another au pair that we're friends with, susanna. susanna is from poland, and has the prettiest skin i've ever seen. i'm jealous. here's some pictures from NK (Nordiska Kompaniet), which is the nicest department store in Stockholm. they're well-known for having a great christmas display in their front store windows.

red noses! me, susanna and nikki

one of the main shopping streets in stockholm - it stretches in both directions from sergelstorg

after seeing the windows and doing some more shopping we headed over to Gamla Stan, which means Old Town. it's the oldest part of Stockholm and is right on the Baltic Sea, which means that it's usually the most photographed area of Stockholm. chances are, if you google Stockholm for images you will Gamla Stan from the water, cause it's beautifully picturesque and old. but anyway, nikki, susanna and i wandered the streets for a bit trying to find a good place to go have a drink, and we came across this whole-in-the-wall pub that was so unique and old. you had to go downstairs to find more seating, and it was basically a hollowed-out cave that had twisting, narrow hallways and seats in every nook and cranny of the place. somehow we ended up sitting next to the of Dungeons and Dragons Game Night table. Odd.

see all those little lights in the windows? those are little candle-like lights, and EVERYONE has them.

this is the dungeons and dragons weekly meeting.

overall, it was a really fun night, and one that i definitely needed. it's easy to forget that i live in this great city, and there's places like this everywhere at my fingertips. i hope that over the next 9 months i can get some better shots of the city, ones that are actually in the daylight. unfortunately, that won't be so easy to accomplish with the sun going down around 2pm...no wonder this country travels so much to warm, sunny places.

oh! speaking of, Thailand is in three weeks from today. and i just found that we're booked to holiday in Bali, Indonesia in June for three weeks. these are the times that i THANK THE LORD for this job ;)

well, i should get to bed. i have the kids all weekend while the parents are in France, and i have to get over there at 6am to get the day going. but for those that are interested, here's a couple pictures of my little Christmas trimmings around my cottage. nothing fancy, but it's cozy.

here's my little star in the window - another traditional Swedish 'jul' decoration.