Princess Cake, Swedish Meatballs, and a Cheese Plate

These three food items are some of the best things that Sweden has to offer. If I have learned anything from traveling around Europe, it's that I judge countries by their food. If a country has underwhelming food, I am extremely disappointed almost to the point of regret of making the country a priority in my travels. However, I wholeheartedly give Stockholm, Sweden a two thumbs up and an A+ in the food department. For those of you who don't know what Princess Cake is, it is cake with mainly cream and a little cake. The most delectable part of this cake though is the fondent (sp) frosting. It is, I think, always green ... bright green. As for the meatballs, if you haven't been to Ikea for the meatballs, you definitely need to! I would have to say they are quite authentic. And oh my gosh! The CHEESE plate!!! I mean, I looooooove cheese. It is one reason why I chose to come to Switzerland to be an au pair. The cheese plate we had in Stockholm was so good! We almost went to the same previous restaurant the last night we were there, after our first dinner at a different restaurant, just to order their delicious cheese plate again. Oh and of course! I almost forgot to add the Cheez Doodles ... basically Cheetoh Puffs. This might sound weird to a lot of people but for someone who hasn't eaten a Cheetoh in at least nine months, it was a huge relief to crunch on some again. If all else in Stockholm had been a disaster, I think I would still call the trip a success because of the grand culinary aspects.

Unfortunately, Stockholm doesn't get higher than about 18 degrees Celsius. For those of you who don't translate this, 18 degrees is freakin cold (it's like high 60's). While we were visiting the city, it was actually sunny almost the whole four days. However, the wind coming off the sea was so chilly. One night we about froze to death walking back to our hostel from the old town. Mind you we were not expecting it to feel like January again so neither Jill, Heidi, nor I had brought many warmish clothes. I definitely could not live there. I was actually happy to return to Switzerland where the weather has been in the mid 20's!!

Our first full day in Stockholm was spent mostly walking around the city to get a feel for it and do a little shopping. Stockholm is about as expensive as, possibly even a little more than, Switzerland ... which is quite a feat. Although I loved the style there, I didn't go too crazy. That night we went out to the Ice Bar. This was super fun. I was a little hesitant at first because it was sort of expensive to pay the entrance fee which only included one drink. However, by the time we got in there, I was so glad I went. It is technically the Absolut Vodka Ice Bar so the drinks were cocktails with Absolut vodka. They were really good! And lucky enough for us, we had some guys buy us two more rounds. The ice bar was, probably needless to say, really really really cold!!! We wore these big eskimo capes and thick gloves and were still numb. The bar, walls, tables, chairs, glasses were all made of ice. It was really neat and we met some cool guys who were fun to talk to. They all worked for Sony Ericsson and told us that they lived in California but had to fly to Stockholm for a week once a month. I don't think I would like/be able to handle this much flying.


After the drinks at the ice bar we needed to warm up so we headed to a regular old bar down the block. After this we three girls headed back to the hostel (but not before stopping at a 7eleven for Cheez Doodles). Once back at the hostel we met and hung out with until really early in the morning some great people. Another cool thing about Sweden is that it's only dark for a few hours. It gets completely dark around 11pm and starts getting light around 3:30am. After staying at this hostel for two nights, we moved to our new hostel which was actually a boat. We stayed in a cabin that was made for five people but the three of us were actually the only ones in there the whole time, which is obviously really nice. I got a little seasick every time I was on the boat for long periods of time but I think I was getting used to it after the second and last night.

Another fun part of Sweden was taking a boat ride out to Skansen, an outdoor museum. There are lots of Scandinavian animals, like a zoo, but there is also an old time village where tradespeople held their shops (such as glass blowing and a bakery, etc). I loved walking around and looking at all the animals, especially the reindeer and the bears and fox. I have a great video of a fox getting mad at a mama bear and her cubs for entering his area. He is freaking out at them and the bears are just kind of like, "who is this annoying guy barking at us?" ... It was pretty funny and entertaining.



Also, below is a slideshow of some pictures I took of the trip. *I think the slideshow also includes some pics of the new place I am staying at.



This Thursday I am flying to the Netherlands to hang out in Amsterdam for two days with Heidi. I wanted to get in just one last trip before I leave and it should be lots of fun.

A few pics of my travels with my parents before my camera died!

There were never such devoted sisters:


Abbi and Allie:


Eating lunch in a square in Thira ... basically being bums:


Ladies Night every night at our favorite restaurant on Santorini Island:


One of the only pictures I took of our one and only short night in Athens:


A Santorini port area:


Santorini beach:


So pretty:


Greek Orthodox church ... there were so many everywhere!:


Abbi learning how to walk and failing:



Great views all over the island of Santorini:


Wine tasting in Greece:


We waited for hours for this disappointing sunset:


A lone donkey hanging out near his cave by the side of the road:



Sadly I don't have any pictures of the rest of our Greek visit nor of anything of Austria or Spain.....

The End is Near

Tomorrow I am leaving for Sweden for four days with Heidi and Jill. It should be a lot of fun. Apparently one of the hostels we are staying in is a ship... like on water. I hope I don't get seasick!!

I made it through last week living in Ebertswil (I just found out that is the name of the village I'm staying in a few days ago). I really enjoy the family here. And of course their cat. I'm trying to teach Pippin to say "kitty". I know I have mentioned before, German speakers have a hard time saying my name. The dad asked me the other day if I had a nickname or shorter version that I like to go by. I told him Mere was fine and he said that he thought maybe Merry, "and then there would be Merry and Pippin." Hahaha! I thought that was so cute. I actually am pretty sure that his son is named after Pippin the hobbit.

I have been working long days but mostly I have enjoyed my time here so far. Both parents are fun to talk to and very helpful. They offer me the car and they always offer to drop me off or pick me up in places kind of far away. The mom is really sweet and easy to talk to. She used to be a midwife and I like asking her questions about that. Her daughter, Yara's, father is Morroccan and she and Yara are going to Marrakesh for a few days next week since Yara has not been very influenced by that side of her culture. Yara really likes me and wants me to stay with them forever. Compared to the seven year olds that I used to look after, she seems so mature and well behaved so I like spending time with her too.

This last weekend, Abbi came to Switzerland from Vienna to visit me. She arrived on Friday and we hung out at the family's house that night. The next day we met Heidi and Dragan in Zurich where we walked around for awhile so Abbi could see the city. Since there is really no touristy things to do in Zurich it did not take long and we went back to get ready for the night. Saturday night we went out to a few bars in Zurich and on Sunday we had a picnic near the Limmat River in Zurich. We were going to go for a boat ride around the Lake of Zurich but we found out it cost almost 25 francs each for about an hour boat trip. We decided against this and traveled to Zug where we hung out at the lake for awhile there. It was a sunny and warm weekend. Abbi left early this morning to catch a train back to Austria.

Next week I am taking a short trip to Amsterdam with Heidi. It will officially be my last traveling experience around Europe ... for now. And then in just over two weeks I will be headed to South Korea!!!

An Update for Those Who Have Been Sitting on the Edge of their Seats

I have to admit that I am disappointed that I did not do any posts for the entire month of April. And April is one of my favorite months! But I do have good reasons for the lack of posts: 1. I was traveling Europe for the first two weeks and 2. The last two weeks I didn't have internet access in my place of living. And of course you are all asking the big question, "Where the heck ARE you living?" I am still in Switzerland and I have been staying with one of the nicest families I have ever met in my life. With that said, of course you all know that they are not actually Swiss. The mother is Latvian (Ieva-pronounced Yay-vah) and the father is English (Robin). They heard that I was looking for a place to stay and they offered up their basement, practically with no strings attached. And the first 10 days I was there, they were on holiday so I had the house to myself and the cat, Simba. Oh and Amanda stayed there with me the first week because she left her family and is now back in the U.S.
Anyways, this family has 4 children and they are quite lovely. They speak English at home so I feel so much more comfortable there and I don't feel like such an intrusion, even though I really am, whereas at the previous family whom I actually worked for I felt completely out of place. I did have to watch the kids one night and they were quite rambunctious, especially 4 year old Raymond, the only boy and youngest child. Florence, Anastasia, and Rebecca range in age from 9 to 6.

However! I am not living with them anymore. I moved to a city just outside of Lucerne, to stay with another Swiss family for a week. The mom broke her foot last week and she has a 1 year old boy and 8 year old girl and another on the way. They have a typical old Swiss house with narrow and very steep stairs that she can't really maneuver on her casted foot. They are friends of Ieva and Robin's and Ieva asked me if I wanted to help them out for a little while. Having nothing else to do, I agreed and I am now stuck out in the country about an hour away from where I was previously. The parents are both wonderful but the little girl, Yara, does not speak any English. We have been getting along ok though. Pippin is a little more work and I worked about 13 hours today so I am pretty exhausted. However, I prefer them to my first Swiss family.

Next Tuesday I leave for a four day trip to Sweden with Heidi and my friend Jill. After that, I will hang out for another week or two and then fly to South Korea where I will stay with Cody and Erin and Isaac for a few weeks. AND THEN I COME HOME! Although I am disappointed that there are still countries that I have yet to visit here, I am so ready to come home. I have lived in 4 different households since I have been here and have had to put up with a lot of kids.

I will have to comment later on my trip with my parents and Abbi. Greece was great and sunny and very beautiful. Austria involved a lot of driving but we were able to see several really amazing places. Barcelona was a little disappointing because it was rainy and fairly cold but still great. Pictures will be posted later, too.