Next, we visit Pippi Longstocking's house. Not really, but since the author who wrote Pippi, Astrid Lindgren, was from Sweden and all of her characters are well known all over Sweden and all over Europe for that matter, the Swedes have built this fun house where the children can ride the train, play games, eat, and have the same fun as all Lindgren's characters. I grew up reading Pippi Longstocking's stories, and I was very excited to relive my childhood by showing my kids through pictures all of the fun stuff I dreamed doing as a little child. I so wanted to be Pippi, free and powerful, and what child doesn't!
Astrid Lindgren's imaginative town
The boat that Pippi's father used for traveling through the seven seas:
Pippi's train that she used in one of her travels
Heading up to her house:
Pippi's sleeping arrangement
Luka walking without touching ground, one of Pippi's indoor games:
We are greeted by Nelson, the monkey:
Pippi was kind enough to let us ride on her special horse:
Luka and I trying to look like Pippi:
After checking everything out, we sat down and had a nice Swedish meal of Swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes.
Next on our itinerary was Skansen Open-Air Museum, the Sweden of yesterday. This resembled the old Williamsburg, but without the guns and fanfare. It was really neat actually. The outdoor museum offered more than 150 buildings from the past that were transported from all over Sweden and gave an amazing picture of the more traditional Sweden wit its shops, silversmiths, glass-blowers, bakers, etc. I got to see the dwellings of some of the native Nordic people, who lived like nomads always following and hunting reindeer. I got to sit and relax amongst beautiful gardens, and I enjoyed celebrations of Swedish festivities. 
We tried some fresh cheese, fresh bread and delicious fresh pastries:
We found a spot from where we could see a beautiful view of the Old city of Stockholm:
I was surprised to see reindeer close up, a beautiful peacock, who strutted along unafraid of people coming and going, a very old church around 1200's, a Sami hut ( the indigenous people of Scandinavia), mountain railways, and many more.
I found this red horse everywhere in Stockholm, and I was interested to know the story behind it. It seems this is a very old Swedish tradition that started centuries ago with soldiers carving little horses and other items from scraps of wood that they would find in the homes of the villagers they were staying with. One such soldier, in about 1700, would carve one item and the lady of the house would give him a bowl of soup. He would keep producing more for food and shelter. Later on, he started painting them red, the color being more available at that time produced from the copper mines. Today every Swedish home has one of these tailless, but friendly red horses to represent a tradition of frugality and good will. (Of course they are not as big as the ones in this picture!)
After we saw all we could see at the open-air museum, we joined my mother and sister-in-law for a picnic dinner at a nearby garden located next to a royal palace that belonged to one of the members of royalty of the past.
I love gardens, and this one was no different with its abundant greenery, beautiful sculptures, and its welcoming feeling for any visitor. However, since I have way more places and pictures to share from Sweden, I'll limit myself to only one thing that I really liked in this garden. Yes, you guessed it, it is a sculpture. I couldn't have enough of it. It was tucked in amongst some bushes and it pulled me to it with a magnetic feeling. It was so simple, and yet so powerful. It showed just an embrace, and yet it carried a thousand other feelings. It was just simply beautiful. Maybe it spoke to my heart because I was missing my husband tremendously.
After our picnic, we strolled along to our next destination: Grona Lunds Tivoli, the amusement park.
We first attended a pop concert of a popular Swedish musician, that sounded sweet, friendly, bashful, and confident at the same time. I really enjoyed the music, but I have to admit that my favorite part was observing people of various sizes, shapes and ages letting themselves just go with the music. What a magical power music has on us!
After the music something very interesting happened. As you all know there is only my mother, my brother and me in my family, and of course our own families now as well. But for as long as I can remember there was this very interesting chemistry between all three of us: my mother and brother are very close to each other but in a constant competition, and they both want to protect and help me. So, as we were walking around the amusement park taking the kids here and there, my sister-in-law and I made the comment that we don't like roller coasters and especially the drop tower kinds. My mother full of confidence said she could ride any of them without fear. My brother wanting to defend his wife's honor (we are all in jest now) said that she couldn't do the roller coaster drop off. Feeling challenged, my mother didn't wait for more. Here she is, possibly the oldest one to get on this ride, full of confidence and challenging my brother with a big smirk on her face. My heart is very weak at this point since I don't want my mother to have a heart attack. Despite of the discomfort, I managed to get these awesome pictures:
This looked like a very scary ride, very high and with a twist. When you reached the top, one side titled down, a nightmare. When mother got down, she stuck her tongue out. We couldn't stop laughing partly because we were releived she was alive, and partly because she was hillarious.
Later, as we strolled around the park, I was able to capture two of my favorite pictures from Sweden:
While Aubrey was twirling around with her kids in pretty saucers,
... my brother was trying to convience me to avenge mom by both of us riding the drop tower. I kept telling him I will never ever do such a thing since I'm very scared of heights and I like being in control of my body and life as much as possible. He begged me and asked me to do it for his sake and as a birthday gift to him. Let me tell you this was the scariest thing my heart has endured. I'm shocked I didn't faint. There is fear in my eyes, and I would say in my brother's eyes as well:
Pretending to be brave:
Scared to death, knowing that if I opened my eyes I would absolutely have a heart attack. Medlir kept begging me to open them, and I did, but after we reached the top and the chairs were tilting down, I closed my eyes again and prayed to God I would survive this thing for my kids'sake. When we were dropped I had the wierdiest feeling as if I were in a worm hole with no weight and no body, just my mind. With all honesty, I hated the expereince and it didn't make me feel any braver or confident. As for others, I was amazed at one point to notice some kind of flash coming from the top of the tower. Wow, some people have the nerve to take pictures while on top!
And thus ended the fourth day in Sweden.
Day five was full of activities, but my favorite was spending time with my mother, sister-in-law and my fun nephews, and of course tasting some very delicious pastries. I don't care much about cookies, cakes or candy, but when it comes to pastries I have no resistance.
Day six was spent at home, resting, talking, and celebrating my brother's birthday. My mother cooked a delicious traditional meal of raosted potatoes and roasted chicken with lots of home made side dishes. Being together is what this life is all about.
After enjoying my vacation in Austria and France, I came back to Sweden for a couple more days. Medlir's in-laws were there, and in one of those days, we all took a cruise around the archipelago. It was a rainy day and I was very tired from my travels, but the beauty of the lake and of the islands across the archipelago freshened my senses.
We stopped on one of the islands that the government had kept intact with some very old buildings, homes and pretty gardens.
I truly had a great time in Sweden. I'm grateful that my brother took some time off and accompanied me everywhere. It made the experience even more exciting. Brothers and sisters rarely have this kind of chance to travel abroad by themselves, so I'm also grateful to my sister-in-law, Aubrey, for taking care of the family while Medlir and I philosophied the purpose of life and enjoyed the landmarks of such a pretty and wonderful country as Sweden was to me. Here is one last picture of a Swedish sunset taken from a very dirty airplane window. Good bye, Sweden!
