Far East Trip… Sweden

My far east trip took a very abrupt turn to the left as I was southbound along the Mississippi.

All the way to Sweden!

No… I didn’t actually drive Missy to Sweden.

Instead, I took a very large aluminum tube with wings.

It was a week-long trip for business and I went with a friend from work.

Missy and the bus boys hung out at my Mom’s place in Missouri.

I’m certainly not a fan of sitting inside large aluminum tubes packed with people and this trip did nothing to change that opinion.

The trip to Sweden went thru Minneapolis and Amsterdam. If I were an optimist, I would call those two flights “an opportunity for human contact and togetherness.”

Once there, being in Sweden was very neat! I found the place and people to be very nice and really enjoyed my time there. Of course, business trips never afford enough time for sight-seeing or to really get to know a place so this is just an ‘initial’ impression.

My friend and I were able to sneak away one day and took the high speed train from the Arlanda airport to downtown Stockholm. There we did some walking around to get a feel for the city.

I didn’t have my good camera so none of my photos are worth seeing. Nonetheless, I’ll share a couple of the better ones. Sorry about that.

Swedish Meatballs in Sweden??

Yes – I certainly did try them! Twice!!

They were great both times! However; I rarely meet a meal that I don’t like. 🙂

Several people asked if they tasted like the ones at Ikea.  Sadly, I don’t know – I’ve never tried them at Ikea. 🙁  However; I now have a reason to go to Ikea!

Bicycles were everywhere in Stockholm. Many, many corners were stacked with them like this one. I LOVED IT!!  The people are very fit. I even saw a large number of older folks riding bicycles around.

The return flights – thru Paris and Minneapolis were much better. It seems the tubes on these flights actually had the “increased comfort” seats for which we had paid. Much more comfortable!! As an added adventure, the flight out of Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris was late so I missed my connection in Minneapolis. All in good fun!

The day of the return was about 31 hours pillow to pillow. I was feeling a wee bit tired.

Since returning I’ve been asked several times about my impression of Sweden. I don’t have a good answer as I haven’t spent enough time there or seen enough of the country. That said, the people that I worked with were wonderful folks. Very welcoming, very funny, very engaged and helpful. The bits of the country that I saw were very pretty. At no time did I feel like it was a place that I did not belong or was unwelcome.

I guess that a two thumbs-up review, eh?!?  🙂