update from AF Chapman

Trip so far is goin great! I finally found a free computer at the hostel we're staying at now in Stockholm. Its basically an old ship that sailed around the world, that they converted into a hostel. Pretty sweet looking!

My trip started off this last wednesday, where we flew to the Philadelphia airport. My dad and I talked to a pretty cool girl from Germany while waiting for our flight. She was pretty cute, and communicated differently than American girls.

We didn't really sleep much on the 7 hour flight to Frankfurt Germany, and by the time we got there, it was midnight back home. As you may know, I am not one to fall asleep before midnight. When we got off the flight, we talked to the german girl again, and right before we spit ways, she gave the name of a website to check out, and also wrote her name down for me to look her up on facebook :) .....I probably won't see her again, but a sign of good things to come, lol.

After a quick flight to Copenhagen, we took a train ride to Jönköping. However, our train broke down! This never happens in Europe, and I felt like I won the lottery or something (except the prize is a 3 hour delay after a looong flight). Our hotel in Jönköping was small but functional, and had bath towels the size of a welcome mat. Later in the evening, I went for a run with my shirt off, and quickly discovered that most Swedes run with their shirt on. I realized this after all the weird looks I was getting. At first I thought it was bc of my six-pack...guess not. We went to bed early, feelin the 6 hour difference and slept that night for at least 12 hours.

Day 2 - Stockholm

Stockholm is a beautiful city....very big buildings and very open. We checked into our ship hostel, aka the "AF Chapman" and walked a 1/2 mile to the city. There was a HUGE festival going on last night. We had swedish meatballs at a place called Pickwicks on the crowded Drottninggatans street, and I got drunk off of 2 very strong beers. There were 3 enourmous concerts going on that night all at once- one for high school kids, one for those who wanted to dance to spanish music, and one for those who liked hip-hop/techno music. I'd say the 3rd one was the best, and heard a band called the White Pony from Copenhagen that was my favorite.

Day 3- today

Woke up around 9ish, then walked around old Stockholm. We checked out the Armour Museum, which was "ehh". I almost got kicked out after touching an old carriage. I don't know why I decided to reach over and touch it, but when I did a loud-ass alarm went off and a museum worker all dressed up scurried down to see what happened. After that drama, we saw the daily Passing of the Guard Ceremony. It was basically a Swedish marching band on horses, combined with a little bit of marching. They do this every day in the middle of the Royal Palace (where the king and queen used to live). There was a lot of tourists there, and also just in general in the city of Stockholm.

Midnightsloppen race tonight!