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Made it here!

Well everyone, after 17 hours of traveling, I made it here. After the trip to Iceland and the flight to Stockholm, the trip into Stockholm from the airport was, okay, but then I had to figure out the Swedish Rail system and how to get a reservation of a seat. I decided to got to Mariestad, which is a small city on Lake Vännern, and reminds me of a cross between Burlington, Vermont, and Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. I managed to make contact with an email friend, Elisabeth Simensen, and I spent the rest of the evening walking around and seeing the small city. I willed myself, after not sleeping for 30 hours, to stay up until 8 p.m. to try to get on this schedule. I stayed at a hostel which is very cute, and I was lucky in that I got a room to myself. It was only SEK 190 (approx. US 20, no dollar signs on a Swedish keyboard!) but it wasn’t as comfortable as I would have liked it. I decided that I’m getting too old for this, and I’m going into a hotel tonight before I take the train to Lund.

This morning, Elisabeth picked me up and we’ve been driving everywhere. She’s been incredible. Her Grandmother and my Great Grand Aunt were best friends, and she has relatives in my home town of Maynard. I’ve seen the graves of two of my great-grandaunts, Milda and Selma, visited the farm where my great grandfather lived and died, as we’ll ask check out a lot of church yards. We’ve got a few more to go, as Elisabeth is in a cafe at the library (very civilized) while I type this. 

Sweden is sort of like Alaska and Maine, with a lot better infrastructure. The people are nice and my Swedish is already improving! It is expensive, but manageable. I’ve seen some beautiful signs and it’s really warm here. I’d guess in the 80’s. I didn’t bring enough light close for this! Time to buy t-shirts. I woke up at 2 a.m. this morning, as that was 8 a.m. Boston time. It got light out at 3 a.m.

All for how, but I’ll try to find another library soon. I can’t seem to get to my email, so if there’s something you need to get to me, I’ll check my email at kenmattsson@gmail.com.

Next adventure awaits. Vi ses!

Ken

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