Europe 2016: Stockholm and Sweden

It's a wonderful thing to have a lifetime friend, and I headed out to see one of mine. I'm blessed. I met Marie around 17 years ago when I lived in NJ and she lived in Boston. We worked at the same company and met at a training class in the middle in Connecticut. We kept in touch and became friends when I moved back to Boston, but a year or so later she returned to her homeland, Sweden.

We kept in touch through the years and I saw her once in the US and visited her in Stockholm. Two years ago I went to a friend's wedding in Copenhagen and she joined me for a couple of days. I was eager to meet her children but have a ‘rule’ that I don’t repeat international trips. There’s too much of the world to see! Her husband teased me that I would have to break my rule, and here I am.

I made my wait to the airport easily thanks to Maren. I had a flight to Berlin, which was a madhouse, and then on to Stockholm. Marie picked me up at the airport and then we walked around Stockholm for a few hours. We walked all through the old city, saw the building where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded, saw the Royal Palace and residence, and many gorgeous buildings and churches.

Then we headed to her city of Marienfred, which is beautiful. It’s in the country and there is a very quaint small town center. Her house is adorable and so pretty. And her girls are as beautiful and nice as I expected. They are from Ethiopia, and around 12 and 16. I was so excited to meet them and we had a nice talk.

Marie, Joe and I were up until the wee hours talking and catching up. They have two cats, Wilda and Mattias, so I was very happy to get some furry loving! Wilda is purring and doing figure eights next to me as I’m typing. The girls are making us breakfast.

Today we toured her area of Marienfred. It’s a pretty exclusive town that has boasts recent guests like Jodi Foster, Julia Robers and John Kerry. It’s a small town of 5000 or so, that swells to 20k in the summer. We went to the Gripsholms Castle owned by the royal family and walked around the outside and inside. We then went to the Cookie Castle (why not, right?) There was a heaping table of cakes and cookies. http://www.taxingeslott.se/ It was a beautiful building and the grounds were gorgeous along the water.


We had dinner at the harbor looking out on the boats and the water. It was so beautiful!! I’m enjoying a couple of calm days in the country before heading back to the city tomorrow. And the family time is great!