Christmas in Sweden!

Christmas tour has been a blast so far. The first few days we spent in Copenhagen, and tonight we made it to Sweden. Today it is Christmas Day, and to be honest it totally does not feel like it at all. I have never been away from my family for Christmas, and we have so many traditions and things that without it, it just doesn't feel the same.

Here is a picture of Emma and I on the bus :) The first night in Copenhagen we were all pretty excited from traveling all day, so most of us just relaxed. We had an interesting dinner at the hotel... the first course was a salmon dish and the main dish was lamb. I didn't eat either of the dishes because I am mainly a chicken kind of girl so I asked for the vegetarian meal. The salad was really good- but the main course was a little too veggie for me. I am just starting to like vegetables and this was an intense vegetable dish (like the main part of it was this boiled leek), but I made the most of it and ate a large portion of it. That night Cierra and I just walked a little bit on the town and got a feel for the city.

The next morning Cierra pointed out the beautiful sunset outside our hotel window! Here is a picture of it on your left :) After Breakfast, the whole Gonzaga group loaded onto the buses and went on a driving tour of the city. We stopped at various locations along the way and took some pictures. One place we stopped had a copper statue of a mermaid on a stone next to the gorgeous Copenhagen waterfront. Towards the end of our tour we stopped to watch the changing of the guards next to the Queen's house. That was really interesting; a bunch of the students were trying to make the guards laugh. After the tour we all went to the hard rock cafe for lunch. Again, it was a limited menu so my choices were a burger or a veggie burger. I am just not a fan of burgers in general, but I sucked it up and got a burger; which is huge for me for those who know me well. I am definitely not a beef fan... the burger wasn't too bad but I was craving a chicken burger for sure.

After lunch we had tickets to the Tivoli Christmas festival which was probably the highlight of my day. There were lights, decorations, food stands, and souvenir shops all in the little Christmas town. There was actually a China town section and next to it was a large red roller coaster which was amazing! We convinced my friend to go on it, even though she hates rides that go upside down. The funniest part was when she had a scared expression on her face and she goes, "Oh no... it's called the DEMON?!" haha. Good times for sure.

Once we looked around at the festival, we wandered the long shopping street and peered in and out of stores for boots. My friend Megan was in desperate need of warm boots for Russia. She wanted something like Uggs- but they were no where to be found. Eventually she found a place where they sold actual Ugg Boots for a hefty price. When in Copenhagen, I guess, right? haha. Things in Copenhagen were so expensive! I couldn't believe it... the food was outrageous and the souvenirs and shopping was even worse. Needless to say all I bought was a winterish hat for Russia at the Tivoli Christmas Festival.

That night Cierra, Jen and Annie and I went to this Chinese/Indonesian restaurant. I ended up getting two little starter dishes: chicken skewers (which had a peanut-type sauce), and spring rolls. I also got this yummy cocktail. It was really good and just the right amount of food after a big lunch earlier.

The next day we had on our own, so Cierra, Emma and I decided to rent 3 of the bikes from our hotel and wander the city ourselves. Cierra brought along her handy dandy Europe book and they suggested to rent bikes and take a 6 hour tour around the city. Well, since nothing was open because it was Christmas Eve, we ended up just looking at the outside of these buildings and taking pictures. It ended up being a lot of fun! I am glad we did it. For lunch, we went to Burger King because it was pretty much the only thing open at that point. After lunch we took a small break and then headed out to the old-fashioned windmill. Here is a picture of me doing a handstand at a windmill! Anyways, the windmill was so cute! We definitely took lots of pictures there. The rest of the day was pretty chill once we got back from our tour. We watched the Holiday (with Jude Law- so cute!, Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet)- it is a very cute movie if I must say so myself. I would recommend it for sure! After the movie we had a nice Christmas Eve feast in our hotel. I again did not want the meat dishes, so I got the vegetarian salad and veggie dish. It wasn't that satisfying, but at least the bread was good and they served us plenty of drinks! The group had liver for the starter course (GROSS) and then duck for the main course. I just find it shocking that they serve such bizarre meats on a student sponsored trip; oh well. ANYWAYS, the next day was pretty much just traveling to Stockholm, Sweden. Cierra and I got up early to have Breakfast at the hotel (which was great because it was buffet style :) ) and then we loaded onto the buses around 11 30 am. We caught the train about an hour later and our train lasted about 5 and a half hours. I mainly just slept, finished my book (Pretty Little Liars- thanks Lillian!), read magazines, listened to music, and watched an episode of Sex and the City (my new favorite show!). Once we got there, we took a short bus ride to our hotel and then had a quick break before our dinner. I am so happy that we have free internet here! Its a nice change for sure- it is very slow because there is like 70 of us all trying to get on at once, but it works none the less. For dinner we had a shrimp salad (yuck, didn't get it, surprise surprise) and then the main course was chicken and mashed potatoes. ALL I could say was thank GOD! Finally something I can eat... I hate being such a picky eater but I have gotten a lot better since my childhood. AND I did try the shrimp and all those weird things we had previously (besides the Liver- I just won't go there) and I honestly don't like the taste. I know it gets annoying and maybe sounds stupid to some people, but its just who I am haha. The dinner was really nice though- I sat with Cierra, Emily, Elliott, Chelsea, and Scott. We had some great conversations and laughs. The rest of the evening I caught up on skype with some friends, and now I am just relaxing!

Tomorrow we have a tour of the flight museum and then I am going to a hockey game. It should be a lot of fun!

I will post later--

CIAO for now and MERRY CHRISTMAS!