Germany and Sweden Part 2

OK this one is all about Sweden. I flew to Stockholm from Berlin (via London which was such a waste of time *sigh*) and was picked up by my cousin Haideh and her partner Arne. My cousin's lived in Sweden for 22 years so she's pretty much a local! They took me to a famous Swedish restaurant in Stockholm called Restaurang Ulla Winblad where I had traditional Swedish food. Very nice!

This a photo of Haideh at home, and with me:





























The weather was great in Stockholm, which made a cruise of the archipelago surrounding the city ideal. So Heideh took me on a cruise. Take a look at the beautiful natural scenery:















This is the Baltic Sea























































Away from the little islands now, this is central Stockholm from the water


























I also met up with my friend Peter (who is half-Swedish and grew up in Sweden) who took me to Skansen, a theme park. Here you can see glass blowing, sit in a traditional Swedish house, sample Swedish delicacies and see all sorts of animals, which was the highlight for me. So here are some of the animals we saw:

White bear (try finding him!)













Sea Lion













Sea Otters (still my personal favourite)













Brown Bears













Female Elks













Male Elk (nice horns!)













Goats













Peter decided to feed one of the goats...













Reindeer (try finding this one!) I would subsequently see one of these on the road driving to the Arctic Circle, spread reindeer & cheese paste on my toast, and even eat reindeer in a kebab, yum!









Lynx














OK so after three nights in Stockholm I flew up to Lulea in northern Sweden where I was to meet up with my friends Dave and Moa, and stay with Moa's family. On picking me up from the airport they took me to their summer residence right by the water. What a relaxing place! We ate well, and went boating and kayaking. This is one of the most northern towns in the world, so the day are REALLY long in the summer. The photo below was taken at around midnight, you'll see that it's not quite dark, just cloudy:















One of the highlights was driving across the 'Arctic Circle'. We drove north from Lulea to Jockfall, where we saw some beautiful waterfalls and scenery. On the way, there was a sign saying that we'd crossed the Arctic Circle. So being the total tourists that we were, Dave and I got out of the car and 'jumped' in and out of the Arctic Circle!














Dave on the cusp of the Arctic Circle













Jumping out of the Arctic Circle...













...and in













Ugh...typical tourists!













We calmed down at bit after that and went to Jockfall. The photos speak for themselves.










































Matthias (Moa's brother in law) and Dave













Not quite Niagara Falls, but still impressive!

Germany and Sweden Part 1

Going to Scotland for the wedding gave me the perfect excuse to have a bit of a European holiday. So I planned to go to Berlin where I have two cousins, to Stockholm where I have another cousin, and to Lulea (northern Sweden) where my friends Dave & Moa from Perth (Moa is originally from Lulea) were going to be visiting during August.

I'd been to other cities in Germany before (Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne, Aachen) and to Stockholm, but never to Berlin and Lulea. My previous visit to Stockholm had been during the spring and the weather was quite cold, so I needed to experience summer in Stockholm!

So I arrived in Berlin on 26 July, after spending a few nights in Edinburgh post-wedding. I stayed with my cousin Peter who I know quite well, and met his sister, Katrin, for the first time. The weather was warm, although it did rain incessently one day. Berlin is a really beautiful city. If I had to live in Germany, I think I'd live in Berlin.


The pretty girl on the right is my cousin Katrin, half-Persian, half-German. She's studying at PhD and is fluent in English, German and French.










Remains of the Berlin Wall...













Checkpoint Charlie









































Art Gallery













Berlin Dom (nice eh?)













Interior of Potsdam Platz













Exterior of Potsdam Platz













The weather got quite hot in Berlin, and the beach was something like 200km away. So went swimming in a freshwater lake near Berlin to cool off instead!





























My cousins Peter and Katrin after having a swim. Peter is an architect in Berlin, an excellent profession given the number of projects going on there. He is a great tour guide as he knows everything about just about every building in Berlin!








Bear World Tour



























Inside the Cathedral













Holocaust Monument (like a huge maze)













Tiergarten (large park in central Berlin)



























Berlin State Library (one of my favourites)












Pariser Platz













River views













Photos of Stockholm and Lulea will follow soon!