Well, we made it! We are officially in Göteborg after literally the longest day of our lives! It all started when we woke up “this morning” for 7am team breakfast in the Caf at Carthage. I have to admit, it was actually pretty decent this morning too!!
After that, we had class from 9-12 as usual, and prepared some more for our long journey ahead of us. Then, I went to lunch and headed back to my dorm to pack for our 10 hour voyage. We met at the flagpole outside of the Stu at Carthage at 5:30, and before we knew it, we were on our way to O’Hare to the International Terminal 5 to board our flight. We made it through check-in and customs without too many problems thankfully, and then stopped at our gate to set our things down. After that, we were free to go to any place for dinner in the airport, so a few of my friends and I decided to go to this Asian restaurant and get some Chinese food before we boarded the plane to have a nice heavy meal and full stomach to get some good sleep on the plane.
Then, we boarded the plane and it was HUGE! We were towards the back in row 43, but it was very nice! We flew the airline SAS which is like a Scandinavian airline and it was very clean and the seats were comfortable and roomy, and even included a movie screen! Plus, it was literally the smoothest flight I have ever been on. It didn’t feel like flying at all, it felt like were just sitting there floating and like being still and when we landed you couldn’t feel the wheels touch the ground at all! Kind of hard to describe, I don’t know, but it was just pretty cool and different!
About an hour into the trip, we were served dinner, and it was SO yummy! It had rice with beans, chicken, and green beans for the main course. It also came with a quinoa and veggie salad, a piece of cheddar cheese, crackers, a dinner roll, and the most amazing lemony-custardy desert thingy with it.
I then slept for most of the rest of the plane ride. They had some really good movies to watch too, but I was so exhausted and passed out for the next 6-7 hours. Then, all the lights turned on and the windows were opened and we were served breakfast about an hour and a half before we landed. It consisted of cheese, ham, tomatoes, fruit, a roll, granola, yogurt, and orange juice. Again, so yummy!!!
Then, we landed in Denmark and it was really beautiful there! It was actually pretty warm walking off the airport, too! The airport was so luxurious and was literally like a shopping mall and had really beautiful decorations, stores, restaurants, and bars. I also got a fresh-squeezed juice from a juice bar, which oh by the way, are SUPER popular in Europe!
We then boarded our next plane and had a super short plane ride to the Goteborg airport, only about an hour long. It was absolutely beautiful flying there though, and so interesting to see how different the climate and terrain changed in such a short time.
Then, we checked into our hostel, which is interesting to say the least… For example: it’s super European and the bathrooms are not gender separated! But it will work as a place to stay just at night for these two weeks! Then, we went to this AMAZING Italian restaurant that was about a two second walk from the front door of our hostel. It was authentic Italian food from Italy, and the waiters and cooks were even straight from Italy and definitely could not understand us whatsoever but it’s all good!! I ordered lasagne and it was so incredible, and it was also my good friend Sam’s birthday, so we all got drinks to celebrate! It was my first legal drink!! 🙂 We got raspberry prosecco bellinis.
Then, we got a nice surprise and went to our first Swedish café called Tin Tin’s, which was right down the street. My friend Ashley and I split this pastry called semla, and it was pretty interesting too! It was a pastry filled with a ginger creme and almond paste.
Things I learned today:
- International travel is not too bad but the jet lag is real!!
- The food is incredible and super authentic in Sweden, America could never!
- Sweden is kinda cold but not as bad as I thought it would be.
- I’m probably going to gain a solid 10 pounds these next two weeks with eating all this good food and not working out, lol
- Don’t trust the airport people with your belongings – they broke a wheel off my suitcase so now I have to get a new one 😦
Well, that’s all for now! Thanks for reading and look for my next post tomorrow! Goodnight from Göteborg!
Nicole's Adventures in Sweden 