Beginning a New Adventure!

Here I am, at Dulles International Airport waiting to board a Turkish Airlines flight to Stockholm, Sweden via Istanbul, Turkey!  Yes, that is completely out of the way, but that's what happens when you buy a cheap ticket...I don't mind, it will be an adventure to see new things, new people.  

I am going to Stockholm where I will take the train to Soderhamn, about 2 hours north of Stockholm.  My hosts will collect me and drive me to the small village of Ljusne on the eastern coast of Sweden to Ljusnefors Campground.  I will spend about 6 weeks here working at the campground.  I signed up with workaway.info to participate in a volunteer and cultural exchange program and be able to experience other countries.  Here is the website for the campground, Ljusnefors Camping.  I contacted the owners, Martin and Heike Hofmann and signed up to be one of their volunteers.  I had a Skype interview with them both and we decided we liked each other, so here I am.

I actually get to Stockholm on Saturday, June 4th and I will spend the night near the airport.  I am spending the day in Stockholm on Sunday, June 5th before taking the train to Soderhamn.

   

I will keep a weekly blog and I'm looking forward to a great adventure!


Friday, June 3rd

I had a wonderful seat mate on the first leg of my trip to Istanbul.  Her name is Nadia and she is Bulgarian, but has lived in the US for 26 years.  She is married to a physician and has one daughter.  She is going to Sofia for a family wedding.  She reminded me so much of my cousin, Candace Price.  She was fun and so nice to talk to.  She guided me around the Istanbul Ataturk Airport.

It was so hot in Istanbul and not everyone visiting the Turkish city uses antiperspirant
so heat and body odor were an interesting combination.😂

Saturday, June 4

I arrived in Stockholm about 10:30 pm, we were about 30 minutes late.  I had booked a hotel by the airport because I knew it would be late when we arrived.  PS, it was still 
daylight!  I stayed in a hotel called the Jumbo Hotel but I didn't have any idea it was actually a jumbo jet!  It was really cool!  The rooms were basic, could sleep 3 which would have been crowded and the facilities were down the hall, a really nice WC and shower.  A nice hot  shower felt soooooo good!

















Sunday, June 5

I made a reservation before I left home for a boat tour of the Stockholm archipelago, which extends north and south of Stockholm in the Baltic Sea and consists of 30,000 islands and islets.  The boat tour was to be 3 hours with lunch, just around the Stockholm area and started at 10:30 am.  I boarded the Arlanda Express to Stockholm from the airport and once at the train station, secured a locker for my luggage and bought my train ticket to Soderhamn for later in the day.  The lady at the ticket station told me it was a 10 minute walk to where my archipelago tour was to embark.  I left Stockholm Central Station at 10:00 am and headed toward the boat.  I suppose it's ten minutes if you know where you are going.....hmmmm.....I arrived just as the boat was departing.....so I decided to walk back to Gamla Stan, Old Town Stockholm, and wander around.  Lots of souvenir shops to view, I decided to wait until the end of my trip to buy anything!  I found a wonderful restaurant and had lunch.  I was sad to miss the boat tour, but I had a wonderful afternoon seeing part of Stockholm.   

Where my boat left without me😔

Swedish Parliament 

Grand Hotel

Gamla Stan

 Agaton Restaurant

Playing the water glasses
⬅️

Street magician
➡️

Bird enjoying a bite of lunch

I boarded my train to Soderhamn at 2:20 and again, God put me next to the sweetest young girl who decided to take me under her wing, a Swedish beauty!  The train stopped in Gavlë and we were told to transfer to busses because there was work on the track from Gavlë to Soderhamn.  My new friend, Almira helped me understand what was going on and called my hosts to let them know I would be arriving at a different time at the bus station and not the train station.