Photo of the Day: Elliot has gotten into a biting and slobbering habit lately. Biting my clothes, fingers, his toys, William, etc. Here he is today slobbering over a monster lego machine. He is such a cutie though.
Observation of the Day: I never thought I would say this but…. blood pudding actually tastes pretty good.
Word of the Day: gift (married)
Photo of the Day: Got to spontaneously Skype with Nusrath. Made my day đ Otherwise it was just a routine day in the life in Stockholm.
Video of the Day: William is currently obsessed with Michael Jackson and we watched this video about 10 times today!
Observation of the Day: Stockholm marriages are when a couple lives together and has ids prior to marriage. They are quite common here (my host parents aren’t married) and there is only a 30% divorce rate also. Correlation?
Word of the Day: välsigna dig (bless you)
Picture One of the Weekend: This is Millennium Bridge…. otherwise known as the Harry Potter Bridge. It’s pretty epic. Even the Power Rangers were taking pictures on it.
Picture Two of the Weekend: Doing the tourist thing and taking pictures at the London Eye with birthday girl Rachita… while watching illegal street gambling.
Picture Three of the Weekend: Steve Jobs memorial outside of the Apple Store. He will truly be missed.
Picture Four of the Weekend: I got to catchup with Tonto in LONDON!
Observation of the Weekend: Little kids in school uniforms speaking with British accents makes you feel like you are in a Harry Potter movie. Also in Sweden crimes where you evade paying the state are considered a more serious offense than murdering someone.
Word of the Weekend: Ceeeek (cake in an Irish accent)
Photo One of the Day: This is the Princess statue of Pest. It was the first statue in Budapest that had no political association with it. You can rub the knees for good luck. There is also a replica at Buckingham Palace. And it was modeled after a boy which is why it looks a bit more masculine than feminine.
Photo Two of the Day: This is a view from Budapest from the highest point in the city. Buda is on the left and it is more hilly and historical looking. Pest is on the right side, is flat, and looks more like a modern city.
Photo Three of the Day: I went to the Opera house and saw a ballet, Giselle. It was a very beautiful venue and pretty ballet as well.
Observation of the Day: After a performance Hungarians clap to a beat. They are all in sync almost like when Americans chant to get a performer to come back on stage except that it is just to recognize a good job. They clap more vigorously and not in since for the main people though.
Word of the Day: szia (hello, pronounced see-ya)
Photo One of the Day: I took Orangeways bus from Prague to Budapest. It took about 7 hours and was a pretty pleasant ride. Not as sketch as I anticipated so that was good.
Photo Two of the Day: I went to the Museum of Terror which is a museum about communism in Hungary and their participation in World War Two. It was a very interesting museum and was very artistically arranged. I recommend it. This sculpture represents the iron curtain.
Photo Three of the Day: I stumbled upon a free exhibit of art from a bunch of EU countries as part of Budapest Art Week. That was really interesting. These are dumbbells from Greece that say Greece is for Lovers.
Observation of the Day: Budapest and Prague both have much dirtier subways and have people manually checking your subway tickets. This is very different from Sweden.
Photo One of the Day: I explored the Prague Castle today…. turns out its not like a disney princess castle đ However I did get a good view of the city.
Photo Two of the Day: There is a John Lennon wall where people write Beatles lyrics and inspirational quotes and just graffiti it up. It is constantly changing. Goal” come back and paint on it someday…. who is with me?
Photo Three of the Day: I also found a lock bridge. It was really pretty and fun to take pictures of.
Observation of the Day: Prague is much more lively on a Sunday than on a Monday.
Word of the Day:Â pomoc (help in Czech)
Photo One of the Day: Here is a painter and part of old town prague.
Photo Two of the Day: Here I am on the Charles Bridge. My hostel is literally right after that and in the perfect location.
Photo Three of the Day: This is part of the old town at night.
Observation of the Day: People are much less considerate on the subway in Prague than in Stockholm.
Word of the Day:Â kullersten (cobblestone)
Photo of the Day: Today I went to Grona Lund, an amusement park, with my host family. Here is William and I on one of the rides that looked out over the water. So beautiful.
Observation of the Day: Stockholm doesn’t have fire hydrants and giant candy bars are common prizes in fair games.
Word of the Day:Â sockervadd (cotton candy)
Photo of the Day: Today was a day of errands and productivity. We have a week off next week which means I was trying to get my homework done before I leave. So today I spent most of the day writing a couple of “short” essays for my Women, Gender, and Society class.
Observation of the Day: I also tried to find travel size bottles of shampoo, conditioner, etc. But I was unsuccessful. One store had the mini bottles I can fill with shampoo, but those were even hard to find. However they did have a whole flight kit for eyes with contact solution and contact case.
Word of the Day: klassiska (classic)
Picture of the Day: I went to an info meeting today to volunteer at the Nobel Night Cap. It is an after party after the Nobel Prizes are awarded that will be held at Stockholm University this year. I was surprised by the lack of interest (there were only about 12 people at the meeting). But it sounds like it will be really fun and and I miss volunteering.
Observation of the Day: Packages are very difficult to receive here. I am expecting a package and it has been in Sweden all week but has yet to appear at my door/ notify me that it is here and where to pick it up. I’ll tackle that tomorrow.
Word of the Day: duktig (you did good work/ well done)