Not only was I lucky enough to visit Copenhagen for two weeks; I also spent a week in Trelleborg, Sweden!

My sister and I were lucky enough that the drive between Trelleborg and Copenhagen is only about twenty minutes to a half hour. When standing on the shoreline on a clear day, you can see the other country across the sea, that's how close they are! Double luck for my sister and I since we have close family friends who live in Trelleborg as well! They were gracious enough to let us stay with them and give us the spare key so we could come and go. This family we have known almost our whole lives, and we consider them an extension of our family. It was so nice to see them again, this time in their own backyard.

Again, Sweden was cold like Denmark but not as cold as it was back home; sorry to everyone who went through those below freezing days (but also I’m not sorry)! It was just warm enough to walk around for at least a half an hour before needing to duck into a cafe or shop to warm up a bit. Seeing the beaches in Sweden was amazing, and I can just imagine the wall to wall bodies packed in during the summer months, attempting to soak up as much vitamin D as possible. We also got lucky one day and saw some seals hanging out on some rocks near the shore on the side of a main road. Every other car was pulling over to get a closer look, and our friends said that this never happened, so I could understand all the excitement.

My sister and I ended up doing a lot more shopping than sightseeing in Trelleborg and the surrounding cities because everything was a lot more spaced out. We got so used to taking the metro in Copenhagen, where every attraction was just 30 seconds to a couple of minutes away. In Sweden, we had to take a train, and so sometimes it took up to an hour to get to where we wanted to go. But when we got to our destinations, it was well worth the wait. The old architecture was just breathtaking to walk amongst for a couple of hours. Even some of the train stations were fascinating to just sit and people watch. I definitely had a couple moments where I realized how much culture can be packed into small places, like train or metro stations, cafes, shops, etc. In coming back home, I can now see how we have the same packing of culture in different ways here in Minnesota specifically, as well as the U.S. in general.

Our friends also took us to Malmö, a city not too far from Trelleborg, where we saw an exquisite church, I can't remember the exact date it was constructed, but it was at least 50 years before Columbus had set out on his voyage to find another route to India. The front is slightly charred from a fire, but other than that it is in amazing condition.

My favorite part was seeing Ale's Stones, huge upright rocks in the formation of a ship. This monument and others like it are mostly from the Viking era, and some are even from the Bronze Age. If the land back then was in any way, shape, or form like the land that exists there today, I cannot imagine how they got those stones up such a steep hill. Honestly, I was so out of breath when we got to the top, and it wasn't just from the sight of such rich, preserved history before my eyes.

I definitely wish we had more time to spend in Sweden to see more sights, but thanks to our family friends, they’ve made sure we will come back in the summer months to experience everything in full summertime swing!