I was really enjoying travelling with mum and dad. I mean i love living in Graz, but there are some things that only people really really close to you can understand, and talking through the year especially with mum and dad was a way to really understand where i had come from and what i was working towards. It was just nice to talk i think.
But we unfortunately left Prague. I really was sad to leave this place and made sure that i would come back as soon as i could. But there was a plan in mind, we were headed to Sweden, so everything wasnt that bad!
We travelled through to Frankfurt, to the ugliest airport in the world, and stayed the night just outside in a little town. It was then that i realised how much dialect people use in a place like that. I mean there were words that i used that they completely didnt understand and there were some that i heard that meant almost the opposite to home. It was really good though, and a really good way to improve my german. I mean hearing different types of people speak and getting as much exposure as possible is always the best way. We had a great dinner that night at a little tiny pub, and got into bed pretty early, ready to fly off the next day.
We left on the 1st for Sweden. It was always a place i was really excited about going to. I mean, its a place you hear so much about, and seeing it for myself would of course be really cool. Unfortunately we didnt have time to get directly into Stockholm, but that was ok. But i probably should explain the reason we were headed there.
My brother is a seriously good sportsman and has really become very good at triathlon. The long course world championships are held every year in a tiny town in north Sweden called S�ters. It was the plan that while i was on my year away he could get the chance to compete at the world champs and so he did that, and we were headed to see him. Not only was i over the moon that i was seeing my brother, and not only was i going to see a bit of sweden, but i was going to be there to see him run over the line with my family, does it get any better?
The flight up was fine, we picked up the car and looked for a hotel everwhere, it was too far to travel up to S�ters so we finally found a place and bunked up there. We left the next morning (after mum had had a routine shop - seeing as we were staying next to a huge shopping centre), and headed up north. The country on the way up was incredible. Its just like the postcards you see. The things that stuck out for me were the really strong colours. The grass is a deep vibrant (yeah i know thats an oxymoron!) green, and the flowers are an array of yellows, pinks and purples. The sky is so blue, like a really royal blue, and dotted with clouds to make it even more so. But the best thing are the houses, they are the typical barn shape and a amazing red. We were trying to work out why they are painted red, and the best we could come up with was that it was because that was easier to see in the snow. Haha, got no idea if that is true!