4th of July in Stockholm?

Despite being abroad, 4th of July was quite a success. The day was filled with all sorts of fun.

Thanks to the convenience of public transit and our intense walking skills, we managed to see a lot of great things. We first visited the Millesgården, which was filled with absolutely gorgeous gardens and statues. Next, in the spirit of the 4th of July (and our professor's birthday), we hit up the store to get some sparklers. Swedish grocery stores are way cool-- they sell firecrackers, but they are called "isfraka". Darwin purchased a watermelon, named it Bjork, and we enjoyed it on the subway.

We then went to Gamla Stan for the Red Bull Flugtag. For those unfamiliar, the energy drink Red Bull sponsors a competition where people make "hovercrafts" and try and launch them and make them fly. It's a hilarious and fun event. We saw a flying cake, fire breathing dragon, and a pink pony. None of them went too far, but it was great to watch large objects get pushed off the bridge and into the canal.

After Flugtag, we went to the Musikmuseet. It was awesome! We all grabbed an instrument and made as much noise as possible. And, since we're in Sweden, there was a huge section on ABBA. Naturally, we went into the music video room of the museum, dressed up in the costumes, grabbed the instruments, and rocked out to "Mama Mia". Having satisfied our inner rockstar, we traveled by ferry to Skansen, and visited the Aquarium and zoo. I was both horrified and mesmerized by the naked mole rats running about. They were so small, so pink, and so gross looking!

For dinner, we went to Vapianos, which is easily one of the coolest Italian restaurants ever. On all the tables there were tables with potted basil and rosemary for you to pick and put fresh herbs on your pizza.

To celebrate Jeff's Birthday/ America, the whole class went to the Mosebacke Beer Garden, and toasted America. On the walk home, we stopped at "our spot", the dog park, and lit off the isfrakas. They didn't last nearly as long I'd hoped, but for 25 seconds, I had the biggest grin on my face and danced around like a kid.

4th of July in Stockholm: total success.