In one of my earlier blog posts I began by talking about my visit to Teleborg Castle before going off on a rant about green policies. This post will be less of a soap box and more of a personal narrative about several of my experiences here.
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| View from across the lake. Photo credit to Ryan Lin, a student photographer |
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| At night, when we visited |
To recap, the castle was built in 1900 as a wedding gift from some Duke to his wife. Students were invited in to watch a presentation about Vaxjo's history and their title of Greenest City in Europe. After the presentation there was a reception in another room where we had fika (fee-kuh). Germans in particular can't help giggling at the word; get your mind out of the gutter. Fika is the Swedish word for coffee break and man, let me tell you, they
love their Fika. Sweden is second only to Finland in coffee consumption; I guess because it's always so dark so they need to stay awake? One of my teachers has a coffee break in the middle of class after he's finished his lecture. It's just the norm.
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| Twice as much as America |
Anyways, they served us coffee with cream, "Swedish" cheesecake, and these wraps with salmon and cream cheese. The wraps were delicious, but it shouldn't surprise that the cheesecake was the worst I've ever had. How do you mess up cheesecake!? I digress. The castle itself was absolutely gorgeous with beautiful, polished mahogany (or some kind of dark wood) furniture, portraits of distinguished military leaders, and busts and bookcases everywhere. They even hired a harp player!
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| The cheesecake was unworthy of a photo |
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| My buddy Sven |
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| Oh, hello there. Welcome to my study... |
We explored the rest of the castle which, it turns out, is now serving as a hotel. The upstairs weren't quite as grandiose as the bottom floor but... I mean, I
guess I could see myself living here. Maybe after I've made my fortune and found my Swedish wife I'll buy it and we can live out the rest of our days in royalty.
On second thought, I think its more likely that I'll be stuck in South Carolina for the rest of my life instead.
Awesome pics and commentary, C--I would visit you (+ Swedish wife) if you stayed in Vaxjo!
ReplyDeleteThe castle is pretty... but cold? Would it be like living in a brick? (a mom describes our house)
Not at all. Cold outside, yes, but not inside. The Swedes do an excellent job of indoor heating.
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