Midsummer Road Trip Sweden Part 2

Hi there!

The next leg of our midsummer road trip to Sweden took us to Uppsala and Sundsvall. The weather was kinda gloomy but still fairly warm and humid. I made sure to wear more flowers in my hair and on we went with our adventure. Here's more pics.

Ready to take off and head to North.

Mean looking clouds.

Pit stop in Uppsala.

It was nice to stretch our legs after sitting in a car for couple hours.

Uppsala is such a pretty city!

Old buildings.

Rain just stopped when we arrived to Uppsala, so it was nice to walk around the city.

Some sort of canal that runs through the city.

Hello! My flowers match Scott's jacket.

It would have been nice to have more time explore Uppsala but this time we only had couple of hours.

The city was pretty empty because all the locals had left to celebrate midsummer at their summer houses.

Pelle Svanslös is a popular kids story book that tells about a cat that has a short tail and he lives in Uppsala.

Next we went to this old castle grounds. There we found this huge snail.

The castle is located on a hill overlooking the city.

One happy traveler!

Part of the castle.

The castle grounds have a really pretty garden.

I can only imagine the person who lived in this castle back in the day. This was their "back yard".

Aarne and I. You can tell the air was humid because my hair was starting curl up (*giggle*).

Boys will be boys.

Next up was Sundsvall. Along the way we found this cool Eurofighter military jet.

Sundsvall on a map.

In Sundsvall we stayed at this hostel called Södra Bergets Vandrarhem. It was big and had all the services we needed. The owner is super nice too!

Common room.

Since it was raining and fairly late when we arrived at the hostel, we decided to get pizza and just hang out in the common room. There we only couple other guests and they were staying in their own rooms, we had the luxury having the common room to ourselves.

R E L A X !

Next morning the sun was shining and everything looked so pretty!

Norra Berget is the highest hill in Sundsvall and it offers a great view of the city!

It was really windy at the top!

Group picture time.

Time to say bye to Sundsvall and keep on driving higher up North of Sweden.

Stay tuned to see where went next...

Midsummer Road Trip Sweden Part 1

Hi there!

Finally I have some time to post pictures from our midsummer road trip to Sweden. Scott and I first took a bus to Helsinki to meet our friend Aarne. Then three of us hopped onto a ship going to Stockholm (*capital of Sweden*) and from there we drove up the Swedish coastline all the way to Haparanda border crossing to Finland. On our way back to Kuopio we stopped at Ranua wildlife park. But let's not get head of things... let me first share pics from the beginning of our trip. Enjoy!

Waiting for our bus. Ready to travel!

Little pick-me-up in the bus. I don't drink coffee, I drink Starbucks (*giggle*).

Our ship to Stockholm.

Our friend and designated driver Aarne reporting to duty!

View from our cabin window at the ship.

Port of Helsinki.

Ready for midsummer with my sun dress and flower wreath.

My travel boys.

Gorgeous view at the Helsinki harbor.

The city of Helsinki.

Scary filter and "the Blue steel" pose.

It ain't a ship unless it has a round window.

Traveling makes me so happy!

Entertainment at the ship.

Before dinner margarita.

Sunset at the Baltic sea.

After dinner drinks.

Hello Stockholm!

Driving through Stockholm.

We also found this gorgeous spot right outside of Stockholm.

Child of summer is very happy!

If you look closely there are horses in the distance. We saw so many horses during our trip. Way more than in Finland.

There's a monster eating my face.

Looking for our hostel in Stockholm.

Found it. STF af Chapman & Skeppsholmen hostel. Very clean, big and good place to stay for one night.

We had a very simple room for the three of us. The room had a sink but no toilet/shower. We shared bathrooms with other guests and it was ok because there were so many of them and they were clean.

View from our room.

In front of the hostel was this gorgeous old ship.

Ay, ay captain! Let's get this ship sailing.

Aarne is keeping a lookout for any icebergs (*giggle*).

Old ships are so pretty!

I'm just gonna stretch my back for fun.

Over board!

Warm weather, good company and a new exciting location. Made me happy!

Swans looking for food.

This was directly in front of the hostel.

Cute little streets in Stockholm.

I love old buildings too!

Dinner time at TGI Friday's. No good pictures because I was so hungry that I just inhaled my burger.

Full belly&happy Aarne.

Full belly&cool lion&happy Riitta!

Happy Midsummer Sweden!

Off to the amusement park near the hostel.

Old buildings along the way.

Boys won this HUGE pack of Oreos. How cool is that?!

Rides at the amusement park.

One of my most favorite stores ever!

Sugar high with cotton candy.

Fair ground games and their silly prizes.

Tres amigos.

It was getting late and it was time to go to bed because next day we would start driving up north.

Good night!

That's our first day of the road trip. Stay tuned for the next leg of a very long drive.