Sweden Is what I was need'en

This past weekend I had the most amazing experience of traveling to Sweden and doing some really cool nature/adventure type activities. Kylie (friend from Gettysburg, homestay sister) and I signed up for this trip a couple weeks back as a cool way to see Sweden. Closer to the trip I found that a couple of other friends I had made were also going (My friends Kiera and Kelsey- so many K's haha) which made the trip even better.
On Saturday morning we set out nice and early to meet our bus to Sweden and our bus driver turned out to be the funniest sweet old guy, just an A+ bus driver. Anyway, we set out for Sweden and went straight to our first stop- canoeing down the Rönne river.

 It was a bit of a cloudy, misty morning but it was okay, it was still a pretty ride down the river. During the trip, my friend Kiera's boat had a little run in with a high speed kayaker and this man was not very happy about a scratch on his very expensive kayak. It was a bit of an embarrassing awkward experience for the 3 in that canoe but it wasn't so much their fault. Also during our trip the canoe rental people showed up on the side of the river and tossed us ice cream! They were really delicious "ice cream boats" with a  little viking logo on the package (that seems to be common among many products in Scandinavia).
After Canoeing we traveled to our hostel with delightful commentary from Renee(bus driver): "look to your left. Were you just there? yeeeeesss". The hostel was an absolutely adorable little place run by and absolutely adorable little Swedish couple. They served us soup with a smile, and after we were all warmed up from the soup we went on our next adventure- hiking!
We hiked to a place called Nimis. It is mind-boggling driftwood structure of unruly towers and tunnels that meanders from the forested cliff-side to the water's edge.

It was created by Lars Vilks, who was actually there that day, working on a new tower! When he first started building the Swedish authorities sued him because he was building on a nature reserve and in response Vilks declared the one square kilometer surrounding Nimis to be its own independent nation: Ladonia. It was a place that I had never heard of and would have never seen if it weren't for this trip and I so glad I did get the opportunity to see it and climb through it because it was really something special. As I climbed to the very top  I was about to pee my pants because of its height and how it swayed in the wind, but once at the top... what a view... and what an accomplishment!

 It was no easy task when I say it is an unruly structure I mean it; pieces of wood were nailed together at all odd angles and it was a jungle gym to climb to the top! The structure was beautiful but so was the rocky shoreline and so I took the opportunity to get a cheesy sorority symbol picture :)









And the hike Back began, and as the hike there was scary because of the steep decline, the hike back was was grueling uphill climb. But, we made it back eventually and headed home for a barbque at out hostel with wine, grilled meats, and a bonfire!

Day two, we continued with our hiking adventures. At the nature reserve we did some Orienteering. Set out with a compass, a map, and instructions of our tasks, we hiked to several different locations. Some of our tasks included tying knots, building the highest rock tower, estimating distances from the light house, and a big wooden puzzle. The orienteering side to the day was a competition and believe it or not my team came in FIRST PLACE! our prize: lots of candy! (haribo for everyone!)




The other activity for the day was by far the best of the entire trip: rappelling. I was harness and strapped on my helmet and we all hiked up to some cliffs by the shore. The first cliff side was the warm up... but even the "bunny hill" was looking a little scary to me. But, of course I did it, because I'm no wimp and I wouldn't miss this experience for anything! And so after shuffling across to the belayer, getting hooked in, the rope put in my hand, leaning back and walking down, my concensus: IT WAS SOOO COOL!!!!

  Now my only thought was: bring on the big one! so I ran up to the bigger cliff prepared for the real deal, only to have my enthusiasm falter when I reached the top and saw just how high up we were.
 Remember I'm no wimp and I live for the experience so I hooked right up again and headed down again. On my way down, honestly I was a little scared because of how much greater a climb it was and the rocks were a bit slippery from a little rain; but I took the time to look out around me as I climbed down and it was just exhilarating. After my thrilling runs down the cliff I sat down and just took in the view, and it's one I will not forget, and neither will I forget the amazing feeling of rappelling down that cliff.

   

So that's, it the trips over, the fat lady has sung and we board the bus. maybe 20 min later, on the speaker comes Renee " yeeeeeess, why are you all sleeping? it's not over yet!" Our tour leaders announced our little surprise, a last stop at a quaint Swedish cafe that serves coffee and cakes: HEAVEN! This. place. was. ADORABLE! At Flickorna Lundgren we were served delicious heart shaped pastries with custard inside and coffee. And that's not all, next they came out with an amazing raspberry cake, and OH MY LORD was that good!!!! What was especially great was the owner told us the story of the cafe. It was started by 6 women during the depression to make some money and offer people a little joy. Now it is owned by one of the woman's family and they get thousands of visitors each summer. It was complete with garden, green house, goats, and goodies.

Now finally the trip was over and so ends one of the best weekends of my life.