Culture Exchange Adventures: Sweden Part II

Now I can't really go day to day in these posts as we did so much during our stay in Sweden! But in this post I'm sharing the best moments we had touring the city with the help of our friends. There are also so many photos in this post, I put them altogether in a little gallery which you'll find at the end of your read.

First really cool thing we did was when we went to pick up our friend's daughter from Kindergarten! Why was this so great? Well the expression on her face when she saw us was one thing, but the actuall school blew. my. mind.

The school itself was yet again - pristine and totally organised...even colour coordinated! The little cubbies that the kids had as lockers were all uniquely decorated with their photos and artwork. The classes looked immaculate and adorable, yet colourful and relaxing. Then we walked to use the stairs and I saw slides, yes SLIDES alongside the steps! I mean really?!

The more we saw and found out about the educations system in Sweden the more we were legit jealous of Julia (our friend's child). The wonderful thing about how their Government and society works, is people get paid quite handsomely overall, and then they are taxed a LOT. BUT! The taxes still leave them with more than enough to sustain a high quality of life. Then the taxes are then actually used to make the country work better and add extra amenities to all of the citizens. So in turn people for the most part all follow the rules, and obey the systems because they work for the people in return. It's like a well oiled machine!

For example, education is COMPLETELY FREE. The parents don't need to pay for ANYTHING. Not even food. The kids are fed well balanced meals by the schools. I really wished I could trade places with Julia that day. Wouldn't you?

We then got to go on a personalised tour of the city, on bikes! Some of us had to renew our bike skills a bit in the parking lot before we headed off, but once we got the hang of it, we were on our way! The entire city is built to encourage cycling more than driving, so there are well marked cycling paths alogside the pedestrian pavements/sidewalks and proper signage everywhere.

The girls split up from the guys and went to a dressmaker to get our bridesmaid dresses adjusted, and the guys went to a pub nearby to have a few pints. Afterwards, we went cycling around and taking in all the wonderful architechture of the city. We stopped at a mall and even found a bottle of our very own Angostura 1919!

Another thing is they recycle everything. Not only do they recycle everything but it pays to recycle and it's super convenient as well! In the supermarkets you can return your cans and plastic bottles into a reverse vending machine type thing, and it gives you money instantly!

The city was truly lovely, and again super clean with happy people all going about their lives without any apparent major problems! We stopped a few times to get a bite to eat and a coffee, and I was preparing to play a game of charades as I knew no Swedish whatsoever - but then magically EVERYONE spoke English, Swedish and other languages as well! Not even broken English...really good English! So ordering was a breeze and the customer service was fantastic everywhere we went.

After roaming around on our bikes, we all parked up and bought tickets to use some paddleboats and tour the rest of the city that way! It was a really great surprise and we all loaded up into our little boats complete with wine (of course) and leisurely enjoyed the beauty of the water with ducks that accompanied us from time to time. We were 100% sold on how brilliant Sweden is.