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ummm this is a BigMac?

We splurged and went to McDonald's for lunch today. Foreigner made me order in Swedish! I did alright... I ordered "Ett BigMac meny med CocaCola (for foreigner) och Cheeseburger Happy Meal med CocaCola Light" (for me).  I got the happy meal for three good reasons 1.  a happy meal is called a happy meal in all languages 2. I'm trying not to eat as much and 3. It came with a Childrens book in Swedish which is a good way for me to learn the basics of the language.  The funny thing about the happy meals is that they force you to get fruit or vegetables with it.  You still get the cheeseburger and fries but you HAVE to choose either carrots or apples.  I chose apples... anyway the point of this was to show you how small the big macs are....

It was even smaller than it looks in this picture!

My book "Stålpappan och Pelé" which literally means "Steel Father and Pele" but since Superman here is called "Stålmannen" I think it is more like Super Dad.

My Happy Meal

Fries and Apples!

Alcohol Monopoly

Sweden has a monopoly on alcohol.  The stores are all called  SystemBolaget and they have horrible hours.  They are only open until 7pm during the week, 2pm on Saturday, and are closed on Sundays.  This is what the website says:

This is SystembolagetSystembolaget, the Swedish Alcohol Retail Monopoly, exists for one reason: To minimize alcohol-related problems by selling alcohol in a responsible way, without profit motive.

The first alcohol monopoly ever started in the mid 1800s in Sweden. It worked so well that the model was spread all over the country. In 1955, the local companies were merged to form a single, national Systembolaget company, a concept which still works.

Systembolaget's product range is actually one of the most comprehensive in the world. It is being developed continuously to match changes in trends and in the consumers' tastes.

http://www.systembolaget.se/Applikationer/Knappar/InEnglish/

Because of this monopoly and the fact that EVERYTHING in Sweden is expensive alcohol costs twice as much as it does in the United States.  Below are some examples... 70kr is approximately $10, so 140kr is $20, 210kr is $30 etc.

350ml of Absolut Vodka (which is Swedish) costs 129kr or about $19

350ml is very small... less than a pint... I believe at home $20 is the price for a 750ml bottle

139kr for a 350ml bottle of Jägermeister... $20... which is the price of a 750ml bottle in the US

225kr for 750ml of Smirnoff Vodka...$33... in the US it is usually around $14

700 ml of Gordon's Gin is 239kr or $36

I couldn't find how much this costs in the Us but I would assume less than $20

As you can imagine I don't do much drinking in Sweden.  We went there today to get some wine and there was a line out the door....

isn't this crazy!?!

waiting in line....

people getting let in

lines inside

lots of empty shelves from the crowds

Wine in a weird cardboard bottle

Swedes drink a lot of alcoholic cider... this is one shelf of it

(Erin would love this!)

First Snow!?!

Thursday night we had our first snowfall.  My feelings on this were very conflicted... the first snowfall is always a little exciting... but it's only October!!  I tried to take pictures from the window but the snow didn't show up too well...

There was enough snow to cover cars and a thin layer on the ground but most of it had melted by morning.

Moose Safari

A while back we decided to go on a "Moose Safari".  It was as strange as it sounds but it was a lot of fun.  I'm not feeling too clever today so I will let the pictures do the talking...

The "safari" vehicle

Moose coming up to the bus

Baby Moose

Moose running after us

Moose close up

Foreigner petting a moose

Who knew that moose liked to swim?  (two females)

Getting apples to feed the moose

Feeding the moose an apple out of my mouth "kissing".  I was so terrified to do this but I knew I had to for the picture.  If anyone has seen my mom recently I am sure she showed you this picture.... she is the only reason I sacrificed my face for this.

It was quite the experience!  

Congratulations Erin and Phil!!

Exciting news!  My good friends from high school and college got engaged!  Finally!

I'm so happy for them!

Longest Bike Ride of my life!

Back in August I woke up to an interesting surprise.  Foreigner had planned a surprise bike ride for us.  Most people would probably be excited or curious about the surprise... apparently I'm not most people.  1. I HATE surprises and 2.  I haven't ridden a bicycle since I was probably 12 years old (11 years ago....).  So I started this bicycle ride being a little unpleasant...  He wouldn't tell me where we were going and it was the only hot day in Sweden.

After riding for what seemed like FOREVER we ended up...

by this cute little fishing place and all of these....

rocks!!  I was now told to start climbing... ugggghhhhh.... but when I got to the top I saw this.....

A picnic!  Look at the beautiful view of the Baltic Sea!

We enjoyed the food, the view, and the perfect weather and then headed back home.  The total bike trip was around 14 miles... which I guess isn't much on a bicycle... but it was for me!