Finally!!!!

Well, we finally made it. I never thought I would be so THRILLED to see Sweden! Niklas and I were so excited as we drove off the big car boat from Germany and onto Swedish territory.

It's a long story, but here are the "low"lights...

After we dropped off my parents at the Milan airport we drove up through Italy and into Austria and then along the Alps in Switzerland. The drive was so fascinatingly beautiful and after every turn I kept saying to myself, now THAT is the most beautiful sight I have ever seen, only to say that again at the next turn.

We drove on into Germany and were 3 minutes away from our first planned stop at a camping ground to spend the night and then all of a sudden there was this huge sound as the right front tire drove over something large and solid. We knew right away that the tire was done for, so we just changed the tire along the side of the road (not an enjoyable experience on the Autobahn). Our spare tire happened to be a real tire so we figured everything would be OK.

Not so. The thing we ran over had been so large and solid that it messed up the whole right front of the tire-related parts in such a way that the whole car shook like crazy whenever we drove over 30 miles an hour.

What was cool was that there was a Peugeot (our car) carshop only a few minutes away, which in itself is a miracle. They said they didn't have the parts and would have to order them and wouldn't be able to fix the car until the following day. For a WHOLE BUNCH of money. Bummer.

Which wouldn't have been a problem except that we were supposed to take the boat from Germany to Sweden the following day, and the following THREE days were already booked up. Meaning we were STUCK IN GERMANY for three extra days. Not only that but the entire country had just started their 4 weeks of vacation this past weekend and they all just LOVE LOVE LOVE to go camping at campgrounds, which is of course where we were going to be for the following three nights. And not only that but we hadn't budgeted any money for the three extra days and it hurt every time we had to fork over the cashola.

Not only THAT, but we were cut off from communication with the rest of the outside world, this when one of my bestest friends was expecting to welcome her first child into the non-womb world any day. (And by the way, I found out that Ayo was born on Saturday July 22, so Congratulations, Oyerindes!!!)

So, after seeing the breathtaking sights of Florence, Venice, Slovenia and the Alps, we ended up being stuck in boring 95 degree northern Germany for three extra days with a bunch of crazy Germans let loose on vacation. We did end up being able to spend some time on the beach, but German women like to go around topless and German men like to change shorts in the middle of the masses, so I didn't enjoy that very much. Blecch.

That is why we were so thrilled to finally arrive HOME, here in lovely Sweden.
Pictures will be uploaded some time in the near future!