Hello, fellow travelers!
We were finally able to take a rest day and explored more of Stockholm! We visited a couple of the city’s museums and observed what several Swedes do on their days off. At the Moderna Museet, we found some interesting artwork, but even more interesting was the amount of children on field trips and young adults actively learning about the exhibits and artwork (even on a Saturday!). It seems that the inquisitive youth spend their Saturdays learning about the world around them, and children seem to head on field trips to explore their local area.
We found a lot of Swedes of various ages bonding together over sketching statues in the Sculpture Garden of the Stockholm National Museum. It also seems that a lot of grandparents enjoyed spending their time with their grandchildren, and a lot of couples enjoyed spending time together in these areas. In America, I feel that our weekends do not typically slow down like this, and we are often caught up in the business of running errands and working on the weekends. Our work-life balance varies so much from day-to-day that a lot of American workers end up stressed out. However, for the youth and elderly in the United States, they do spend time in the parks and stores here and there. Overall, there are major differences in the work-life balance of Swedes in Stockholm (a major city) compared to, say, Los Angeles. Swedes of all ages definitely find value in spending leisurely time outside surrounded by friends and loved ones!
Later on in our day off, we walked around stunning new areas of Stockholm. We were surprised about how crowded the city is on a Saturday. People love taking the weekends off in Stockholm and enjoying the weather and scenery outside. We walked through a gorgeous park with a massive fountain in the middle. Children played in the fountain to escape the hot weather and people sat around with ice cream cones melting in the sun. We noticed that in America, people do not spend as much leisure time in parks (probably because they are not as clean and pretty as the ones we’ve seen in Sweden!). After passing through the park, we crossed a bridge to enter Gamla Stan to walk around Old Town for one last time.
Once on the bridge to Gamla Stan, we witnessed one of the city’s most anticipated events: the Stockholm Marathon. Thousands of runners from across the globe had gathered to traverse the scenic, yet challenging course that winds through the city’s streets and across its iconic bridges. We noticed that the work-life balance in Sweden has given people the ability to stay active and exercise. Many Swedes joined in on the fun and ran the Stockholm Marathon, proving that people here have enough time to train for marathons outside of work! While we preferred to watch the runners from a distance, we were certainly impressed by the stamina and persistence in that hot Stockholm sun! Afterwards, we took a boat tour around the water and saw many of the sights to see in Stockholm. We loved seeing the city from a new perspective and staying cool while cruising around on the water!
For now, this is farewell to Stockholm! We absolutely loved visiting this city and we will never forget our time here! Next stop, Piteå!
