sweden 2008 minus two

almost two weeks ago now, david and i bought our tickets to sweden. it was a bittersweet moment, as we did so knowing that steve and melissa, our intended travel partners, would no longer be joining us. due to unforeseen circumstances, they have had to allocate their trip funds elsewhere. namely, toward a new and slightly more expensive apartment. while we are really sad that they won't be able to join us, we are so happy that they were gifted with this apartment at a time that was perfect for them.

so now david and i must plan our trip. thanks to an old college friend, we are fortunate to have relatively inexpensive lodging just a short tram-ride from downtown stockholm. i am in search of an email for my relatives, who i haven't seen in many years, hoping that we can visit with them for a while on one of our day trips. we'll need to rent a car, and i have emailed my travel-agent friend anna to see if she can tell us where to do that and what it might cost per day. i have also sent away for a free brochure highlighting sweden in 2008.

some places we know we'll want to see are:

- växjö (a.k.a. the kingdom of crystal)
- jönköping (home to svf, where i studied while in college)
- stockholm's old town (gamla stan), which houses the vasa museum (vasamuseet) and skansen (open-air museum), for two
- the picturesque town of hjo (i regretted not buying an "i [heart] hjo" t-shirt last time i was there)
- an original ikea, perhaps

i'm sure there will be plenty of other places we'll want to go, but this is a small starting list. it's been fifteen years since i've been there, so i have forgotten a lot.

in the meantime, i'd better bone up on my svenska!