Sundsvall and Uppsala

After Stockholm, our road trip began. We rented a minature car and headed north to Sundsvall, which is on the east coast of Sweden. (I keep kicking myself for not taking enough pictures along the way, but it was a beautiful drive north.) Sundsvall is a large enough city to have all of the things you'd need, but small enough to have a slower pace of life. We stayed with my grandma's cousin and her husband, Gunda and Lelle. After staying in hostels for the three nights before, it was a welcomed change to stay in a home.

Gunda, Lelle and their daughter Tina and her boyfriend Håkan took the day off to take us around town. We took a scenic walk up Norra Berget (North Hill), which had an incredible view of the city below. Then wondered around and had fika up top.

At the top of the tower, it was quite windy, but the view couldn't be beat.

They also took us to Kultur Magasinet, which is four old, renovated buildings merged into one - combining the buildings with a glass structure. These run down buildings now house the city library, museum, shops and more. The best part? Lelle was acutally one of the engineers on the project, so we got to hear the firsthand stories about how the project came to life.

One night, we had a family gathering - playing in the sun followed by a delicious dinner. It was Gunda, Lelle, Tina, Håkan, their children Embla and Dexter, Lars, his wife Tine and their children Sara and Lukas. The little kiddos are absolutely adorable. I've promised Embla that I would learn how to speak Swedish if she learned some English. Better get on those Swedish lessons!

Gunda and Lelle were such great hosts. I've heard their names many times before, but the last time we saw each other was in 1986. Needless to say, my memory does not go back quite that far. However, they whipped out the photo album to share their favorite photo of me - my dad and me dancing at a wedding. I have to admit, it was pretty darn cute. (I also like the uber 80s fashion from the photo album!)

Before Sundsvall, we did make a quick day trip to Uppsala where Joe studied for a year in college. It's a cute little college town, very focused around the university. I've heard so many stories about his year abroad, it was neat to finally see it in person.

They have a giant, beautiful church in Uppsala. (Interesting fact: Around the year 2000, after nearly four centuries, Sweden finally ended their union of church and state - it was one of the world's oldest state churches.)

And believe it or not, Uppsala has even more bikes than Malmö!