Sweden Update

Whew! Time is drawing near for our trip to Sweden. I'm getting really excited since I've never been "abroad" and for me, this is the trip of a lifetime to the place from where most of my ancestors came. And being as proud as I am of my heritage I know there will be a lot of "familiar" things because I was so exposed to my family history.
I met with a former member of my church last Sunday who is from Sweden. She is here visiting her children and grandchildren and I had to tell, of course, about my upcoming trip. She asked when and where we would be staying and I gave her the itinerary (so far) stating that we hadn't booked any hotels yet. Lo and behold, she called me the next day and offered us her apartment in Stockholm for the nights we would be there (the first and last two of the week). She tells me her sister has an apartment across the street from hers and she would simply stay there. Wow! What a deal. She even said she'd meet us at the airport to make sure we get the right bus to her place. I called my brothers immediately to tell them the good news and they were just as excited at the offer. Next on the agenda, we'll be traveling by train to the west coast of Sweden to hopefully meet a cousin or two and maybe a day trip to Oslo. Of all the hotels in the city, there is nothing available. Seems that there will be some kind of trade show going on and everything is booked. Vegas kid sent me an e-mail with a link to hostels in the area. It turned out to be a google search but I found Lonely Planet (they have the best travel guides. I went on their site and finally found only two remaining hostels with any rooms. So instead of trying to find a hotel that would cost around $100 a night per person, we were able to get a private room with 3 beds for under $200 for the three of us for 3 nights. As I related to Vegas kid, I'm in bargain Heaven! All this in spite of the fact that the three beds consists of a bunkbed with a trundle!
So my mister will be happy that the bank won't foreclose on our home so I can take this trip. He loves it more than I do when I don't spend money so he'll be happy to hear this bit of news when he returns home from his latest business jaunt.
Happy Lent, Palm Sunday, and Easter!! Praise the Lord!!
So says Amma today.

Sad news

I've been so excited about finally going to Sweden. I had been in touch with one of my cousins (most of them are elderly) and just when you think you've begun to make plans, bad things happen. I was waiting for a reply back from my last post to my cousin and I got one from a different cousin. She had a friend write it because she can't speak or write English. I learned that my contact cousin got his cancer back and was in the hospital. He told the other one to write and let me know and she said he probably wouldn't leave the hospital. She had an e-mail so I gave that a shot and I did get a reply back the other day saying he had passed away. She also said that another of our cousins would not be able to have visitors as she is going in for some kind heart surgery soon. And this cousin had made plans back in October for a 6 week trip to a resort on one of the islands off Sweden so wouldn't be available to visit.
So it seems that we won't be able to see any of our family in Sweden when we go but our purpose was also to visit the place where our Grandmother grew up and we will surely do that. I have a friend who can translate for me so I can write a letter to one of the cousins and hopefully meet one or two of the younger ones. Another friend at church visits sometimes but now lives back in Sweden has offered to meet us in Stockholm at some point and that will be nice to see a familiar face.
So wish us luck.....I'm counting down the days! And yes, Kid, I will try to get some tiles for you!

So says Amma today.