It's Christmas Time All Over The World!

              As sings Sammy Davis Jr. on my Rat Pack Christmas Album.  As most of you know, I am obsessed with Christmas.  Still am, always will be.  That is one part of my life that hasn't changed by the fact that I'm traveling around the world.  Frank, Dean, Sammy and all of their Christmas carols have accompanied me everywhere for the past three weeks, and I've been loving it.  The only complaint that I have is that it isn't starting to look a lot like Christmas, and that I haven't seen chestnuts roasting on an open fire since Kosova.
              Now I don't know about all of you, but either I wasn't paying attention in geography class, or nobody told me about this mysterious "Gulf Stream" that is ruining all of my lovely white Scandinavian Christmas dreams.  Now I knew that the UK was rainy, and according to all of the brits in my life, this is due to the Gulf Stream.  While traveling in the UK I had very little issue with this Gulf Stream, I hardly was ever rained on, and the weather was pretty much perfect the entire time I traveled.  Now, however, as I learned from my Swedish hosts in Gothenburg, the reason why it is only 5 degrees outside and rainy is due to the Gulf Stream.  I have no idea if this is the same Gulf Stream just getting back at me for the beautiful weather in the UK, but I don't like it.  I had all of these ideas about Sweden and Norway being white and snowy.  So far, no such luck.

           Usually Christmas carols do their job to get me into the holiday cheer, but the weather here is just not cooperating!  It is very hard to picture marshmallow clouds when the entire sky is a cloud.  And a grey one at that.  So, this is my open plea to the Gulf Stream - just maybe, 10 minutes of snow that I can dance around in and I'll be set.  If not - I'm leaving!!!  Well, haha, I am leaving anyway but really, I'm sure everyone here would love it.  Otherwise, however, I am loving Sweden!  I spent the past four days in Stockholm, and even though I was in a hostel I still had a great time.  The city, though smaller then I thought, has a ton to offer and I left with many items left on my "to do" list. 

            One of my favorite places in Stockholm was Old Town.  Stockholm for a city is actually really fun to walk around because it is a large mainland with about six smaller islands surrounding it.  Old Town is the island where the Nobel Museum is located, along with the Palace and parliament.  My first stop was the Palace, which was impressive, as many are, but in my opinion, nothing to write home about.   The jewels in the Treasury, however, VERY impressive.  What can I say, diamonds are a girl's best friend, and boy oh boy did the former Queen (and King) of Sweden love their jewels!  The streets of Old Town are cobblestone and lined with tons of cute coffee shops and fun little pubs.  The streets are just fun to wander around.  

           I also visited the Vasa Museum, (old ship from the 1600s that sank in the harbor and then was brought up from the depths almost completely intact in the 1960s) City Hall, (where I saw the banquet being set up for the Nobel Prize banquet on the 10th) The Opera House (where I went to see The Nutcracker :) and The Nobel Museum (where I spent about an hour reading about Ivan Bunin and his Nobel Prize - for those of you who aren't madly obsessed with Russian Literature, he was the first of the kind to receive the award).  All in all, I really enjoyed my time in Stockholm, and I was sad to leave.  Now I'm in Gothenburg, a town on the west coast of Sweden.  I'm staying with a really nice couple Jane and Dan who are doing their masters here, and even though the weather still isn't cooperating, Dan insures me that when I head to Finland it will be snowing.  Tomorrow, however, even though it won't be snowing I'm going ice skating with Jane, and after I get back I'm going to put my Rat Pack Christmas album on full blast.  Who knows, maybe I'll even bring my ipod to the rink!