I've been (un)fortunate enough to find myself with a bit of time on my hands and what better way to spend my free time than to spend it with you guys, divulging my life's stories to you all. Albeit, this last week and a bit, life has been more calm and low key. The reason for this is because all the trips we have been taking comes with a price, that is that we are missing out on living the student life at Uppsala in Sweden. It was with this realisation that I decided to try and study it up and see if there was anything I could do to get involved in the nations or see exactly what it was I was missing on the weekends here. It also helps that this month, my new class I am taking is really interesting but comes with quite a bit of a workload and class time, preventing me from really going anywhere.
Another great thing about being in Uppsala lately is the weather! It has been really sunny! It is such a weird feeling to see ice and snow... while there is a blue sky and the sun shining! It is also amazing how great the sun feels on your skin after so long. The last few days it had been so sunny but this morning I woke to find it had gone back down to minus Celsius temperatures and there was icicles on the trees. This was my view outside my window.
Nevertheless, Kelsey, Manon and I decided to walk to the city instead of taking the bus. It was my first time walking and although it was quite dreary and cold, as we walked the sun began to emerge out of the clouds and it really was a pleasant walk! It was so nice to see Uppsala like this, it is really quite pretty. Luckily, I had taken my camera with me so I snapped a few shots.
Walking towards the city...not sure if we are going the right way, but we made it!
The icicles on all the trees
In the city, I liked the colours and the bike
The famous Uppsala cathedral and people photographing it
I love the streetlamps
It took just over half an hour to walk to the city which I was quite surprised about! It really isn't such a bad walk... once the snow and ice are completely gone - I will definitely be whipping my bike out and hitting that. In the city, we went to Varmlands Nation for the famous SUNDAY FIKA/BRUNCH. Pretty much all of the nations have some kind of fika or brunch on a Sunday and this was our first time going to one because usually we were away. It was quite nice to just sit with friends and chat eating food, sweet cakes and of course the unlimited supply of tea/coffee.
After Fika, I was pretty desperate to get back outside because DAYAM - it was Sunny! So I decided to go for a walk around and shop cause that is something I hadn't done much of. Manon was nice enough to come with me and we decided to get some stuff for going to the gym later that afternoon. I am not decked out with some nice 3/4 length track pants which makes me look so pro! It was also hilarious to see everyone outside enjoying the sun. It is true, the city comes alive when the sun is out. People seem to be drawn to it. It was really lovely to walk around and see everyone looking so much happier. I particularly like this photo I took of people basking in the sun on a bench. It made me laugh!
The town looked so nice today!
After our shopping trip, I went home and changed as quick as I could to make our gym session which was at 4:30pm. The gym I have chosen to trial is so great because it is only a 5 minute walk from Flogsta. It has a hilarious name too: FRISKIS AND SVETTIS (We just call it Friskies). The class we were going to today was a Spin Class. OH BOY. Mind, I had never done this before so wasn't so sure what to expect but it was definitely a workout! Boy.... I am certainly not a fan of standing up on the bike and cycling with the tension on hard. It's also very interesting going to classes here in Sweden because they are obviously run in Swedish. Sometimes it is almost comical to just be following the actions with no idea what the trainer is saying. The other class I've done was one where we were in a big hall and the trainer was in the middle, with everyone else standing around her following what she did. We did funny movements and got to run around and just do stuff to the music. I was laughing all throughout it because it was also so silly because we didn't know what she was saying. So far, the gym has definitely been an interesting experience :D
All in all, it was a productive day. For dinner, I went up to Kelsey's (who lives in the same building but a few floors up) to make dinner. She has also lost her kitchen, as they are renovating all of the ones on one side, so we had to go to her neighbours kitchen and cook there. You can probably guess what we made.... MEATBALLS! WOOT! With some potatoes and vegies on the side. It was delicious.
To end: Here is a picture I took at the Bus Stop to go home to Flogsta. It's pretty cool because there is a sign which tells you how many minutes until the next bus - very handy. Stadhuset is the name of the stop.
4 comments:
So... 3/4 trackpants... Are they full length on you? ;)
I only ask because I've had that exact problem...
Are Swedish people taller and more athletic, or is that a false stereotype?
It still looks really cold in those photos with the sun out. Was it? How much warmer did the sun make it?
haha actually they are a good size. they are right on the bottom so you can sorta bunch them up. noot too bad!!!
yeah well it was "warm" comparably. It was about 5 degrees - hot enough for me to walk around in a light jumper and shirt. only because i'm used to the climate now. sometimes it can be minus degrees and sunny though! sometimes sunny days are the coldest.
swedish people are tall i guess but not that much diff to aussies. everyone is FIT! everyone exercises, runs, sings and dances. especially guys!
Yay! I sat down and hoped there was a lovely new blog post waiting for this cold, rainy afternoon before uni and here it is! It's always good to get some downtime after all of your madcap travels before you set off for some more :)Looks as though things are thawing out over there now, so keep snapping pictures for us!
I can't believe the exercise craze going on around the world apparently- what is it with these insane 24 hour gyms popping up?! People keep going off to spin classes at work and come back jelly-legged for the rest of the day so you'll have to let us in on the intel as to what they go there and do in their weird compression outfits! Also, can't wait to see pics of you on your pimping new bike eh! Quite rad indeed! Also, yo. Actually, cool story: taught dad to say 'yo' and do your eastside/ westside thing the other day but he improvises very badly and walked up to me and said 'ho'.
Can't wait to hear what your new uni course is about!
there sure is a lovely new blog! short ones too :) oh no is it really raining again? gosh that sucks. here it is sunny but cold. i think that is preferred than the rain! I'll keep snapping photos but it's harder now as it's strange to just be carrying a camera around all the time... if you can imagine, I'm no longer a tourist but a student living here!
exercise is rather important alex! And yes spin class is pretty crazy! I'll try get some photos of my gym sometime. your poor co-workers!
haha your dad is hilarious! how is he doing?
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