I’ve been back in the US a week now, but I’m still getting adjusted. Quite simply, I’m not used to all the customer service and causal friendliness. Free refills on drinks, waiters checking back at the table to see if I need anything else and chatting casually about the weather or the holidays or whatever. At the movies yesterday, there were even free popcorn refills. At lunch, the waiter brought me a cup of soup to try because my friend had one too.  When I’m out walking in my parent’s neighborhood, just about everyone I pass either nods or says hello or comments in some way. Working in their yard on Saturday, passersby waved or said hi. It feels like home. But also because I’m just not used to all this attention and service in Stockholm, it also gets overwhelming. And that feels weird to me.

In old town Innsbruck, Stadtturm dates back to the 14th century.

TBU did such a fantastic job of recharging my creative energies and gave me some new writing goals. Plus I met so many great bloggers, learned so much and had a fabulous time. The Innsbruck location was perfect too.

The river Inn.

Ruth Haffenden of Four bgb gave great advice on how to pitch to PR and put together a press kit. Danny and Mike of Caliber Interactive provided the lowdown on SEO and your blog with great humor. In a similar vein, Janice of Solo traveler and Keith of Velvet escape talked about monetizing your blog. And Andy of Sharing travel experiences had on-target advice for creating an email newsletter.

I was also inspired by so many of my fellow travel bloggers, including but not limited to
the Travelettes, Budget traveller Kash, Kirsten of Aviators and a camera, Abigail of Inside the travel lab, Lily of Explore for a year and Debbie of European travelista.

The Tiroler Speckerie had a good-looking selection of meats.

If – like me – you’re a big fan of travel, these bloggers all do an amazing job of exploring the world and describing it. Check them out for a little adventure inspiration.

The Imperial Palace, also known as Hofburg, which was finished in 1465.

The Riesenhalle or Giants Hall.

We took a surprisingly entertaining tour of the Imperial Palace of Innsbruck. The tour was part of the kickoff for the  Travel Bloggers Unite conference and our guide Isolde told lots of good stories while all of us writers got to know each other.

Even though we got to see just a handful of the 500 rooms in the palace, they were spectacular. In particular, the Giants or “family” Hall was amazing with its elaborate ceiling frescoes, carved wooden chandeliers and paintings of Archduchess of Austria/Queen of Hungary, Bohemia and Empress Consort of the Holy Roman Empire Maria Theresa – the only female ruler of the Habsburg dynasty –  and the 16 children she had in 20 years, including Queen Marie Antoinette. (It’s hard to imagine being pregnant that long!)

Isolde told us that even though 18,000 bombs were dropped on Innsbruck during World War II, only one  dropped on just a small portion of the palace. Given how big this place is, that’s pretty amazing.

Maria Theresa's very pink dressing room. We decided it belonged in the Barbie dream house.

Hedvigsfors Manor.

The Jane Austen loving side of me likes to think I should live in a place like Hedvigsfors Manor. Or at least, this should be my summer house. But the realistic side of me knows it’s not likely to happen anytime soon and if it did, I’m not sure I would last long. Because while I loved escaping Stockholm for a few days and being in the Swedish countryside, I know that at heart, I’m more of a city girl.

All that said, it was lovely to stay at the manor house and I think I could handle it for a week or two. I mean, what’s not to love about this setting? As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve been out of town the last few days on business. I was visiting Iggesund Paperboard with a group of other writers and this place was amazing. Can’t you just imagine sipping cocktails on that back lawn on a warm summer evening?

The front view of the manor house, which was built in 1775.

And the back view which though you can't see it here, overlooks the water that you see in the top photo.

On my first trip to Sweden, I saw the line at our gate from way down the departure hall of Chicago O’Hare’s international terminal.

“Robert, hurry up. They must be boarding our flight already,” I said as I drug him away from the magazine stand. But when we got to our gate, the electronic sign said that boarding would begin at 4.30.

“That’s 40 minutes from now. Why is the entire plane already in line?”

It was a question neither of us had an answer for and I have to say that after six years of living in Stockholm, I still don’t. Because this queuing up to wait a very long time in line to board the plane is not just a one-time phenomenon either. I see it from every destination, every time we fly back to or from Stockholm. But the best was on a return flight from Frankfurt to Stockholm.

“The incoming plane for our flight has been delayed. The plane won’t be here for another 45 minutes. Please take a seat,,” announced the attendant at the gate for our flight.

Not one of the over 100 people in line moved.

“There’s no need to stand and wait in line. The plane’s not even here. Once it does get here, we will have to clean it. Please take a seat. I will let you know when it’s time to board,” announced the attendant, this time with a smirk of amusement.

Two people sat down. Everyone else stayed in line.

“They must not be Swedish,” I said to Robert.

I don’t know quite why I’m so amused by the line phenomenon. I guess it’s mostly because I would prefer to do something different with my time – look around in a store, have a drink or sit down and read my book – than just stand. Maybe I have this desire to multi-task with my time? Or maybe I’m just a lazy American and want to have a seat? All that said, I’m happy to stand in line when I am actually called to board – I’m always excited to get to my destination!

When I first moved to Stockholm, all I could notice were the differences between living in Sweden and living in the US. One of the things that at first confused and then amused me, was the regular need to take a number to wait for your place in line. I get that it’s very orderly and helpful, it was just not something that I was used to having to do at the doctor’s office, the bank, pharmacy, immigration services, deli and fish counters, for instance. It made me feel like a sheep.

The first time I went to Systembolaget (the state-run store where you have to purchase wine and other alcohol), it was one of the stores where all the alcohol is behind locked glass doors and you have to place your order with a cashier. And of course, I had to take a number before I could go to the cashier. I did not know any of that that.

After I had finally figured out what to do in terms of selecting wine, I picked a counter and went up to it. (Note that I was already sweating at this point because I was going to need to pronounce Swedish numbers.) Of course I now know that I was butting in line. But then, I did not. An old lady yelled at me. In Swedish. I’d only been here a few days, so I did not understand anything. The man working behind the counter luckily took pity on me and my confusion and pointed at the number machine. Then I had to wait my turn for a very. long. time. So you can imagine that I never made that mistake again. Now I take a number as soon as I walk in and then go and figure out what wine I want. It’s made life much easier.

There are still a lot of icebergs in Riddarfjärden. Photo by Robert Corkery.

This time of year, it’s hard for me to not think of spring. While the temperatures have been creeping up to just above freezing the last few days, winter still has a grip on us here. There’s a lot of big ice chunks in the Baltic and Riddarfjärden, and of course, there’s still a lot of snow on the ground.

Mosebacke Torg.

Nonetheless, the days are getting substantially longer. And like me, Stockholmers want and need to be outside as they are ready for spring to begin as well. So slowly, gradually, the city is trying to shift to a new season. For now, maybe it’s more of the just me wanting it to change than that it is actually happening!

Katarina Church.

A skater from the upcoming Stockholm Ice show performs at Kungsträdgården on Sunday.

Sunny days make you want to have a drink outside even if there is still a lot of snow.

I have a confession to make: I am light affected. The last several days have been gray. Endlessly, monotonously gray, in fact. I felt like my entire body had been slathered in a funky goo that left me unable. to move. or think. properly. Today the sun is shining. Brightly. And I am alive again. Fully functioning, even.

I did not used to be so terribly bothered by what was going on outside. But these days, I am obsessed. I blame it on Stockholm. The crazy extremes of light and dark leave me crazy. If I move somewhere else, will I be normal again? Or will I be forever addicted?

At spinning class yesterday, there was a fit woman somewhere in her 60s directly in front of the instructor. Every time we stood up on our bikes, the woman would wildly fling her head back and forth in rhythm to the music. As I was behind her, I couldn’t help but stare in fascination. When she was sitting on her bike, she rode normally. But come an uphill, there she would go again, flinging her hair from side to side. It seemed very unSwedish for a woman of her age to be riding with such crazy abandon. And I have to say, it was kinda funny and fun all at once. I came to look forward to the uphills just to see her go at it again. And I guess I must have been smiling about it at some point, because the instructor caught my eye and we laughed together. Which when I look back at it, was also rather unSwedish of the instructor to acknowledge all this. But it did make the class go rather quickly.

By the way, if you are American and have even just a little bit of Swedish roots, you can win a trip to Sweden and the chance to be on a Swedish reality TV show. Check out the great Swedish adventure.

A bird's eye view of snowy Slussen from Gondolen's bar. We had drinks there for our anniversary on Wednesday.

After being away from winter for three weeks, I feel like I can deal with it again. Since we’ve been back, we’ve had a lot of snow, but we’ve also had a lot of sunshine. And the days are so much longer than when we left. This time of year, the amount of daylight changes so rapidly that after three weeks, there is a lot more light. So today, the sun was up at 6.51, which is 19 minutes earlier than just last week. And the sun is setting at 17.10, which is 17 minutes later than last week.

It’s very gray today, but the birds are chirping, it’s a relatively balmy -2c and I have hope that I can survive another long winter in Stockholm. If I tell myself that, maybe it will come true. Maybe.

The sun was shining brightly in Humlegården yesterday. Not today though.

Even though it's gray here, we had a lot of sunshine while it was snowing this week.