Journey of dreams (aka road trip), part II

We left for Dalarna Thursday morning at 8 am. We rented two cars, and then 9 of us piled in and started driving. Our car was full of ardent viking fans, so out car was christened "Sleipner"—the name of the 8-legged horse that Loki birthed. Boom. Some creativity with a viking stencil helped create a lovely mascot.

It was a pretty new volvo that we were driving, and it had a sick bluetooth hookup.  We were able to stream music from 7 different Apple devices without even having to plug in. The miracles of modern technology are sweet and glorious.

This was our car group. Yeaaah. Photo by Heather Hackney.

We stopped at an old church, whose name I can't remember, but was significant because of the ornate medieval decor that did not get painted over during the reformation.

Our group of viking warriors by a viking rune. Photo by Heather Hackney.

A few hours later we had all had a healthy dose of Muse and Robyn, we made it to Carl Larsson's house! It was so beautiful. Oh, stunning. I really loved a lot of things about it.

Thrifting in Dalarna. We didn't find anything good.

An outdoor peice (with typography) at the Dalarna Museum.

After Carl Larsson and the Dalarna Museum, we skipped around the corner to Top Hat where we had a really nice dinner together as a class. I got a burger with pesto sauce and a side of "fries."

On the drive to the hotel, we stopped by the copper mines in Stora Kopparberg. It's a world heritage site! I think Sweden has quite a few. Drottningholm Palace was another one... The mines were pretty intense. They are so massive, and what you see if only the surface. The tunnels go so deep; it's hard to fathom.

And then after the mines we drove to our hotel, but stopped by a lake to tromp around a golden field... Because it was so beautiful. I love the sunsets that last forever here.

Our group! Photo by Heather Hackney.

Notice the backpack thrust into the frame. Lovely.

And then, after all of these things packed into one day, we somehow mustered enough energy to go jump in the lake. Which was freezing cold, but super stunning. The sun was still setting, so the sky was full of pinks and purples, and the water just reflected it. It was a neat experience to swim in a swirling lake of color. Oh also, the lake was formed by a meteor impact a million years ago. Not every day that you swim in meteor lakes. In Sweden. With good friends. At sunset. Gaaaahhh. I love it here.