Day one… in brief

So… My plane took off on time at 11:30am and thankfully I was on board. Not that there was any danger, really, but nonetheless, I was safely ensconced in my seat as we left Vegas for the wilds of Minnesota (not the Wild of Minnesota, which would have also been cool). Minneapolis, from the air, is beautiful! It’s green and lush and full of interesting architecture (what I could see of it). We landed a bit ahead of schedule which just meant a longer wait at the airport. Actually, this wasn’t a bad thing since my flight was leaving not from a different terminal, but from a different airport! I had to take the city’s light rail system to get there, then walk through unfinished parking structures in order to get where I needed to be.

Once there, I settled myself against a glass wall and plugged in the computer, finished updating the iPod and waited out the storm warning (which asked airport patrons to stay away from glass exterior walls as they were expecting quarter sized hail. Thankfully, the glass wall I was leaning against was separated from the outside by a long walkway. So I ate the salami sandwich my mom had made and waited.

The flight to Reykjavik (which isn’t really in Reykjavik – the airport is about 55 kilometers away from the city) was uneventful. The sun set but the sky never really got dark and I slept a good portion of the way. I woke up in time to watch teh sun come over the horizon just as we passed over Greenland. The sky was overcast so we were above the clouds most of the way and that made for some stunning scenery!

In teh Iceland airport, there was a slight bit of concern when teh immigration official asked me how long I was planning on staying. I told him the truth at which point he looked concerned and asked if I had a return ticket. When I assured him I did, he stamped my passport and let me though.

This was very different from my next stop in Copenhagen, Denmark where there were no officials at all. I just walked out of the airport and hopped a train to Sweden. That’s right, 4 countries in just under 17 hours of real time!

My friend Malin met me at the train station in Malmo and we headed back to her place to drop off my bag (which, by the way, weighs just under 30 pounds without the smaller bag attached). then we decided to go for lunch. We walked about a mile and a half, maybe two, through the streets of Malmo, over a river and ended up in a nice little square where we had sushi (I know, 6000 miles for sushi?) then walked back via various shops and cobblestone streets. One of the things we were looking for in teh shops was a watch for me. See, I discovered that since I don’t have my phone with me, I have no way of knowing what time it is! So if I can find a cheap pocket watch, I’m gonna pick it up. Otherwise I’ll be looking at the iPod a lot!

After we made it back home, Marie, one of Malin’s friends, called and invited us round to watch the Swedish version of America’s Got Talent called Talang 2008. We were watching because Malin knows a couple of people competing. For my part, I didn’t understand a word of it and ended up passing out on her friend’s couch for about half the show.

We finally made it back home around 10:30 local time where I typed this up for you. And yes I did take some pictures today, but I haven’t downloaded them yet so you’ll just have to wait.