Stockholm

Of course, we arrived in Stockholm super excited about our trip.  Where should we go… what should we see… what should we EAT??  After some issues with my ‘international’ cell phone trying to contact our airbnb host, we finally reached her using Skype with a wifi connection on my iPhone.  Skype saved the day…

Our apartment was a cute place in the  Östermalm neighborhood.  Though to our surprise, no wifi.  No worries… airbnb lesson learned, and it turned out to be quite refreshing to be disconnected.

Our days in Stockholm were pretty decadent.  It was a time for us to reflect on the recent changes in our lives (my last day at DDC, packing like crazy, moving out of the City, and moving into my parents’ house all happened within the preceding week), and explore a vibrant city with so much amazing culture, food, art, and new experiences.  No doubt, it's a beautiful city...  The pictures below: flowers at a stall in Gamla Stan, a traditional spread of pickled herring, Gamla Stan seen from the bay, a random selfie of us, and a fountain in a park near our apartment.

We had some really great meals.  My favorite was a lunch we had at the Vasa Museum restaurant.  This wasn’t any run-of-the mill museum food… super fresh salad buffet, amazing bread, a nice salmon salad dish for Alexandra and roasted pork loin for me, plus delicious coffee.  The kicker was the amazing views…  We sat outside on a patio overlooking the bay.  The weather, water, the city – it all looked so perfect.  So we took a selfie:

At the fotografiska museum, we saw an exhibit featuring different Swedish photographers.  One of them focused his work on capturing the daily lives of refugees from the war in Syria.  The kids in these pictures really stuck with me...

Other Stockholm impressions:

• Everyone looks like a model.  Pretty much everyone.  “All the men look like Ryan Gosling hummanah HUMMANAH!!” -- insightful commentary from Alexandra Thurston Hsiao, a married woman.
• People and wait-staff can be a bit rude and sarcastic at times.  Cutting in line happens, seemingly by accident.  Yeah, Europe.
• They take certain things very seriously, including: coffee, fika (Swedish snack-attack), cleanliness, and taking their sweet time to open shops on Sunday mornings. 

Next up, Frankfurt to start our 15-day tour of Central Europe, including visits to two concentration camps.  Things are going to get pretty heavy... 

"It's happening."

Admittedly, Michael and I lived in a fairly fancy (let's be real: douchey) apartment building in San Francisco, inhabited mostly by curmudgeonly elderly folks and/or newly wealthy techies. While we loved its location, safety, and nice amenities, we both knew this was not a place we wanted to live in forever. But a big part of what transformed this apartment into a home, and a community, for us, was that we were fortunate to have wonderful next-door neighbors: Brittney and Richard. They are two of the most genuine, hilarious, adventurous, good-hearted, and all around lovely people we have been fortunate enough to meet. The four of us have gotten close over the past couple of years, and just before we moved out, they invited us over for one final meal together. In true B+R style, they went all out by making homemade pasta:

...and we pitched in a little too!

At the end of the meal, they gifted us with two journals where we could record anecdotes from our travels. Having gone on their own four-month adventure around the world together a couple of years ago, they knew how important it was to document these very precious memories. This in and of itself was already an incredibly thoughtful gift, but inside the cover of both of the journals, Brittney had written down her favorite quote for us:

"Make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt. So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservation, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future. The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. If you want to get more out of life, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But once you become accustomed to such a life, you will see its full meaning and its incredibly beauty."

Yes. Hells yes. When Michael and I read this, we both looked at each other and smiled. This is what it's all about. This is why even though our excitement and giddiness is sometimes punctuated by moments of terror and disbelief (as in, "Ermagoooood, how are we 31 years old and now both unemployed and moving back in with our parents again?!"), we know that ultimately this is all going to be worth it. This is why whenever I feel a wave of panic that Michael left his job and I didn't apply for a job right after postdoc like I was "supposed" to, and I feel sad that we moved out of our cozy apartment with its wonderful views and left the city and the friends and community that we love, I think about this quote and I feel a sense of calm. Thank you for the journals, and for this amazing gift, B+R. We love you and miss you already.

T-minus 21 hours until we embark on our new helter skelter lifestyle. Wish us luck! 

-Alexandra

P.S. - In other totally unrelated news, how freaking awesome of a packer am I?!

When I told people I was just bringing a carry-on backpack on this trip, many raised a skeptical eyebrow. And with good reason - when traveling, I am a compulsive overpacker, and am guilty of always throwing in extra stuff at the last minute that I swear I'll need (but ultimately never use). But this is all I'm bringing, for 8 whole weeks! See you all in Europe ;-)

Goodbye, San Francisco

Dear San Francisco,

I'm a different man because of you -- your diversity, culture, restaurants, nightlife, markets, parks, concerts, ball games, and all those amazing sunsets.

You've changed so quickly.  Please don’t neglect the poor, hungry and weak as you continue to evolve, and please always prioritize diversity.  I always thought that your diversity made you especially beautiful. 

When I come back one day, please also don't charge me too much for parking. 

Thank you for all the inspiration and memories.  

Michael

--

Surreal. That's usually the first word that comes to mind when I think about going on this trip. Even though Michael and I have been talking about this idea for the past year and we just finalized the itinerary for Europe, it is still unbelievable to me that we are actually going to be embarking on this amazing adventure together. But when I have moments where the reality of the next few months does sink in, I'm thrilled for what awaits us. We will have the opportunity to see historical sites that I previously only read about in books, immerse ourselves in new cultures, get out of our respective comfort zones, and eat more gelato that two people should ever reasonably consume - all the while evolving as individuals and strengthening our bond as a newly married couple. I feel incredibly lucky, to say the least.

And yet, despite all the buzz and excitement about this upcoming journey, I am struck by very real moments of sadness about leaving San Francisco. I have loved this city ever since I was a child, when my family would drive up from the peninsula at least once a month to peruse Chinatown markets, spend hours exploring at the Academy of Sciences and running around Golden Gate Park, and stuff our faces with monstrous sundaes at Ghirardelli Square. This city represents so much joyful nostalgia for me, and when I first lived here as an adult, it continued to be my happy place. I loved its vibrant energy, eclectic architecture, breathtaking sunsets, and seemingly endless offerings of fantastic hole-in-the-wall restaurants. And given that this is where Michael and I first lived together and then got married, I will always think of it as home.

Sure, we'll be back to visit, but it won't be the same. But that would be true even if we stayed. The city has changed significantly, even in the past couple of years, and it doesn't seem to be showing any signs of slowing down. It's been overrun by techies and pretentious coffee shops. And the hipsters....oh, the hipsters. It's become less charming, more homogenous, and shockingly, outrageously expensive. It's moving out what's old and familiar to make room for what's shiny and new, and with that it seems to have lost some of its humanity. It's not the same city that it was when I moved here years ago, and certainly not the same one that I loved as a child. 

So, even though it's bittersweet, in a way it feels like it's the right time to transition. As much as I may want to preserve the idyllic memory that I had of SF growing up, the city will never be the same as it once was. But then again, neither will we, especially after this trip. I'll always love you, San Francisco. But I'm ready for whatever awaits us in the next chapter - however challenging, interesting, beautiful, wacky, or seemingly surreal it may be. 

-Alexandra