He found out he had to travel to Karlskrona, Sweden for a few days and at the last minute was encouraged to bring me, take a few days off and travel other parts of Europe.
Both of us had never been to Ireland so decided that was a must see. More on that in a future post...
Luckily I didn't have much longer than a week to make a decision, make arrangements, pack and board the plane. Had I had much longer to think, I have a feeling my sadness over leaving JB would have caused me to back out.
After a very tearful goodbye, I watched my sweet one year old drive away with Mimi and Grandaddy (My parents.) I must add that the only tears were from Daddy and Mommy, JB could not have been more thrilled to spend time with his grandparents!
I have to admit that I have always been a very fearful person. I worry that the person walking past my car in the Wal-Mart parking lot wants to jump in and kidnap us, or that the noise downstairs is certainly a burglar breaking in. Don't get me started on the fears of random diseases I contract simply from watching Grey's Anatomy! My poor sweet husband! These are completely unfounded and ridiculous fears, I know. But traveling to a foreign country for the first time, wow! You can imagine what my fears were like!
Jimmy had to work the first few days we were there, so I was left alone in this strange city. That first morning, I just knew I'd sit in the hotel room all day crying over JB and want to go home!
Thankfully, Jimmy and a man from the Karlskrona office had arranged for his wife and I to meet. They were originally from Italy and had lived in Sweden for a little over a year. Elisabetta was learning English and was so sweet to take an hour or 2 out of her day each morning to show me around Karlskrona. She is one of the sweetest, and most amazing souls I have ever met. She showed me all about living in Sweden, and I even went with her to pick up her girls from school one day, so I got to see inside the Swedish Education system. The nerdy teacher in me was thrilled!
I got to see the "non-touristy" parts of the city, and really experience Swedish culture. She would then drop me off at random points and I got to wander museums, shops, coffee houses, and much more all on my own! Talk about a break through for me!
I rented a bike and rode around the city, I climbed a famous rock in the middle of the sea and got amazing pictures, I toured historic museums and houses, and ALL ON MY OWN! Talk about a liberating experience. I felt like I was truly living for the first time in years. I trusted God to take care of me and left the worries back in the States.
What an experience! See some of my adventures below...
This is the side of the rock I climbed. I had such a wonderful time sitting on this bench, praying and taking pictures. Talk about a perfect time to praise our Creator!
The view from our hotel!
An interesting thing about Karlskrona, is that it is an archipelago, so many people had boats to get from island to island instead of cars.
More boat pictures ...
And the City Center, talk about beautiful history! I had such a great time exploring and taking pictures of these buildings and churches!
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