Friends! I'm sorry for the delay - in both my pictures from Mora (episode 6) and my behind-the-scenes in Gotland (episode 7)! I have been having WAY too much fun traveling around Sweden and visiting friends and family and find myself too tired to write each night as I fall into bed! But I am sitting down this morning and making sure I get my notes and thoughts on episode 7 written down! Thank you all for following along and I can't wait to see you at the finale next week!!!!
-When the koffert said we were going to Gotland Island, I had no idea what to expect...and Gotland just continued to be full of surprises as we spent time on the island. To those of you who have never been to Gotland, I say do yourself a favor and book the trip now for this summer! It's part history lesson (with all the old windmills and churches and burial mounds and the walled city of Visby) and part commercial vacation destination (with beaches and shopping and food and water parks and put put golf courses) - but it is ALL fascinating and fantastic! It was such a pleasure to spend our last time in Sweden on Gotland Island!
-The food in the koffert was called safron pancake...and it's a dish native to Gotland. The funny thing is, when we opened it and realized we were supposed to try it, there was the goat cheese sitting on top of it, so being the dumb tourists that we are, we figured that we were supposed to eat them together. So we did. And it was hysterical to see the crew reacting behind the cameras because CLEARLY you're not supposed to eat them together. I actually thought it was delicious anyway (because come on....cheese makes everything delicious!) but I now know that it is NOT meant to be eaten together.
-I really think the safron pancake is best described as kind of a cornbread casserole....or like spoon cornbread, for those of you who know what I'm talking about. It's sweet-ish and delicious...and although it was good in the pan, it was even BETTER at the restaurant with cream and blackberries. I could eat that stuff every day.
-I STILL stand by my contention that Becky was just being contrary with the safron pancake JUST to be contrary. There is NO WAY she actually tasted it at first to decide that she hated it. I think it was just more dramatic and interesting to hate it if we liked it. Because much like staying with strangers (episode 4), she came around in the end. I could be wrong...but you don't go from a safron pancake tantrum one day to ordering 2 the very next day. They both really basically tasted exactly the same. But I still love you Becky.
-The ferry to Gotland was PACKED! (There were even a couple of women's roller derby teams onboard! How exciting is that!? Shane talked to them - they were heading to Gotland for team retreats!) It was nice to take the 3+ hour trip and hang out with crew and cast friends and chat and laugh.
-If you can't tell when we're on the deck of the ship - only one person was NOT too happy to be on the boat. John is NOT a fan of boats - and wasn't too happy to be on the open Baltic Sea. But he's a trooper and he made it!
-VISBY. IS. A. SPECTACULAR. LITTLE. CITY. I felt like I was on a movie set the whole time we were there.
-So as we were walking toward our little stuga, in the episode, you will see a white little house to our left (as I am talking about campers and all of us sharing one). Somehow, as we walked along the path, we ended up going into that little white house first....and thinking it was going to be where we were staying. What the building is turns out to be a community tv room, basically, for the campground. It has a tv, like 4 couches, a ping pong table, and cold stone floors. But there was a key in the door and no one else in there, so (LIKE IDIOTS) we walked in, looked around and said "I guess this is where we are staying." If they would've shown that on the episode, you would've seen ANOTHER round of epic meltdowns by the ladies. EPIC. And I don't think any of the guys were thrilled about staying there, either...but we figured it was just part of the adventure. THANKFULLY, the camera crew eventually told us we were NOT staying in the community tv building and took us to the proper stuga, but not before they had some good laughs at how ridiculous we all were for thinking we were staying in that little tv place. We really are idiots sometimes.
-Peter van den Hooganband is a Dutch swimmer from past olympics. Just FYI. I don't speak Dutch.
-The mosquitoes were pretty out of control on Gotland around the little stuga. Like everywhere. The only place they were similar was our first stop in Sigtuna. So so so many mosquitoes.
-The beach to me really was SO surprising. The sand was white and soft and lovely. Our first time on the beach in the episode, we spent a good long time out there, walking and exploring and playing. And then a couple of people went inside...and then they took a couple more people to do interviews, and before long, I looked up and I was sitting alone on the beach just staring at the water and listening to it. It was actually a really lovely moment for me, because I was there maybe 30 minutes alone, listening to music and thinking about everything we had done in Sweden up to this point...and I was overwhelmed with such gratitude as I sat there. And now whenever I think of Gotland, I think of that beach day and my alone time on the beach and those feelings of gratitude! I love how memories tie things in our lives together!
-Also don't worry....I finally snapped out of it and someone came looking for me. It's all good.
-It seems like we've seen shocking things (or "shocking" things) the past few episodes and everyone's answer is always "they would get arrested in America." But I just want to go on record and say that I don't think there would be that much arresting for many of these things. Warnings maybe - or citations - but not full on arresting. Maybe I'm wrong...but I just wanted to share my opinion. Thanks. :)
-Team challenge day really was the longest day ever. We had lunch (a really delicious lunch of thin sliced smoked lamb and boiled potatoes...and it turned out to be one of my most favorite meals the entire trip....) around lunch time and then the challenge started soon after, and I think it was about 6-7 hours of running around doing this thing.
-The idea of the challenge day was two-fold: to compete by asking people for answers to the questions, but ALSO to see Visby and spend time as tourists...so as we walked around, we were encouraged to BE tourists...shop, see things, take pictures, etc. It was an interesting challenge from that perspective...mainly because once we got going on the competition element, we weren't really in a touristy mood!
-So a few people have asked me about the make-up of the teams. Because John and Shane were a team of 2, before the competition started, Becky, Lori and I were told WHICH legs of the challenge we would compete in....to make it fair that there were only 2 vs 2. It WAS tough sometimes to watch the other 2 compete and not to be able to help and give suggestions...but that was all part of the game. We all walked around together but one person hung out with the crew each time.
-The episode did a really good job of showing how unresponsive people were - but I really honestly think it was even MORE than you saw on the show. I really consider myself pretty gifted in the field of gab - I can talk to a brick wall if I need to - but there was something about the people that day that just shut us down at every turn! I'm sure it was the combination of the clipboard carrying AND the film crew running up to you - and a dozen other things - but it really was one of the most difficult things we had to do my entire time in Sweden. I'm just glad WE had a little less problems with it than the yellow team!
-For as stressful as it was trying to get people to talk to us, Becky and Lori and I actually had a great time together....it was a fun, stressful challenge.
-I gotta tell you the craziest encounter we had in Visby...which had nothing to do with the challenge. Towards the end of the challenge, our group (contestants and camera crew) stopped in a little restaurant to get snacks, drinks and use the bathroom. While we were there, we started talking to some of the restaurant staff, and I ended up talking to this cute young gal named Linnea. She was talking about being a student and working in Visby for the summer - but she is from Mora originally. I said we had just come from there and some of my family was from there, and we laughed that we were probably related. We took a picture just to be safe. THREE weeks ago, I got a message on FB from Linnea - and she said her mom had just called her because a cousin had contacted her to say they were related to me from the show. When I went on my family chart that I had gotten from the research in the show, her mom's name was one of the people I hadn't been able to contact over the past few months! And here her daughter was - making the connection for me! How RANDOM is that!? I haven't had a chance to meet Linnea again - she goes to school up in the North of Sweden - but I met her mom, dad and sister last week in Mora...and they are the BEST! Such a strange little coincidence in Visby!!!! (My Facebook profile picture is of me and Linnea from Visby.)
-One of our stops between questions was a stop at a little flea market - and I tried on an awesome wig and danced around in it. Naturally. You'll enjoy seeing the pictures when I get them posted! Be sure and stop back by to see them!
-Becky trying to put the key in the cigarette lighter was the most honest, hysterical thing ever. I don't know what cars are like in Texas...but it was her immediate instinct when she got in to put that key in there. And we laughed and laughed and laughed.
-I had a lot of fun in Sweden, but I think one of the most fun days was the drive around part of Gotland with Becky. The first part of the drive, they really just said drive where ever you want and find something to explore...so it was Becky and I who found the church and decided to explore it! It was really fun - and it was very shocking to us both to find the church completely unlocked and open during the day! We later learned that was normal - but I really thought someone had forgotten to lock it up and we just got lucky! HA!
-The rest of the day was sort of planned for us - the visit to the little shop and getting some safron pancake to eat - but we spent a LOT of time trying to FIND the little shopping place. It was right under our noses most of the time, but we still had trouble - along with the crew - finding it. But it was such an interesting little shop that I'm glad we finally did. AND the safron pancake was just as delicious as before.
-Becky bought teddy bear salt shakers at the store. I bought nothing. But I should've. I regret it. I don't know what I would've bought...but I am still sad I didn't. PS - Becky broke her salt shakers already at home in Texas.
-I will go on record and say the water park freaked me out....I wasn't lying about it. There were SO MANY little kids running around - and I knew they had to be peeing in that water. But I didn't care - I brought my book because I am always prepared....I didn't complain about it...and I enjoyed my relaxing afternoon at the Pee Waterpark. But I'm glad Becky and Shane had a great time.
-Our Swedish School with Anders was really interesting because we got to turn the tables on him and get him to chat about our questions. It was a fun, interesting night. Also, it was a delicious meal that we had at that restaurant in Gotland - with different kinds of lamb AND 4 different kinds of potatoes! HELLO!? I love potatoes! It was like heaven. We probably had about 1 1/2 to 2 hours of conversation with Anders - and talked about the things you saw, and such other things as Swedish pizza, race relations in Sweden, and the list goes on and on and on. He was a good sport...especially because this dinner was held right after the team challenge - so people's emotions were running high that night. But I think we put that aside and had a great time with him!
-So the elimination challenge was so crazy because they brought us to wait in the parking lot when they said the challenge had just started...so with the challenge being 30 minutes, they should be done soon after we got there. When we got there, they had just started...and we waited and paced and worried in the parking lot as the time went longer and longer and longer! AN HOUR!? Who knew they would walk that long!? Crazy. I like to think that I would do better...but honestly, there is just no way in telling in these things! But it really was so nerve-wracking as we waited to see who was going home!
-I learned from one of the crew members that very near the challenge site, a tour guide was there with a large group, talking about the history of the area and the island...and he was talking very very loudly....through the whole challenge! That would have been so disrupting as a competitor! I can't even imagine! But I am impressed with the editing to not have him anywhere in the shots!
-Also, I don't think Shane will mind if I tell you his "strategy" for the challenge - and what ultimately brought him down. So his plan was to do a simple math problem - 60 seconds in a minute times 30 minutes - so he was going to count to 1,800 (60 x 30) and that should be right at 30 minutes. EXCEPT - he messed up his math and he said (in interviews to the crew) that he was going to count to 18,000! And he was on that path of counting to 18,000 when he saw John step in to the middle (after a whole HOUR of walking!) So he walked to the center to end the game. Again, I can't imagine what I would do in that instance, and I know my math skills are not that great...but MAN oh man there is a huge difference between 1,800 and 18,000!!! I was SO bummed Shane was leaving! He became such a dear friend - and I hated that he had to leave! There were 18,000 reasons I wanted him to stay around and be in the final 4 with me!!!!
-So side note - I actually saw Shane 2 days later in Stockholm - the night before he flew out. We had just finished filming and took the trip back and we stayed at the Nordic Lights Hotel again -and Shane was there getting ready to fly home EARLY the next morning. It was nice for Becky and I to see him again one more time before we all went out separate ways!
So there is Episode 7! If there is anything I didn't cover, please feel free to let me know! I'm happy to answer anything else. And I look forward to sharing my thoughts on Episode 8 - the finale with the final 4 - next week! And hopefully, I'll get some pictures up soon - both from Mora AND Gotland!
Thanks for following along friends!
