Sigtuna!

 Gotta sleep when you have the chance!

 We left Rome in daylight and arrived at the Arlanda airport in Sweden in the afternoon, in the dark.  The Stockholm airport is pretty far from the city, and we didn't have a lot of time, so Scott found a darling little town called Sigtuna, closer to the airport, and with twice the charm of anyplace else we could have stayed.  From the airport, it took 20 minutes on a local bus.

 The city was sleepy when we arrived, but every house had their windows lit and decorated for Christmas.  After leaving our luggage at the hotel, we walked back to the main street in search of food.  The place we found could have been straight out of Brooklyn, but we loved the vibe.  They were closing soon, and we didn't want to be shut out of our last chance for a good meal, so we all quickly ordered the first thing on the menu board: a hamburger.  Best hamburger EVER.  No joke.

 I love the gnomes that are so prevalent in this part of the world.  Do you think they really exist.  I do. :)

 Our hotel was the Scandinavian version of The Shining hotel.  Old, creaky, but we couldn't have dreamed up a more cozy place.  This solarium was closed in for winter, with toasty space heaters and blankets on each chair, a Scandinavian feature that I love to see in restaurants and public spaces.  There is nothing more comforting and inviting than a blanket.  After dinner, it was late and we were tired, but nobody wanted to sleep.  We didn't want the magic to end.  Scott and I sat in the solarium and talked about how easy it was to get to this alternate reality of Sigtuna.  Literally, it's a short drive to Vegas, a $460 roundtrip nonstop flight, and a 20 minute bus ride, and you're in this place you never knew existed, experiencing a whole new world.  I said to Scott, "We could totally come here!"

We laughed.  Scott said, "Circ, we ARE here!"  It's harder than you think to live in the moment!  We tried, though.  We soaked in every moment, those warm blankets draped over our shoulders and the plaid lampshades screaming Christmas cheer.  I took a lot of pictures.  Golda and Ashley dreamed of studying for finals, holed up in that remote hotel.  I dreamed of being snowed in there for weeks at a time, with a stack of books and a thermos of hot chocolate, walking down to the main street every night to get a "New York Strip Burger."  That's where I would go if I were a celebrity who wanted to run away.  I'll have to wait for that celebrity status, though.  Scott, evidently not cured from the travel bug, looked up prices on Norwegian.com when we got home.  Roundtrips from Vegas to Stockholm or Copenhagen in January were $313 roundtrip.  I'm not kidding!  Just look at their website.  For $313, you could hibernate in gnome country for the winter!  Oh, and the hotel is only $60 a night in January.  I'm guessing the prices are so low because nobody wants to go so far north at that time of year.  But still.

 Swedish breakfast...wow.

 Sigtuna in the daytime.  The lake is gorgeous!  It must be so picturesque in the summer.

 Love it

 All the stores were decked out so prettily.

 And then we were home!  We had all the energy jetlag gives you before it crushes you under its heel, so we put up Christmas and took the kids to the Grand America to see the windows and take Christmas card pictures.  As much as I crave travel, coming home is sweet.  Especially when there are these beautiful faces waiting for us.