When I arrived, sans luggage, I expected to make my way to the hotel via a taxi but I had people waiting for me when I arrived. That was easy…although I had dressed for comfort on the flight, not seeing clients, but I (hope) think they understood.

I went back to the hotel and freshened up with a quick shower. There was all of one towel and a bathmat in the room. The towel has heated, so that was relaxing after the long flight. I got back into my clothes that could walk to Stockholm from here and ran to H&M. I found a bunch of cute things but settled on something that would get me by a day or two without my luggage (good thing, it was more than 24 hours) and headed back to the hotel. I did not get much time for sightseeing around the square before heading to the office for the first time.

It was very damp and a medium rain was coming down.

The streets in this area are all cobblestone.

There are lots of sculptures all around town.

Even in the rain, there was an open air market in the square, selling womens’ clothing.

And then there are the indoor stores!

I was very excited to get a look around but I did come here for work so as soon as I was once again presentable, I called work and they made the less than 8 minute drive to pick me up. Boras is very much a walking city and things considered far away are greater than or equal to 10 minutes away by car.

I got a quick tour of the office but luckily was not expected to be functional on Tuesday. We headed to dinner at a nearby English pub. As soon as we walked in, people could tell we were Americans. They had a Trivia contest and we chatted for a few minutes with the host. We were only able to answer one question, about Nicolas Cage, where the movie quote was in English. The host jokingly told us not to yell out the answer.

They had a decent selection of beer so I went for the one I saw a good bit of people drinking.

At one point, I had to use the “loo” so I made my way to the back. This was my first challenge since arriving in Sweden, a very English speaking country. There were only words on the bathroom doors. I chose the one I thought looked closest, and went for it, looked right so I went in. I am pretty sure I was right but have since learned that bathrooms here tend to be pretty standard, male or female.

Dinner was fish and chips and quite good and filling. I managed to stay up until about 9 pm before falling into a fitful sleep and waking up at 2 am to talk to the kids and Jay only to fall asleep shortly before the 6 am alarm.

I was without my bags and therefore without my shampoo and conditioner for 2 days. Today, I got to actually shower with real shampoo and conditioner, not the never-should-have-been-invented all-in-one that was included with my room.

It has been raining non-stop since I arrived. My hair and rain do not mix well. It either makes me look like a drowned rat or the Bride of Frankenstein (and I have the grey to go with it).

This morning however, was an exception.

I have perfect curls this morning. Well, perfect by my standards for my hair.

I don’t know what it is about this Sweden weather, but all the rain has made my hair super curly and less frizzy than usual. I even have a little ringlet.

Maybe the weather is not so bad after all.

PS-The actual hair looks much better than is shown in the self-portrait. This self portrait was taken in one of the single person/unisex bathrooms. One of the single person/unisex bathrooms where I forgot to flip the latch. Until someone came in. I think this will further prove to Swedes that Americans are crazy. I have not only taken photos of every meal I have eaten (more to come on that later) but also in bathrooms of myself. After her quick departure with a few apologetic words in Swedish, I decided I was probably good with the one pic I had taken.