skiing and beer in Sweden.

Vincent and I are back from a lovely second weekend trip to Sweden. This time we went to a ski town called Åre where we stayed in a super fancy cabin that was nicer than our apartment. It had a sauna in one of the bathrooms, people. And a dryer in the hallway for all your wet shoes and jackets.

Erik and Lene are sooooo fancy!

There was snow in Åre. Which meant one thing. And I mean only one thing. Skiing.

If you know me, you know I have never snow-skiied before. Where I grew up "skiing" meant on water. So, I definitely felt a bit out of my comfort zone when we "hit the slopes," as they say, and I tried on my first pair of ski boots.

Let's just say I was correct to feel out of place. Everyone was skiing. Even 7-day-old babies. And they were all better than me. I saw like a three-year-old go full speed down a hill backwards, as if he was going forward. How in whatever was I supposed to even try and contend with that?

Now, Lene, Erik, and Vincent were the most gracious of friends. They all were very patient with my whining, and even calmly explained why a helicopter couldn't come and get me and take me back down the mountain (apparently we were only on a "blue" hill and it was only like 1/2 a kilometer from the ski lodge. Swedes have no compassion.).


Let's just say my first day of skiing was stressful and constantly terrifying. And even though I didn't really fall… I didn't really ski either. I guess I am not one to give myself over to gravity, when I'm going down a mountain. It's just not my thing. Eh.

Vincent, Erik, and Lene after a nice cross-country trek.

But then. The next day happened. The sun was out and the snow was fresh as powder. A perfect day to try my feet at cross-country skiing. And holy crap, y'all, it was so fun. Like taking a run or a hike through the forest. So pretty! Plus, where we were, the hills were not so steep and I could just trust the tracks to guide me to safety. Plus, Lene never left my side and kept me calm, so I didn't try to get out of the tracks--because that would have ended less well. Thank you Lene!





So. There you have it. Lindsay likes cross-country skiing. She doesn't like downhill skiing so much. But, hey! She loves to drink beer. So you can always still invite her on your ski trips to Sweden.

Ice cold beer!