The Applefabriken

If you came to Stockholm and looked up what there was to do you would most likely not find the Applefabriken on any lists. Not even Rick Steves would have the Applefabriken in his book, and Rick Steves knows all. That is why I love when I can hang out with people who live in the cities that I travel to, because they do not do what tourists would normally do. I like it even more when the people that I get to see the sites with are my family. Today my family took me to the Applefabriken, which translates to "apple factory." After a picturesque drive through the Swedish countryside we arrived at the Applefabriken. The Applefabriken is a little farm that has an organic farm with a small shop and cafe. The cafe out in front of the shop looks like the Shire from the Lord of the Rings. There is a garden in the cafe area, which is surrounded by green grass and hedges then the garden adds a burst of color that makes the place feel as if it is right out of a storybook.

What do you do at an apple factory? Well, in case you didn't know, apples are not produced in a factory, implying that they are man made, they are grown on trees, so the "factory" is a play on words. That was sarcasm not an insult to your intelligence, but I guess pointing that was an insult to your intelligence. Anyway, back to the story here, so at the apple factory they have an incvredible array of apple juices, jams, drinks, as well as other fruit/vegetable products. I had a few of their pastries, some tea, and a spot of rhubarb lemonade. All of them were delicious. I must say that the ambience of the garden was an especially delightful addition to the presentation of the mid-afternoon snack.

The Applefabriken has another unique quality; it is a place where travelers can come work off their room and board. Travelers who do not have enough money to live in hotels or even hostels can come and work on the Applefabriken farm and in return the nice folks who run the farm give these travelers a place to stay and three square meals. They feed them more than just apples too. I asked.

I am soaking up as much time with my family while I am here so today we traveled with the little ones. It is so much fun having kids around because they just see the world so differently. When I see a beautiful garden I am awed by the bursts of colors offered by the different flowers

and the kids couldn't wait to run through the garden, which gave a perfect setting for a game of hide and go seek. I also love the sound of kids laughing. I am not able to communicate well with my little cousins because they speak Swedish and my cousin Tina translates for me, but then you have to take into account that they are 4 and 10, so by the time Tina translates they have moved on. I found that there are things that I can do that transcend verbal communication, like peek-a-boo. For nearly the entire car ride I played peek-a-boo with my little cousin Eveline. I don't know who was having more fun, me or her, but we were both laughing hysterically.

The day rounded out with a swim in oneof Sweden's ten million lakes. Sweden actually has over 97, 500 lakes. That number is not an exaggeration, look it up. Freaking ridiculous. It makes swimming in the summer time very easy, though. Today I felt like a Swede, minus the genetically beautiful face, and tall, muscular, nordic body, and the language. Yep, I blended right in today.