Scandinavia ECS | From Construction to Economics, in Stockholm

Though we have returned home safe and sound, we thought it would be wrong to not post a quick blog about the last few days of our trip. On Sunday we awoke to a lovely breakfast then headed off for a quick breeze through Skansen, a local outdoor museum about Swedish life in the relatively distant past. It was a chilly day, but the breakneck pace that Mrs. Hedden and Dr. Young call “brisk” was just enough exercise to keep everyone nice and warm. We explored a house and the school on the tour, then had the opportunity to wander a little without the tour guide. Of course when we found out that there is a zoo area for the local wildlife we all made a bee-line towards the animals. My personal favorite was the wolf we saw, we were also able to see a bear, a wolverine, and a reindeer, among others. Next we went on a boat tour to get a better lay of the land here in Stockholm. It took us around the archipelago, and we spent the afternoon marvelling at the many beautiful sights of the Stockholm archipelago. Finally we returned to dry land and went to dinner, where many students got to try their first bite of reindeer. All in all, a great day!

The next day we visited a local construction site and learned about the construction market in Sweden with a little more depth. We were allowed to walk around a construction site for an apartment building being renovated, and were told all about the new components being built and how people deal with construction and renovation in Sweden. After that we visited the KTH University in Stockholm, a renowned technological university, and were given a grand tour by a few professors from the university. After the tour, we spent the rest of the afternoon in a lecture hall, interviewing the leading professor on the housing market in Sweden, and gaining quite a bit of insight and knowledge. Unfortunately, the professor had a meeting so we finally had to end our discussion after two and a half hours, but I’m convinced if he didn’t have to leave we could have asked him questions until the next morning. All in all, it was a fascinating last few days, and we’re sorry to leave it all behind!