Today, Cecilia and I have finished the first half of our internship here in Newington! The work in the office is progressing and there is unfortunately not much to report on that part at the moment. But more interesting things have been happening outside of work.

Here in the states we do not get to enjoy the Swedish spring’s many holidays, like Ascension Day and Labor Day on May 1^st, but we are somewhat compensated by the holiday on the last Monday in May – Memorial Day. On this day, the country is remembering all the American soldiers who died while serving the country’s armed forces and is therefore often honored with military parades, an American cultural experience worth seeing as a visiting foreigner.

Because of the long weekend, Cecilia and I took a road trip to Cape Cod, a peninsula on the Atlantic coast of Massachusetts about 2 h from Hartford. After spending one day on the cape and one day on the island Martha’s Vineyard just off the coast, we arrived in the town of Plymouth on Memorial Day. Since the town is the place where the pilgrims arrived and established the first colony in 1620, it felt like suitable place to honor Memorial Day.

Our own Swedish National Day this Saturday will however be celebrated in New York City, as we will be paying a visit to the just opened One World Trade Center observation deck high above the streets of Manhattan!