TRAVEL BLOG: The journey to Sweden to meet Peter Lillelid

It was a story that shocked East Tennesee and tore one Knoxville family apart.In 1997, six Kentucky teenagers kidnapped and shot all four members of the Lillelid family, killing Vidar, Delfina and little Tabitha. Only 2-year-old Peter survived.Ten years after the crime, 10News Reporter Brittany Bailey traveled to Sweden to meet Peter, now 11 years old, as well as Randi and Odd Heier, the aunt and uncle he knows as mom and dad.You can watch Brittany's complete reports on 10News at 6 and 11 p.m. on Tuesday.Now, you can read Brittany's blog from her trip:Saturday, February 3 - Leaving Knoxville 5:30 a.m. - My alarm is going off; I am not getting out of bed. With all of the packing, re-packing, list-making and worrying, I got only three hours of sleep. This is a big trip, an important interview, and I want everything to go well. 9:30 a.m. - The trip hits its first snag. My large Sony case into which I was so thrilled to fit all of my equipment is too heavy. My news director, Bill Shory, had suspected this might happen (after all, he was the one who had to lift it into his SUV before our drive) We crack it open at the airport and shift and remove piece after piece. Finally, we get the all-clear and I'm off to the terminal. Now, I wait. How long until I'm in Sweden again? 10:00 a.m. - It's my first chance to sit back, relax and think about what's ahead. I've never been overseas. I've never been to a place where I don't speak the language. I hope I can find my way to the places I need to go. Most of all, I hope I can find my way to the Heiers and Peter. At this point, I can't wait to meet them. Right now, they still don't seem quite real to me. Like nearly everyone else in East Tennessee, to me, they are the faces in a story, and that's all I know of them. 11:40 a.m. - I hit my second snag of the trip before I even leave Knoxville. My plane was supposed to take off more than an hour ago. It seems Chicago's famous windy weather has put a damper on those plans. 12:00 p.m. Chicago time - We finally land. Several people on board miss their connecting flights. I still have more than four hours to spare. Thanks, Bill! 1:00 p.m. - I'm now sitting in my first-ever international terminal. I somehow managed to de-plane, retrieve my luggage, and make my way across O'Hare, back through security, and to my gate in less than an hour. Now, more waiting. 4:30 p.m. - I'm now on the plane; it's really happening. On the screen in front of me, I see our projected path to Stockholm. I can't believe I'm going that far away. 6:00 p.m. - We're in the air. I should be sleeping, but they're starting to serve us dinner. I guess I'll eat and then sleep. Always a good combination. 7:00 p.m. - I'm having trouble sleeping. I've dozed off a couple of times, but I just can't get comfortable. My legs especially are giving me problems. I get up and walk around a few times, but it doesn't seem to help for long. I know I need to sleep now because, as soon as I arrive in Sweden, I need to call the Heiers and meet with them right away. I guess I'll just be a walking zombie doing so. Oh, well. Sunday, February 4 - Sweden 7:40 a.m. Sweden time - I'm here! I can't believe I'll be stepping off the plane into this new, strange country. Suddenly, I'm wide awake.8:00 a.m. - I'm struck at first by how empty the airport seems. I suppose it is early, but I thought it would be a bit more bustling. The airport itself is actually quite beautiful. There are hardwood floors in the airport (yes, hardwood!), and the floors down by Passport Control are a pretty tile. 8:10 a.m. - Time to get my luggage. I guess I'll need a cart. Wow, I think to myself, they don't charge for carts here. Guess I'll just grab one. Hmmm. It doesn't seem to want to move. Maybe it just has one of those crazy wheels like the grocery carts I sometimes get. Oh, wait. A man is walking over to show me how it works. I have to push down on the handle to let off the brake. OK, now I feel silly. The cart is actually quite handy, however. Unlike the American ones, these will stay in place when you're trying to lug your gigantic, heavy bag onto it. 8:15 a.m. - I wonder if they have drinking fountains in Sweden. I've had my eye out for one ever since I stepped off the plane. I'm more than parched. Finally, I spot a small, open café. It actually has small candles flickering away on the counter. Very pretty. I order a bottled water. It costs 23 kronas. Yikes! It sounds so expensive, but, thankfully, it's really not. 8:30 a.m. - My shuttle bus arrives and takes me to my hotel. It's part of the Eurostop, which is a little shopping mall. Perfect! 8:45 a.m. - I check into my room. It's the cutest thing. Very IKEA. 9:00 a.m. - I think it may be too early to call the Heiers on a Sunday morning. I finally decide on a short nap. I'll call around 10 a.m. 10:00 a.m. - I call and talk to Odd Heier. He's so sweet. I think they've been waiting for my call. Whoops! 10:50 a.m. - My taxi picks me up for the short drive to the Heiers' home in Marsta, which is very close to the Arlanda airport. Oops. The driver has taken a wrong turn, and we've driven about 10 minutes the wrong way. I guess I'll have to wait a little longer to meet the Heiers. 11:10 a.m. - We pull into the Heiers' neighborhood. It is absolutely adorable, right out of a storybook. The homes are close together, brightly colored; they almost look like gingerbread houses. There it is, No. 10. This is it! I turn toward the home – there's Peter! I see a young boy excitedly peeking out of the front door. I can tell he's been waiting for me to arrive. He's adorable, much more grown up, but there's no mistaking who he is. 11:20 a.m. - I'm sitting in the Heiers' living room getting to know them. They are so friendly and welcoming. I can't believe I'm finally meeting them and talking with them in person. 12:00 - We head down to Sigtuna, an old Viking town that grew up along the shore of Lake Malaren. It's a hangout for the locals all year long. In the summer, they boat, fish and swim in the lake. In the winter, it's a solid sheet of ice, but you'll still find hundreds of people still enjoying it. They skate, sled, play hockey or otherwise slip and slide around the ice. When we were there, a family was having a cookout. Peter took his wheelchair out onto the ice and slid around for a bit. His favorite thing to do was to get himself going really fast and then to stop suddenly, skidding across the ice. 1:00 p.m. - We head into Tant Brun (Aunt Brown), a small café dating back to the year 1600. It was so hard to imagine it being that old. Inside, the floors, ceiling and benches were all leaning. The café is also really tiny. There are only two small rooms that fit very few people. Because of the popularity of it, the owners added on a new section, but no one wants to sit there because it doesn't have the same history. So, instead, people crowd into the little entryway and wait until a seat is available in the old section. When we find a place to sit, the Heiers order kaffe (coffee) and semla, a traditional Swedish pastry that is only available during certain times of the year. Here's a Wikipedia description: "The oldest version of the semla was a plain bread bun, eaten in a bowl of warm milk. Today, the semla consists of a cardamom-spiced wheat bun which has its top cut off and insides scooped out and then filled with a mix of the scooped out bread crumbs, milk and almond paste, topped off with whipped cream. The cut-off top is then put back as a lid and dusted with icing sugar. It is nowadays often eaten on its own, with coffee or similar, but many still eat it in a bowl of hot milk. In Finland, the bun is sometimes filled with jam instead of marzipan."Peter ordered a different pastry and a Pepsi, which he apparently likes a lot. He named his dog after the soda pop, too. 2:30 p.m.- We head back to the Heiers. They live in a nice, quiet, peaceful neighborhood. They say it stays that way because there is no through traffic. The people who turn down their street live there; there is nowhere else to go. Peter shows me around his room. He has pictures of fotboll (soccer) players on the walls and likes playing computer games. He also reads books and is very good at building with Legos. He says his favorite music group is Roxette; he also likes Sean Paul. 3:30 p.m. - I sit down to talk with Peter. He can't speak English very well just yet so Odd and Randi sit with me to help translate. He can tell me what happened to him, but he has a hard time finding the words to describe how he feels about it. He says the one thing he really misses out on because of his injuries is playing fotboll. I find out later he also is trying to learn to snowboard, but that's difficult for him, too. The Heiers are encouraging him to use a snowboard that has a little seat on it, but he's resistant. He wants to be like all the other kids. 4:00 p.m. - Next, I sit down to talk with the Heiers. Randi talks to me first. She seems a bit nervous. She tells me about how difficult it was to lose three family members all at one time. She had never met Peter before seeing him injured in the hospital. She says she knew right away that she wanted custody of Peter, and that's why she spent the next three months in Knoxville, fighting for him. She also says she and Odd haven't kept any secrets from Peter. They told him his story and made up a photo album of him as a baby -- him with Vidar, Delfina and Tabitha; recovering in the hospital; coming home to Sweden; growing up with the Heiers. It's easy to see how much they've helped Peter recover emotionally and physically. I talk with Odd next. He says it was difficult for Randi to be in the U.S. for so long without him, coping with everything on her own. He talked about Peter being a strong, independent boy who is almost always in good spirits. He says Peter is really good at handling the stares he sometimes gets and answering the questions children ask him. He tells a story about being in Stockholm with Peter in his wheelchair. Two older ladies came up to ask Peter where he was from. He piped up and said, I'm from America, but then they shot me, so I moved here. Everyone got quite a kick out of the shocked looks on the faces of those women. 5:00 p.m. - Finally, I'm leaving the Heiers for the day. It's been such a treat getting to know them, but I'm exhausted now. I head back to my hotel and call Bill to let him know how everything went. I also e-mail a few pictures. I get some food from the restaurant downstairs, then it's finally time to head to bed. Monday, February 58:30 a.m. - I go to Peter's school to visit him there. It's a small, neighborhood school. All the children there live within walking distance. There's a small path right beside Peter's house that he uses his wheelchair to take home from school when it's not too cold. When it is snowy and cold, he takes a taxi cab home. Peter's classmates are very excited that I'm there. They've been told I was coming. They're working on math today. I'm told Peter is very good at the subject. I can tell he's a very bright child. Peter also is one of the representatives from his class for the school's version of student council. The group gets together and talks about what should and shouldn't happen at the school. Later, the students go outside for recess. Even though there's snow on the ground, a large group gets together to play fotboll. Peter is the goalkeeper, but I can tell it's difficult for him. It's hard for him to stand up and even walk, let alone chase a ball around the field. 10:00 a.m. - We head back to the Heiers'. We sit down to chat with some coffee and a Princess cake. It is heavenly. It's a bit like tiramisu with a sweet, fondant frosting. I definitely need to find out how to get more of this. We talk a lot about the differences between Sweden and America. I find out Odd would really like to visit the Grand Canyon; Randi would like to see San Francisco. Odd also says his favorite books as a child were about Davy Crockett. They show me a book Mayor Victor Ashe gave to Peter on the day he left for Sweden. It's a large picture book of the city. He has signed and dated it. I also find out that the famous balloon Peter carried with him on his journey is still tucked away in the house somewhere. Randi came across it a few years back while cleaning Peter's room and packed it away. Then, I sit down for another interview with Randi and Odd together. I like them more and more. Besides being sweet, friendly, welcoming people, they are so willing to do whatever I ask of them and are so open to talking about the past. 3:00 p.m. - I head home for the day. My exhaustion is really catching up with me now. I check in again with my boss and send a few more pictures, then I head down to the shopping mall to pick up some food. 5:00 p.m. - Time for a nap...finally. 9:30 p.m. - I wake up feeling a bit more refreshed, but I know I could sleep much longer. I don't want to throw my schedule off too much, however, so I force myself to wake up. I watch a little TV – Felicity and Scrubs. By the way, one of the reasons the Swedes know English so well is because the American TV shows are not dubbed. Instead, they're given Swedish subtitles. Of course, students also learn English in school. 12:15 a.m. - Time to head to bed. I've got another long, but hopefully exciting day, ahead for me. Tuesday, February 610:00 a.m. - My taxi cab tour guide picks me up at the hotel. On the bright side, I finally get to go to Stockholm this morning. On the down side, it is freezing, absolutely freezing. 10:40 a.m. - We first stop at the royal family's private residence. It is humongous, really, really huge. And beautiful. It's not what I expected when I heard we were stopping there. I pictured a large stone fortress of some sort, but instead, it has a French colonial design, at least I think that's what it is. I didn't major in design or art history after all. 11:00 a.m. - Now on to my real reason for coming to the city. I need to tape promos for the station. That way, viewers will actually know about and want to watch the stories I've worked so hard to shoot over the past two days. We pull off the side of an elevated road that gives us a clear view of the city beyond the water. It is beautiful, but I'm hoping I only need a few takes. Again, it's freezing!11:30 a.m. - Next stop: The royal square. Again, it's a beautiful sight. In coming here, I caught a glimpse of the Old City. If you ignore the modern dress, you can imagine this is how it's been here for hundreds of years. I cross my fingers I'll have time to come back and explore it on my own later. 12:00 a.m. - We're finished in the city. Now, we head back to Sigtuna for some extra footage and to shoot a standup there. 1:00 p.m. - Hooray! I finished my promo tour in three hours, an hour less than I had planned. That means I'll have more time on my own and I'll save the station $100. You can thank me later, Bill...2:00 p.m. - I head downstairs to catch the shuttle from my hotel to the airport – it's free. There, I catch the Arlanda Express. The train takes only 20 minutes from start to finish. I saved some cash by purchasing a 6-hour roundtrip ticket. Now, I just have to condense all my sightseeing into that timeframe. 3:00 p.m. - I'm amazed. There is so much to see here. It's a bit of an assault on the senses. I've waited so long to be here and experience this, but I know I don't have much time. Plus, it will be dark soon. I grab my camera and start walking. Oh, and thank goodness I remembered to bring earmuffs. 5:00 p.m. - I can't get enough of the Old City portion of Stockholm. It is amazing, exactly how I pictured it'd be. The buildings are beautiful, the stone streets so authentic, the views breathtaking. I want to take this in and remember it forever. 6:00 p.m. - I want to find a place to grab dinner before I head back to the train. I decide to ask the man at the chocolate shop. I tell him I'm a vegetarian. Amazingly, he directs me to a vegetarian restaurant right around the corner. I head inside; it's cozy and quaint. Unfortunately, the hostess doesn't speak English all that well, and I have trouble understanding the menu. I figure, because everything is vegetarian, I can't go wrong. That turns out to be true. My meal of rice and spicy mixed vegetables is amazingly good. Plus, it comes with free bread and coffee. Perfect. 7:00 p.m. - Time to head back to the train. It's now completely dark here, and there are lights strung between the buildings. It is another unbelievable sight. I close my eyes for a moment to force myself to stop and remember this. Of course, I take a few pictures as well. 8:00 p.m. - I'm back at the hotel, knowing my trip is coming to an end. It has been such a whirlwind, and I am exhausted. I know I need to be up early and so I should get some sleep, but I just don't feel tired. It's like Christmas morning in reverse. 12:00 a.m. - I finally drift off to sleep. Wednesday, February 75:45 a.m. - I wake up much more quickly than I'd expect. Maybe I'll have time to grab some free breakfast at the hotel. 7:40 a.m. - No time for breakfast, but I do catch the shuttle to the airport. 8:00 a.m. - I'm back at the amazingly beautiful Arlanda airport. I'm again struck by the hardwood floors and classy-looking stores and cafes. 10:30 a.m. - I'm buckled in and ready to go. This is it. I look out the window and wonder if this will be the last time I'll ever see Sweden. This time, I'm not so worried about sleep. Guess I'll check out the movie options. 12:00 p.m. Chicago time - I arrive in Chicago. It's a huge letdown. I can't believe my trip is really over. Already, Sweden and the Heiers seem like a dream. 4:30 p.m. - I'm finally on my last plane, headed back to Knoxville. I am sooooo looking forward to the end of my trip. I don't think I'll want to see another plane anytime soon. 6:45 p.m. - We touch down in Knoxville. I'm home. This entire glorious trip is over. And now the real work begins...