Our third day in Minneapolis was actually the reason we came there in the first place – to attend a graduation! The story is actually pretty funny, Derek completed his studies a decade ago but somehow never graduated because he moved away right after school so this year he decided that it’s time to wrap it up. They could have just mailed the diploma but we thought it would be fun to go and do it in person hence this little trip.
I have never been to a graduation in the US so for me it was extra interesting, I don’t even know who was more excited me or Derek, haha. We got his cap and gown the day before and splurged on a bow tie with the university logo (which I ended up putting on Derek UPSIDE DOWN!! So instead of “M” for “University of Minnesota” it said “W”, oops:D).
The morning of graduation there was a great atmosphere of excitement around the campus, hundreds of students smiling and celebrating this really cool milestone. I loved the commencement speech by Pam Edstrom, I think it’s a great tradition to have someone successful share a piece of their wisdom and to inspire new graduates.
The graduation ceremony was at the hockey arena which I thought was interesting although apparently it’s pretty normal, there were so many people! I didn’t realize that every singe graduate will walk the stage and it would take at least 2 hours, but hey, I get it, it’s probably the most exciting part of it for the person graduating. Meanwhile, I had Alaric attached to me in a carrier, who by the way also dressed up for such occasion and got his own little bow tie. He was a champ behaving very well for the most part.
After the graduation we stopped by the reception at the residence of the President of the University of Minnesota, it was so lovely! The residence itself is beautiful, so classy and chic, it had a great atmosphere with a hint of history to it. It was also very nice to meet the President, Eric W. Kaler and his wife, Karen.
Before dinner we drove around a little more to look at the city. One of the things I was impressed by is how beautiful and solid the houses are there, made of bricks and stones with beautiful big windows and surrounded by nature, those places cost the same as some very underwhelming condos in Los Angeles, it kind of blows my mind.
For graduation dinner we went to The Melting Pot – a fondue restaurant which I thought was so cool! Last time I had fondue was years ago and it was so fun and special to do something different. The food was delicious! We had cheese fondue, and hot pot, and chocolate fondue, needless to say that we pretty much rolled ourselves out of there by the end of the night.
This was our last day in Minneapolis, our flight was early in the morning the next day, so after dinner we went for a little walk along the bridge across Mississippi river which was right behind our hotel, the weather finally warmed up and it was a beautiful evening.
Overall, this trip was really fun. I was glad to get a glimpse of a real America, experience college traditions and try some very good food. We made a vlog about this trip which I will link here once it’s ready. I hope you enjoyed following along our little journey!
