And 2 months later…

I knew it had been a while since I posted, but 2 months?  How the time flies.  I do have a semi-excuse for the lack of posts:  my computer crashed!  Such luck I have had with this laptop.  So it’s taken a little while to figure out how to download my raw file pictures onto Mr. T’s computer.  And it’s taken a while to wrangle the computer out of Mr. T’s web surfing fingers, but I’ve done it and I’m here.  That’s all that matters, right?

When last I posted we were in Paris.  Of course most of the pictures from Paris and Norway are on my (deceased) laptop, so we’re going to have to skip that portion of the programming for now.  But I do have 2 pics from our ski trip in Hemsedal Norway because they were taken on Mr. T’s phone.  The first is for Mr. S of Virginia, USA who emailed to enquire as to the presence, or lack thereof, of likenesses of yours truly.  The truth is Mr. S. that I take most of the photos, so it’s hard to be in them.    I also have sole editorial control over the content here and generally the few photos of me are less than publish-worthy, if you know what I mean.  But since you asked, here’s one of me and The Bug on our ski trip in Hemsedal:

And another pic from Norway.  I just found this very amusing:

I assume you want to know what else we’ve been up to.  Late April/Early May were filled with visits from loved ones.  For some reason I had camera memory loss when our visitors were here.  I didn’t take one picture!  To those loved ones who visited, rest assured that we still love you.  I cannot explain my behavior.  

April 30th/May 1st are some sort of important Swedish holidays.  One is the King’s Birthday and the other is some excuse to have another day off work in addition to the King’s Birthday.  Our apartment complex called us the week before to ask us if we could raise/lower the flag these 2 days (as they would clearly not be working).  I felt so proud to be a Swede!  I had wanted to get some great photos to remember this event, but somehow got way too involved with the flag.  The one photo I took for you would leave you with no impression that we were raising or lowering the flag EXCEPT for the fact that the white post in the photo is actually the flagpole:

This is The Bug and her friend Miss S. who helped us with our patriotic Swedish duties.  I can see some dissenters challenging us on whether or not this event actually happened.  I know, you’re sitting there saying, “they certainly did NOT raise, nor lower the Swedish flag on the King’s Birthday/The Other Holiday.  They are making it all up.”  But wait, I have more proof:  the arm in the upper right does belong to Mr. T.

  We’ve been picnicing a LOT.  These pictures are from one of our favorite spots on top of Vanadisvagen park (or Vanadistoppen).  There’s a great little park for the Bug as well as an amazing view of the city.

 

And here are some shots from The Bug’s school picnic:

The Bug was in heaven this day as she got to spend a weekend day with her posse.    Next to her (on her left) is Mr. A who wears sunglasses to school most every day and who Bug thinks is very handsome.  Miss G is to his left.  She is 6 and teaches Bug important life lessons like “Green, green.  Bathroom Clean.”  The boy to Bug’s right is Mr. I from Spain.  Apparently he’s a trouble maker.

We’ve also taken the boat to Tallinn not once, but twice.  This is a really fun trip on which one may purchase huge unlimited quantities of Duty Free Alcohol.  It’s also very interesting that there is not one check of citizenship on arrival in Estonia, nor upon return to Stockholm.  Very odd, but if you’re reading this to find some loophole in the system, you’ve discovered it. 

Here’s my little Estonian Princess in her new Estonian woolens on the streets of Tallinn:

Precious, no?  Behind her, further down the street are some booths where the Estonian women sell their hand-made wares.  I was in knit heaven!

Here’s Bug and T:

And Bug hamming it up in a store while we waited for T. to come back with some money so that we could buy:

While our first trip to Estonia was rainy and cold, the second was sunny and HOT!  We went to the zoo which was pretty cool.  T. and I both said that this was the first place we’d been to that absolutely no one spoke English.  The first time we visited, we stayed in the old city which seems to be strictly  geared toward tourists and hence everyone speaks English.  The zoo was located in the outskirts of town and was more for locals.  There wasn’t a lot of English speaking going on. 

So when we left the zoo, we had to take the Electric Bus back to the center of the city.  T. waited until we were ON the bus (and said bus was moving)  to let me know that he only had a 500 krooni bill (approx. $50).   We didn’t have the right change and the driver didn’t speak English.  So we stole a ride.  The Estonian Authorites are still looking for us.  They charge you up to 600 Krooni for this offense.  We are slowly amassing localities to which we will be unable to return.

Last weekend we went to a little place on Lake Malaren called Sigtuna.  They claim that they are the oldest town/settlement in Sweden.  Somehow I distinctly remember some other localities claiming the same.  For the purposes of this post however, Sigtuna is the oldest town in Sweden.  If I said it about another town (Uppsala, I’m looking at you), I was mistaken.  It’s Sigtuna.  Established c.a. AD 980.

Bug and T on the steps of an 18th century cottage that is now the Tourist Information Center:

and in the garden:

Bug at the entrance to a little cafe called Tant Bruns(not to be confused with Tant Grons down the street).

Bug proclaimed that Tant Brun could be her mother.  Fabulous.  Perfect.  Really.  Now I don’t have to be photographed.   Ever.  Again.   We’ll use Tant as my stunt double.

Lots of cool ruins and runes in Sigtuna.  Below is St.  Per’s Kyrka:

And St. Olaf’s:

And St. Somebody Else or other.  Luke maybe?

And yes, the sky really is that blue.  I didn’t photoshop it.  It’s been that blue every day since mid May.  In fact today is the very first day we’ve had rain or even a cloud since May 14th.

As promised, one of the aforementioned runes:

Here’s Bug in the garden that she called “Alice in Wonderland’s Garden”:

And finally a series of shots that we took specifically for our friend Mr. S:

 

Bug was not cooperating.  The petrified look on her face is the result of an actual bug sighting (red and poisonous according to her) on the rocks.

There.  Now that you are semi-updated on our happenings we can actually go on vacation with the HobokenKvetch family with a clear conscience (and an empty camera memory to fill up!). 

And now, ’til we meet again, Adios,  Au Revoir,  Auf Wiedersehen (special kudos to anyone who can name that tune).

~ by feefour on June 10, 2008.