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).

Yes, yes, I know.  I promised to post more frequently, but I’ve been busy people!  I’ve been places.

I’ve been here:

And then I was here:

All I can say is wow!  Amazing places, both.  In the interest of keeping this post at a length that you would actually care to read, we will start here:

and make our way slowly through this trip before beginning the next.

So, Paris, day 1.  A lengthy travel day including one short bus ride, one longer (hour) bus ride, one 2 hour plane ride,  and one absolutely interminable (almost 2 hours from Beauvais Airport to the city) bus ride.  The Bug was a VERY good girl (and I’m not saying that lightly.  There were times on these trips when she was not so very good, so I want to point out that I do notice when she is very good). 

It was pouring when we arrived.  Not a good sign.  Got to Porte Maillot where the airport bus let off and took the Metro over to our hotel.  Quite the ride, the Paris Metro at rush hour on a Friday.  I’ve not been so cramped since the Path Train rides from Newport Pavonia to 33rd St.  There was a lovely French girl and her boyfriend (?) standing on top of us and doing a lot of smooching.  She was singing “We wish you a Merry Christmas and AN ‘appy New Year” over and over again.  She would stamp her foot hard on the word “wish”.  She thought she was hysterical, but her boyfriend (?) kept kissing her to get her to shut up.  Did she stop?  No.  Kept right on singing into his mouth.  I almost said it’s “A H appy New Year”, but my patented ”Look of Death” was all I could muster at the time being that I was carrying 85 lbs of luggage and was trying not to get separated from The Bug. 

Got to the hotel and checked in.  Priceline is a wonderful thing.  The hotel was lovely.  Their published rates for the time we were there were 280 euro per night.  I bid $100 USD per night and got a room.  Thank you William Shatner.

The rain let up so we decided to go explore in this general area:

We got some dinner.  Le famous French Hot Dog for the Bug.  The Parisians are Hot Dog Crazy kind of like the Swedes.  But they offer a lot more of Le French Fry with Le Dinner.  And there are always 2 hot dogs in a serving in Paris.  Unless you order “Le Frankfurter” and then there is just one.  I can’t figure it out.   I had my favorite Salad Nicoise.  No memory of what Mr. T ate. I do have to say in a city that is supposed to be so food-centric, the food that we found was pretty much the same whereever we went (I had Salad Nicoise every day, and Bug had, of course, Le Hot Dog).   Here’s Bug and T. at dinner:

We finished dinner just in time to get outside to see this:

Absolutely breathtaking. 

Bug said that this was the best birthday present that she ever had, but she wasn’t sure how we would get it home.

There’s so much more I have to tell you, but Mr. T. just called and said “It’s Friday and it’s sunny”.  That only means one thing.  You’ll find us here:

Skål!

Reader and My Fascinating Life groupie “Big Momma” has emailed me privately and demanded an update politely inquired as to the blogging, or lack thereof.  She made careful note that there had been no actual update since March 5.  Heavens!  I hadn’t realized it had been so long.  Nor did I realize there were actually folks out there who were interested in my toilet paper choices.  Will wonders never cease?  I apologize to my faithful followers.  You have “Big Momma” to thank for this. 

First, in the What Are the Odds? category we have specimen A:

Do you believe this?  Check out that address.  Mapquest it.  You’ll see how odd it is.  I purchased this here.  The infamous System Bolaget mentioned in previous alcohol related posts.  Their motto:  Systembolaget, the Swedish Alcohol Retail Monopoly, exists for one reason only: To minimize alcohol-related problems by selling alcohol in a responsible way, without profit motive.  PUHLEEEAZE.  I’d believe that if they didn’t charge $40 for a 750ml of Absolut.  Anyway, back to the MBC beer.  If I saw, I dunno, Bud or Michelob I wouldn’t be surprised.  They even have a lot of Sam Adams for sale.   But the fact that System Bolaget chose to purchase this beer was positively curious.  It was good, by the way.  I’ll have to buy it at home.

So what have we been up to?  Let’s see…

Do you notice the peaceful, contented look?  That is a look that can only be acheived through a visit here:

Yes.  It is the famed Junibacken.  Including the most recent visit this past weekend, I believe we’ve been there 4 times.  I’m just glad we don’t live near Disney World anymore.

Mr. T. and I spend some afternoons roaming the city.  Here’s our preferred mode of transportation:

It’s the Tunnelbana or T. 

 Here’s Mr. T on the T:

I think he’s ready to hit me.

 In other news, we’ve adopted a small Swedish girl:

Her name is Ulla and she makes handmade birdhouses (check the wall behind her, above her left shoulder for a sample of her work).  As I’m sure you can tell, she’s quite shy.  

So ”Big Momma”, hope you enjoyed this update.  I promise I won’t keep you waiting 12 days for the next.
 

just one left.  It’s got our summer stuff in it so I haven’t unpacked it.  I unpacked everything else within the first week, but this one has things we just don’t need right now like Mr. T’s House of Blues crazy flaming dice shirt that he enjoys wearing on his very first day of teaching a class.  But why haven’t I unpacked it?  I bought special hangers and made space in the Bug’s closet for such things.  Yet I can’t bring myself to unpack it.  The more I think about it, the actual  unpacking isn’t the problem.  It’s that if I actually unpack it, it means that I’m here.  REALLY here.  And then that means I’ll have to leave. 

 I’ve always said I’m a “city girl” (even though I currently call “home” a “city” that I would consider backwoodsfarm in my former life).  So now that I temporarily reside in Stockholm, I try to take advantage of all this city has to offer.  Last week (between visits to the grocery store and laundry room) I had the great fortune to be able to view this exhibit at Stockholm’s National Museum.  Toulouse-Lautrec.  What a day!  (and of course I heard Ewan McGregor singing to Nicole Kidman the whole time.  See, my cultured side blends really well with my “I Rent From Blockbuster” side.)

Today, Mr. T played hookey from school and played “City Girl” with me.  We went to see this exhibit at Moderna Museet. 

 WOW.  Toulouse-Lautrec was amazing, but this Andy Warhol was overwhelming.  So much so that I need to go back.  More than once I think.  Moderna Museet has a special affinity for Warhol.  His very first European solo exhibit was here in 1968.  He enshrouded the museum in neon pink cows.   Very un-Swedish.  They still like him.

So I’m doing the things I said that I loved to do in New York (but never really had the time to do).  Older?  Wiser?  Who knows?   I’m still not unpacking that box.

1.  That there would be a Build-A-Bear Workshop in Sweden?

2.  That an American family whose mere existence revolves around the consumerism of a certain 4-year old would end up at a mall in Sweden that used to house one of only 2 locations of Build-A-Bear Workshop in the entire country of Sweden?

3.  That said mall would have posters for Build-A-Bear Workshop located where said 4-year old (who claims she cannot read) would see and recognize said advertisement?

4.  That said 4 year old would want to go to this particular Build-A-Bear Workshop on this very day?

5.  That parents feeling guilty over said 4-year old’s proclaimed homesickness acquiesce and with glee proclaim “Yes, we shall certainly go to Build-A-Bear Workshop today”?

6.  That sorry family pulls up outside said Build-A-Bear Workshop to find locked doors and workers tearing down Build-A-Bear shelves, packing them away, and scraping the Build-A-Bear Workshop decals off the windows? 

 Apparently their last day of business was the day before we got there. 

 Thanks Build-A-Bear.  You hosed us!

I may have mentioned that things here are slightly different from what we are used to at home.  Take toilet paper for example.  The first time I bought it I had no clue what I was buying and ended up with some industrial stuff that felt like sandpaper combined with paper grocery bags.  So the second time I went to the grocery store I made a conscious effort to go alone (so that I could concentrate without repeated requests for Chocolate Goats) and noted that there were 3 choices:  “Friendly” “Long and Soft” and “Torky”.  Now these are not brand names, mind you.  They are types of toilet paper.  Which would you choose? 

I quite frankly had no idea so I called Mr. T.  He immediately vetoed the “Long and Soft” and after some deliberation he chose “Friendly”.  I have to say, ”Friendly” not so much.   Better than the first stuff, but the rolls are really small and don’t last very long.  Where is my Cottonelle when I need it???

 Friendly is almost gone so I did buy the “Long and Soft” on my last visit (I didn’t tell Mr. T, but we’ll test him to see if he’s reading the blog).   Haven’t tried it yet, but I thought I’d tell you that we’ll be opening it in the next day or two.  I’m thinking that this is a very compelling reason for you to stop by again.  Soon.  Maybe I’ll even surprise you and buy some “Torky”.

Okay.  I know I haven’t even posted Rome Day III yet, but something happened today of which I must scribe.  The day began in the most mundane of ways;  a little yoga, a little laundry, a 30 minute walk to pay a bill (don’t ask), and then, some free time for me (whoopee!).  So I got on the Tunnelbana and headed for Mariatorget on Sodermalm.  As you may recall, this is the island south of Stockholm where the lovely Skatteverket (yes, the personnummer place – and you should know that “Berry-buyers may be employers” – office is located.)  I was looking for yarn, and yes I found it, but this is another post for another day. 

 THIS particular post is about the group of teens who boarded the train in Gamla Stan, one stop before I needed to change trains.  There was a boy (perhaps 15 or so) who wore his Dolce & Gabbana  jeans very low.  So low in fact that they were belted below his bum.  Like on his legs.  He had no hips at all so jeans were definitely belted around his quads and hamstrings (I had Mr. T recreate at home and The Bug fell into fits of laughter.)  Anywhoo, he (the boy) was standing, not sitting, which required him to hold the bar above (which I cannot reach – again, another story, another day).  He was wearing a Member’s Only type jacket.  When he held the bar above,  the jacket kept riding up above his nonexistent waist…

exposing…

his tighty whiteys!

The best part though, is that when he felt oddly exposed (after a good, I don’t know, 3 minutes or so of full bum exposure), what does he do?  He pulls the JACKET down.  Yeah.   Good move.  Pull the jacket down.  Then reach back up for the bar.  Jacket goes right back up.   He repeated this action at least 3 times while I was on the train.  I was trying not to watch, but really. 

 Wouldn’t YOU just pull your pants up? 

Who says I can’t keep a (loose) promise?

 So we arrived at the Spanish Steps and got some cute pictures.  At least I know where these were taken as opposed to most of the pictorial in Day II, Part I.   Here are the steps:

Me and Bugsy on steps:

Bug and Dad climbing together:

Then Bug zooms ahead:

And she still needs to be carted around in a stroller???

Bug poses some:

And blows some kisses from Italia:

Yes, she’s wearing my gloves.  She refused to wear her coat this particular morning and her gloves were inside it.  We are all about “picking our battles” at this point, so we let her go without as that is what she wanted, and to be honest,  it was sunny and in the mid L’s (do you like my use of Roman Numerals?) when we left the hotel.  She felt empowered.  We felt like really good parents.  Yeah.

Whew!  Did you feel like that was the endless flight of stairs?  I did.  Finally, we reached the top:

(notice darkening skies…)

Bug wanted her caricature portrait drawn.  Well, she wasn’t really sure.  There was a lot of back and forth.  Then some whining.  She wanted the BIG picture and we wanted a small one for the sake of portability.  We think the guy gave us the BIG for the price of a small but I’m not sure. Either way, it turned out cute and I don’t know how I will get it home.

Now right behind the other lady having her portrait drawn was a watercolor artist who had some lovely things.  I bought III;  one of the Colosseum, one of the fountain at the Vatican and one of The Spanish Steps .  Truth be told, one of my goals for this sojourn is to purchase actual artwork for my actual home where I have actually lived for IX years with virtually empty walls.  Check.  Partial goal completed. 

So the skies kept getting darker and we were getting hungry, but we happed upon this and play time took precedent over everything:

Sorry about the wacky flash on that one.  Someone who shall remain nameless keeps putting my camera on automatic mode.

This is Pincio Gardens.  It’s a tradition on Sunday for kids to dress up in costumes and shoot each other with silly string.  They then throw confetti on top of it for good measure.  I wonder who cleans this up? 

Finally Mommy got her play time as we found a nice restaurant in the park where we were able to obtain some nice wine.  As we sat at the restaurant, it began to rain.  It seriously poured.  We had III people, II jackets, 0 umbrellas, 0 strollers (the Romans did not have a symbol for 0) and it was pouring. 

When we finally made our way back to the hotel we were exhausted and soaked.  We got into dry clothes and Bug had an epiphany.  Her new business venture is called ”DaddysStinkyFeet.com”.  Look for us there sometime in the future.  It’s amazing what goes on in the mind of a IV year old.

 More Rome coming this weekend (again, a loose promise), and then we’ll return to our regularly scheduled Stockholm programming.

Ciao!

Yes, I know this post is most belated.  I will tell you the reason:  I took so many pictures in Rome that I’m having trouble editing them all and then choosing which to post.  In my current Valentine’s Day Day After Valentine’s Day (or Dag Efter Alla Hjärtens Dag depending on where you live) Chianti induced haze, I thought it would be a good idea to at least begin Day II of Rome (especially when you consider I have not yet blogged about the Build-A-Bear nor the toilet paper issues in Stockholm, I am way behind.  I know you are waiting with baited breath). 

So where were we?  Ah yes, Rome. 

We started Day II with an open bus tour.  Please note that I have no idea what we saw as Mr. T. did not bring his headphones and he kept asking me to repeat to him what they were saying into my headphones.  I’m certain that I neither heard what they were saying, nor did I repeat it correctly.  Not an optimal scenario for making mental notes.  I’ll just show you the pictures and if you know what it is, let me know:

Marco Minghetti?  Anyone?

Oooh….I know what this next one is!  A view of the Tiber:

Notice it was getting cloudier and cloudier as the morning progressed?  More on that later.  Back to the previously scheduled bus tour:

The bus tour was a great way to get an overview of the city.  I definitely recommend it.  Make sure you get your traveling partner to bring headphones.

We jumped off the bus in the area of The Spanish Steps.  We walked down Via Condotti to get there.  Fendi and Prada and Gucci (and Versace and Armani).  Oh my.  Serious shopping folks.  I believe I might have mentioned my teeny tiny little faux pas in forgetting the Bug’s stroller.  I did find this on Via Condotti:

Yes, it’s Fendi – the logo may be hard to discern on your monitor as it is on mine.  Do you think I bought it?

I was tempted, believe me.  Only because it was the one and only stroller that I saw for purchase in the city of Rome.   Nothing’s too good for My Bug.  Except this stroller.

Sorry to cut this short and leave you hanging in the middle of day II, but Bug has a school holiday today so we’re heading down to her favorite place.   I promise (loosely) to finish day II and perhaps even begin day III later.

I may have mentioned in my last post that we were just slightly excited for our trip to Rome, but the pre-trip excitement was nothing compared to actually being there.   It was absofreakinlutely the coolest thing we’ve done in a long time (next to moving to Stockholm, that is).  The weekend began with a Friday night jaunt to a town called Nykoping (pronounced Kneeww-shooping from what I can tell), about an hour south of Stockholm.  We were taking off at 6:30 AM and needed to be at the airport by 5 so leaving from here would have just been way too early.  Not that it already wasn’t way too early when we left the hotel at 4:30 AM.  Oy.

So we arrived at Skavsta Airport a little before 5 AM and took the ticket from the autopark machine.  I thought I was putting it in a little shelf in the dashboard like we have in our car at home.  Alas, I put it in the CD player instead and the CD player kept trying to play it and would not eject it.  Nice.  More on this in a later post because we are in a rush.  We need to get to the airport!  C’mon…

Not since I was in college have I seen so many people drinking beer at 5 AM as I saw at Skavsta Airport.  It was unreal.  And no, before you ask, I did not partake.  Why you may ask?  I was saving up for 3 days of the best Chianti and Pinot Grigio on the earth.  (Note to my neighbor, The Divine Ms. M.:  we should move our Thursday night viewing to Rome.  Great bottles of Pinot Grigio for about $3 at the supermarket.  No lie.)

The flight was uneventful and before 9:30 AM we touched down in Rome.  Got ripped off by some cab driving conspiracy because some of us are just too good to take the bus (hey Birthday Boy, I’m looking at you), and arrived at our hotel, which was really very nice.  I was slightly concerned because we got such a good deal on it – $275.  Total.  For 3 nights.  Including tax.  And Breakfast.  It definitely exceeded my expectations by miles. While we’re on the subject of cost, did I mention how much I paid for the airline tickets to Rome?  $251.88.  Total.  For all 3.  Are you jealous yet?  Don’t be.  Remeber, I pay $90 every time I fill up my gas tank.  I feel I am somehow owed. 

Oh, right.  So we’re in Rome.  Yes, I know we’re not really there anymore, but just pretend that we are, the same way Regis and Kelly do when they tape a show and pretend that it’s live.  Humor me.

The first thing we did was dump our bags and head for the Vatican area.   We stopped for a little lunch at a little Italian place on the way. 

First up, birthday pic of Birthday Boy at lunch, showing you all how old he is:

Mmmmm.  Pinot Grigio.  Did I mention that we’re in ROME???

Not to be outdone by daddy, The Bug also wishes to let you know her age, and thankfully did it in front of my face so that you cannot actually discern mine:

And the food.  OMG, the pasta:

Now you know that The Bug is the pickiest eater on earth and she told me that this was without a doubt the BEST pasta she had ever had.   I ordered this:

So it was a good thing that Bug had a lot of pasta to share.  But seriously,  Rachael Ray is right about the tuna fish here.  It tastes NOTHING like it does at home.  It is really, really, really, really good.  And I love tuna.   Mr. T and I actually shared the salad and a pizza which was yummy but did not pose for a photograph worthy of you, so I left it out of the post entirely.

So we finished lunch and walked down to the Vatican area.  Amazing.   Below is one of 2 fountains in the plaza area:

And here’s a picture of St. Peter’s Basilica (we never got inside because the Police closed it down while we were there and told us that we couldn’t get in line).

Nope.  Don’t know any of those people.

Below is a view that was taken from the steps which shall now be known as The Vatican Naughty Seat. 

Yes, The Vatican Naughty Seat.  The Bug was lucky that The Pope was around to oversee her spiritually because I was prepared to take her back to the hotel at this point.   To be honest it was mostly my fault.  I forgot the stroller.  Bad move.  Don’t ever take a 4 year old to Rome without a stroller (even though in Europe 4 year olds walk everywhere….people in Stockholm keep staring at her wondering what in the world is wrong with this girl that she needs to be in a stroller.  You see 2 year olds here walking everywhere).  So lets change that last warning.  Don’t ever take an American 4 year old to Rome without a stroller.  At least Mr. T. got to burn off all the Italian food by carrying around an extra 4o lbs. 

 Stay tuned….more from Rome later tonight or tomorrow.