Midsommar

Mood exhausted
Music: nearby church bells, hum of kitchen appliances

We went for a reasonable bike ride yesterday, or at least I thought so. Boy did it take me out! I mean, I guess the head wind and the gentle hills were enough that I'm toast. We did keep up a reasonable pace though, and biked for about 2 hours and 20 minute with a small 15 minute rest in the park we went to. I have a ways to go before Helsingborg, or even Göteborg! (Gothemburg, our finish line destination, before we really start covering distances.) Well, this weekend, we'll get some more riding in...

We're headed north to see some water lilies that a Gumaelius discovered a while back. Going to be a bit of a family reunion too, from folks accross the world. (US included) So, I'll be sure to post a good long message about all that!

But last weekend, was Midsommar. A bit of a pagan style holiday where by Swedes dance around a pole they've decorated incelebration of the summer. Not really much more to it.

In the first couple pics, they're decorating the pole and wreaths, preparing it for the little party. When that's all done, they get a bunch of folks to move it to the dancing site (not that far away) where they put it in place. You can see it going up in the next pic. Then the folks are all awed and happy.

They start gathering around the pole; others just sit on blankets a little distance back to watch, like picnics for fireworks. A band, folk style, kicks up a little tune and gives instructions to the rings of peoples to gather around the pole. The rings alternate directions, and they do funny little moves and kicks or steps and such. Gaby and I were gigglin' a few moments.

Doug took a cool pic of the crowds, nice shot of the flag, the pole, the crowd, and our party in the bottom of the pic! That's me in the long sleeve light blue and dark gray jacket, sitting. Standing to my left is Gaby, with Jacklyn to her left, sitting. Then there's a space to my right, where Doug was sitting, then Erik (Doug's dad), standing and Nils next to him, also in light blue. So, behind us were many rows of scattered lounge folks, sitting back and watching the whole thing.

Nils is a funny guy, amazing energy and will and excitement for a guy in his 80's at least. Man does he love his nature and get around to enjoy it! After this bit of dancing, they took a break and we got a some sodas and went for a nature walk. That Nils! It was really nice though, This is where Doug and I ended up biking to yesterday, out east from Lund. Skryllegården is the name of the park, a preserve/path filled place with picnic tables about and campfire spots.

Anyways, here's some fun pics of that little nature walk. I took a pause and got Doug off in the distance leading for a little while, and up on the slope I just came down are the other 4 in our group. We hung about this little preservation spot to enjoy the beauty, the little lake, skipping rocks, catch our breath, wonder about rain from some dark clouds in the distance, and just hang about. ^_^

Later, on our journey, we came back to a clearing with this wooden structure, so Gaby and Doug climbed up there and stood proud. Nobody really knows why that's there. Soon after that, you can tell Nils wanted a little spot light, so he claimed the campsite area for his victory ^_^ Reminds me of a picture that I/we have somewhere, of myself with Ted, Jay, and my cousins, all on our old cherry swing/playset back in Itasca. We're all peering from in and around this big fun thing and Ted's standing there, like he's defeated something with one hand fisted on his hip and the other fisted triumphantly in the air. Excellent memory tie-in. Fun times. Good times.

After all that, we had ourselves some ice creams to reward our walks (Nils' treat) and we headed back to Lund. What a day, kinda kooky, those Swedes. Funny traditions, but then, who doesn't? I mean, Americans take a small bit of the earth and blow it up by means of beautiful colours and shapes called fireworks. Celebrations are what brings the communities together, and you just can't dis that. Well, hey, I'm winded, more soon about the water lily thing this weekend.

Also, I just wanted to add, that it's been a month! One whole month in Sweden! I like to say that I think I'm doing well, and I have the summer, Doug, Doug's family, my family and friends, and God to thank for all of it!

Word of the day: skål which means cheers, as in when drinking and offering a toast. ^_^

Birthdays and Chillin' With That

Mood: Relaxed

Music: Johnny Cash - Jackson, Thievery Corporation- The Mirror Conspiracy, Blur - Parklife, Hugh Masekela - Child of the Earth, Ujang Suryana - Kang Mandor (Music from the Tea Lands), Robert Miles - Children

Word of the Day: molnig = which means cloudy

We enjoyed a really nice lunch for Doug's birthday on Tuesday. Uncle Nils' treat to Doug. Doug's dad came too, so the 4 of us went for a little nature walk, lunch off a golf course and then off to the beach to watch the locals and then play a little mini golf with an ice cream bar to top the outting off! I do enjoy these Magnum ice cream bars! I swear this chocolate covered bar is far tastier than your ordinary treat in the US! (Did I just say that?!? ^_^) Lunch was nice, definately Swedish. Leek soup to start with a variety of wholesome slices of breads. A salad bar with just a few offerings, and a few pickled items, like carrots and different olives, including kalamata! YUM! We had breaded and fried flounder with boiled and dilled potatoes. A clarified butter dressing for the potatoes. On the fish was a little mix of capers and finely chopped beats. Sounds light enough, but when finished, we just sat for a bit, to settle before we went on for mini-golf.

(What a sad sight that was... I've never seen such a poorly maintained course. No scenery, gravel in the greens, totally ghetto... but I understand that's how they are, just something to enjoy a little, but nothing like the asthetics back home!) I guess the cool part was the sea air, and the what-cha-ma-call-it... with the parachute sailing? That's one in the air, and one getting ready on the beach. Later therewere 6 in the air! Made me want to try it! In the pic just above this one with the "chutes" is a great shot of locals enjoying the sun and the coast. Just on the shore line is a naked child, enjoying the cool waters! Ah, Swedes. In the pic above that, it's hard to see, but people are in the distance of the light blue water lines. At the dark blue, the coastal shore just drops off, but it's that shallow for quite some distance, just about the length of that old pier supports in the first pic.

It was a lot to hang with these 2 old guys. They use their swedish and try to teach me some, and then switch to english, and then talk to Doug in swedish, and then back again. Takes a lot of energy out of me to concentrate for the afternoon for all that! But it was a fun time. Just takin' it easy, enjoying the company, and the fabulous afternoon. Sunny, breezy, really beautiful. Which is more than I can say for yesterday or today.

Yesterday was all grey cloudy and drizzly/rainy most of the day... today, partly cloudy, I do see some sun and blue sky, so that's cool. I've already learned that the moment there is blue in the sky, you enjoy it! Take advantage of it. Truly, I'm finally beginning to understand how this vacation/time-off mentality is here. I mean, hours of operation are far shorter now than the rest of the year, and it's because people are enjoying the fine days while they have them! Once that sun starts to go in the autumn and it all is grey and cloudy, it's not the same anymore.

But enough about the grey that's ever so inevitable. Italy's gonna be tough to swing. It's looking rather pricey to go. Airfare is one thing, but lodging is quite another! Whoo, that's high. So, we'll see if Beck has any suggestions near/off of Rome. Because this trip may be a bit more pricey than we're comfortable with. It'd be one thing if we could have booked some 4 months ago, or more, but this'll be tight. Speaking of long distance planning... We're already tossing dates for travel around the holiday. That's tough too, since we both don't have jobs to consider in our timing, so we'll most likely wait a little longer before we pick that out too. I may book something and hope for some part-time job in the autumn that won't be too problematic, and then maybe Doug can book later dependent on his new job life. Well, it's a start.

Anyhoo... we did get to trek out to Malmö and come back via Lomma along the coast (which is where we enjoyed lunch with Nils and Dad). That ended up being about 3 hours with a half hour walk in Malmö. It was a nice ride, not too rough, but a fair consistant pace. I think we'll be able to kick it up a notch soon with a couple more local-ish rides. I'll keep you posted on those journies. Here's my fun hair-doo at a pause in Lomma to apply a little more sun block and drink a little H2O. Gotta enjoy that helmet hair! o_O (Malmö is behind my head, even though the grey clouds make that hard to see.)

I'm thinkin' we will be able to trek out tomorrow afternoon to a new spot. Today is filled with some computer work that Doug's up to. That's cool though, I needed some time to make some cards and work on that creative energy. I think you'll like 'em, each one is so unique! Eventually, you'll get a taste of them. I know it.

Smiles

Otto's Graduation

Mood: Mellow
Music: Pleasant outdoor breeze, birds, planes, trains, and rustling trees.

Wow, a high school graduation in Sweden. Quite a bit different of a celebration. A load more hoopla, and noise than anything I'd seen/whitnessed in the states. And days and days of celebration too! So, Otto, Doug's brother, was the graduate. I took pics during the day, Doug was on video camera, and then Doug took pics at the party later... where Otto's own little celebration took place. The whole day was eventful. We began in our kitchen by preparing 'pigs in a blanket' as munchies for the party... as requested by Otto. We followed Emril's recipe from the food network... I highly recommend it. With a wheat flour too! oh yum! Then, Otto was running out of time, so we ended up preparing tossed salads and some dressings for that, and cut melons too.

Man the feast this guy was preparing. He in the mean time prepared oven-baked chicken pieces, massive amounts of potato salad, and others prepared this lamb rice dish and a fish dish... then there was 2 cakes sorta cornbread style cake with coolwhip and loads of fresh berries all on the top. Yum yum!

Now, that all came with the evening party back at home, and in their courtyard, but let me show you some pics of the entertainment earlier in the day...

The left pic are the students gathering before their ceremony. The ladies are in white and the fellas in dark suits... all wear that white sailor hat. It's what they wear, customary. The next photo on the right is just folks milling about, waiting for the graduates. It's funny. The grads go inside and only them. Family and friends wait outside. (The next pic, is another group of students, and Otto is in the center, facing left.) Soon enough, they emerge by class, and we hunt down our peep with signs made up with a kid/baby photo and their name and class on it. Something that's also very traditional, these name signs. Otto's mum is holding the sign and Doug & Otto's niece, Gabby is on the left there with yellow roses.

Next, we have a pic of a little band that was raising some noise in celebration for the grads. And then Otto and Doug in a happy moment. The next is a family shot. From left to right is Uncle Nils, Otto, Doug, Jacklyn, Mum, and Dad. (Gabby missed this pic due to running about with herphoto camera, I think looking for Otto ^_^)

There were a bunch more pics, and I think I'll have to post them to the flicker site and y'all can check them out there... cool hug shots and such. None the less, the day moved on! While Otto gets to drive about with friends blowing whistles and noise-makers and waving streamers all through town, the rest of us get to prepare the party. Bring the food out, bring the furniture out to the courtyard, set up the marimbas, yup! Otto and the band played some live music for us! So cool.

Here's Gabby and Dad. He's just adjusting his old grad cap. And a couple shots of the marimba band. The lady in front with the blue shirt is the instructor/lady in charge of the band and marimbas. The rest are in it, and I know there's possibly a few more too, that play drums and such, but this crowd was enough for the celebration. The next picture shows Otto jammin' with the band. I tell you, the moment he steps up to the intruments, the band just oozes and bursts with energy. People couldn't help but look out from the windows into the courtyard! Finally, a family came out onto a deck to watch. That was cool. It's like the Swedes knew something fun was happening, but didn't know what to do! You see Nils in the next shot, just letting the music work right into his bones. He's so funny! He just can't help but move to the tunes. There shakin' her booty, was the lady in the blue shirt, the instructor, just enjoying the rhythms as well. I'm tellin' ya, smiles all around!

And almost lastly here, you see Otto getting some folks up to dance. He's teaching them a little count deal that they can keep boppin' out to the music. Good times, good times. And what really cool thing, that I absolutely love... is rainbows. We saw a full arcing rainbow at the end of our day as we were heading home. So clear and full, always take my breath away. Simple little refracting light waves, but none the less, impressive.

And, this all took place on a Wednesday! I tell ya, should have been Friday, but I guess they intentionally spread it out to accomodate all the graduating classes. This all took my breath away. Cheers and here's to great celebrations! Also, Happy American Father's Day to all you dads out there!

Take a guess at this evening picture

Mood: Increasingly annoyed by the noisy balcony mainenance drilling type noises. O_0
Music: iTunes radio - SecretAgent
Word of the Day: hög - which means loud

I've got a pic for you. I want you to guess what time this picture was taken. It's the view out of our sorta westerly window from our balcony. Wild guesses are encouraged!

Mood: Relaxed, chillin'
Music: Latin Jazz, Fugazi, Twin Brakes - Underdog,
Word of the day: Hjärup = the name of a neighboring town, where Doug's uncle Nils lives. Very cute and mostly residential town. For vocabulary, triangeln = triangle.

We went into Malmö yesterday by car to drop of Doug's bro. and friend when we heard they were going to be watching the "football" (that's soccer to Americans) game. Mexico versus I can't remember (and it doesn't matter since Mexico won). So, we got to talkin' about Mexican food, well, Doug and I thought it best we search some out there! We ended up at a quiet little place called Los Arcos and had ourselves a very tasty meal (and expensive by Swedish standards). This is tough for me to spend a lot on Mexican cuisine because I know that's it's not that costly, especially in the States! But it was a good meal, and it came close. We won't be frequenting there, but it was a good and tasty time. Well, this restaurant was located in a little area known as Triangeln, I was gonna call it a square, even though it's called a triangle. Looked like that was more of a mall type building with a hotel next to it (Hilton) and then busy block activity with shops and such.

These pics of trees are from the park I admire especially so that I think Millenium Park could take some notes. This is one tree with a couple takes. I loved how huge it is and the feeling of the shady, rainy like canopy. It's shaped like a giant umbrella the way those streamers of green drape from the trunk and branches. Too cool.

Here's another view in that park with one of many of the fountains behind us. This was a pretty little spot with the pond/lake, fountain, ducks, flowering trees and bushes and the list really does go on and on. There are many other spots that are a bit more tailored with benches, flowers, paths, and fountains, but I think this spot is one of my favorites, along with that tree above!

Here is this fun new bike that I bought. Fun little Trek! And Doug will have ths same kind! (just different size) and we both have Nike biking shoes, and Goretex jackets; seriously, we will be coordinated, and it's funny because it's entirely unintentional. Tune in next time for more biking adventure stories.

Another beautiful day, something like the mid 70's. Lots of sun, that's always good.

Musik: If I Had a Million Dollars - Barenaked Ladies, other random tunes
Word of the Day: svettig - means sweaty

We went for more walks today, but this one was more like a prequel to a bike ride we'll be taking soon. Yesterday was an adventurous day. We bought some touring bikes, and a little bit of gear (a jacket for me) soon another bike lock and some other accessories... like paneers down the road. But we took advantage of a fantastic afternoon and the new bike and we took off for Lomma.
I promised pics of there... so here's a load of them. Starting with a great shot of the sailboats in the marina. Next are some locals, wading in the shallow shore areas.

We took a walk out on the pier and the sand, ah, can you smell the fresh seaweed air? and salty sea freshness? I sure wouldn't want to take a dip in that water though, way way coooooold! Like, all year round too!

So, the next pic, I snag of Doug after another angle didn't turn out so well with the sun behind him. But this one's cool, because there's Doug, leaning on the wall, and the pier behind him and then the town of Malmö (where we'll be biking tomorrow!) But in that city, you can see the one tall skyscraper, the Turning Torso. The building really twists by 90 degrees from the bottom to the top of the building. It's really pretty, but supposedly a flunk in its success as a condominium tower. Unfortunate really.

The next couple pics were up a little bit from the water edge. There were these impressive rocks, so we went to see them, and sadly, they were nearly as tall as we expected, but here's a pic of 'em none the less. And just opposite them was this valley area perfect for midsommer and the pole dancing. See all those benches in the background and the pole too? They're off to the right of the clearing. Yeah, the water is out there too, past all the greenery.

Enjoy the views, and the locals ^_^

Mood: Mellow
Music: pleasant outdoor sounds
Word of the Day: kall - cool

Pleasant and cool today, bright pale blue/white sky with some scattered white clouds. Lovely is what I would call today. We've signed me up for a Swedish class... but that shouldn't start until August sometime, so in the mean time, I have Rosetta Stone and shopping and translating a cool book titled "The Ultimate Guide to the Galaxy" among other things, to keep me busy getting a start on the language. Doug's going to be one of the best supplements to learning Swedish I could ask for. He knows accent and tone and such to hone me into some proper words. It's funny how many words sound so similar, but just one wrong vowel sound and you've said something totally irrelevent to the conversation at hand. Much to learn o_O

Here's a fun picture of some ads we've seen just outside our nearby market... where I was standing with the shoe guy statue. You know you're in Europe when even the veggie ads are sexy! I really dig the asparagus. What are your favs? The garlic takes a close second for me. Ah, funny pics.

Speaking of pics, don't worry, I've got a couple more coming, with Lars too... but he's out and about doing some thesis work, so I need a refresher on getting at the pics. Soon, I'll be totally in charge and with that knowledge in my head! We went through some more cool parks, totally wish Millenium Park had some of these qualities... well, more on that when I get at the pics, eh?

Now now, you all concerned about beers... you do realize you've got a non-drinker doing alcohol research for you, right? I have heard that Swedes tend to like Danish beers better, but don't worry, I will keep my ears pricked for anything on the topic. I will not let you 2+ down, I promise!

Okay, off I go, study some Swedish and work on some new card designs. Ta ta, y'all. SMILES!

Cheery greetings

Yesterday's word of the day: blått = blue
Word of the day: regn = rain
and... blött = wet

Hey y'all! Charles, this one's for you. You requested a photo of me in front of something... well, this is real close to the apt, and it's near our close by market. This statue dude dude looked cool enough to take a picture of... with me! We're not sure exactly what this guy is or stands for, but we just figured he was some kind of shoesmith. This was the same day I landed, however, I've still been getting aquainted to uploading photos... so, up to better horizons there too!

Speaking of, Doug and I went for some awesome long walks about Lund yesterday and we took this one to show you of the beautiful park just a bit away from our apt. I love forests for their immense size and greenery and intense age.

This park is called St. Lars, yep girls, that's right. I had myself quite a giggle when I heard that one! ^_^

Tomorrow, not a whole lot will be open, similar to our Independence day, this one is just a sort of Sweden day...
so, we'll see where we can roam tomorrow. Hopefully then, on wednesday, we'll start to look into getting me a bike! Weee!

Toodles, from accross the pond. -L

I'm safe and sound in Sweden!

Music: Swedish TV
Mood: Walking Fatigued
Word of the Day: trött = tired

My goodness was my flight jouney lengthened. I got caught up in O'Hare with weather/thunderstorm delays for a good 1.5 -2 hours; just sitting on the plane all that time too, waiting in line to take off when the weather cleared. But I think I've discovered a mighty fun trick to getting food first... get a special meal. I got vegetarian meals and I was served way before everybody else. The flight went pretty well despite the slow start... however lots of us missed our connecting flights; Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Stockholm... So, then, we had to wait for new connecting flights. The cool thing about that is that we were upgraded to business class and got food on the plane, which otherwise would have had to pay for. So that was really great. Still had to wait a couple of hours for the 1.5-2 hour flight from Manchester to Copenhagen.

When I got to Copenhagen, we ended up getting on a train that went right past our stop. Oy, we were riding around quite some time to get back. But alas, I am at my new home. It is a great place and really contemporary and peaceful and pretty. There's a garden out one veiw of our 6th floor home, and trees and such out the other side. Sadly, there's exterior balcony maintenence going on and that's quite a noisemaker. Oh well, at least it'll be nice, spiffy, and freshly painted, eh?

We've been wandering all about, and a special thanks to Doug for that, especially since he's been under the weather since about a day before I got here. Trooper! But yeah, we've wandered a nice bit of Lund, and I got to visit his school area and a cool outdoor marketplace to buy some great lookin' fresh fruit and veggies. The event reminded me of when they put up those kiosks downtown in the loop of Chicago in that federal plaza area? yeah, kinda like them, just a little more tame about the whole thing. We got me a personal number to be able to get services here in Sweden.

I met the folks today. I must say, that went very well, or at least I thought so. They were really cool and sweet folks. We didn't stay too long, just to sort of get acquainted and all; which was nice. We borrowed the car and went to nearby Lomma (sort of in between Malmö and Lund, just off the path though) and we wandered all along the coast there. That was really beautiful. Way off in the distance you could make out a shadowy Copenhagen and the gorgeous bridge that connects Malmö with Copenhagen. Then you could see Malmö too, much closer of course. The sea air, breezing in on the paths, was salty, yet fresh, and cool too. The sun shined perfectly bright today, all day, which is a true sign that summer may have arrived here. ^_^ But the sun will not last too long, that is the way that it is. o_O

Well, hey, for now, I'm out. I'm gonna be in charge of the camera, so I'll be bringing it along on our adventures! So, more pics soon.