Sunday, December 06, 2009

Swimming on Vancouver Island

Joe took us to a lake where he used to hang out





A true dog lover...



Dad and a car



This used to be Joe's play ground



...and still is





Found this posted to a tree



Mom and Joe took a dip in the river



CANADA!!

In one week from now we'll be in Canada! Or actually, we are leaving Vienna on Thursday, so it it's less than a week, tjoho! But I've realized that I haven't posted all the photos from last year yet - this was the last post - so here they are....

Finishing the wedding cake at Joe's mom's house



Portuguese Joe - this is where you pick up the candied salmon and smoked prawns in Comox, Joe's home town. Where else??





Comox valley by the water



Lazy seals...









Joe telling my mom about the Chinese grave yard in Comox



Amsterdam four days in November

HELLO and WELCOME to AMSTERDAM!!



Ever tried Bitter Ballen??



No, thanks. Don't think so. But this stuff was truly delicious! Reminded me of a certain type of sausage my grand mother used to do for Christmas... could eat this every day. And develop a big belly as a result...oh yes, it would be worth it!













The second day we visited the house of Anne Frank, and also stood two ours outside in hailing rain to get into the Reijksmuseum - seems like it was the only museum open that day judging from the amount of people that wanted to get in. Once you're in - it only take 45 minutes to get around as 90% of the building and its collection of art is off limits because of constructions. No. It wasn't really worth it (and I don't find Rembrandt so interesting). Below is Joe standing in the line, next to a mobile cafe.



Me, my bike and my office in the back.









We met with Petra who is Dutch one night, that was really fun! We were hanging out a lot in Nairobi and she is now working at the Court in the Hague. Haven't seen each other in 2 years so we had a lot to catch up on...









Mr and Mrs Lindgren!

Emma's möhippa / bachelorette party in Stockholm

Kusin Linda på T-banan in till Kungsholmen



Linda och syster Sara förbereder champagnen...



En peppad Sophia dyker upp med väskan full av pain au chocolat...



...tätt följd av Emmas barndomsvänner Christina och Åsa



Emma gör entre i sin sombrero från Mallis...glatt överraskad





Något kylig frukost nere vid vattnet..



Följt av drejning och lunch på Thaibåten...och däremellan dök Sara och Alex upp från Malmö, och Thessan dök upp från ett hörn...



Middag efter lite fotografering hos Sophia... Emma fick barnmat eftersom hon gillar det..









Börjar komma i form här..



Kön till Cliff Barnes var lång och kall...









Hedda's first visit to Bratislava and Vienna

Emma, Hedda, mom and Irene came for a week visit in October. It was Hedda's first visit to Bratislava and Vienna!



Emma and Hedda on the tram in Brati on their way to the train station



Hedda in the famous Hotel Sacher - she behaved like a lady of course!



And then some schnitzel and weiss bier...







...and finally a Cafe



Saturday, October 24, 2009

Bruxelles three days in October

The night before we went to Bruxelles, Blythe and I celebrated Joe's birthday





We stayed with Michael who used to live in Kosovo but is now working in Bruxelles. He lives right by the Commission.





Kissing at Grande Place



Two Canadians and a war memorial







Ready to attack the Korean BBQ



There was a cultural festival going that week end so we joined some kind of collective dance thingy



Joe and his Idol (do you see any similarities? I do!)



One good example of how to pour a beer properly and of how not to pour a Kvak



Me and a cool building











Loved this painting!





Friday, October 23, 2009

Samuel's birthday party!!

The birthday boy (or Superman if you like!)



Ella (or the Princess if you like) flying high



Masquerade!



Sara and Johnny went for the East meet West thing (and I was a pirate)



What a cute little bear



Samuel and his best friend Birk





Samuel and Ella

Stockholm with Leslie, Stina and Jens, Emma and Hedda

Leslie, who I became friends with in Nairobi, was on a Grand Tour d'Europe (Paris, Madrid, Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm!!) and I had the chance to meet up with her for some quality time in Stockholm. Do I have to say that we had LOTS to catch up on? It was really great to see her again!

We met up with Emma for a coffee...



...and Hedda! I think this is my absolute favorite picture of her..irresistible!







I also found out that Hedda is a big fan of doodles - not cheese doodles yet - but corn doodles. Now, that's my type of girl!



In the evening we met up with Erik who also used to work in Nairobi.



The next day Jens, Stina and I took their new Volkswagen for a spin out to the archipelago of Stockholm...a lazy day in the sun.









Saturday, October 10, 2009

Northern coast of Spain and a little bit of France

Then we went up north along the Costa Brava coast for a couple of days and further on into France to Collioure

We stayed at this gorgeous little place called Cancarbo close to Peralada.



Joe found a friend called Gaston (the name of Joe's future dog by the way...)



Spanish country side living ain't so hard



Joe found two friends!! They refused to leave him and stayed outside our door all night long waiting for him to come out and play.



Some excursions to nearby villages...











Venturing out into the mountains...










Some sea dipping and wine drinking







Visiting Carcasonne



Coullioure



Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Barcelona - Four Days in the beginning of August



















Saturday, September 05, 2009

The christening / baptism of Hedda

The christening of Hedda



















Building a terrace in Vällingby!

Sara and Johnny built a terrace this summer, it turned out really well!





Lasse is well prepared



Samuel lost a tooth. Here he is, busy counting all his old teeth..





Cray fish!! Accompanied by some dirty old (mostly Danish) drinking songs..



Copenhagen seen from the water side

Some photos from Copenhagen when we took a canal boat





The new MAERSK Opera House, pretty pretty, but even more so when it' dark and its all lit up





The Theatre



The Carlsberg sailing boat



I wouldn't mind living here..can you get more direct access to water than this?



ok, maybe this





bad parking job

Linda and Magnus wedding in Västervik

Here are some photos from my cousin Linda and her husband Magnus' wedding this summer in Västervik. A fantastic day and a beautiful bride and a delicous dinner!!









Anders was an excellent toast master the whole evening















Gittan and Per holding their cute speech

















Celebrating mine and Emma's birthday in Ekestad















Time to prepare for the crash fish party!!

Friday, September 04, 2009

Croatia, island of Krk

Stina taking care of the hedge hog during the trip to Croatia. It was supposed to take 4 hours, but given the fact that we chose to travel on August 1 when everyone in this part of Europe seem to have started the holiday, and had decided to use the same roads as us....the only reason we ever got there at all was thanks to a Croatian guy named Ivan (of course) who was kind enough to explain give us a map of an alternative route to the coast. As such, the trip only took 9 hours..



It's only Jens out for a little stroll with his umbrella





Getting drunk of slivo down by the water to celebrate the arrival of my birthday



followed by a so called "tipsy moon bath"



The morning after on my birthday, what a surprise....and some more champagne to cure the hang over..



After that we went with another Ivan (Ivan no.2) in his boat to this small little island with super clear water



little did we know that this boat belonged to a retired, drunk Austrian couple who had fully embraced the nudist / naturist batch culture...mmmm....a lovely sight!



Returning back



Ivan no. 2 is busy with pouring petrol into the ocean behind us..



Out for an evening stroll to join the other tourists (Jens and Joe actually backed out the last evening..)



We found a great place to swim the last day





Exploring some little village where we had excellent food and I downed two schnapps glasses with local slivo by accident I swear







Lilla Stina med stora havet

Mid summer celebration at Vinö

Spent a lovely mid summer at Gittan and Per's house at the island of Vinö













Simon and Samuel made their own alternative mid summer pole without any flowers that they insisted on taking with them to the celebration organized on the island...















The alternative celebration continued...



...accompanied by some excellent guitar play!





Ouch! That was hot



And then some games..



Beginning of the summer

Some other high lights of the first part of the summer...

Hanging out with Emma, Hedda and Lars in Ekestad



Visiting my brother, unfortunately it was too cold to try out his pool



Visiting Emma's and Micke's beautiful new property by the sea - they are planning to build a house here and hopefully move in within a year or so...simply fantastic!







Visit to Astrid Lindgren world in Vimmerby with the kids.







Spending a night in Jenny in Västervik with my cousins



Bratislava visit

Mom couldn't stand the heat - she found the perfect place on the carpet right below the Air Conditioner



Day trip to Vienna - visiting Belvedere to check out the Klimt paintings amongst other things



Jumped on the tourist bus - excellent way to see the city when it is 30 degrees outside - dad is looking most concentrated here..



Lunch at MAK (Museum of Applied Arts) is always delicious and unique





A Lindy Hop dance event



And finally a trip to the lake outside of Brati

Bruce Springsteen & the E-street Band playing in Vienna

One of my best Bruce concerts ever!



















Prague

Some photos from Prague in May:

Dogs enjoying the view from Karl's bridge





This city takes tourist transports to a whole new level







When taking this photo I realized that mom was in fact wearing Stina's old sneakers!







This is where we eventually came to spend a whole afternoon...