Berries

In Sweden the sun is always shining, there is no night, no one really works but people spend their days hanging out at cafes, on the beach and in their gardens, the most common dinner is hot dog and hamburger on the bbq, bedtime is whenever - and gardens, road sides and forests are always full of yummy berries. Our summer holidays for sure help to give my kids a completely distorted view of what Sweden is actually like for most of the year...

Raspberries on a straw.

No more blueberries left.

the Österlen tour - now a tradition!

For the second year in a row - and definitely already a tradition, I'm completely hooked and "Summer in Sweden" is no longer complete without an Österlen tour.

 With great friends Wayra and Luna (and Wayra's mum Ulrika and Luna's dad Magnus, outside picture frame)

Beautiful Haväng beach. But it is the east coast - meaning water is just freeeeezing cold, no one dared dipping more than a toe.

Just as last year, we got lost both in space and time at Karrossgården in Gladsax. Hana bought a heart shaped porcelain jewelry box and Kai a pocket knife. 20 kronor each. What a place.

Our tent spot. Not too bad either.

 Nice views...

... and in the late evening when the wild horses came down to our little pond, just as a lonely swan decided to float by, it got almost too idyllic.

 The famous light.

 Barbie and her prince had fun, too. Just as Hana and Wayra.

We also had time for a visit to Mandelmans... 

... and a stroll in the forest, and actually a climb all the way to the top of Stenshuvud National Park.

And then we had pizza at Tångdala Lönnkrog, a strange and hard-to-find place (as name indicates) that started off as an art project, about freedom and marginality. Pizza was so good. Place is lovely.

Be back next year!

Freedom

Apart from visiting all our friends, one of the main reasons for travelling across half the globe every summer is this... the freedom to roam around, run around, bike around. Where the air is clean, everything is green, its safe - and the sun is shining all the time and there is no night (almost)!

Sweden - West Coast fun

On the Swedish west coast and in the lovely little town Varberg is where we, as usual, spent most of our summer holidays, having loads of fun.

 From Göteborg in the north, where we visited "cousins" Kajsa, Filippa and Theo...

 ... to Malmö in the south where we had a lovely reunion with best friends from Hanoi, Leo and Nemo.

 And, in between, lovely little Varberg, where it was sometimes just "me and the sea"...

 ... and sometimes we had to share the (same) beach with a few other, locals and tourists. We consider ourselves both.

Compulsory visit to Öströö Fårfarm.

And loads of hanging out in mormor and morfar's garden.

More "cousins" visiting. Edvin, Kai, Leonard, Otto, Alex.

Thank you mormor and morfar for hosting. Presents for all. We'll be back next year!

I'm back!

In Manila. Online. At our new place in Antipolo, Rizal (yes, we've moved to the province, so actually, officially, no longer in Manila, but still). Soon with a few posts about summer holiday fun and moving madness.

For now, just a little preview of our new street.

Hana walking the dog, Kai on his bike. Everyday.

the Farm at San Benito

Last week I drove down to the Farm at San Benito with a friend who had to make a delivery of her beautiful bags to the spa shop. What an amazing place.

 Arriving.


New bags looking good!


Then we had a simply delicious raw food sample menu lunch. Yummyummy.


Nice views.


And a most amazing garden. Where we totally lost track of both direction and time.

Upside down.

And now on the lookout for good promos, to stay the night. With Philippine summer already over and rainy season just around the corner - or is it here already? - I'm hoping for the best!

... and a few more from Japan

This visit totally was an urban one. It was lovely but hoping for some forests and mountains as well next time.

All very symmetric.

 Trains everywhere.

 And a rather brownish color scheme.

 Making patterns.

 And even the streets are clean. Or well, not really, but still... (and as long as reference point is Manila and Hanoi)

 And when there's color, there's color.

We took a ride. And hope to be back in Japan soon again. Big thanks to Keisuke's family who took such great care of us! Mata ne.