We wrote a little tip about exploring Stockholm by ferry yesterday. Because I’m a visual person I thought it would be nice to add a few more photos from our ride: a trip around the Swedish archipelago by ferry on a beautifully sunny spring day. You can scroll through the photos here or in full [...]
The last few days, we’ve been talking about what there’s to do in Stockholm. The usual things would came up: the old town, the hip and young Sodermalm, the museums and the seafront walks. All those things are great. The one stand-out I’d like to talk about here is one of my personal favorites: the [...]
The KFUK/KFUM? Say again?? Well this happens to be the way to spell YMCA/YWCA in Sweden. A handy thing to know if you’re trying to travel on the cheap in the not-so-cheap city of Stockholm.
Swedes get pumped about the Spring. You can’t blame them – Sweden is cold and a bit dreary for most of the winter. Come spring, people need to blow off a little winter depression with a fresh helping of booze. Lots and lots of booze. The Valborgsmassoafton festival takes place every 30th of April. [...]
Back in the olden days, when people worked the fields and forests, food in this cold part of the world was made to be rich, stodgy and VERY high in calories. Nowadays people probably don’t have to work that hard anymore, but it is still cold. Hence, it can be good to know how to [...]
This is the church in Sangis. It is the site of my first six end-of-school ceremonies; a place where we have married and buried many of our relatives. At age 14, I went through the confirmation procedure here. On one November day almost fifty years ago, my parents were married here. Over the years, [...]
You packed your bag two weeks ago, boarded a plane on your own and flew to a country you’d never been to before. You ate food you’d never eaten, baked bread like a champ and brought a little San Diego sunshine with you. Thank you, Mom. Thank you for making the long trip to [...]
Martin’s family have been in the wood business in one way or another for a number of generations. Rolf, Martin’s dad, is a carpenter – just like his father before him. We took a stroll down memory lane with a visit to the family workshop a few days ago. Rolf and his brother Curt gave [...]
An old Swedish proverb says, “A couple that braids together, stays together.” OK, fine. That’s not necessarily a Swedish proverb. Actually, I’m not sure anyone has said that before, but I’m saying it now. So, on that note, here’s my recipe for relationship success: a touch (aka a few bottles) of wine, a [...]
You may have noticed that I call Martin out on his nerdiness a lot. I do it because I can. If a wife can’t use the internet to poke fun at her amazing husband, where can she? In the name of fairness, I have to make a confession: I’m a nerd, too. I [...]
I stand corrected! Can you believe it? The baking house, in which we baked a boat-load of bread last summer (check out our video of it here), is not a Swedish tradition – it’s only a tradition in this area of Sweden. So, as I said, I stand corrected. I guess it’s just these [...]
We’ve visited many a church and religious wonder during this trip, and the other day the turn came to the picturesque church of Kalix. Thanks goes to my cousin Åsa, who made it possible and really quite entertaining. Cheers! The church sits next to the Kalix river – one of the last wild, unexploited [...]
No matter how well-traveled, cosmopolitan and multinational you become, there‘s always going to be one place that feels more like home than any other. In my case, that place is Sangis in Northern Sweden. Growing up, I was proud to know that Sangis was the site of the northernmost known Viking burial site in Sweden. [...]
The arctic circle is a latitudinal line that defines the top 1/8th of the earth as the Arctic. As you can expect, it’s damn cold up there. Beautiful scenery abounds, as there is far more nature than inhabitants. But, like I said, it’s damn cold. Most people visit in summer, when temperatures are more bearable. [...]
Martin’s family lives far from everything – except the Ice Hotel, of course. So, what’s the Ice Hotel, you ask? Only the coldest, sweetest hotel this side of the arctic circle. We hit it up today and much to our surprise, it was actually amazing (though a wee bit smelly). Check it out…
You know the saying, “to fly by the seat of your pants?” Well, that's been our philosophy for most of our adult lives – before and after meeting, falling in love and marrying. We're now taking that idea on an extended round-the-world trip. Follow us as we share the good, the bad and the downright nasty of life on the road.
