30 years later … Christmas with my family…

Finally we had finished our first Christmas shopping in 21 years, and we had our ham just like everybody else (in Adelaide anyway) and everybody else had been to their "work's Christmas doo" and it was Christmas Eve. 

But December 24, 2012 was a strange day; Mischa, Simone and Jasper all had gastro-enteritis!, it was sunny and warm (of course!) and we weren't exhausted counting the minutes until 5.00 p.m. when we could close the doors so we could go "home" and sit in our big black chairs and miss our kiddies.  

So - we walked Jasper down the street so M&S could sleep and we sat outside and had a flat white (like a ton of other people) and we watched people finishing-up their last-minute shopping in their shorts and t-shirts … and I think that's when I became "verklempt" and confused and couldn't understand why I was sad to be doing what I had wanted to do for the past 30 years! 

Jasper with his "baby chino" and if you look behind the man in the striped t-shirt you can see a busker with a santa hat singing

 ... but not a Christmas Carol - singing Nilsson Schmilsson!!

Later that night M&S rallied and we had a lovely raclette (fondu just doesn't work in the heat!) and we Skyped with Cassia & Pablo and  by Christmas Day i was happy that I was "home" with my crazy family.  

Raclette outside with a recovering Mischa and Simone

Christmas Day, the weather was perfect (27c) and we sat outside at David (my brother) and Anita's under the shade-cloth (no sunburn!) and enjoyed our turkey and ham and lamb and our Grant Burge sparkling burgandy and some Christmas pudding and my sister was very happy with her tickets for OVO and Jess and James looked after Jasper so well that except for Cass & Pablo and dear old Dad and Tony not being there it was prit'near perfect!

Typical Australian Christmas Tree with host Anita and Joseph's nose (he's allays sticking it in!)

My mum in the shade with Mischa and Jasper's empty highchair!

Typical Christmas table!

Prit'near perfect, except that later that night I came down with gastro, then my sister, then James & Jess. Then we drove down to Victor Harbor to spend time with Mischa and Simone at her parent's beach house and then her Dad came down with gastro, then Joseph, then Jane (her mum) and then her Dad's brother and then … well we are still waiting because I've never known anything so rampant and I'm sure it isn't finished being passed along.  

I can't believe I waited 30 years for this!

Yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus …

The Sunday before Christmas was 42c in Adelaide. 

 It was the day we had to leave the Caravan park at the beach which would have been sad had we not been lucky enough to have the use of Simone's parent's house in town (while they were at their beach-house) with it's a/c.  Packing up the van when it's already 32c at 8.00 a.m. in the VICIOUS sun isn't fun either but before we even hopped out of bed there was a text message from Cirque du Soleil to ask how we enjoyed OVO last Friday night?   Er … the tickets I bought for my sister were for NExT Friday night … weren't they?  Ooops - no they weren't - I had bought them for the wrong Friday!!!  We only had two gifts to buy for my family (secret Santa or Kris Kringle - whatever it's called); one from each of us -  so I needed to fix this so as not to look like the ditsy sister (that we all know I am).  

So after we packed up the van (in the heat) I drove to Le Chapiteau which in Adelaide is in the middle of a dusty parkland. By now it's up to 37C and while I wait for it to open, I sit in the car cooking because there was a horrid hot dusty wind blowing outside and there is no shade and I don't want to pollute the atmosphere… I was at boiling point when they didn't open on time and after alerting the security guard to open the gates I was ready to march right up to the box office and be very cross.  But the girls at the box office were very nice and they were from Montreal and Toronto and they said it was absolutely no problem that I mixed up the tickets and they would just reassign them for next Friday night and was there anything else they could do for me? So I said no, and blessed them and wished them a merry Christmas (it was the least I could do) and promised to write to Monsieur Laliberté and recommend them for saint-hood and I got back into my (er Simone's) sweltering car and realized it is true … there is a Santa Claus Virginia.  

But I also knew what else was true - that if those girls were Australian or Cirque du Soleil wasn't Canadian I would never have had those tickets changed … if not at all, certainly not so easily.  Australian retailers/companies (in general) just don't think like that…

This sun is VICIOUS .. wear your rashie!

We've enjoyed being so close to the beach at Semaphore -my old neighbourhood beach (well 15 min-drive neighbourhood beach).  

Enjoying the beach using thongs to protect my head from the vicious sun and swat dies away from my face.

 There is a nice bike path along the beach and Semaphore Road has become a great eating and shopping strip - similar perhaps to the way Hintonburg has been reborn? 

The walk home from shopping on Semaphore Road

So as part of being back home and sharing in family duties we offered to entertain our niece and nephew - James (9) and Jess (8).  It's pretty easy looking after them when you have a great pool at the caravan park or you can hop over the sand dunes to a fairly pristine (save for the odd bit of seaweed) beach.  So that's what we did on a not-so hot day just before Christmas.  The kiddies did endless handstands and dives in the pool and all of them required being "marked" out of ten - and that was my job and I did a pretty good job of it I must say.  Also, part of my responsibilities was to check to make sure they were wearing sunscreen and I did that and they assured me they were … good job Jill!  

There were both 9's - don't know how their feet didn't get sunburnt!!

What I didn't realize on that day, but I do now, is that in the 30 years I've been gone the sun is now a LOT hotter-I've declared it VICIOUS.   It will sizzle you in seconds … and that's what happened to Jess and me!  Jess's sunscreen washed off (duh - any responsible adult knows that!) and I wasn't even wearing any!  I was pretty sure her mum or dad would say that it was no problem, she turns brown right away, but no such luck!  Her dad was in trouble for not sending over her "rashie" so I was off the hook for 50% of the burn. And as part of my punishment I also had a decent burn but adding it to my already "summer-in-Canada some-sun-in-Europe" tan it wasn't as bad as Jess'.  Hers was sore and peeled and well lets just say … I don't think I'll be asked to baby-sit them anymore.

Now I bet by now you are saying to yourself "what is a "rashie""? (where does the " go?)  Most children (those who have responsible carers anyway) wear them when swimming because they cut out upto 80% of the suns rays, and if Jess had been wearing hers there would have been no burn at all. They are light-weight and dry quickly  and Joseph needs to get one but I think I would melt in one and besides - I have my (cancer) tan already!

                               There should be a photo of a rashie here but Jess didn't bring hers and Joseph doesn't have his yet!! 

OK - but where does the WORD "rashie" come from?  Turns out it was invented by surfers to wear to prevent them getting rashes from the sand that sticks to their board wax…. and if you don't know by now, Aussies have a slang word for just about everything so the "rashie" was born.  It morphed from surfers into general use and seriously I hear mother's all over the caravan park telling their children to wear their "rashie" -it's as common as  putting on your thongs or your bathers.

All of this to remind me that I've been way for a long time

Life around THE VAN

There are no photos in this post - sorry  ...

We can leave the van setup in the caravan park, with water and power connected and alongside our "ensuite" shower/toilet because we have the use of Simone's old car to drive around in everyday … and we've been driving a lot. There is an awing that rolls out over the sliding door where we sit at our folding table on our folding chairs and gaze at our brand new BabyQ.   We drove across town one night (more on driving in Adelaide to come) to get a deal on the Webber Q to find out that late-night shopping at that store ends at 7.00 p.m. It was so far across town that arriving ten minutes after closing wasn't going to stop Joseph, so we have our cute little BBQ that has a thermometer for baking and a pizza stone, for pizzas I guess, but so far the only thing we've cooked on it is IKEA meatballs!   That's because we've been driving all over town!

We've bought and returned; folding chairs that broke two days later, a folding table that was broken before we used it, another folding chair because we took the wrong box, and countless IKEA items because we thought we needed them but didn't and on said trips bought more things that we found out we did need. We had to drive the van across town to have the leaking (like really leaking) hose fixed because apparently it wasn't connected properly in the first place. Across the other side of town for a proper drinking-water hose to replace the garden hose that is not for drinking water and then across another side of town to buy the fittings because the people who sold the hose didn't have them!!  This on top of visit to friends that we haven't seen for ages and with my family living on the opposite side of town from Mischa and Simone and we've been driving a lot.

We have beautiful new bikes that ride like a dream. Mine with a clip-on basket that we bought all the way from Copenhagen and Joseph's with a huge basket on the back. Caravan Park #1 was an easy ride into town on a bike path along "the river" and over to Mischa's on quiet roads and we did both a few times.  Now we are at Caravan Park #2 which is almost on the beach, which is on the other side of town from Caravan Park #1 and with a bicycle path along the top of the beach that goes for miles.  After being in Copenhagen we certainly are even more convinced that Adelaide could and should have more bike paths.  Apparently the new mayor thinks the same way and we saw a job for the city advertised  to manage a "walking and biking project". Cassia - come quickly - they need you!!

But, if you aren't riding your lovely bikes along those few bike paths then you are on the road (with or without painted bike lanes) with the crazy drivers.  They are crazy because there are only three small freeways and none of them are connected!! One is in the hills, one on the far outskirts of town taking traffic even further out of town and one that goes south only one direction at a time (according to traffic needs).  In the middle everybody drives at exactly the speed limit because there is photo radar all over town.  This has reduced road fatalities but it's BORING. It makes people accelerate as fast as possible to try and get in front and they won't let anybody in lest they lose the front position or lose precious inches that could be the difference between making or missing the traffic lights.  There are a LOT of traffic lights … and it's HOT waiting at traffic lights - even with air conditioning! Two or three-lane roads drive you crazy because they aren't really; the second or third lane can have cars parked so you either have to swerve slightly (depending on how well it is parked) or close your eyes and hope you judge the distance properly.  

It drives us crazy and as soon as we have finished returning everything, and as soon as we've finished our Christmas shopping (yikes!) and visiting and driving to Victor after Christmas, well THEN we'll be riding our bikes more!  

Finally ... Life in THE VAN

We purchased THE VAN in January 2012 but we had never seen it except in photos....

THE VAN at park #1 - front chairs have since been returned!

 I guess it really is a "motorhome" but that's what old people have and, although it does have a shower and a toilet and air conditioning and a microwave and a TV and a fridge and a kitchen sink and a bed that goes up and down … it really is just a VAN.  To be precise it is a Fiat Duccato van that has been fitted out with all the comforts of home so that when you travel around, you don't really think you are camping.  

It is  20 ft long and 7 ft wide and 8ft high.  You can stand in it easily (if you are our height) and you can squeeze past each other inside (if you are skinny people). It has a huge sliding door on the passenger side that has a nice big window and we use that as a main entrance.  The two huge doors at the back also open out and there is a clip-in screen for both doors and  two big windows on either side at the back with built-in screens and all of that makes for good air flow…  when it isn't ridiculously hot. 

Technically the van can accommodate four people but the seat for people # 3 & 4 is a rather narrow bench with upright back behind the driver, that could handle two small children (that you could tell to be quiet when they complained).  Both big comfy seats at the front can turn around and there is a small table that can be setup in front of the seat for people #3 & 4. The table has become our appliance hub and the seat is where we store our food in plastic bins.

Jill with front passenger seat turned around to become her favourite place to drink Nespresso and write her blog!

The kitchen is behind the passenger side; a small sink alongside three gas burners. Both have glass covers that turn into the countertop and these all sit on top of four drawers that hold cutlery and pots&pans. Next on the same side is the fridge and on top of the fridge is the closet (only shirts on baby coat hangers hang here).  Opposite the fridge/closet and behind the seat for people # 3&4, is the teeny tiny sink/shower/toilet "room", that has been turned into a closet for dresses and pants .

Bathroom on left - looking towards the back of the van

Joseph making the bed (in down position) with kitchen on right, bathroom on left.

Joseph making coffee in the kitchen,  in our Nespresso (thanks friends)

Bed in UP position (very top of photo) with benches on either side and cubby-holes above and back door open.

We are half-way now; along each side at the back are two comfy benches, with those nice windows above them. A table can be setup in between and this makes a nice place to eat or write ones memoirs.  Above the windows, that are above the benches, are little cubby holes where we store our clothes (that are rolled up and/or stuffed into bespoke cardboard boxes).  Above all of this is our bed that is bought down (electronically) each night - all made up - ready for sleeping!  

All of this and THE VAN can be easily driven around town and easily parked in the IKEA handicapped parking space. 

Almost there ...Barcelona to Singapore

Destination:  BARCELONA/SINGAPORE  Spain/Singapore

Transport:   Train/Plane  - Renfe/Singapore Airlines

Luggage:   2 checked @ 20gs, 2 carry-on @11kgs

                      - should have been 7kgs and we only just got away with it!

Pills:           Jill x 3+3+all the stupid little ones from the T.O. doctor , 0 Joe

The six-hour train ride from Elche to Barcelona cost 40Euros each (40% disc with our Spanish Seniors card!) Such a deal, and a good trip except for the man who spoke continuously on his cell phone and "snorted" about every five minutes… and the lady behind us who had the "click" sound on her cellphone turned ON while she typed messages for three hours!  Silencio!! we pleaded with her but she continued!!

We were overnight in Barcelona before flying to Singapore.  I had planned to meet up with Lory (Baruzzi) who I worked with at Elders in the SIXTIES!! and who I hadn't seen since our Contiki Tour stopped in Barcelona in 1973 (and Lory let me stay with her so I didn't have to sleep in a tent!  At the last minute we realized that I had given her the wrong dates and so Lory realized what others already know - that I really haven't changed since I was 18 years old.  I'm still as scatterbrained now as I was then!! 

Every Tuesday Singapore Airlines has a 12hr flight direct from Barcelona to Singapore.   This is much shorter than the usual Milan route except that it arrives in Singapore at 5.00 a.m.!!  There is usually a flight to Adelaide at 7.30 a.m. but not on Wednesdays!!  So an 18 hr stopover and the only way to handle that is to book a room and SLEEP and then have a pedicure and a massage. That is the way any normal person would handle it but not a birdwatcher.  They take off shortly after landing and go birdwatching and then return late in the afternoon, hot and sweaty and TIRED!!

ALMOST THERE ....

Destination:  ADELAIDE - Australia

Pills:           Jill x 1 , 0 Joe

The flight to Adelaide leaves at 11.30 p.m.and the seven-hour flight was mostly uneventful except for a few bouts of bumps that I noticed because I took all of my pills on the previous flight and now the Percocet that Joseph has lent me has little to no effect and I'm just tired of being scared and so I declare that this will be the last flight that I am ever on!!

 We left Canada on Wednesday October 3rd and we arrive in Adelaide 50 days later!  It's a beautiful warm day in Adelaide when we arrive and there to greet us is Mum and Jen and Simone and JASPER!!  We loved visiting old friends and seeing the amazing sights in Europe and the visit with Cassia and Pablo was very precious but - now - here we are FINALLY ready to live in THE VAN !!  (or home #3 as it was known but will here-with be referred to as THE VAN).  

...Well ... not so fast …

Joseph couldn't wait and slept in it almost immediately.  It has been HOT since the day we arrived…ridiculously hot… above 30C everyday bar 7 (we are at day 30) and 4 of those days it has been 37C or 38C.  Now "some like it hot" - but not me - so I stayed at my Mother's and waited until Joseph made sure we had water and the air-conditioning worked, and after a mammoth day at IKEA and we thought we had everything we needed …  THEN I moved into THE VAN.

Spain & Cassia & Pablo

Destination: ALICANTE/ELCHE -  Spain

Transport:   Plane  - Norwegian Air (new low-cost airline, with new planes & only one class!)

Luggage:   1 checked @ 12kgs, 1 carry-on @11kgs - they were too busy to notice!

Pills:           1x Jill with little effect - obviously one of those "new" ones from the T.O. doctor - urgh! , 0 Joe

We landed after midnight, significant because the airport closes at midnight, but with a speed I hadn't seen before, Joe managed to make it to the rental car counter just before it closed and then thanks to his superior knowledge of N-S-E-W we found the street that we hoped Cassia & Pablo lived on!  Cassia stuck her head out of their 4th floor apartment to confirm we were in the right place and to tell us to find a parking spot on the street.  Finding a parking spot on the street was going to be a full-time job whenever we had a car.

Cassia & Pablo's apartment (notice the unfinished building opposite)

Cute little apartment C&P live in and they kindly gave up their bedroom with the big bed and en suite but there was no time to rest...  Due to their work schedules and with the public holiday for the saints, it turned out that the next three days was the only time they could come on a trip with us, so next morning we packed up (again) and headed off (again).   (Side note: The highways and transportation system in Spain are very (very) good and all of the driving we did wherever we went was very (very) enjoyable.).  

We arrived at our hotel in Segovia late that night to find an ancient Roman Aqueduct right outside our window… what else would you expect from a Segovia hotel window?  Segovia is a very old city with a beautiful cathedral and a beautiful castle (the one from Beauty and the Beast I think) and the huge aqueduct that is the symbol of the city.  The other thing Segovia is famous for is their tradition of cooking a piglet so tender that it can be cut with a plate. This tradition is so serious that medals are given to the chefs who manage to perfect the art and so we ate at the Restaurant Mesón de José María where HE (José María) cut the pork (that looks exactly like a squished little pig) at the table. It was a great meal, as long as I didn't think about the little pig.

View from our hotel window ... what else would you expect from a Segovia hotel window?

Restaurant Mesón de José María and that's HIM (José María) cutting the piglet with the plate!

Cathedral in Segovia

As if one old city wasn't enough, we drove over to Àvila to enjoy the views and walk around the 2.5 km wall that surrounds the city. And of course they have a tradition …  in Àvila it's beef. Far be it from us to not partake of their traditions and so yet another enjoyable meal in a very old building in a very old beautiful city.

Walking around the wall of Àvila

Back to Segovia to walk the streets at night with the throngs of people that included almost as many children as adults. This day was the holiday so perhaps there were more people than usual, but we found that on most nights, in most cities the streets were always full of people.  A necessity of the very hot weather that makes it too hot to stay indoors (no a.c.) and cooler in the evening and made easier by the inexpensive food and drinks. Inexpensive perhaps, but still good - both the food and the drinks. So inexpensive I took to drinking cava (champagne) while we were in Spain.

C&P had to return home for work . So next day we dropped them to catch the fast trains and we took off for the north-west corner of Spain.  One thing I hadn't expected in Spain (and I'm not sure why except for my ignorance) was so many mountains.  Not hills - mountains - huge mountains. We crossed over and through these mountains on the excellent roads to find San Sebastian that is squeezed in between the mountains and the sea.  A lovely picturesque, busy tourist town where we enjoyed some great tapas/pinchos that we found off the beaten path, thanks to Pablo's tutoring.   The other thing I hadn't expected in Spain (or anywhere) is that you need a passport for EVERY person who is staying in the hotel room. I left mine behind in Elche so there were a couple of tense hotel check-ins. (Note to self: always bring your passport)

Pinchos in San Sebastian

Not far from San Sebastian is Bilbao, a town that until recently wouldn't have made it onto the tourist route, but is now thanks to the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum!  It's a funky building full of funky art and a nice cafeteria with a yummy lunch! It rained that day so we didn't explore anymore of Bilbao.

Guggenheim Bilbao

On the drive back to Elche we ventured into the tip of the Roja wine district. We wanted to find two wineries in particular: another Frank Gehry design and the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava (who designed the Turning Torso building in Sweden)!.  

On the back roads in search of the wineries we drove alongside the Camino Trail with the walkers (?pilgrims) with their packs in the damp drizzle (note to self:…) and we came upon an archaeological site of La Hoya - an  Iron Age (that's around 3,000 BC) village.  Such a crazy sight - the Iron Age village with the ultra modern winery as a backdrop and the mountains that are the backdrop for the winery.   Of course most people would know that they need to make a reservation to tour the winery but not us,. We had five minutes to buy the wine. 

Winery building by Santiago Calatrava

 No tasting just hurry up and buy and leave… so we did. In between wineries was a perched-walled village with spectacular views of the surrounding (in it's truest sense) countryside full of wineries and vineyards and off in the distance a flash of pink that was the Marquis de Risqual - the building designed by Frank Gehry; (re; Simpson episode where they design a building by throwing a pile of paper in the air)  The guide book says that once you see this building "… you will never look at a pile of paper the same way again…".  It was another overcast, grey, drizzly day and so our photos don't do justice to the colours and craziness of it all.

Winery - Marquis de Risqual - building by Frank Gehry

More amazing freeways down to the Costa del Sol  around Valencia and then off in the distance -  Benidorm !!   This favourite tourist town, perched on the beach surrounded by mountains, looked like Hong Kong - full of high-rise buildings that sit on top of each other.  We had seen other tourist towns;  Alicante etc. but this one blew our minds! Who would want to stay there crammed in like that?  … Well lots (and lots) of people apparently. We didn't visit, we just drove on by, shaking our heads because now lots of those buildings are empty and some not even finished being built thanks to the economic crises.

Back in Elche and poor Cassia & Pablo were out of their nice bed again- onto the pull-out for the next week or so while we experience "Spanish" life. The walking, the siestas, the late-night meals, the beer, the wine - oh so much wine!  More wine than I have had in my entire life I think.   We drove to Alicante one day and climbed UP to the castle on top of the hill in the middle of town. We climbed DOWN and sat on the boardwalk and watched the British tourists parade before us.  

Alicante (tourist ship in distance) from the (requisite) castle on the hill

That was funny, but having somebody with an umbrella poke through the bushes and try to steal our bags, wasn't so funny.  Thanks to the alert waitress or our six weeks might not have been so wonderful.  Another day we drove to Valencia with Cassia and Annukka; another beautiful city with more buildings by Santiago Calatrava who Pablo tell us is corrupt!

Flamenco helpers in Valencia

Having the car also meant Joseph could drive Cassia to her jobs.  Driving her to her Jet2.com job in Alicante on the weekend saved her at least six hours of travel time because of the reduced bus schedule.  That was nice to do.

Our last trip we went to Granada to see The Alhambra.  Another drizzly day and a race to arrive in time to pickup our tickets for our allotted slot to tour the Palaces (the only slot available!). To save time we chose a hotel right across from The Alhambra.  It also offered free valet parking;  important because The Alhambra sits at the top of a very high hill with very narrow steep streets and minimal to no parking.  After we somehow found the hotel - The Alhambra Palace Hotel  and handed off the car - it was DOWN to the city centre to pickup our tickets and then back UP to the Palace (all by cab). We made it with minutes to spare and as we stood in line the sun came out and it turned out to be a spectacular day to visit the most-visited tourist site in Spain.  It is overwhelmingly beautiful. The tiles, the pools, the fountains, the gardens, the symmetry … the views!  It is very high and so the walk DOWN to the the old city for a late lunch was almost painful and the walk back UP to the hotel afterwards definitely was.  One more trip down and up for breakfast, but this time on the tiny city bus, then it was back to Elche. (Note to self: next time take Annukka's hotel suggestion).

The Nasrid Palance in the Alhambra

The walk down & back up

Our hotel in Granada

Granada from our hotel window

On the way home a stop into Murcia to IKEA to buy some meatballs for C&P.  But - they were OUT OF MEATBALLS!!!  We had never heard of an IKEA store being OUT OF MEATBALLS. But out they were so we found some Christmas decorations to buy instead and then the fiasco of trying to pay.  When you pay with a foreign credit card in Spain you need a passport!!  We tried to explain that we have shopped at IKEA for a million years, that we were FAMILY members and that Joseph had even worked there, that we knew employee #3 (who knew Ingevar)!  Sorry - they needed a passport.  Joseph's was in the car but I had mine and a mental note to self: always (always) carry your passport with you in Europe (and hold your bag close to you at all times so you don't lose said bag).

Finally, after almost three weeks - Cassia and Pablo could have their bed back… we were off to Aus!

Scandinavia ... Copenhagen & Sweden

Destination: COPENHAGEN

Transport:   Plane - BMI Airlines (not the portion purchased by B.A.) 1.5 hr flight

Luggage:   No charge for checked luggage so we did! (inc. the maple syrup purchased at Le Bon Marché + another 1 litre bottle from courtesy of Karen & Rob)

Pills:           1 Jill (  pill must have been old - little or no affect), 2+ joe (k.s. still there… or so we thought!)

We have a new favourite city! It was grey and overcast but it just didn't matter.  We loved everything; our hotel that was a room in a boat ON the river, the Tivoli Gardens all decked out for Halloween, the beautiful people, the bikes, the way the city was designed to handle them, the design of just about everything and to top it off we met up with Sam (our daughter-in-law Simone's brother) for a lovely meal. We told Sam to choose the restaurant  (he is living and working there temporarily).  We were pretty sure he wouldn't choose NOMA and he didn't … but … his friend works there and Sam thought about asking him to TRY and get us in.  Yikes!  Regardless we had a great meal - who cares if we didn't eat in the #1 restaurant in the world!

Our hotel on the river

Hi Sam!

The pipe is to wheel your bike down the stairs

Joseph was feeling much better and we realized he had lost the kidney stone … in Edinburgh!  yippee!

So it was hard to leave our wonderful hotel room (highly recommend it - CPH Living but our cute little FIAT 500 helped!  We drove north along the coast to catch the ferry to Sweden. Such a great drive - the coast on one side with all of the wind turbines and Sweden within spittin' distance and the cutest houses with amazing thatched roofs on the other.    We could have spent longer in Copenhagen but one and a half days was all we had...

Destination: ALMHULT- LUND -  Sweden

Transport:   Ferry - 

Luggage:   No problem! (inc. all of the maple syrup)

Pills:           0 Jill , 0 Joe (k.s. seemed to be GONE!!  yippee)

Off the ferry and straight to Almhult.  For those who haven't been reading their IKEA catalogues, Almhult is the birthplace of IKEA, so if you worked for IKEA and have a house full of IKEA … well then … off you go to Almhult!  So we stayed at the IKEA Hotel in a tiny room full of IKEA furniture and ate IKEA meatballs in the dining room while we looked across there road at the very first IKEA store. It was closing in a few days (replaced by a big fancy new one on the outskirts of town) and there was a closing sale - urgh! 20kgs of luggage to Australia = no (little) shopping!

Ikea hôtel & Fiat 500

The FIRST IKEA store

 When Joseph worked at IKEA, a young beautiful girl came from Sweden to work in his department.  We made friends with Marie. Then and her boyfriend Theodor (Tedde) came to visit so we became friends with him and then her parents came to visit as well and now finally after 22 years we would see everybody again. Marie's parents live in Almhult, so Göta and Sven-Göte treated us to a lovely lunch.   Göta had been practicing her English for a few weeks before we arrived so we were able to have a good conversation.  Marie's father Sven-Göte managed the first IKEA store and he was employee #3 at IKEA; #1 was Ingvar Kamprad, #2 his wife and #3 Sven-Göte Hansson.   I read the English version of a book about the history of IKEA in Edinburgh and saw Sven-Göte's name on page 37!!  No book - no problem!  We ran over to the old store and bought the Swedish version (on sale!!) and right back for S-G to sign it!!  How honoured we are to know such an important person in the life of IKEA! 

Göta and Sven-Göte

Next stop was LUND and Marie & Tedde & family!  Just a two hour drive with some snow (!!) and then a drive right through the centre of LUND, over the cobblestones unaware that it was a no-car zone, as we searched for their house with no phone and just a small map on my iPad. Somehow we found them and how good it was to see them again and meet their three beautiful sons; Phillip, Karl, and Erik. And how kind of them to give up their bed for us to stay with them!  (Note to self: be (much) better hosts in future!)

Marie, Tedde, Philip, Karl and Erik

Now, FINALLY we were able to unload the maple syrup!  All those years ago we introduced Marie & Tedde to French Toast and they have made it a tradition to have it most Sundays ever since!  So what better gift to bring than Canadian maple syrup - well the better gift would have been Canadian maple syrup from Canada, instead of Canadian maple syrup from Paris and Edinburgh!  No matter - it tasted the same!  And I should mention the tradition that Marie & Tedde passed on to us - at summer solstice; singing drinking songs and eating new potatoes and drinking vodka shots.  (Note to self: get the words to "Helan går" - we have NO drinking songs in Canada!) 

Next day was the weekend so we headed to Skänor, which is almost at the bottom of Sweden, to stay in the house that has been in Tedde's family for over 100 years. A wonderful old house just a short walk from the beach. Tedde lit the wood fire and we were so cozy. Up the tiny spiral staircase (there are lots of spiral staircases in Europe) to the bedrooms and our lovely bed with individual quilts.  (That's how it was in both Sweden and Copenhagen and we LOVED it!) Then birdwatching the next day in Falstebo - that is the tip of Sweden. (So many of our friends who have hosted us over the years have been so kind to indulge Joseph and his crazy hobby… surely they will all be rewarded one day!?)  

The house in Skänor

Erik even bought his telescope and they saw a Golden Eagle

and Marie was trying hard to be interested!

Our beautiful hosts

We met Tedde's parents (Stefan & Jenny) and even his 100+  Grandmother (Marta) who used to live in the house we were staying.  She gave me a piece of amber that she found on the beach in Skänor (it often washes up on shore) and showed us the amber necklace made with pieces of different shapes and sizes that she had found over the years.  Oh dear, all I could think of was how much the girls (and some customers) at ONW would love to have that necklace.  I'll treasure my one piece forever!

Marta - 100 years old - wearing her necklace made from piece she and  (mostly) her husband picked up on the beach at Skänor

Such a great visit; we played a crazy card game that Erik mostly won and we ate and talked and then we had to leave.

On the way back to Copenhagen we stopped in Malmö to see the old port that had been rebuilt into a new city district. Wonderful living areas with four-storey apartment buildings of different designs and lots of canals and walking paths and not so many cars and the crazy "Turning Torso" building! How different Toronto could have looked!  Then we crossed over to Denmark by bridge instead of ferry. It was so windy we had to slow to 50kms and I was sure they would find us washed up on the beach at Skänor one day. But of course we made it and the bridge drops you right at the airport … we had to leave, we only had four days…

Turning Torso by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava