The New Youth Hostel

Sweden is getting a new youth hostel. I guess that in and of itself is not big news. Sweden, as a general rule, is very youth hostel friendly. They really are not too much on the "youth" part of the title. It is more families then backpackers staying there.

This youth hostel is going to be special though. It is going to be in an old Boeing 474 at Arlanda Airport (Stockholm). They are taking all the seats out and making 25- 3 bed bedrooms on the main floor. On the 2nd floor there will be 2- 2 bed bedrooms.

The plane has been sitting at the airport since 2002. It will open next year about this time. Attached you can see the plans for it and the guy who is behind it.

The Final Trip

Have you heard about this? Apparently it is now popular to dump your ashes (and I am not talking about cigarette ashes) on the different rides at the Disney Park. At first it was just the Haunted Mansion that it was done at, but now it is popular on the other rides as well. A couple of weeks ago Disneyland closed Pirates of the Caribbean ride due to the fact that they saw a women pour something into the water on the ride. Now she says that it was just baby powder, but who really believes that.

So which rides would be the best to have your ashes placed? Here are my three picks:

3) Haunted Mansion- OK, so it has been done before. I am sure all the rides have had ashes poured in them. Though if you believe in ghosts, then maybe your life ever after will be with all the ghosts there. Plus, your love ones can come back and at the very least say that they saw your ghost.

2) Space Mountain- Scotty in Star Trek had his ashes shot into space, but not everyone one can afford that. Space Mountain is a cheap alternative (well, given the prices of the Disney Parks these days, maybe not).

1) It's a Small World- For a traveler this would be the perfect spot. Think about it, you get all the countries at one time. OK, you would have to listen to that annoying song for all eternity, but for every country/continent it might be worth it!

Here is the story if you want to read it for yourself:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,311922,00.html

Is it possible to get tired of Traveling?

Since the start of June, I have traveled 3 of those months to 8 countries and five different states. In the past 8 weeks, we have been home for four days (most of that time without interent, thus no posts). I leave tomorrow for several days to Austria. So here is my question, is it possible to get tired of traveling or am I just getting old?

4 Days, 6 Nights

Warning!!! If you have a ton of luggage, then the Milan train station is not the one you want to go to. We got there from Switzerland without any problems. N loved the train, of course. It is just that since we got kids, we travel with suitcases, which is perhaps the worst part of having kids. I miss my backpack!

The train to Verena was interesting, and a far cry from the Swiss trains that I could totally get use too. Since we had so much stuff (lugging the car seats with us as well, otherwise it really is not too bad), we really did not get seats together. Plus the train was super full. Z was happy though, for perhaps the first time on the trip. She loves Italy. All the older ladies go crazy over her (even if they think that she is a boy. Later in the week, we put her in pink and ruffles, still they thought that she was a boy).

Our flat in Verena was nice. It had a view over Lake Como. It took all of a half of day to discover it all, but it is a beautiful city. Of the four days, two were nice weather and two were really crap weather. Unfortunately the crap weather days were really crap. We did not leave but once the second of the two days. If we could have avoided that, we would have. Though we did get our Italian Ice Cream. Mmm, good stuff.

The highlight, besides the ice cream, was a little grocery store in town. They have two of them. The one I liked had a little old lady who worked it. She did not speak a word of English, at least she did not speak a word of it to us, but the store was a piece right out of Italian guidebooks. The type of place that you hope you find.

We left the flat at 5 in the morning for the long day of traveling. Off to the next stop- Utah!

Pictures from Switzerland

Pictures from Switzerland trip are finally available on www.DnMAdventures.com. I will be blogging later today about the Italy portion on the trip.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

So we have been on the road for two weeks thus far, and everything has been good...so far. Travel to Kandersteg Switzerland was long. We got there though. N loved it. She thought that Switzerland was the greatest place on Earth. I can not argue with her too much. For her it was all the cows with bells, dogs and trains every five minutes. We see trains all the time, but something here just triggered her excitement with them. Z is a home person. She was miserable the entire time. In fact, she got sick. One night she had a fever of 104.

The highlights for us were the hiking (not nearly as adventurous as usual) and the cheese fondue. Doris, a friend from when we lived in Kandersteg, owns the Hotel Crystal. She made us the best cheese fondue that I think that we have ever had (and I ate one every week for almost 2 years). It was fabulous!

The Finish island Åland

After spending three weeks in Texas with my family, it was time to spend a little time with M's family as well. It has almost become a tradition that they rent a house for a week and then we and M's brother comes for the week. Normally it is somewhere in Sweden, but this year they hired this amazing house on Åland. The house was the best that they have ever hired. It was right on the beach and it was big and clean. Not always a feature on rented summer houses. Other then the cost (1,100 euros per week), I would totally think about going there again.

To get to Åland, you have to take the boat. Well, I guess you could fly as well, but the boat is pretty easy. The trip is fast and it has tax free on board, so you can stock up on your "needed" goods as well. Once there, it is short distances between everything and easy to navigate.

A little history of Åland. It belongs to Finland, but it speaks Swedish rather then Finish. It also has it's own postage stamps, post system, airlines and license plates. It is basically its own little country, but not really. Helena Drysdale takes about it in her book "Mother Tongues: Travels through Tribal Europe". For those who know Sweden decently well, it is like Gotland or Öland, just without the large crowds.

The highlight of the week was the wine tasting. Åland is also home to Finland's only winery. They offer tours and tastings. The wine itself is OK. It is not something that I would run out and stock up on it because I love it so much. Though it was decent. It is the atmosphere of the place that is the highlight. I missed most of the tour (Swedish Only) because of Nova, but I did make the tasting. We tried four different types (you can see pictures on www.DnMAdverntures.com if you would like to get a better idea).

Probably the most traditional known things in Finland, is the Sauna and it is not too different on Åland. The place we stayed had a nice one right on the water. We did not beat ourselves with birch branches, but we did hope into the "freezing" Baltic. When I first moved to Sweden, I was not too crazy about saunas, but now I really dig them. If we ever have a summer house, we will have a sauna.

In regards to food, we did not really eat out. Everyone shares with the cooking throughout the week. The one thing that we did get though was Åland Pancakes. I thought that they were good, especially with raspberry jelly and whipped cream (you can get a recipe for it on www.DnMAdventures.com). Though the last night M and her father got sick. Then her brother and his fiancee and finally Nova. Important to note is that I never got sick!

OK, so that catches me up on our travels. Now that I am caught up, I will be doing better...I hope!

St. Louis Cardinals

Ever since I was little, St. Louis has been my favorite team. I am sure part of it was that it was my father's favorite team (OK, all of it). My favorite player, Ozzie Smith. So Dad and I try to catch a St. Louis game when we can. Last year we took a trip to Houston to see them, this year we went to St. Louis.

In my great wisdom, we left early in the morning on Saturday. Part of me argued that it would be pointless to leave Friday night since Dad would have to work and that we would be tired. The reality of it was that I was not overly interested in leaving the girls for two nights. The drive was miserable, but we managed OK. We got to St. Louis about 3 pm and headed over to the Bud Brewery for a tour. We didn't get in, way too many people. So then we headed to the Ballpark.

Now, we got there three hours ahead of schedule. This never happens when you go to a game with my father. He is the one who shows up late and leaves early. We were no the the only one early, about 20,000 people were there. I am not kidding. It was the special, you could meet the players and everyone was there. It was amazing. The thing about St. Louis is, it is a baseball town. I bet that 80% of the people there (male, female, child or adult) were wearing some sort of St. Louis clothing. It was totally incredible. The game was 100% full. Several factors were probably involved in that- weekend of the 4th of July, Saturday night and they were playing Bond's Giants; but it was still full.

The Giants took a good lead over the Cardinals and managed to keep the lead through out the game. Had we been at a Texas Rangers game, it would have been empty by the top of the 7th (in reality it would have been empty from the start almost). No one left the game until it was over. The place was still full when the game was done. I went to the first playoff game that the Texas Rangers were ever in. The "fans" had left by the top of the 8th. It was sad. When we left, we were the last people there.

I have to make a comment about the Ballpark. Places like that, and the Ballpark in Arlington, is the way baseball should be played. The place is beautiful. Even a non-baseball fan (if such a thing is possible) would appreciate the beauty of the place. Plus with all the statues of former St. Louis greats, it caught the history of it as well.

If you want to see some pictures of it, go to http://www.dnmadventures.com/.

Texas in July

Part of me feels like I should be skipping this entry all together. The Texas Trip was the end of June and the first three weeks of July. Though it feels like such a waste not to write about all of the adventures. So instead of about 15 different posts, it is going to be one big one to make me feel good about it.

We took US Airways, the first time for that. I think that it is kind of nice that a museum is still flying. They have to have some of the oldest air crafts in the sky today. It was fine though. The girls did good and the staff were very friendly. Our plane landed 2.5 hours late, so we were told that we missed our flight. In the end, our 2nd flight was late and we ended up getting it. Only thing was that our bags did not get there. We did not think that they would, since the girl at the American Airlines counter had to run us through security.

That is OK though, right. The bags should be sent on the next flight. Well, we went to Texas for three and a half weeks, we never got our bags. Imagine traveling with two girls under the age of two with no clothes what so ever. A big shopping trip and lot of new clothes. Which will be good, as long as the bags come. The first one did, the week after we got back to Sweden. The second did about two weeks ago. After 90 days of the bags being missing, we still have not gotten our last one. The last time I talked to American, the lady was rude and just a real witch. So, we will wait some more.

The first weekend we were there, we went to San Antonio. Been there so many times. Once, the water was drained out of the river walk (to my surprise). This time, it was full. In fact, super full. Texas got more rain this summer, then they got all of last year. We really went down there for Sea World. The plan was that we go on the first day, but my cousin lost her keys. The next day we went and N loved it. She was not that impressed with Shamu, but the coral reef was great. I decided that I wanted to show that I was young and road on the Great White roller coaster. I felt like crap the rest of the day. It sucks getting old! Right as we were leaving, it started to our down. We just made it to the car when it happened and it continued for several hours.

Speaking about the rain, we decided that we would go to Texas in July since the weather is usually nice in July. It is hot, but that is what air conditioning is for. It rained almost every single day we were there. It was crazy. I have never seen anything like it!

We did eat good while we were there. N's favorite was mac and cheese and hot dogs. I think that she would have been happy to have that for ever meal (instead we had it for almost every lunch). Her cousins thought that it was great, the first couple of days, then they grew tired of it. Here is a couple of places that I would recommend if you are in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area:

1. Loco Coyote- it is located in Glen Rose and the food is amazing. The place itself is a dump, but the food is great (a picture of it is on www.DnMAdventures.com).
2. Lone Star- Also in Glen Rose but in the town itself. Good BBQ and a nice "feel" to it
3. Hamburger Bar- Cleburne Texas, I wrote a blog about it a while ago. It was not as good as usually. In fact, I was very disappointed. With that being said, it is still worth it just to see the place (a picture of it is on www.DnMAdventures.com) .
4. Movie Tavern- Great idea, tavern food while you watch a movie. The food is fine, but it does not matter. The room is dark and you can't see it anyway. IT is a small chain all over the States.

The Fort Worth Museum of Science was having a exhibit on Star Wars and how it works. It was excellent. OK, I am a little biased, since I do believe that Star Wars is the greatest movie ever made. With that being said, I also think that it was done in such a way, that someone that does not care for Star Wars (M for example) could appreciate it. Well worth a visit, where ever it is now.

We also went to a Texas Rangers game. It was the first one for N and Z. N thought that it was great. Lots of music to dance to, fireworks, clapping and the best part was...ICE CREAM! I was just happy to get to go to a game. That is one of the worst parts of being in Sweden- no baseball!

The trip was good and we had a lot of fun. It felt like we were messing with trying to get our bags back half of the time and the weather was crap the other half. We had several things that we wanted to do, but just was not able to. Maybe next time we will.

If you want to see some pictures from the trip, go to www.DnMAdventures.com.

Starting New

Ok, I know it has been bad. I feel bad about it. Life, well life is just busy. I am going to make a real effort in updating the blog. It is going to work. Plus I want to update www.DnMAdventures.com as well. Make is more "cool" and "hip".

So, I am not going to bore you with tons of posts about Texas two months after it happened. Nor am I going to bore you with a ton of posts about the Finland trip either. Both of them will get one post...this week. So I am running out of time.

Then it will be back to business as normal (cough cough). We are leaving on a trip next week which I plan to use as the launching of the new and improved DnM Adventures!

Here is a picture from this weekend of camping. Thought you might enjoy it.

Sorry to interupt this regularly published blog (cough cough, I promise I will get better at it), but I thought that I tell about the adventure we had this weekend. We took Z camping for the very first time and the second time for N. It was a place in Enköping Sweden where M grew up. She has been wanting to take me there since I moved here, but this was the first time. We went with my brother in law and his girlfriend.

On the Texas adventure (which I will finish writing sooner...or later), we bought a new tent. Our small camping tent was a little small for the four of us. So we got a four person tent. It is huge. I think our entire flat could fit in there. Which is fine, not like we are going to be hiking with it (22lbs). The problem was that it was about 35 mile winds as we were putting it up for the first time. The wind was blowing so strong that the tent was actually flat. We managed to get it up, barely. Of course, then the wind stopped. Murphy's law.

Both girls loved the tent, especially N. Z loved the sleeping bag. They shared with us, but they are going to get their own for Christmas, yes we have already bought them.

If you want to read more, then you can read more on the American Dad blog site. The address is located on the side!

Travel To Texas

I would love to say that the travel to Texas was smooth as can be, but I would be lying. I can say that the travel to the airport went smoothly. The long term parking worked great. In fact, better then expected. Check-in to the flight was fine. We managed to get the bulkhead seats to Philadelphia, always nice. The plane looked as though it was going to leave on time, they even asked for all people traveling in first class or people traveling with children to line up. Which we of course all did (giving up our seats). Then we continued to stand in line for the next 2 hours and 30 minutes. It was miserable! Can you imagine standing in line with two kids under the age of two for that long- through lunch time and through nap time? They finally brought out a snack at the very same time that they started to board. So we did not even get one. Once on, the flight went well, meaning no real problems. N wanted to roam around and Z wanted to be walked around, so neither of us got to sit pretty much at all during the flight.

Since we left 2 hours and 30 minutes late, of course we arrived late. The ironic part is that we paid extra to have a shorter layover in Philadelphia- 1 hour and 45 minutes. Add to the problems that I got called in for an extra security check (I think that the first security guy was having a bad day), and that we were switching airlines, the chances that we were going to make our flight was slim to none. The American Airlines flight was several hours late, so the wonderful girl ran us through security and we were the very last people to sit on the plane. We literally had to run to get onto the plane before the doors closed. The girls slept the entire way there. When we finally arrived at DFW (3 hours late), we had to circle over and over because of bad weather. Finally we were given a window to land and a bumpy landing it was.

Out to the baggage carousel we go, knowing that our bags would be there waiting and my parents there with a big smile on their faces. Neither of them happened. We know our bags were not going to make it on the flight, though the guys at American did not want to help until they were sure. The parents read the arrival board and it said that we were going to be landing in 15 minutes.

In the end, after only 24 hours of traveling, we arrived at the parent’s house.

Going Home

It is not often that one gets to be a tourist in his or her very own home town. Most of the time we take the town that we live in for granted and just do not do the touristy things. A friend of mine moved to London and he swore that they (him and his wife) would do something every single week and weekend in or around London and of course they did not. It is not an uncommon thing. M and I wrote a list long ago of things that we would like to do in Uppsala. Only ten things are on the list (which was written several years ago), but we have only done one thing off the list.

So this is what I have done. We will be going back to the Texas to show off Z for the first time. We (meaning me) have written an extensive list of things that we need to do (renew license), should do (clean out all of my crap) and things we would like to do (things to see, places to go, food to eat). We are going to be tourists in a familiar place.

Important thing to note, some items on the list are there not because I think that we actually have a chance at doing them (Big Bend National Park), but because eventually we would like to do them.

Swedish National Day

Yesterday, the 6th of June, was Swedish National Day (and N’s 1.5 yr birthday). After living in the country for almost 7 years, this is the first year that we celebrated it. The thing is, last year I became a Swedish citizen. That means that I have a Swedish and an American passport, makes me feel like I am James Bond traveling with two passports. I was suppose to be out of town, but because of unforeseen circumstances, I did not get to extend my trip. So I was actually in Sweden.

Every year on the Swedish National Day (which only became an official holiday last year) the local governments have a special ceremony for the new citizens from the previous year. When I thought that I was going to miss it, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed.

I drug the entire family with me to the ceremony. It was a beautiful day, so we walked into town. Before the ceremony started, so had a picnic lunch in the park (which is full of Linnè stuff). The ceremony itself was located in the Uppsala castle in one of the ball rooms. Even through I have lived in Uppsala for 7 years, I have never been in the castle before. They gave some Swedish food and a little cider. Then the actual ceremony began. Three speeches were given, but I missed them. It is not the easiest thing in the world to listen to speeches when you have a 2 month and an 18 month old. N loved the traditional folk dancing and the choir.

The part that I thought was the most interesting was the number of people there that were truly proud of the fact that they were now Swedish. It was one of those experiences that made me happy at the end of it. M disagreed with me, but I think that I have never seen so many people happy about being Swedish at the same spot before. They were obviously proud of the fact that they are Swedish. From my experience, most Swedes will hide the fact that they are proud of their heritage.

We skipped the parade into the park. It was past N’s nap time, so we needed to go home. In the evening we went out to the lake and grilled. We all took our first swim of the year in Sweden. Overall it was a very nice day.

The Damn Finest Burger Around

I have narrowed down the best burger in the world contest to two different locations. The race is to close to call, so I have decided to have two winners, but it is not a tie. Ties are stupid and should be saved for soccer and hockey. Instead we are going to say the finest franchise/chain burger and the best private burger.

Bar none, the best chain burger has to be In and Out Burger in California. It is beyond good. They have no freezers in the place. Everything arrives in the morning and is made only after the order has been taken. Thinking about it makes my mouth water. The fries are good, but the chocolate milkshake to go with the burger takes the price. Apparently all the meat is free range beef and the vegetables are all ecological. They treat their employees well, so there is really nothing one could complain about, except for the fact that they are only in California!

For the best mom and pop style burger, you have to go to a small town just south of Dallas/Fort Worth called Cleburne. The town itself has about 27,000 people (with about 70 Baptist churches). The Burger Bar is located just off the square behind Patrick’s Floral. The restaurant, if that is what you want to call it, can fit in the back of a pick-up truck. You can either eat it there, on one of the four stools by the counter, or you can take with you. If you stay, be prepared to talk to the chef/owner of the place. This place is true Americana! Next time I find myself in that area, I will take a picture of it and post it, because the building is part of the experience. The other part is a damn fine burger of course.

Traveling without even having to leave the house

My parents were in town not too long ago. I wanted them to experience something that they had never experienced before, so we took them to an all you can eat sushi buffet. I was in heaven as I gorged myself with 21 bits of sushi, plus some Thai food. My parents took the Thai food and ignored the sushi completely (with the exception of the Wasabi, which mom took a generous portion. Only because she thought that it was guacamole).

I did not grow up eating seafood. The only time we ate anything that came from the water was on Fridays when we had to have fish sticks (at the time we were Catholic). If we wanted to have an exotic meal, we would have Chow Main. It was then we were having “authentic” Chinese. Boy how times change. As the world travels more and more, the Earth is getting smaller and smaller. When we travel, we try to eat “ethnic” food (ethnic being a very general term that encompasses everything from Italian, to Moroccan to Mexican and everything in between). Then when we get home, we want to have that same, or as close as we can get to the same, food again to remind us of the trip and the travels we have taken.

Looking in my food cabinet, I discovered just how true that is. We have a blending of just about everything. We have curry sauces, coconut milk, ginger chutney, jambalaya, bulgur, minso soup, sushi rice and wrap, olive cakes from Spain, glüvien and Mozart Balls to name a few. In the fridge/freezer we have snitzel, kebab meat, moose, reindeer, four different types of olives and three different types of soy sauce, bamboo shoots and lemon grass, peanut and fish sauce, and three different types of hot sauce. If you look at our wine “collection”, we have wines from at least ten different countries that was purchased mainly from the country it is from or from friends who traveled to that country. The beer collection, even though it is getting progressively smaller, is similar.

Right now, Southeast Asian is some of our favorite. In order to get the “right” ingredients, we go to specialty shops that specialize in Asian food. That in itself is an adventure. When friends travel to Italy, we have then pick up olive oil; when friends travel to France, we get cheeses and the list goes on. When I travel with work, my bag will be half empty when I go down, but will be totally full on the way home, full of food and wines.

My parents are not nearly as “bad” as we are, but if you look at their cabinet it is not too different. They will have a mixture of food from a multitude of different cultures. If you compared it to what it was 15 or 20 years ago, it would almost be shocking. As traveling has become more affordable and more people are traveling for pleasure, the food in our cabinet has diversified.

If you are unable to go to Italy this year, that is ok, bring Italy to you. Turn on a little Italian music, light some candles, have some good olive oil with olives and fresh mozzarella, and pop the cork on your favorite Tuscan wine. Then have Italy in your very own kitchen. If that is not enough, turn a soccer game on in the background for the added effect!

Last of April in Uppsala Sweden

The last of April, otherwise called Valborg, is a holiday which is celebrated in Sweden. The holiday (though most people do not actually get it off), is basically a “coming of spring” celebration. Most of Sweden has to work during the day, but not in Uppsala. If you find yourself in Sweden for the last of April, the only place to be is in Uppsala. It is a full day of activities.

There is a strict set of guidelines that one has to follow in order to do everything in the traditional set (though in reality, it does not matter at all). You start the day off with rice porridge, strawberries and champagne. The funny part about this is that most students never make it to class first thing in the morning or never actually get up before 10, except for today. Breakfast has to completed by 8:30, because at 8:30 you head to the centre of town for the boat races.

The boat race is a little special. The tradition goes back 20 some odd years when a couple of engineering students were out drinking (as students do) and decided that they were going to build a boat to float down the Fyris river which goes down the centre of town. Every year since then, students have built boats out of Styrofoam. The night before the big “race”, everyone builds their boat in the soccer field of a local high school. At 9 the next morning the race begins. The boat are usually creative. I have seen everything from a huge longhorn cow, the Millennium Falcon or a bowl of spaghetti from the Italian exchange students. It is not so much a race, but more of float down the river and through the rapids. Most of the boats are destroyed going down the rapids, which is part of the fun.

After the race, everyone either heads to the local System Bolaget (the only place in Sweden to buy alcohol) or home for a little rest. At noon it is time for lunch. The traditional lunch of cooked potatoes and flavored sill is on the menu. The best place to have it is around the castle (only problem with this is that there is no toilets, 10,000 drinking students…). The food is important, but the most important part is the snaps and beer/cider.

At 3, all students gather below the library, located by the castle. The president of the University walks onto the balcony and makes a speech. No one can hear what he says, and in reality it does not matter. He then takes off his hat, which all students have, and waves it. Followed by all 10,000 students take off their caps and do the same. Then all at once everyone starts to run to one of the nations (student clubs) for Champagne.

Up to this point, it is pretty standardized. All students will be doing this with very little variation. In the evening, the activities will vary. Most people will do one of four activities. Every nation has a ball with a nice meal and lots of drinking, though you have to buy your tickets in advance for it. Another option would be to have/go to a personal party with lots of drinking. The final two are for the more boring type of people. At 7, the best choir in Uppsala, who is having their party in the castle, will come out and sing traditional spring songs. This is a nice option, even if you go to a party. The final event for the day is traditional for all of Sweden, they have a bonfire. The biggest is out by Old Uppsala. Of course, usually more drinking is involved for this as well, but you could also bring the family.

So if you find yourself in Sweden in the end of April, you need to try it out!

Top Ten Things To Do In Ft. Worth Texas

10. Fort Worth Zoo
This is truly a world class zoo. I can remember the first time I went, the big cats were in cages which are now used for parakeets (my uncle got peed on by one of them). Wednesday is the day to go, tickets are half price.
http://www.fortworthzoo.com/

9. Cowgirl Hall of Fame
Located next to Will Rogers Coliseum, this museum is dedicated to the cow girl. They even have a Jessie, from Toy Story fame, doll.
http://www.cowgirl.net/

8. Bass Performance Hall
This beautiful performing arts center opened up in 1998. It is located in downtown Fort Worth. On the outside of the building are two 48 foot angles made from Texas limestone. Inside, it is known for it excellent acoustics. It also plays host to the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and Robert Earl Keen every December.
http://www.basshall.com/

7. Water Gardens
Finally they are opened back up. They have been closed for a couple of years due to a tragic accident that happened there. So now is your chance to enjoy the beauty of them.
www.fortwortharchitecture.com/water

6. Stockyards
Perhaps the best of Fort Worth and the most historical. At one point in time the cattle pens went on for miles. They have saved some to hold the 20 longhorn cattle which get moved through town every day by some cowboys. The shopping area has a great store to try some Texas wine and plenty of stores to get that cowboy hat you have been wanting to have. If you stick around in the evening, try dinner at cattleman’s and then head over to Billy Bob’s for some country dancing.
http://www.fortworthstockyards.org/
http://www.billybobstexas.com/

5. Cultural District
It is actually a hard call on which one is better in Fort Worth, the Cultural District or the Stockyards. I guess it depends a little on what type of mood you are in. The cultural district hosts three world class museums. The Modern Art Museum, in their new location, was the worlds first “modern art” museum. Up until a few years ago, it could have easily been a skip, now it is well worth a visit. The Kimball Art is studied around the world in art history classes. The collection is amazing and improving consistently. The museum is unique in the fact that they will sell part of the existing collection once they have a new/better piece to replace it. My favorite museum though is the Amon Carter Art Museum. It is packed solid with Remingtons and Russells. The museum focuses on the Americana style of art and hosts the largest photography collection in the United States. The story of Amon Carter is worthy of a museum in and of itself. The man was a legend.
http://www.fwculture.com/

4. Log Cabin Village
Often missed, this little gem of a place is located across the street from the zoo
and is a perfect location on a hot summer day. The trees make the area cool and the stroll through pioneer cabins is enjoyable. The staff are well educated and a pleasure to talk to.
http://www.logcabinvillage.org/

3. Colonial Golf Tournament
The week after the Byron Nelson in Dallas, the Colonial is one of the premiere golf tournaments in the PGA tour. The major players will usually play in it and the 13th hole is the best place just to sit with a margarita and watch the players/people go by,

2. TCU game
At one time TCU athletic program was a joke, that is not the case anymore. TCU football is consistently a good team. The basketball and baseball program have improved over the years. When school is in session, you can usually find some sport going on. If not, head over to the campus anyway and try some nachos at Cario’s. The restaurant may not look like much, but it is authentic Tex-Mex.
http://www.tcusports.com/

1. Stock Show
Every February all of Fort Worth shows up at the Will Rogers coliseum to watch the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo. They have something for everyone. If you want to see a rodeo, then this is the one to go to (even if you are going to cheer for the animals, though I would not recommend cheering for them too loud).
http://www.fwstockshowrodeo.com/


Almost made it on the list:
Main Street Arts Fair
May Fest
Omni (Imax)
Night life in downtown
Botanical Gardens (especially the Japanese Gardens)
Casa Mañana

Taking it Easy on the Brazos

My mother and M have wanted to try kayaking out for a while. I am no expert in the sport, but I have done it multiple times at camp. M is always in good shape and my mother goes to the gym at least three times per week. So fitness is not going to be an problem. We start with a little test run on a pond and now they are ready for something more adventurous.

My Father's work is right next door to the Brazos River. Through the years he has made friends with all the neighbors. One of them is an old man who owns about a mile of river front property. He also owns about a mile of property on Lake Granbury. The property is beautiful. If we could manage somehow to buy this property, I could settle down in one place for the rest of my life. The property is just that beautiful. It truly is God’s country.

The day is sunny, but the wind is blowing and it is a little cold. Nothing too bad. We set off down the river. We have a cell phone in a zip lock bag to call when we get close to the pickup point. It is about 8 in the morning when we start. We have drinks and snacks for the morning. Since we have not looked at a map, we have to guess how long the trip is and how much time it is going to take. We are guessing it is about 5 miles down river, and that we will be at the highway 67 bridge at 11 or 12, just in time for lunch.

The Brazos really is one of my favorite rivers, if not my favorite. It is a nice calm river to go on. One of my dream trips, that I will take some day, is to canoe/kayak the entire river- from the source of the water until it reaches the Gulf of Mexico. Kind of a “Goodbye to a River” extended version (“Goodbye to a River” is an amazing book by an author named John Graves. I would highly recommend reading this classic of travel/Texas literature). End of March is a good time to be on the river; it is not too hot, nor is it too cold; their not too much water, nor is there too little.
Everyone is doing well on the river. We are floating along. After about 2 hours, we take a break and eat some of the fruit that we bring along. In our mind, we have about 1 hour to 1.5 hours until we are at the pickup point. The wind has been with us for most of the morning and we are feeling good. We continue for another hour when we thing that we see the bridge. I call my father and say that we can see the bridge in the distance and that we will be there in 15 minutes. As I look closer to the bridge, I can see that it is obviously not the 67 bridge, but the rock quarry bridge. This may not sound important, but it is very important. We thought that we passed the rock quarry bridge 1.5 hours ago. The quarry bridge is the half way point.

We pull over to talk about our situation, though there is not much to talk about. What can we do about it? Absolutely nothing! There is no bridge that we can be picked up on until we reach 67, so we are in for the long haul. That is ok though, everyone is feeling good and the wind has been behind us the entire way. Our luck, of course, was about to change.

As we were going under the bridge, I was on the phone with my father telling him that he did not in fact need to pick us up because we are only half way there. This was a very bad plan on my part, because this was the only place thus far in the river where we have a strong current and deep water. The back of my kayak hit a tree branch and I flipped the kayak. The water was strong enough to sink my kayak instantly and I was soaked. This also meant that everything in my back was also soaked. No problem, we placed everything into zip lock backs. I swam to the shore and pulled the kayak to where I could touch the bottom of the river, drained it and did a quick check of everything. Phone- ok, food and water (what little remained)- ok, new digital camera sealed in a zip lock bag- floating in a zip lock bag full of water. I must not have closed the bag tightly, the camera was ruined.

By the time I caught up to the ladies, I was already dry, but the there was not to do for the camera. It was now noon, the food was about out, we were starting to run a little low on water and to make matters worse, the wind had changed direction. We were now kayaking into the wind. This makes a huge difference. When one kayaks with the wind, life is good. When one is kayaking against the wind, life sucks. Especially after one has only kayaked half way when we thought that we were almost finished.

Everyone did good, no one complained (too loudly) and we made it to the end. Dad was there ready to pick us up with lemonade and subway. We downed it all like we had never eaten in the last 6 months. We did not do anything that evening. We had planned to go to the movies, but it did not happen. We just went home and let Dad take care of us. The next day we thought that we would be sore, but we were not. Already the next day we could laugh (with the exception of the camera that I ruined) at our day.

Spring Time In Sweden for DnM

Thank God, winter is finally over. The family took a little bike ride today since the weather has been so nice. While biking around, we saw tussilagos (little yellow flowers, no idea the name of them in English). That means that it is officially spring in Sweden!!!

Other signs it is spring in Sweden:

Ever kitchen table in Sweden has tulips on it
Families have birch branches with feathers tied to the end of them
And every Swede is looking up to the sky when they are in the sun
(wondering what the warn orange thing in the sky is)

Sitting here on a rainy day

Well it is raining outside and I am to lazy to put on my raingear to go outside. How sad is that? It is ok, I really do not have the energy or the desire to do anything. I really do not even have the desire to read something. So all it does is allow the mind to wonder. Like normal, the mind wanders to travel.

Today it is about where I would like to travel this year. Thus far this year I have not done any traveling (not counting the one trip to Gibraltar for work). That is a new record for M and I. So my list is actually quite long. It is normally long, which is ok. In reality, like usual, the majority of them will not happen.

Here are the ones that will more then likely happen:

Texas to visit the folks
We made a separate list of things that we would like to do in Texas and all of these things will not happen. We are not going to have enough time to do it all. Though, even if we had the time to do it all, we still would not “want” to do it with two kids under 2.

Östersund to visit a couple of friends
They just had their first child, so it should be fun. We are taking the train, 10 hours. We will see how N does.

Wedding in Northern Sweden
A nice long weekend. One of M’s friends is getting married, a nice weekend away.

Åland with the in laws
Sadly I will miss most of this one, since I have to work and it will be the last week before I take Parent Time Off, but M and kids will be there the entire time.

Work Trips
These are always a bit up in the air, but it looks like I will be going to Moscow for a couple of days, Cape Town for a week, Vienna and a Athens.

The rest of just dream trips. You know the type, the ones that are fun to think about on a rainy nasty, stay inside with a cup of tea. The big one though is M’s 30th birthday is in January next year.

Eating ones way through Vienna

One thing has been for sure on this trip to Vienna, I will not be losing any weight. In fact, I would be shocked if I did not gain some weight. We have eaten so much food the previous 6 days. Some of it has been traditional Viennese food and some has not been. It is not M and my style to eat out so often. In fact, even when I go on these business trips, I will usually just eat some “street” for or stop by a grocery store. This week, since N is with us, we have to eat out to ensure that she gets enough food.

I guess we should divide this into different categories, to make it a little easier to read. Otherwise I would go from day to day. I guess we should start covering the street venders, which being Christmas time there are extra many of them. Then we will cover with the most traditional- Viennese food. Then finally we have to cover everything else.

I am not sure if this would actually be categorized as Viennese food or not, but from my observation they will be- chestnuts roasted over an open fire (Jack Frost nipping at your nose). Just about every other street corner had a chestnut proprietor. We found our favorite on the corner of Schottenring and Schottengasse. They were always fresh and were just about the least expensive ones we found. I think that over a period of 8 days, we had them 4 times, that is how good they are. The other street Viennese food we had was sausages from a street salesman. It was not until the last full day that I finally got my sausage. If M and N did not come, I would have ate one every single day for dinner (and saved a small fortune).

We actually only ate at one traditional Viennese restaurant. Still located in the city centre, but off of Am Hof square, Brezlg’wölb (1, Ledererhof 9) is an excellent choice for good food and phenomenal atmosphere (sadly the service was below sub-par at best). M had the weinerschnitzal and I had the dumplings. The dumplings were good, but the weinerschnitzal was fabulous. Yes, I was totally jealous of M and wished that I had ordered it myself.

A couple of nights later we went to an Austrian pancake house called Palatschinkenkuchl (1, Köllnerhofgasse 4). The place was small and cozy. The waitress was very helpful, even though she did not understand my German, but then again no one understands my German. The pancakes are not the traditional American or French style of pancakes, but more like an oven pancake which has been cut into little strips called kaiserschmarren. Then they are covered with powered sugar and preserved fruit. M had apples and I had plums, both of which were good.

Ironically M and I ate mainly at Italian places. N loves pasta, it is by bar her favorite type of food. She will eat almost anything, as long as pasta is included. The first night we ate at a little place behind the Börse- which was really bad. It looked bad before we ever went in, but thought that we would give it a try anyway. The other nights we went to a place closer to the hotel. Both of which were good, but not really worth mentioning. The other nights we had Japanese takeout from Mr. Wongs. It will never get a Michelin Star, but not a bad option. M has a favorite lunch option called Salado on Währinger Strasse- very kid friendly and reasonably priced. In fact, they thought that N was so cute, that they gave her a little treat.

With all that mentioned, how could we add anything. Well, we are missing one very important thing- the sweets. Vienna is known for their café life. We had several sweet breads from the different Christmas markets. M had a donut with cream filling. They filled the vanilla cream when she ordered it. They filled it up so much that the cream shot out of the donut the other side. I had a pretzel with coconut topping- different. The crème de la crème though was a visit to the Demel. This is one of the oldest cafés in Vienna and one of the upper class ones. I had a snowball and M had apple strudel. Of course we had coffee to go with it. What a café culture, with about 20 different types of coffee- putting Starbucks to shame (plus if you have kids and a stroller, they have an elevator that you can take, though it is a little difficult to find).

When one comes to Vienna, food is not the first thing one would think of. I personally would think more on the alcohol side then the food side, but the everyone has several options in all price ranges.

What is our Motivation?

Why do we travel? It is a good question, though almost impossible to answer. Think about it, every person travels for a different reason. When you get on the plane, you may be sitting next to a guy that is flying to a convention in Las Vegas. The person that is across the isle is flying to her weekly meeting in Chicago. Motivation is a funny thing.

Sadly, the majority of my travel has been with work recently. So my motivation for travel has been, well, lacking. My motivation for going somewhere has actually been just to get it over with. Isn’t that sad? A person that loves to travel, has that kind of motivation. Where I use to have mixed feelings about the end of a trip, happy to see family/friends and sad that the trip is over, now I am just overjoyed that the trip is over. When I am at the location, I try to take advantage of the situation. I go out to eat, take walks and read about the location that I am going to. Let’s be honest, it is not the same.

Though my motivation for fun (with the family and friends) travel has changed as well. I use to travel for the adventure of travel, that is not necessarily the case anymore. I can remember one of the first times I traveled to Europe. I was 18 years old and went there with one of my best friends. We had two weeks to “see” Europe (I do not want to get into a discussion about the merits of traveling in such a matter, at the time it was perfect. Today I would not travel in such a matter, back to the story) before we had to start working in Switzerland. We traveled all over the place. For the two weeks, I think that we stayed at a hostel/hotel only two nights. All the other nights we slept on trains or in train stations. It was part of the adventure of it all, besides, it makes some great stories that we still laugh about when we get together (like the Naples train station where my friend was terrified about the rats. We agreed that we would sleep in shifts, 1 hour each. After 40 minutes he would wake me up and let me know that his hour was up).
Today it is not the adventure, though it is still part of it. Even on business trips the adventure of it is part of it. Today it is more about escape. Not so much escape from life, though escape from the bear trap I call work is always nice. So I am not really sure what the escape is from. If I travel, I want to travel with my loved ones. So it is not an escape from that. What are we trying to escape then? Or is not really wanting to escape at all, but the pursuit of a goal, dream, what? I don’t know.
What I do know is that I love traveling. The thing that I love even more is the idea of travel. It sounds so glamorous, doesn’t it? The idea of going to Barcelona and strolling (because one only strolls when they are traveling or are newly in love) down La Rambla is a picturesque thought. Though in reality La Rambla is a haven of con artists and is is pouring down rain in Barcelona right now. Those details do not matter. The fact that it is probably going to rain does not really matter all that much in the planning. Instead you are thinking that you will be going to the Picasso museum and then go out to eat tapas.
Now I am just rambling on, again. Basically, I can honestly say that I do not know what motivates us to travel and see. Maybe it goes back to our primate days when we followed the food around. Whatever it is, I am glad that we do. Being a tourist in your own town can be great, but it is even better being a tourist someplace that you have never been before.

Star Wars Weekend at Disney World

If there is one thing about my family that is a fact, it is that they are Disney freaks. That may sound a little a harsh, but it is true. Let me prove it to you. Our Christmas tree growing up had over 100 (probably closer to 200) Disney ornaments on it. In fact, instead of an angel on top of the tree, we had a Mickey Mouse. As a family, we have been to Disney World over a dozen times. That is as a family, my sister and parents have been there at least another 6 times. My sister and family live in California and have season passes to Disney Land. The list can go on and on, though I think that the point has been proven.

Any male that is between the ages of 25 and 35 that grew up in America have one thing in common, we all grew up playing with Star Wars toys. One of my favorite Christmas memories growing up was the year that I received an At-At for a Christmas present from Santa. Like all kids, I had other toys as well. I played with He-Man, GI Joe and Transformers; but is was Star Wars which was my favorite.

When I was little, Darth Vader was my favorite. One year (1983), I went as his for my Halloween costume. I liked him so much, that black was my favorite color (sounds pretty gothic, doesn’t it). Then when I got a little older it was Chewbacca. It is still Chewbacca.

M does not understand either fascination. It is something that has been ingrained into my being since I was a child. It is part of who I am, or at least what made me who I am. So I was surfing the net the other day when I came across something that was shocking to me (Before we go any further, it is important to note that my sister is an expert when it comes to Disney World. She knows the place better then most of the employees). They have what is called Star Wars Days at Disney World MGM Studios.

What this means is over three weekends in April/May the park is invaded by Star Wars characters. They have over 250 of them walking around the park at any given time. Now the majority of them are the Stormtroopers and stuff, but other characters walk around as well. For example Yoda is there, along with Darth Vader, the characters from the 3 newer films and of course Chewbacca. To say the least, I was in shock. How was I just learning about this.

The first thing that I did was call my sister. Like I said, she is the expert when it comes to Disney World. I was sure that she was going to be as amazed by the news as I was. After all, information like this would surely be shared if it was known. Boy was I wrong. The first thing she said was, “yea, I know. It is every spring!” If I was shocked by the event in general, this took shock to a new level. Not only had she known about it, but she had known about it for years. I am still in disbelief concerning it.

So there is where we are at. N has never visited a Disney Park, as of yet. She is not even 1 year old, so it is not too strange. We wanted to wait until she was old enough to enjoy it. At this very moment I am trying to convince M that this coming April (2008) would be the perfect time for N to enjoy the most magical place in the planet.
The Star Wars weekends for 2007 have not been published yet, but if you would like additional information about the events for the weekends. The following link is a good source of information.

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/parks/specialEvents?id=StarWarsWeekendsSpecialEventPage&bhcp=1

Traveling with Kids II

I wrote a while ago about my niece and nephew who did not comprehend the idea of traveling. For them it was nothing more then hoping on a plane, and the plane was the same to them as a short car trip was to me when I was their age. Like I said before, I am not sure how that can be corrected. It is kind of like how my Grandmother (she is in her upper 90’s) can not get over when I call her in the states from Europe. She always says, “it sounds like you are next door!” It is always an exciting thing for her to get a call from me. Whereas I do not find it odd or really different from any other phone call. In fact, I would probably think that it is more odd to get a call from my neighbor then I would from a different continent.

The reason that I bring it up again is that my niece and nephew (along with their parents and grandmother) flew over last week. N had her baptism and my sister (their mother) was the godmother. Of course the kids love N and were so excited to see her.

The kids did really well. J (the 5 year old boy) was so excited about the trip that he could not sleep the night before the trip and A (the 8 year old girl) could sleep but did not stop talking about it the week before the trip. They did excellent on the flight, from what I was told. When they arrived in Sweden, everyone was exhausted…except for the kids.

So what did we do to try and make it special for the kids- so they understood that they were on a “real trip”. First I have to give A’s teachers a lot of create. A is in 2nd grade and had to skip school for a week in order to come. One of her assignments was to keep a journal for everyday that they were here. One of her teachers has a Swedish background, so the pressure was on! For the most part she did well with keeping up with the journal writing.

M and I knew that she was going to have to keep the journal and it was both of the kids birthday when they were here. So we played with that. For A’s birthday gift, we got her a Swedish/English dictionary and journal. For J, we got him a journal and some markers to draw and write what he experienced.

Here are a couple other ideas that we did:

- Bought a coloring book in Swedish and translated all the instructions to English. The kids are going to bring them home to share with their classes.
- Tried Swedish foods like Swedish meatballs with lingon berry jam
- Learned how to saw a few key Swedish words like hi, goodbye, thank you, and how to count to 10.
- Used a comparison of ages when explaining things (this University started in 1477, that is 18 years before Columbus set sail for America)
- Took the train and the ferry for transportation instead of driving, which was a big hit!

I am sure that we did more then just this, but though I still do not think that the kids understood totally that they were in a different country, they did to a certain extent. In the end, they had a good time and will have wonderful memories of the trip.

John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley

I had recently been working on a blog entry and only got started with it. I just was not happy with it, it was just not going as I had planned. So I saved that entry and decided that I would come back to it on a later date. Then I picked up John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley. I had recently picked it up at a 2nd hand store. The opening paragraph blog entry.

The pretense of the book is that John is traveling around America with his poodle Charley to rediscover it. The year is 1960 and Steinbeck is about 60 years old. The book is excellent and I would highly recommend it. Several parts caught my attention as being true even today. I want to share with you the opening chapter. I have highlighted a couple of the lines that I liked the best.

-When I was very you and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. When years described me as mature, the remedy prescribed was middle age. In middle age I was assured hat greater age would calm my fever and now that I am fifty-eight perhaps senility will do the job. Nothing has worked. Four hoarse blasts of a ship’s whistle still raise the hair on my neck and set my feet tapping. The sound of a jet, an engine warming up, even the clopping of shod hooves on pavement brings on the ancient shudder, the dry mouth and vacant eye, the hot palms and the churn of stomach high up under the rib cage. In other words, I don’t improve; in further words, once a bum always a bum. I fear disease is incurable. I set this matter down not to instruct others but to inform myself.
When the virus of restlessness begins to take possession of a wayward man, and the road away from Here seems broad and straight and sweet, the victim must first find in himself a good and sufficient reason for going. This to the practical bum is not difficult. He has a built-in garden of reasons to choose from. Next he must plan his trip in time and space, choose a direction and a destination. And last he must implement the journey. How to go, what to take, how long to stay. This pat of the process is invariable and immortal. I set it down only so that newcomers to bumdom, like teen-agers in new hatched sin, will not think that they invented it.
Once a journey is designed, equipped, and put in process, a new factor enters and takes over. A trip, a safari, an exploration, is an entity, different from all journeys. It has personality, temperament, individuality, uniqueness. A journey is a person in itself; not two are alike. And al plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us. Tour masters, schedules, reservations, brass-bound and inevitable, dash themselves to wreckage on the personality of the trip. Only when this is recognized can the blow-in-the-glass bum relax and go along with it. Only when do the frustrations fall away. In this a journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it. I feel better now, having said this, although only those who have experienced it will understand.

Leaving Sweden in the Snow

I left yesterday morning on a business trip from Uppsala Sweden to Gibraltar. We finally got some snow in Sweden, which is actually the first time this winter. The roads to the airport were not plowed at all, it is not too surprising since I left the house at 5am.

I was shocked to learn that no flights were cancelled or delayed. I was expecting some delays. As I was waiting to board the flight, they were clearing the snow away from the runway. The interesting part about this, since normally it would not be that interesting watching someone clear away snow, is that they actually moved all the snow away in trucks. It was not good for plans to go over “large” piles of snow.

The flight was to leave at 7:05 in the morning, which means I had to get up way too early in the morning to get to the airport. I was a little surprised when they had us board the plane actually earlier then what we would normally board if the weather was nice. I would not have been. We sat on the gate for almost 2 hours. First they had to de-ice the plane. That is expectable and not overly surprising. That took about an hour. So then we were all ready to go.

The problem occurred when the car that was to push us off the gate did not have snow tires on. So the wheels just spun around in circles. What I do not understand is why, in Stockholm of all places (if it was a freak storm in Spain, that would be a little different), the vehicles do not have proper tires. You would think that it would be kind of important, but apparently not. So there we sat, another hour on the plane waiting for a vehicle to push the vehicle that was to push the plan (confusing?).

In the end, we arrived with out any problems and that is the most important part, even if it was 2 hours late. It is just amazing to me. Swedes seem to be in shock when it actually snows in Sweden. It is almost as bad as when the English are shocked when it rains.

Christmas in Sweden

Every family has their own holiday traditions. One can not say that traditions are truly one nation’s, because individuals of that nation or of another nation will either share those nationalistic traditions or ignore them. With that being said, I am going to exactly that- talk about the traditional Swedish Christmas.

The first major difference of a Swedish Christmas compared to an American Christmas is that the main day of action is on Christmas Eve, the 24th, compared to Christmas Day in the states, the 25th. The events of the holiday actually start on the 23rd, or as I like to call it- Christmas Eve Eve.

M’s family spends the day doing a serious cleaning. Not just a little cleaning, but major cleaning. I am talking about moving all the furniture and cleaning. For some reason, not sure what that would be, but we missed that. Actually we miss that most years. It was only my first Christmas in Sweden that we “managed” to get there in time to “participate” in the cleaning. Once the cleaning is completed, the more fun Christmas traditions begin. The tradition of making the gingerbread house is the first. Now, most families only make a small house, but not M’s family. They go all out. Some of the better ones in the years past have been the Eiffel Tower, Tower Bridge and a working lighthouse (bad idea having a burning candle in the lighthouse). Then it is the decorating the Christmas tree. All the decorations are more of the traditional ones. You will not see any Hallmark decorations on a Swedish tree. Though the highlight of the 23rd is the ham testing. What is ham testing, it is exactly what the name indicates- testing of the Christmas ham. M’s parents actually make two hams every year now. We have ham with a special hard bread and Christmas mustard (one thing about Sweden, it has a “special” version of nearly everything for Christmas- cheese, beer, soda, tea). The real highlight of the event though is the snaps and lots of it. With ever shot of snaps, everyone sings a new Christmas snaps song. This has to be my favorite part of a Swedish Christmas!

After the late night, the entire family wakes up Christmas Eve. The kids placed a sock at the foot of their beds so that the Christmas elves could leave a little treat for them. The entire family brings their socks into the living room where the Christmas Eve morning breakfast is waiting. The old people have coffee when the kids have hot chocolate with their ham and cheese thin bread roll-ups. The thin bread is special and comes from Leksand, not the case for all families. Then it is time to test the Christmas cookies. A rough estimate of the different types of cookies is about 20. In theory you have to taste each one. I usually get about 3 or 4 of them down before my cookie limit is hit.

Lunch, my least favorite part of the Christmas holidays, is serve around 1pm. It is two dishes. The first is Lutfisk. If you have not tried it, it is not worth it- I promise! It is kind of like textured jello. I always claim for the three days after Christmas that it is the lutfisk which actually gives me a sour stomach. M’s father loves it, though it is really foul. The second part is rice porridge with cinnamon and sugar. Not my favorite, but better then lutfisk, that is for sure.

At 3:00pm every Christmas every Swedish family sits down to watch the Disney Christmas special- or known in Sweden as Donald Duck. I really do not understand why Donald Duck is the name, when he is barely in the movie. Anyway, in reality most people turn the TV on, but they sleep through the entire thing. The programs on TV are the same every year. In fact they are on the exact same time every year.

The dinner is a smorgasbord. It is eaten in two phases. The first phase is the seafood section. It has several different flavors of herring- sour, curry, dill; and several different types of salmon- smoked and fermented. Once that part is complete, which is not too bad thankfully, everyone moves on to the meat section. Here is where you get to have the Christmas ham, Swedish meatballs and sausages. Usually the smorgasbord will also have a variety of small things, like moose sausage, pâté and jonssons.

After dinner, and this part varies from family to family, is when Santa finally comes. He walks from house to house carrying a lantern and knocks on the door. He walked in the room and asks if there “are any good boys or girls here?” Then he hands the gifts out to all the kids. Santa in Sweden is not the traditional Coca Cola Santa. This Santa is skinnier and more plastic (it has to be the plastic mask that they wear). I actually find this Santa a little scary. If I was a kid, I really would. Once the gifts are distributed, then it is the last fika of the day. This is usually between 11 and 12.

The 25th is, as sad as it sounds, is nothing. Most Swedish families will meet up with relatives, but for the most part the holiday is over. The Christmas lights and decorations will not be taken down until mid January.