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!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
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/.
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/.
Friday, September 14, 2007
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:
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:
- 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).
- Lone Star- Also in Glen Rose but in the town itself. Good BBQ and a nice "feel" to it
- 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) .
- 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.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
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!
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!
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