Cruisin'

There was a neutron scattering conference scheduled for the first week of September in Zaragoza Spain. It just so happens that one common route to get there is through Barcelona. I found out in January about the conference and immediately starting planning our Mediterranean vacation.

 

We booked a week on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, Allure of the Seas. This thing is a monster. While we were in Pompeii there was a Britsh couple that told us it was the biggest cruise ship on the water. We did a little checking, and sure enough, it is. I think it holds something like 7500 people. It is a city floating around on the water. The schedule took us from Barcelona to the Spanish Island Mallorca, to Marseille France, to La Spatzia Italy, Civitavechia Italy, Naples Italy, then back to Barcelona.

 

 

 

There is always food available on a cruise ship. You can have room service free of charge from 5:00 AM to 1:00 AM. There is a giant buffet for three squares as well as the formal dining room for dinner, and there are random food stands about with various hours. One such place was called the Boardwalk. It had a hot dog stand with amazing hotdogs. There was a merry-go-round, a donut shop, a burger joint, fun mirrors, a Mexican restaurant and a giant Aqua theater. Just this one place on the ship was the size of a Walmart.

Looking down onto Boardwalk

 

There were also specialty restaurants you could book and pay more for. These were all located in a courtyard in the middle of a ship that was about half the size of Market Square. It was filled with plants and benches. At night they turned on the cricket sounds. It has been almost three years since we heard crickets. Even though they were fake we still sat many a night and listened. The specialty restaurants were still all you could eat and you could order anything and everything on the menu you wanted. We tried it out one night at the Italian restaurant.

 

 

 

There is also a lot entertainment. There was a full sized casino, the promenade, and an indoor theater in addition to the aqua one. There were about 4 other "clubs" to hang out in too. The second night on the boat we went to the water show and a few nights later I went to see the musical in the main theater. They were both really good.

 

Promenade

Every evening the caretaker of the room came in for turn down service. The mood lights were turned on and a couple of nights we got towel animals. This one just happened to be wearing my sunglasses. He would also leave the "cruise compass" in the room. It was a 4 page flier with an insert telling you everything you needed to know for the next day. We would spend some time each night planning for the next day.

 

Of course there were also acres of sun decks with pools and hot tubs. We spent most of our time in the solarium.

 

Just because they could, there was also an 83 ft zip line, two rock climbing walls, and two wave riders.

 

Our room was awesome. We had a couch and TV and desk, and also a balcony. We got to see a lot of fantastic sunrises and sunsets. We slept with the door open most nights to listen to the water and take in the warmth.

 

The travel schedule was packed, more posts to come on that, but we still found some lazy time. Even if you never got off the boat you could do something different everyday and be completely entertained. There were shops and random musicians, putt putt, a spa, a gym, it was way too much to take all in. We had such a fabulous time and feel super lucky to have had the chance to go.

 

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4th of July

All the stars aligned for us to have a really good 4th of July this year. It landed on a Saturday and the temperature was to finally be above 80. These things combined led us to have a pool party. We invited all our friends over for burgers and swimming. We decorated in as much red white and blue as we had.

We even gathered red, white, and blue wildflowers from the fields in the morning. I wish I had gotten a picture of Chris on his bike with the bucket. He was looking very Swedish.

 

We played games, swam, and ate lots of food.

 

 

We made all the usual BBQ food, potato salad, baked beans, and deviled eggs. We even made an American Flag cake. The inside was colored blue and red. I snagged this snazzy swim suit at a local store called the Dollar Store.

 

Happy Birthday America!

 

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Bastubåten

Father's Day in the U.S. Is the same day as Father's Day in the UK. Our British friend Tom planned a secret outing for his father who was visiting that day and invited us along. We went out on a bastubåten, a sauna boat. It's probably been the best new-to-me activity I've done since coming here.

 

There were 10 of us in all. We climbed aboard the boat and it headed out into the lake. We rode around a bit then dropped anchor.

The front of the boat has a little patio area. The middle room has hooks and benches for storing stuff. The back room is a sauna. There was a digital display showing the temperature in the water, 61, in the air, 63, and in the sauna, 150. We took a minute, settled in, and enjoyed the boat ride. Then we went in the sauna and got warmed up.

 

After sitting in the sauna and getting super sweaty hot, it was time to run out and jump in the water!

I thought I would never do anything like this ever. I hate being cold and it sounded like about the coldest thing you could do. But it wasn't like that at all. Sure, there was a shock to your body when you jumped in, and sure you couldn't stay in long at all, but once you got out of the water, your whole body went tingly. It was the best sensation. It was warming and massaging and made you want to do it over and over!

We had lunch on the boat, boated around the lake some, and, of course, kept making use of the sauna.

We were out on the water for 3 hours. After the boat trip, we drove to Per and Marriane's house. They have retired to the south of France, but they still have a house here in Sweden. Marriane is all about unique design and hosting guests. They have the cutest little farm house and every corner, shelf, and wall is decorated. Her style is very shabby chic, with exactly what you would expect from a quaint European house. The backyard is beautifully organized with tables in the garden area, as well as a large grassy open surrounded by trees for privacy.

 

No detail is too small. There were flowers of all shapes and sizes everywhere. In one corner there was a pile of old terra cotta pots, which placed by most people would look like a pile of trash, but in this cute garden added style.

The house inside was quite small, but super cozy. She useS open shelving in the kitchen, so the dishes serve as decoration. When it was time for cheese, she served it in an old trunk, how clever.

 

 

The food was much like midsummer food, pickled herring, meatballs, boiled eggs, all the usual.

The sun made a showing at dinner and we enjoyed our time in the garden.

 

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Midsommar

This year for midsummer we joined a group of friends who were camping at a nearby lake, Höör. The campground was called Jagersbo. There were about 20 of us. There was a small cabin for home base and three tent sites for the rest. The week leading up was not promising good weather and we were worried how it would go. Sure enough, it was cold, in the 50's, and rainy, but hey, we do live in Sweden after all. If you wait to do things till the weather is ideal, then you'll never do anything, so might as well get on with it!

Johan and Emma drove and offered to give us a ride, Charlie included. He was very eager and very patient while we packed the car.

 

It was about a 45 minute drive, and by the time we got there, it was pouring.

As all good Swedes know, you must be prepared for the weather. These little guys did not let the rain ruin their day.

 

Luckily we had brought to Sweden with us a canopy that Toby bought for us. It was a true lifesaver! We set up food tables and chairs in the yard in front of the cabin. The cabin slept 6, but it was super tiny, and no way even 6 people could hang out comfortably, much less 20.

 

 

Eric organized the food. We had all the usual suspects, pickled herring (sill), potatoes, caviar topped boiled eggs, bread and cheese, and ham pie, homemade by Eric's mom.

Spring, or summer in this case, really is a mind set here rather than a temperature. We couldn't help but notice the difference between what Maddi from Spain was wearing and what Eric from Sweden was wearing.

We were lucky enough to get a small break in the rain and get the tent set up. The spot was beautiful. It was too bad this wasn't where home base was. The view of the lake was really nice. Charlie certainly was appreciative.

 

 

About 7:00 we saw a break in the rain and even the sun came out! We ladies went out to make wreaths from birch trees and flowers we found in the woods. It's a very Swedish thing to do on midsommar.

 

 

It was time for BBQ after wreath making. We had sausages and chicken and veggies. Chris had made homemade pulled pork BBQ and chili for chili dogs. They were a huge hit. It didn't start raining again till about 1:00 in the morning. By then we were tucked in our tents, dry and warmish. The next morning was dry till noon. That's when we called it quits and headed home. All in all, it turned out to be ok in spite of the rain.

 

 

Even Charlie was dressed for the weather

 

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