Month: June 2018

A day to rest and recover. Do laundry. Sort mail. Catch up with reality and adjust to the every-day-work again after a week away from the musts and have-to’s.

In the afternoon we went over to the E family for a lovely dinner before we went to celebrate my brother-in-law on his big day. They had organized a garden party with coffee and cake and then snacks and drinks. A lot of dear friends and family came to celebrate and I think he has happy with his evening. Thank you for a fun party! And a special thank you to my oldest niece who held a very loving and personal speech to her dad! Well done, girl!

We checked out from the hotel early and went to have breakfast in Binz to see the boardwalk and the beach before it was time to catch the ferry. Also the breakfast at our hotel was ridiculously expensive.. haha

The ferry was half an hour late and the boat trip was less than pleasant. Lunch was not very good and after a while there was a terrible smell which made us sit outside instead. Then we found a room inside which didn’t stink of what-ever-it-was. The longest 4 hrs of the whole trip.

We arrived to Trelleborg around 5.30 PM and we decided to drive all the way to Stockholm which took us 7 hrs. No traffic. So good to be back home again and sleep in our beds again.

Thursday we drove from Celle via Schwerin to look at the castle. It was very hot this day so we didn’t want to spend too much time in the sun. Plus we had a long drive to complete to arrive to Lohme close to Sassnitz later in the evening. We had lunch i Schwerin which was ok but not great.

It took forever to reach our destination due to closed roads, road constructions and endless traffic. But eventually we got there. We stayed at a golf resort and we had hope to get a great view of the ocean and a lovely dinner, but we were placed in a department house behind the hotel with a view of the forrest. And the dinner was not what we had hoped for. Afterwards we enjoyed a coffee overlooking the amazing view with the sun slowly setting in the ocean. The rooms were clean and modern and we had a good night sleep.

Wednesday and day of graduation from the Scandinavian School of Brussels where F has been the last year. So very special to see the castle and where he has lived and meet one of the house parents who has been there for him this year. It was another sunny warm day and after the ceremony, which took place in the sports hall, we packed up all Fs things and left to see the historic memorial place where the battle of Waterloo took place.

After that we started the long drive to Celle where we had booked a room in a hotel. We stopped in Köln to see the cathedral and stretch our legs a bit.

Celle is village with an old town of timber frame houses. It was really lovely to see and I’m glad we went there. However, there was a building site across the street from the hotel and they started making noise at 06.40 in the morning.. And we were kept awake until around 4 AM by loud Germans. I guess they were upset about the soccer game where Korea managed to defeat them and therefor Germany ended up last in the group. And Sweden won 3-0 towards Mexico and therefor won the group! Yeah!!!

Tuesday and F had school to attend so we decided to spend the day touristing. First we went to the old city Brugge which everyone recommends us to visit. Said and done. We took a guided tour in the canals in one of the boats and it was a perfect day! Sunny and nice.

F called and said he wanted to stay at the castle for dinner so we changed our plans and instead of driving back to Waterloo to pick him up we drove to Brussels to see that city too. Mannekin Pis was an obvious must and after strolling around the city a bit we had dinner at HardRock Café. Got back to our B&B later in the evening and crashed in bed after a long day on our feet.

Monday morning we left Coevorden and drove via Maastricht to Waterloo. We had booked a room at a B&B for two nights and it was a bit strange to stay at someones house. But, our hosts were a lovely couple with a 12 year old son and they made us feel really welcome. After we had settled in we contacted F and he joined us for dinner at a restaurant close by. It was so nice to finally see him again! We haven’t seen each other in 12 weeks!

We had a great dinner and catch up and it felt great to have the family all together again. I love my boys dearly and I am so very proud of them both!

We arrived in a grey and a bit rainy Kiel in the morning and started our journey to our next stop – a visit to my dear dear friend in the Netherlands. She and I have been friends since we were little and our friendship means so much to both of us.

It was a lovely visit – just spending time together catching up. Wish we could see each other more often! And they haven’t seen M since he was 7 years old.. And he is now 21..

Our journey begins! We had packed everything with us and left from our second paradise right after breakfast. A long trip ahead!

We stopped for a break at Brahehus to look at the ruin and stretch our legs. Then drove down to Gotheburg to catch the ferry to Kiel.

We had made reservations for dinner at the ferry and afterwards we relaxed in our cabin to watch the soccer game (Sweden vs. Germany). It was a game filled with emotions – one we lost in the end. Bummer.

Midsummer! We decided to spend the day in our second paradise and celebrate it with my parents-in-law. Also, since we will not be home for my father-in-laws birthday on Monday we celebrate him today too! It was a rainy – sunny – warm – cold  day and we ended up not going to the maypole and stayed home instead. It was a lovely day with great food and company and I think my father-in-law enjoyed his presents!

Our second rose in bloom. Two to go. The white one started to bloom first. Now the purple one. A yellow and a red (or pink?) one left.

A couple of really heavy rainfalls today and even some thunder during the afternoon. Now it’s clearing up a bit again. Had to stay a bit at work so we will wait to go out to our second paradise until the morning. I am not really able to think right now – too much going on at the same time and too much to keep track of. I just hope I manage to pack the most essential.