The world

The whole reason for the trip was to celebrate my parents 50th wedding anniversary and after a day where we first split up in two groups (the guys went to a war hero museum and the ladies went shopping) we met up and went to the Hofburg Castle and the Spanish Riding School to have a look around.

We ended the day with a fantastic dinner at the Rathauskeller – the Town House which we were recommended by friends. We had a two course dinner in the lovely environment. May my parents have many more happy anniversaries to come!

The most visited tourist attraction of them all in Vienna – Schönbrunn Palace, built in 1699. We got there early (as our tour guide recommended) and bought tickets for an audio tour of the amazing rooms inside. Then we strolled through the park and all the way up the hill to the Gloriette – a fantastic pavilion where we had coffee and cake. It was 37C in the park this day – a bit too hot for our comfort, to be honest.

Then we took the subway through the city and strolled along the Donau river. We ended the day at a true Austrian restaurant with live music and great food – Wienersnitzel!

We picked up my parents in the morning and met up with my sister and her husband at the airport long-term parking place. Then AirBerlin flight from Terminal 2 – and 2hrs later we landed at the Flughafen Wien-Schwechat. We took the local train into the city and found the hotel without any problems right by the Pilgramgrasse station.

Then we strolled around and enjoyed the city for hours – sat down here and there for a drink or a coffee or something to eat. The SkyBar with a view of the St Stephens Dome was a hit!

The sky wasn’t this pretty today – but it was yesterday when I took this shot. A blue sky with little white cotton balls make me happy!

Short day today and a very busy afternoon filled with preparations for our trip tomorrow. I have filled the fridge with goodies to our house-guests, vacuumed and tidied up. Then packed my half of the orange suitcase with things I think I need. It is always a bit tricky to pack just the right amount of clothes to not carry too much but yet not miss anything while there. Fingers crossed I managed to do so. Vienna – here we come!

Long day at work. Warmed up some left-overs for dinner and decided to fry an egg to make it a bit more tasty – and there were two yolks in the egg!! Something I haven’t seen in ages. Had to take a picture.

Tonight we play a qualification game in soccer for the world championships towards the Netherlands. No Zlatan. No Isaksson (our goalie since 14 years). New coach. New captain. This should be interesting.

Monday again and a very busy week ahead. My afternoon plans for today were postponed until next week so I got some free time on my hands. My colleague had been picking chanterelles during the weekend and gave me some. So nice of her! And now I have enjoyed them pan fried with some unions for dinner. Yum!

Have started to pack for our long weekend – just to get ready and figure out if I need to do some laundry of if I’m good to go. I know it’s early still but one never knows what might happen so I like to get things done with no hurry.

The day started out pretty good in bright sunshine and blue sky. The heavy rain yesterday really soaked the mountain of cut branches from the hedge and trees and we needed to get it off the grass as soon as possible. So we rented a trailer and two runs to the recycling center later we were done.

I completed my work with the plantation and covered the areas with black bark soil to prevent some of the weed to take over. And it looks pretty.

Now time to cheer on the Swedish team in Finnkampen – day 2. It is pretty even this year for both the men and women. Go Sweden!

Time to get busy. A couple of our bushes in the garden have become way too big and needed a good trim. We had to decided if we should take them down all together or just cut them. We decided to cut them for now and see if they will grow new green branches again in the spring before we take them down.

Spent all morning outside working in the garden and then after lunch we went grocery shopping.

Then we were surprised by the worst weather in a while – heavy rain with thunder and lightning and afterwards a fantastic rainbow decorating the sky.

Friday again. Realized when I got into town that I was a bit early and had time to sit down for a minute before work. Said and done – one latte grande later I was ready to face the world.

Today my parents went to Finland to go cheer on our Swedish team in the two-nation track&field event Finnkampen. I would have loved to go with them but I just didn’t have the time right now. Maybe next time. I hope they will get a great weekend with lots of great competition. May the best nation win and may it be Sweden!

Another day with quite nice weather. My oldest got off early today and managed to squeeze in a lunch with little-old-me – what a treat! Having lunch with my son on a weekday. I took him to TGI Friday – the place where it is Friday every day.

After work someone had broken a window going down to the subway – that’s what the photo is all about. It was really crowded going home and the driver was not handling the train very well so I think we all felt a bit sick before we finally arrived at the end-station. One more day – then weekend!