Vacation on Ärö, days 4 & 5

My friend was coming down with a cold, so we spent a lazy day around the house. It didn't help that the weather was cloudy and cool. I'd brought a puzzle with the intention that we could all work on it together, but it turned out to be too hard for the kids. My friend and I had a great time with it, and by afternoon we were on a quest to get a new puzzle. We went to her aunt and uncle's house to borrow one, but it turned out to be for toddlers. We were amazed to discover that it was sunny and warm there, only a few miles away. We proceeded into town on our puzzle quest. The only store in town that sold puzzles didn't have any good ones. We treated ourselves to the local specialty ice cream: walnut ice cream (sort of like butter-pecan) in a waffle cone with whipped cream and maple syrup. It was okay, but not something I'd get again. Unfortunately, the waffle cones leaked, so the maple syrup ended up all over us.

As with all farms, there are flies in the summer, and our house was no exception. As the harvest progressed, the numbers of homeless flies increased. My friend was really grossed out by the flies, so swatting them became a full time occupation for me.

Wednesday was sunny and warm, so we were determined to get out of the house. We went somewhere where my friend had not been before: the ruins at St Albert's and the neighboring burial site on Lindbjerg bakke. St Albert's was the ruins of an old fortress that was later converted into a church. It wasn't much to see, but the view from there was very nice. We didn't stay long though because of the ladybug invasion. The swarms were coming so hard that we were being pelted by them to the point where it hurt. Some of them even bit (I didn't know that they did that--it didn't hurt much, but it was annoying.) I was able to snap a few pictures while the others sought refuge in the car.

We could see the burial site on top of a hill as we drove, so we went there too. The ladybugs weren't so bad there, so we could enjoy the view. After that we took the kids to the beach. This time we chose a different beach with fewer people and more seaweed. We came to refer to it as the stinky beach, but it really was quite nice. There were a lot of clear jellyfish (the kind that don't sting) that the kids played with. The water was very warm and shallow. The kids were allowed to go out up to their belly buttons, which proved to be quite far.







That evening my friend made the local version of pancakes according her grandmother's recipe. I believe this was a precursur to what we now call donuts. They were thick, deep fried, and had a hole in the middle. Traditionally they are eaten with sugar or jam. My daughter suggested maple syrup, and we agreed they were even better that way.

My friend's husband had been sick, and that developed into pnemonia, so he decided not to come. That meant my husband would have to come by himself, and he decided it really wasn't worth it for the few remaining days. I know he was disappointed, but nowhere near as much as the kids were.