Thursday, July 21, 2011
The best birthday party ever! (part 2)
Lina said it was the best birthday party ever, so needless to say, I'm quite pleased. Here are some candid pictures of the party (also taken by Amy).
On Lina's request, I made an "Oreo Cookie" cake. I was happy to do this because this is also one of my favorite cakes, extra chocolaty and dense.
The pinata was also a big hit.
When not being photographed, the girls enjoyed dancing and working on a craft project.
The best birthday party ever!
It's embarrassing how bad I've been about blogging. There have been so many other more pressing things to do. There still are, so I'll try to make this quick.Lina's birthday was in May, while Erik and I were in Germany. After that there was all the end of the school year stuff and a 3 week visit from my mom and stepfather. Therefore we postponed the birthday party until July second.
The theme for the party was model of the day. I would have loved to be the photographer, but sometimes I don't have time to do that and be a mom too, so I asked my friend and fellow photographer Amy Archer to take the pictures. She brought her portable studio equipment and encouraged the girls to accessorize and pose.
Here are some of my favorite model shots.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Sweden's National Day
June 6th is Sweden's national day, previously known as flag day. Sweden has never had to win their independence from anyone, so it isn't celebrated with the enthusiasm as independence day is celebrated in the US or Norway, but Swedes do at least get the day off. In our little town, the national day is celebrated with picnics, and incredibly informal parade, and a speech.
The parade is lead by the marching band and drill team. They are followed by the guest of honor in a horse drawn carriage.
Each of the local clubs (such as the chamber of commerce, soccer team, and volunteer firemen) gathers at the start of the parade, and one member from each club holds a flag. The other members walk behind the flag.
We walked through town, and people came out of their houses to watch and wave. Some people joined the parade, others tagged along afterward at a safe distance. We walked to the soccer field where we were lined up on the field according to our clubs. The band played, the drill team twirled their batons, and a giant flag was raised.
The guest speaker was the press secretary for the police department, and she's widely recognized as a very entertaining speaker. Much to the horror of my gravel-in-my-sandals feet, we had to stand there in the middle of the field for this entire process.
Finally, we sang the national anthem (for which it would appear few know the words), and exited with a half lap around the field.
After that, the soccer parents sold hot dogs, coffee, and cookies. I was impressed by how many had come to watch, and probably more importantly, picnic together.
The parade is lead by the marching band and drill team. They are followed by the guest of honor in a horse drawn carriage.Each of the local clubs (such as the chamber of commerce, soccer team, and volunteer firemen) gathers at the start of the parade, and one member from each club holds a flag. The other members walk behind the flag.
We walked through town, and people came out of their houses to watch and wave. Some people joined the parade, others tagged along afterward at a safe distance. We walked to the soccer field where we were lined up on the field according to our clubs. The band played, the drill team twirled their batons, and a giant flag was raised.
The guest speaker was the press secretary for the police department, and she's widely recognized as a very entertaining speaker. Much to the horror of my gravel-in-my-sandals feet, we had to stand there in the middle of the field for this entire process.Finally, we sang the national anthem (for which it would appear few know the words), and exited with a half lap around the field.
After that, the soccer parents sold hot dogs, coffee, and cookies. I was impressed by how many had come to watch, and probably more importantly, picnic together.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Pictures from Bremen
You know I have two blogs, right? The other one (www.norekefoto.wordpress.com) is more of a professional blog for showing pictures, so I've put highlights from my pictures from Bremen there.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Bremen: been there, done that, took a picture
On Tuesday, it was still dumping rain, so I decided to go shopping. The Swedish krona is strong against the Euro, and I think I could spot a clearance rack anywhere in the world, so there were bargains to be had. I was impressed that there were so many book stores in Bremen. I'd say there were at least as many book stores as there were shoe stores, probably more if you count stores specializing in sheet music. Here in Sweden, shoe stores abound, but book stores are hard to find. I have never seen a store that sold sheet music.
Tuesday evening was the big conference dinner at the Ratskeller (the wine cellar under the town hall). The atmosphere was lovely. While the wine buffs were disappointed, I thought the food was quite good for a buffet for ~100 people. The cream of wild mushroom soup was particularly good. I found it odd to be one of only 5 women at this dinner. All of the conference participants were men, and only a few had brought their wives. It would appear that standardization is still a guy-thing.
On Wednesday, it was not raining, so I walked around taking pictures of everything I'd seen the previous days plus a couple more areas. On Wednesday evening we went out for dinner with a large group of guys. Many were tired of German food since they also got that for lunch at the hotel every day, so they chose a Tapas restaurant. Again, it was a bit disappointing.
Several of us had been looking forward to touring the Mercedes factory on Thursday, but it turned out that the only English tour was long since sold out. Thursday morning it rained again, so I went shopping again. It cleared up in the afternoon, so I expanded my walking radius in the direction of the train station. That turned out to be a pretty scary part of town, so I returned to the historical district and walked along the moat instead.
I had also been looking forward to some good workouts at the hotel gym. It turned out that the gym was tiny with only a few free weights and 4 stationary bikes. I biked for a half an hour on Monday, but after that I did not bother to go back. I much prefer an elliptical cross-trainer, a stair master, or even a treadmill. Our suite had a bathtub (we do not have a bathtub at home), so over the course of the week, I got quite good at reading a book while soaking in the tub.
Erik had a late meeting followed by dinner and drinks with the guys, so I opted to eat by myself. I had white asparagus with new potatoes and hollandaise sauce at an inexpensive cafe. Yum.
On Friday morning, I did the tour of the historic town hall. Erik and one of his friends finished up early on Friday afternoon, so we went walking and souvenir shopping. We listened for a bit to the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, who was giving a big speech in the town square (undoubtedly having a lot to do with the elections on Sunday). We walked to another part of town which had been described to us as "a normal area where people live," but we ended up at a beer garden for dinner. Again I had white asparagus with new potatoes and hollandaise sauce. It was more expensive but still quite good.
When I was in Germany in 1989, I remember seeing a poster for spaghetti ice cream. I was fascinated, but didn't understand what it was or have the opportunity to try it. Since then I've seen it a few more times (but only in Germany). Bremen has an abundance of ice cream shops, and it seemed like they all had spaghetti ice cream. I can now read enough German to know that it is made of vanilla ice cream, strawberry sauce, and shaved white chocolate. Not being a fan of strawberries, I still didn't try it. On Thursday night, I discovered that the cafe had a chocolate variant of spaghetti ice cream, but I was too full to try it then. On Friday night, knowing that our dinner companion was a big fan of chocolate desserts, I suggested that we try this. The spaghetti turned out to be extruded soft ice cream which quickly lost any resemblance to spaghetti as it melted. It would have been much better with a high-quality thick fudge sauce instead of the ordinary chocolate syrup, but all in all, it wasn't bad, and my curiosity was finally satisfied.
Back at the hotel we remembered that we had coupons for free cocktails and beer at the bar. I metabolize alcohol so poorly that I rarely bother drinking, but since this was our last night to use the coupons, I figured I'd give it a try. I wanted something sweet and fruity without too much alcohol, so they made me a Cosmopolitan. It was quite good. Erik and his buddies were all drinking free beer, so I decided to try a Mojito. That was not at all as tasty, and after about 3 sips, I decided it was time for bed.
I did take a bunch of pictures in Bremen, and I'll post them when I get the chance.
Tuesday evening was the big conference dinner at the Ratskeller (the wine cellar under the town hall). The atmosphere was lovely. While the wine buffs were disappointed, I thought the food was quite good for a buffet for ~100 people. The cream of wild mushroom soup was particularly good. I found it odd to be one of only 5 women at this dinner. All of the conference participants were men, and only a few had brought their wives. It would appear that standardization is still a guy-thing.
On Wednesday, it was not raining, so I walked around taking pictures of everything I'd seen the previous days plus a couple more areas. On Wednesday evening we went out for dinner with a large group of guys. Many were tired of German food since they also got that for lunch at the hotel every day, so they chose a Tapas restaurant. Again, it was a bit disappointing.
Several of us had been looking forward to touring the Mercedes factory on Thursday, but it turned out that the only English tour was long since sold out. Thursday morning it rained again, so I went shopping again. It cleared up in the afternoon, so I expanded my walking radius in the direction of the train station. That turned out to be a pretty scary part of town, so I returned to the historical district and walked along the moat instead.
I had also been looking forward to some good workouts at the hotel gym. It turned out that the gym was tiny with only a few free weights and 4 stationary bikes. I biked for a half an hour on Monday, but after that I did not bother to go back. I much prefer an elliptical cross-trainer, a stair master, or even a treadmill. Our suite had a bathtub (we do not have a bathtub at home), so over the course of the week, I got quite good at reading a book while soaking in the tub.
Erik had a late meeting followed by dinner and drinks with the guys, so I opted to eat by myself. I had white asparagus with new potatoes and hollandaise sauce at an inexpensive cafe. Yum.
On Friday morning, I did the tour of the historic town hall. Erik and one of his friends finished up early on Friday afternoon, so we went walking and souvenir shopping. We listened for a bit to the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, who was giving a big speech in the town square (undoubtedly having a lot to do with the elections on Sunday). We walked to another part of town which had been described to us as "a normal area where people live," but we ended up at a beer garden for dinner. Again I had white asparagus with new potatoes and hollandaise sauce. It was more expensive but still quite good.
When I was in Germany in 1989, I remember seeing a poster for spaghetti ice cream. I was fascinated, but didn't understand what it was or have the opportunity to try it. Since then I've seen it a few more times (but only in Germany). Bremen has an abundance of ice cream shops, and it seemed like they all had spaghetti ice cream. I can now read enough German to know that it is made of vanilla ice cream, strawberry sauce, and shaved white chocolate. Not being a fan of strawberries, I still didn't try it. On Thursday night, I discovered that the cafe had a chocolate variant of spaghetti ice cream, but I was too full to try it then. On Friday night, knowing that our dinner companion was a big fan of chocolate desserts, I suggested that we try this. The spaghetti turned out to be extruded soft ice cream which quickly lost any resemblance to spaghetti as it melted. It would have been much better with a high-quality thick fudge sauce instead of the ordinary chocolate syrup, but all in all, it wasn't bad, and my curiosity was finally satisfied.
Back at the hotel we remembered that we had coupons for free cocktails and beer at the bar. I metabolize alcohol so poorly that I rarely bother drinking, but since this was our last night to use the coupons, I figured I'd give it a try. I wanted something sweet and fruity without too much alcohol, so they made me a Cosmopolitan. It was quite good. Erik and his buddies were all drinking free beer, so I decided to try a Mojito. That was not at all as tasty, and after about 3 sips, I decided it was time for bed.I did take a bunch of pictures in Bremen, and I'll post them when I get the chance.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Bremen, Days 1 and 2
Well this is embarrassing. I hadn't intended to stop blogging, I just didn't get around to it for a while. Luckily it would seem that the only person who noticed was my mother, and I have long since reassured here that I was still alive.
I'm currently in Bremen, Germany, where my husband is attending a conference. I tagged along hoping to have a bit of a vacation like I did last year in Budapest. Well my first impression of Bremen is that it's nowhere near as interesting as Budapest, but hopefully that will change as soon as it stops raining. In Budapest, it also rained the first days, so I went to a museum. I tried that here, but the museums are all closed on Mondays. I later found out that they are only in German anyhow, so it really didn't matter. The cathedrals were open, so I went there. The famous cathedral had a large exhibit, but the signs were only in German. The quiet cathedral mood was completely destroyed by the hammering of renovation work, so I didn't hang out very long. The church across the square, nearly as large but not as famous, had an exhibit about Tjernobyl, but again, it was only in German.
I was pleased to discovered that the town hall, a Unesco world heritage site, was open. I was promptly disappointed to find that the only open part was an art gallery. There was a sign saying there were guided tours every day, so I went to the nearby tourist office to buy my ticket. It turns out that this week they were only doing tours on Monday and Friday mornings. I was too late. I was surprised that the tourist office really didn't have any suggestions for what an English speaker might do in town on a rainy Monday. All she came up with was the science museum which is all the way across town, and I really wasn't in the mood. Thank goodness for the internet. I can at least look information on the places I visited today and get inspiration for where I might want to visit when it stops raining.
When Erik was done with his meeting, we went for a long walk in search for someplace to eat. We found plenty of restaurants, but nothing that inspired him. We eventually ended up at the same place where we ate yesterday. I had french onion soup and a chef salad. It hit the spot.
Yesterday we drove down from Sweden. There was a lot of construction on the autobahn, so Erik found the drive more tiring than fun. It took about 7 hours to get here. Erik promptly ran into some colleagues, so we went out to dinner with them. We went to a nice restaurant where I had steak and mushrooms. The flavors were delicious, but the meat was tough. At least it wasn't all that expensive for a fancy restaurant.
So if it keeps raining, I might get around to telling you what I've been up to the past couple of months. Otherwise, I've got plenty of exploring to do.
I'm currently in Bremen, Germany, where my husband is attending a conference. I tagged along hoping to have a bit of a vacation like I did last year in Budapest. Well my first impression of Bremen is that it's nowhere near as interesting as Budapest, but hopefully that will change as soon as it stops raining. In Budapest, it also rained the first days, so I went to a museum. I tried that here, but the museums are all closed on Mondays. I later found out that they are only in German anyhow, so it really didn't matter. The cathedrals were open, so I went there. The famous cathedral had a large exhibit, but the signs were only in German. The quiet cathedral mood was completely destroyed by the hammering of renovation work, so I didn't hang out very long. The church across the square, nearly as large but not as famous, had an exhibit about Tjernobyl, but again, it was only in German.
I was pleased to discovered that the town hall, a Unesco world heritage site, was open. I was promptly disappointed to find that the only open part was an art gallery. There was a sign saying there were guided tours every day, so I went to the nearby tourist office to buy my ticket. It turns out that this week they were only doing tours on Monday and Friday mornings. I was too late. I was surprised that the tourist office really didn't have any suggestions for what an English speaker might do in town on a rainy Monday. All she came up with was the science museum which is all the way across town, and I really wasn't in the mood. Thank goodness for the internet. I can at least look information on the places I visited today and get inspiration for where I might want to visit when it stops raining.
When Erik was done with his meeting, we went for a long walk in search for someplace to eat. We found plenty of restaurants, but nothing that inspired him. We eventually ended up at the same place where we ate yesterday. I had french onion soup and a chef salad. It hit the spot.
Yesterday we drove down from Sweden. There was a lot of construction on the autobahn, so Erik found the drive more tiring than fun. It took about 7 hours to get here. Erik promptly ran into some colleagues, so we went out to dinner with them. We went to a nice restaurant where I had steak and mushrooms. The flavors were delicious, but the meat was tough. At least it wasn't all that expensive for a fancy restaurant.
So if it keeps raining, I might get around to telling you what I've been up to the past couple of months. Otherwise, I've got plenty of exploring to do.
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