I love travelling but there is nothing like coming home again. Being away from Jakob and Isak is just getting harder and harder. Mum looked after them Monday when Adam was working and we had dinner there before going home Monday night. Today Jakob has been at dagis for 5 hours but we have still had lots of time to together. Isak must have been happy to have me home because he woke up at 5.15 this morning saying Mamma! Hope that is not a new routine that he is introducing to us...
After a fun road trip we finally got to Västerås where I met Karin's 7 month old son Gustav for the first time. He is just adorable! I spent the night with Karin and her family before flying home to Luleå the next day. What a great holiday!
After a lazy morning we started the 500km drive to Västerås. The plan was to take it easy, stop where we wanted to and eat lots of lollies. This photo is taking on the E4 along the big lake Vättern.
First stop was in Gränna, a cosy little town famous for making Polkagrisar (lollies).
Gränna is a very pretty little town.
Next stop was at this flea market, antique shop. I almost bought some skates but they were too small :-(
Karin found a really nice ring.
Next stop was Vadstena famous for an old monastery. The place is normally full of tourists (we think) but on a Sunday night at the start of summer the town was dead. Good for us who had it all to ourselves.
Quiet streets of Vadstena...
Before leaving Älmhult we went to see Emma and Stephens new house and also had some left over wedding cake, yummy!
Next time we meet will probably be at the next girls get together in Luleå in November! I think I have to start planning :-)
The main reason for my trip to the south of Sweden was Emma and Stephen's wedding. They met in Adelaide a couple of years after Adam and I met and Emma and I, together with a few other Swedish girls, spent a lot of time together and had "fikas" at least once a week. Emma and Stephen moved to Sweden over a year ago and they both work at Ikea in Älmhult. About 20 Austarlians had come all the way for the wedding, quite impressive I think.
Karin was one of the Swedish girls I mentioned! She is a very beautiful girl both on the outside and the inside!
The ceremony was held in Dörarp church. Dörarp is a small village in Småland and that is where Emma grew up. The reception was an hour south in Älmhult.
Emma and her father.
Marie was the bridesmaid and also one of the Swedish "fika girls" from Adelaide who now lives in Sweden again.
The beautiful couple!
Emma and Stephen looking a bit more relaxed.
Family photos!
The couple leaving the church for and the rest of us heading to Älmhult for the big party! I sat with some Aussie friends of Stephen and had a great evening with nice food and good company. At 1am Karin and I left and went back to the hotel. Before we went to sleep with spent an hour just enjoying the freedom eating lollies and reading magazines :-)
Next stop was in Tollarp just outside Kristianstad at Sara and her husband Palle's horse farm. I have seen lots of pictures of it on Sara's blog and I was so excited to see it live! I had very high expectations but it was even better than I thought. What and amazing place! Before going to the farm Sara and I met up for lunch in the city. When we got to the farm I got dressed in riding gear straight away and we did a tour of the place. The indoor areana is very very nice and every little detail in there has been well thought through.
They have 8 horses on the farm and who would not want to live here if you are a horse? I haven't seen the place in winter though but this time when everything is green and lush it is beautiful.
The latest addition to the family!
The entrance to the stables.
The house!
Sara getting CatOlena ready for me! Western riding is a completley new thing for me and I am so greatful that I got to try it.
The stables are really spacious and clean and very well organised. Not a surprise for those of us knowing Sara :-)
Riding in a western saddle is like learning to ride again, I felt like a beginner at least for the first 20 minutes. Making the horse walk, trot, canter, stop and turn is done in a very different way to what I am used to. Sara gave me some instructions that seemed simple but getting the hang of it was not easy. At the end of the hour I was cantering around in the arena without too many problems. As long as I was cantering I was ok but as soon as I had try and do something different I had big problems. Like getting the horse to take steps backwards. It looked so easy when Sara was doing it but I couldn't get the poor horse to move. Anyway, it was great fun, not quite as fun as jumping, but I can really see why people love it. 
Just when we were done with the horses Jessica turned up. We all had a drink in the sun, I can't remember when a beer tasted so nice last time. I also got to meet Sara's husband Palle for the first time!
The evening ended around midnight after having had a delicious dinner cooked by Palle, lots of wine (not sure how it happened but my wine glass always seemed full) and lots of talking and laughter. A great evening with great friends!
Waking up with horses and paddocks outside the window is of course a pretty nice feeling. One last photo of us girls before Jessica and I took off in different directions and Sara and Palle stayed on their beautiful farm.
My first stop was in Kristianstad where I got picked up at the train station by Josefina, Bella and Mikaela. Last time we saw each other was in Adelaide a few years ago before they moved to Dubai. Josefina and I and the kids used to spend lots of time together in Australia and it was great to see them again! Josefina and I went out for dinner just the two of us and had LOTS to catch up on since we both have lots of similarities in our lives at the moment.
Bella is as cute and happy as I remembered her, just a couple of years older. Bella was the first girl Jakob kissed on a tennis court in Adelaide when he was 1.
Mikaela, born only a few months after Isak!
When planning the trip to Emma and Stephens wedding a couple of months ago I decided to take the opportunity to visit some friends in the south of Sweden at the same time. I don't go to Skåne very often so why not! and when travelling without children everything feels so extremly easy. I left Luleå Thursday morning and flew to Stockholm and then to Copenhagen. The photo above is from the south of Sweden.
This is a photo of the bridge between Sweden and Denmark. Felt a bit strange that flying to another country seemed to be the best way to get to the south of Sweden.
A couple of hours later I am on the train travelling on the bridge back to Sweden again.
