Blogs from Sweden, Europe

It's now less than 20 hours (and counting) before I leave Sweden. All the paperworks are in order and everything is (more or less) packed. My luggage is just around 8kg (ca 16lbs).. I cannot help to feel that something is missed and that I have this amount of spare time to kill. This is the typhical time I can get butterflies since I have too much free time on my hands. The roadtrip will start off by a baptism by fire. By the time I arrive to Boston and have my car it'll be in the middle of the rush-hour. I must then navigate to my first destination and I don't have any electronic gizmo to guide me. Some have said I'm mad, I just ask them how it was done in the past? It's ... read more

Hola Everybody! Well, since we last caught up I’ve been on two trips and actually had some class finally, so it’s been a productive few weeks. API took our group to Extremadura, the least populated province in Spain, for a weekend of relaxing and hiking. Well, it rained all weekend so there wasn’t much hiking, but the relaxing part was successful. Probably because no one goes there, they have really, really nice hotels for very cheap, so we stayed in some of the nicest hotels so far and just got to enjoy the open Spanish countryside. Only three of the seven in our group decided to go to Extremadura; the word “hiking” seemed to stick out more than any of the others and deterred most from deciding to go. However, me, Holly and Emily had a ... read more

for english version of this entry with more pics, please visit http://patagoniandreams.com Lente . Daglicht wint het weer van de duisternis. Bomen kleuren groen. Mensen komen weer buiten. Joggen en fietsen lijkt een plaag dit jaar. Binnenshuis liggen de winterse outdoorspullen her en der verspreid en opengevouwen kaarten van afgelegen noordelijke gebieden bedekken de tafels. De droogmachine draait overuren. We vullen de pulka met donzen jassen en slaapzakken, een 4-seizoenen tent, merino wollen sokken en hopen enthousiasme. De handbagage explodeert. We hebben een plan nodig om de strenge dame te omzeilen bij de check-in balies. Gelukkig heb ik een brede smile met grote tanden. Na een 2-uur durende vlucht, gevolgd door 17 uur op de trein en 4 uur bussen over spekgladde wegen door borreaalse bossen, kru... read more

It is now less than a month before I embark on this roadtrip and so far most of the preliminary details have been taken care of. The planned budget-goal is reached, most of the people I am going to visit have been contacted and verified, preliminary dates have been set. I have only about a week left in my apartment before other matters need my attention for about two weeks, so I am starting to feel a bit stressed. At the moment there are a few things that are on my mind. 1) What if homeland security won't allow me entrance for any reason? 2) Do I have sufficient time to drive? I have to average 3.5 hours driving a day in order to make it, but it is a roadtrip and the name itself highly ... read more

Trip out to a couple of islands before Easter... read more

First picture is a taster for the sunsets at the end....make sure you get there.... March 25th is Tranedagen - 'Cranes' day in this part of Sweden (100 miles NE of Göteborg). It celebrates the coming of Spring signified by the arrival of the crane on their journey North after wintering in Spain. At the beginning of the week there were 40 crane, on Friday there were 5,100 (they count them as they fly off on an evening). By next weekend there will be about 15,000 and by mid April, they will have flown further North. Check out the webcam http://www.webbkameror.se/djurkameror/hornborgasjon/index.php... read more