"You may have the universe if I may have ITALY." --Giuseppe Verdi

Oh, Hi there! Did you miss us?

As has been pointed out to me NUMEROUS times by a certain travel partner of mine, I have yet to chronicle our last wonderful trip during my time in Sweden (in May, we spent 10 days in Italy). Now, in my defense, my mother did arrive in Stockholm for her visit only one day after we returned from this trip. So in response to a certain someone's sassing, I say that this rapid turn-over of events was his idea and, therefore, he is responsible for a portion of the delay in the publishing of this post. =)

But back to my original subject, Italy. I think this trip was one of our best ones yet. We started in Pisa for a day, next we hoped a train to Florence where we stayed with my mother's Italian family from when she studied abroad there over 40 years ago (Sorry, Mom!). Finally, after a few days in Florence, it was on to the Cinque Terre for a couple nights and then back home via Pisa.

Cinque Terre Bonus Post

"BRUGES, the most striking city I have ever seen, an old city in PERFECT preservation. It seems as if not a house had been built during the last two centuries..." -Robert Southey, 1816

A few weeks ago we took a brief trip to Belgium. We split our time between Brussels, well known for being the locale of one of two of the Parliaments of the European Union and Bruges, well known for the Colin Farrell movie In Bruges that came out in 2009.

I was fully expecting Bruges to be the star of the trip and was semi-dreading being dragged around the modern, 80's style (ugly) streets of Brussels. Having said that, I will admit that Brussels surprised me. The city completely exceeded my expectations. It was beautiful and bustling. Yes, there were the modern and ugly buildings, but there were also many highly ornate and ancient looking buildings that compensated for the modern.

"On the pleasant shore of the FRENCH RIVIERA, about half way between Marseilles and the Italian border, stands a large, proud, rose-colored hotel." - F. Scott Fitzgerland, Tender Is the Night

Bonjour!

View of Villefranche

Our most recent adventure was to La Belle France. And let me tell you, the country certainly lived up to its name. We had a wonderful 5 days in the south of France on the Mediterranean sea. Our "home base" during the trip was Nice. We took three day trips to Antibes, Monaco, and Villefranche and Eze.

 Our days were spent meandering in cool alleyways, basking in the sun on overlooks and near the Mediterranean, eating pastries (mostly crepes & croissants), sandwiches, and olives and drinking cafe (which we thought was coffee, but given France's proximity to Italy, it is actually espresso). While our days may sound relaxing, they were actually incredibly exhausting-- but in the best way possible. Read on for more!

"A single green LIGHT, minute and far away..." -F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

 

Over the past few weeks we've been exploring Stockholm-- new restaurants (for restaurant week, yum!), bars (in moderation), & neighborhoods (yay for healthful exercise!) Below is a collection of photos from our everyday life plus a few from our recent trip to try to see the Northern Lights in Northern Sweden. =)

View from the river near our apartment.

"Kölle Alaaf!"- Carnival in Cologne & Dusseldorf

Two weekends ago we traveled to Cologne and Dusseldorf, Germany. We traveled via RyanAir (discount airline that nearly nullifies its cheap flights with the annoying hassle of getting to and from the discount airports) with two friends from Stockholm. Luckily, our friends, who are both German, were able to guide us through the bus/train system between the airport and Cologne.

The main train station in Cologne

We arrived Friday night and immediately changed into our costumes (Carnivale is kind of like a mix between Mardi Gras and Halloween in the U.S. and Oktoberfest-- Aaand it's as chaotic as you would imagine). In Cologne, or as the natives say, Koln, there is a traditional beer called Kolsch. It is served in very small, tall, thin glasses with volumes of only 200 ml. (A pint at a bar is usually 500 ml) The beer is very light which makes it easy to drink quickly and the small glasses make it easy to lose count... you see where this is going...

Us, all dressed up! Sorry it's blurry!

"In the depths of WINTER I finally learned there was in me an invincible Summer” - Albert Camus

Before moving to Stockholm, I had an understandable fear of the Winter weather. Phil's casual mention of walking outside and having any little water droplets on his beard instantly freeze sent me into a small fit of panic. And while I have avoided taunting the weather verbally for fear of its wrath, I have to admit that we have had a relatively mild Winter this year. A few days below zero C and not much snow- everyone I have talked to about it makes a point to stress is very unusual for Stockholm in December and January and that I should "just wait" and see. I was kind of disappointed in the lack of "winter wonderland" that I felt Sweden owed me. But I was able to get into the Christmas/ Holiday spirit thanks to the Christmas Markets and the NK (Swedish version of Saks) Holiday Windows!

I wish I could tell you that the best part was watching the little Swedes stick their noses to the glass to look at the displays, but alas, I was too busy sticking my nose to the glass to notice anything else. =) Luckily, Phil was able to draw my attention to the baby Swedes.

"If you come from Paris to Budapest, you think you are in Moscow, but if you go from Moscow to Budapest, you think you are in Paris." - Gyorgy Ligeti

So that promise I made about posting every week quickly fell through. Oh well, new year, new resolutions! Except that I have sneakily figured out a way to turn back "blog" time to December 3rd. While this may be confusing, it helps alleviate some of my guilt so tough luck to those who like timely and accurate posts!

Us with "Buda" behind us. This view reminds me a lot of Prague Castle. 

Since the last post, we have spent a weekend in Budapest, Hungary, Phil has traveled to Bangalore, India, we've frequented the Stockholm Christmas Markets way too many times, and we also had a 3 week holiday respite in the U.S. But first things first, Budapest!

"Autumn is a Second Spring when Every Leaf is a Flower." -Albert Camus

After Munich, we had several weeks at home in Stockholm before we headed to Budapest. Below are a collection of photos from sort of "everyday" life here. I didn't start work at Karolinska until about 2 weeks ago, so a majority of my everyday life was spent trying out new recipes, as the food photos indicate. We also both got sick, with Phil getting hit pretty hard (see photo below). What else? We continued decorating the apartment (our tree made its big debut!), did a little pumpkin carving, and tried to take in as much of the fall leaves as possible. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

One of our recent apartment additions

Dinner ingredients!

"Ein Prosit, Ein Prosit, Der Gemütlichkeit!" ("A toast, A toast, To cheer and good times!")

I hope the long break in blog posts is a good indication of the intense experience that is Oktoberfest. It has taken close to a month before I've felt ready to reflect and revisit our time in Munich. =)

There is a lot to catch up on. This past month we traveled to Munich and Budapest. I'd also like to do a brief update on life in Stockholm. So with that in mind, this next post will be Munich and I promise another post will go up this time next week!

Let's get started! 

Munich is a beautiful and historical city in its own right but I can't lie and say that Oktoberfest wasn't the main draw for us. The festival ground is like a typical fair ground with carnival rides, street food and souvenir stands. The tents are situated in make-shift avenues among the games and food. While technically temporary buildings, I think the word "tent" is severely self-deprecating for these beer behemoths. Several of the tents we visited had upstairs, full dining rooms, chandeliers, etc, all the extravagances that a typical "tent" is sure to lack. The luxury of the tents is fitting, however, when you consider that Oktoberfest started as a royal wedding celebration for Bavarian Prince Ludwig, later King, and Princess Therese in 1810.