One year later...

This long break on my blog was only more or less intentional. Life got really busy last year and at some point, I stopped, reflected, and realized that blogging had become more of a duty than something joyful I did in my free time. I love blogging but I do not enjoy writing under pressure or when I feel I must do it. After that, I decided to take a break, let it go of my to-do list and return only when I felt I wanted to do it again. I knew I would miss it at some point, so there was never a risk for no-return. 

Today was the day. I decided to open my blog again and write whatever crossed my mind. Funny thing... My last post here was exactly one year ago!! I had no idea and thought it was a cool coincidence!

Here is a summary of what has been going on this side of the world.

August - September

Summer vacation in 2019 was spent cycling along the Swedish west coast and then in Denmark. It was of course great! Great views, decent weather and 10 days full of new things. After that, we started preparing and packing all our belongings to move into a new apartment.  

Lesson: no matter when you start packing everything, it is too late!

J. answering an important call from the bank regarding our mortgage. Of course, they called when we were cycling along a very noisy road...

October

October was marked by very extreme experiences. We moved into our newly finished apartment at the beginning of October. It was so new we could still feel the smell of the paint. Moving day was very intensive but fun. Unfortunately, I also got the worse episode of food poisoning of my life! J. had to leave for a work trip and I stayed behind in the middle of a million boxes, not being able to find tea or a pot to boil some rice. On top of that, the fresh smell of paint soon started making me sick and I couldn't even open the windows for too long because it's Sweden and it was 5oC outside. No, my first days in our new flat were not the best, but it only went upwards from there! I love it here now! 

Lesson: do not forget to eat properly, especially when doing something so physically demanding like moving heavy things.

Moving day!

November

November is a blur. We only had some basic furniture and a lot had to be bought (and chosen), mounted and fixed. All of this while working full-time busy jobs. The first weeks we only had portable lamps because we never got the damn connection to the ceiling lamps right. Once we were so tired of shopping at Ikea for the millionth time and only wanted to get it done, that we rushed and bought 7 lamps for different parts of the apartment. We ended up returning six... However, the flat was slowly becoming more of a home and less of a random pile of things.

Lesson: do not shop exhausted and/or hungry. Never!

December - January

When our new place was finally looking decent we had to leave it for a month, but it was for very good reasons. Our honeymoon! We spent the most amazing four weeks in Myanmar, Laos and Thailand. It was my first time in Asia and only the second for J., so it was all very new. We lived so much in those weeks that we feel we were there for a year. When we returned we were so relaxed and happy that I could barely remember what my job was... Do you know that feeling? 

Lesson: so so grateful for being able to go on our honeymoon before the big Covid-19 storm hit us all. 

Sharing a magic sunset in Bagan, Myanmar

February - April

Uncertainty. First at work, not knowing if Covid-19 was, in fact, going to hit us or not (so naive of us...) and then when it did, at home trying to adapt to the new reality without going crazy. The funny thing was that at the beginning of February I asked my boss if I could work from home a few days every week because I needed more peace to do certain things. He agreed immediately, without having the slight idea that that was going to be the reality for the rest of the year. My Easter trip got cancelled, as everyone else's did. My training improved a lot!

Lesson: Some wishes might become true way more than expected.

We live now very close to a big forest and have been busy exploring its best spots :)

May - June

Accepted new reality and re-organized life in general. We transformed our soon-to-be guest room into a mini gym and an office with a big screen and standing/sitting desk. Online meetings became normal as did walks several times of day to prevent pains in new places. Our patio became a small garden where we started growing some vegetables and a nice bar for having after-work drinks on Fridays. The good weather also brought everyone else out to their balconies and we started to get knowing our neighbours, which turned out to be very nice. 

Lesson: So many! Maybe the most important is to be grateful for everything I have and for having learned to adapt to challenges life brings me. These have made me handle the pandemic in a better way than most.

Rasmus, our nicest neighbour, who likes to hang and to nap in our patio 

July - August

First, it was crazy with work, including many many extra hours, but then it was summer vacation again. Once again we cycled around, this time only in Sweden, and once again it was great. Sweden is so beautiful! Now it's back to work, mostly from home for the rest of the year, which is ok, because I got used to it. Oh, and I'm also training for my first marathon! I will do it on my own, or rather just with J., because all the races have been cancelled. 

Lesson: Sometimes the calm comes after the storm, and it feels great!

Gotland, the largest Swedish island - a beauty!

And how have you been? Have your life changed a lot in the last year? Do I still have any readers at all? 

1(1) year(s)

At the end of last year, I wrote in a post that we had exciting plans for 2019, including some new places to visit. It started great with our first trip of the year being cancelled... 

Around September last year, we got the chance to purchase a special package for 2 weeks in Turkey. We don't usually book packages but the price was really good and the places to visit looked fantastic: one week travelling around in the Cappadocia region and one week in a kind of resort by the sea. All this in the middle of the winter. Swedish winter. Several dates were offered and we booked ours for March so that we would celebrate our first wedding anniversary during the trip.  It was more of a coincidence since most other dates were already taken when we booked. 

In January this year, the trip was cancelled. We could get our money back or book something else. None of the other trips was as appealing and we didn't really want to keep dealing with this travel agency, as they never clarified why the trip was cancelled, despite us asking several times. Therefore, we got our money back and were left with all the disappointment of a cancelled trip.

We were really looking forward to it and the thought of 3 winter months uninterrupted was killing us. At first, we said we would buy a last minute trip for the same dates, but we ended up settling down for a day in a spa nearby.

No final do ano passado, escrevi em um post que tínhamos planos interessantes para 2019, incluindo alguns novos lugares para visitar. Começou bem com a nossa primeira viagem do ano a ser cancelada ...

No final do ano passado, escrevi num post que tínhamos planos interessantes para 2019, incluindo alguns novos lugares para visitar. Começou bem o plano com a nossa primeira viagem do ano a ser cancelada ...

Em setembro do ano passado, tivemos a oportunidade de comprar um pacote especial de duas semanas na Turquia. Normalmente não compramos pacotes pre-feitos, mas o preço era realmente bom e os locais por onde passava pareciam fantásticos: uma semana na região da Capadócia e uma semana num tipo de resort à beira-mar. Tudo isto no meio do inverno. Inverno sueco. Havia várias datas e nós reservamos o nosso para março, para que pudéssemos celebrar o nosso primeiro aniversário de casamento durante a viagem. Foi mais uma coincidência uma vez que a maioria das outras datas já estavam cheias.

Em janeiro deste ano a viagem foi cancelada. Disseram-nos que podiam devolver o dinheiro ou podiamos reservar outro pacote. Nenhuma das outras viagens nos pareceu tão interessante e preferíamos não ter que continuar a lidar com esta agência de viagens, porque nunca nos explicaram o motivo do cancelamento da viagem, apesar de termos perguntado várias vezes. Assim, recebemos o dinheiro de volta e ficamos apenas com toda a decepção de uma viagem cancelada.

Estávamos super contentes por irmos à Turquia e o pensamento de 3 meses de inverno ininterruptos estava a dar cabo de nós. Pensamos comprar uma viagem de última hora para as mesmas datas, mas acabamos por desistir da ideia e passar um dia num spa nas proximidades.

And that's how our 2 weeks in Turkey became a day and a half in the Spa in Gothenburg. It wasn't exactly the same thing, but it was a break. I don't have any pictures, as it was a mobile free spa, but it was one of the best I have been to (which were not many). There were so many different stations, to lay down, to bathe, different saunas, that it was never boring.  

The highlights for me were:  

     - a dark room with water mattresses where one could lay down and listen to the sound of the sea. 

     - a cold sauna with cubes of ice sliding down a tube every few seconds - it had a green light so it felt like the inside of a caipirinha. 

     - a sauna with a view to the sea

     - the combination of a cinnamon sauna + cold water (8ºC) dipping tank (where it fit only 1 at the time) 

The best was really me being able to be in a sauna! I usually panic because it feels so claustrophobic, but this time I could stand it and actually relax. Maybe because of the nice view. Or because I was sooo tired and needed it.  I really enjoyed the hot + cold combination and felt all the stress leaving my body. 

E foi assim que nossas duas semanas na Turquia se tornaram um dia e meio no Spa em Gotemburgo. Não foi exatamente a mesma coisa, mas foi uma pausa. Não tenho fotos porque eram proibidos no spa, mas foi um dos melhores onde já estive (que não são muitos). Havia imensas estações diferentes, para se estar deitado, para tomar banho, saunas diferentes, nunca se fica farto.

Os destaques para mim foram:

     - um quarto escuro com colchões de água onde se podia deitar e ouvir o som do mar.

    - uma sauna fria com cubos de gelo a sair por um tubo a cada poucos segundos - tinha uma luz verde e parecia o interior de uma caipirinha.

     - sauna com vista para o mar

     - a combinação de uma sauna com cheiro a canela + tanque de água fria (8ºC) (onde cabia apenas 1 pessoa de cada vez)

O melhor foi mesmo o eu ser capaz de estar numa sauna! Geralmente entro em pânico porque é tão claustrofóbico, mas dessa vez aguentei-me lá dentro e até consegui relaxar. Talvez por causa da vista bonita. Ou porque estava tão cansada e precisava disto. Também gostei imenso da combinação quente + frio no tanque e senti todo o stress a ser libertado aos poucos.

The meals were included and after the spa we could enjoy a nice dinner and a glass of champagne to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. I joked with J. saying that we should celebrate 1(1) year(s) as we have been together for almost 11 years, which feels more meaningful than to celebrate just the time as a married couple. At the same time, it's perfect to have an excuse for a break in March, when we are tired of the long dark winter months. 

As refeições estavam incluídas e depois do spa, tivemos direito a um jantar delicioso e uma taça de champanhe para celebrar o nosso primeiro aniversário de casamento. Meio a brincar disse ao J. que deveríamos comemorar 1(1) ano(s) porque estamos juntos há quase 11 anos, o que parece mais significativo do que celebrar apenas o tempo de casados. Por outro lado é perfeito ter uma desculpa para fazer uma pausa em Março, quando estamos cansados dos longos e escuros meses de inverno.

There was a lot of art in the hotel. I thought this one was very interesting...

Havia muitos objectos de arte no hotel. Achei este muito interessante...

We will definitely do this again! A break in your own city is a great idea!
Vamos voltar a fazer isto outra vez! Um para fora cá dentro na mesma cidade é uma ideia brilhante!

Escape in Douro

After a couple of very intensive days all we wanted was to rest and take it all in. We spent two nights in a spa lost in the middle of nowhere in the Douro region. The surroundings were beautiful, the food was great and locally produced and we had the best full body massage ever (although the spa itself was quite disappointing). 

Depois de alguns dias muito intensos, tudo o que queríamos era descansar e processar tudo. Passámos duas noites num spa perdido no meio do nada na região do Douro. Os arredores eram bonitos, a comida era óptima e os ingredientes produzidos localmente. Ainda tivemos a melhor massagem de corpo inteiro de sempre (embora o spa em si fosse uma desilusão).

The herb garden for the restaurant / O canteiro de ervas aromáticas do restaurante

Unfortunately, it was not warm enough to use the outdoor pools.

Infelizmente não estava calor suficiente para usar as piscinas de fora.

We were spoiled and enjoyed our balcony with a view.

Fomos bastante mimados e aproveitamos a vista da varanda.

View from the balcony (the second day was sunny!).

Vista da varanda (no segundo dia fez sol!)

Baby grapes / Uvas bebés

Walks in the garden and vineyard / Passeios pelo jardim e vinha

Starters, mains and desserts at the restaurant. The photos are not great but the food was delicious and we ate until we couldn't eat anymore. 

Entradas, pratos principais e sobremesas no restaurante. As fotos não estão grande coisa, mas a comida era deliciosa e comemos até que não poder mais.

We left the spa hotel and caught a train to Porto in this gorgeous train station, right by the river. A nice way to finish our lovely and quiet stay in the Douro. 

Saímos do hotel e apanhámos um comboio para o Porto nesta magnífica estação ferroviária, mesmo junto ao rio, o que foi uma boa maneira de terminar a nossa estadia tão boa e tranquila no Douro.

Wedding party - Portugal

Ceremony

Our visit to the Douro Valley in May was quite special as we went there for our wedding party.

At first we were not sure we wanted a wedding party at all. At one point we even considered eloping but ended up having a simple wedding ceremony (the real one, post here). At the same time, we thought this would be the only oportunity in our life to gather all the friends we have been making all over the world together in one room. That was a very tempting idea and we decided to go for it. 

A nossa visita ao Douro em Maio foi especial, pois fomos lá para a nossa festa de casamento.

No início não tínhamos certeza se queríamos uma festa de casamento. A certa altura até consideramos fazer um eloping, mas acabamos por fazer uma cerimónia simples (a verdadeira, post aqui). Ao mesmo tempo, pensamos que esta seria talvez a única oportunidade que teríamos de reunir todos os amigos que fizemos pelo mundo todos juntos numa sala. A ideia era muito tentadora e decidimos ir em frente.

The entrance / A entrada

Doing it in Portugal was quite obvious, as it was a better option regarding the weather and the budget. Doing it in Douro was not a hard decision either, as it's our favourite part of Portugal and it was close enough to an international airport. After some searching we found this gorgeous vineyard that organises events - Quinta Vale de Locaia. We fell in love with its simplicity, its charming stony walls, its terraces overlooking the river and how much it felt like a vineyard and not like a party place. This ended up being the only place we visited personally. 

Fazer a festa em Portugal foi óbvio desde o início, pois era a melhor opção tendo em conta o clima e o orçamento. Fazer a festa no Douro também não foi uma decisão difícil, pois é a nossa região preferida em Portugal e era perto de um aeroporto internacional. Depois de alguma pesquisa na internet encontramos uma quinta vinícola linda que organiza eventos - Quinta Vale de Locaia. Apaixonamo-nos por sua simplicidade e charme, pelas paredes de pedra lindas, pelos terraços com vista para o rio e pelo facto de parecer muito mais uma quinta de vinhos do que salão de festas. Esta acabou por ser a única quinta que visitámos pessoalmente.

Photo from Efeito Espontaneo, our official photographers

The event manager had a lot of fun with us, who refused to have the ceremony under a white tent, didn't want any flowers, changed the fancy round tables by long friendly ones and added Swedish traditions to the program. A good example was when he asked us how many women and men would be present, so he could prepare small souvenirs for all - a mini bottle of Port wine for men and a mini jam jar for women. That's unfortunetaly still quite common in Portuguese weddings, but it just wouldn't work for our guests, so we decided to buy extra and give one of each to our guests. 

O gerente de eventos deve ter-se divertido bastante conosco, porque recusamos fazer a cerimónia numa tenda branca, não quisemos flores, trocamos as mesas redondas chiques por mesas corridas que facilitavam o convívio e acrescentamos algumas tradições suecas ao programa. Um bom exemplo foi quando nos perguntou quantas mulheres e homens estariam presentes, para que pudesse preparar as lembranças - uma mini garrafa de vinho do Porto para os homens e uma mini geléia para as mulheres. Isso infelizmente ainda é bastante comum nos casamentos portugueses, mas jamais funcionaria com os nossos convidados, e acabamos por comprar extra e oferecer um de cada a cada pessoa.

Special places - where we have lived, that we love and where we met
Lugares especiais - onde já moramos, que adoramos e onde nos conhecemos

We replicated the ceremony we had in Sweden, repeating it in English, Portuguese and Swedish. That was a lot of fun, as the officiator was a friend of ours and even though he doesn't speak Swedish at all he did very well. We had also planned several items to keep the guests entertained, such as a quiz about us, with the questions spread in the vineyard and pateo and prizes for the winners, a Sara jump corner (of course!), a set of bottles to be open 1, 5, 10 and 25 years later, where guests could leave small notes with marriage advice and a giant map that worked as a guest book. 

Replicamos a cerimónia que tivemos na Suécia, repetindo-a em inglês, português e sueco. Foi muito divertido já que o mestre de cerimonias era nosso amigo e não fala uma palavra de sueco. Ainda assim saiu-se muito bem. Também tínhamos planejado várias coisas para manter os convidados entretidos, como um quiz sobre nós, com as perguntas espalhadas pela vinha e pelo pateo e prémios para os vencedores, um canto de Sara jumps (claro!), um conjunto de garrafas para ser abertas 1, 5, 10 e 25 anos depois, onde os hóspedes podiam deixar papeis com conselhos de casamento e um mapa gigante que funcionava como um livro de visitas.

Sara jump corner (with printed photos of all my Sara jumps, a surprise from my sister) and the bottle set. The bottle to be open in 25 years was actually the champagne bottle we opened after the real wedding ceremony. Yes, we were crazy enough to take an empty bottle in our luggage all the way from Sweden. 

Cantinho Sara jump (com fotos impressas de todos os meus Sara jumps, uma surpresa da minha irmã) e o conjunto de garrafas. A garrafa a ser aberta daqui a 25 anos é na verdade a garrafa de champanhe que abrimos após a cerimónia de casamento real. Sim, fomos loucos o suficiente para levar uma garrafa vazia na bagagem.

The DJ was our friend Pedro and he took the whole party kit with lights, smoke machine and made everyone dance, which was great. 

O DJ era o nosso amigo Pedro, que levou todo o kit de festa com luzes, máquina de fumo e pôs toda a gente a dançar, o que foi óptimo.

Cake and Port wine

It was an amazing day, full of good moments and we only wish we could slow down time to enjoy everything even more. There was not enough time even though we were there until 6 am!! The best part was definitely to have all our family and friends there celebrating with us. A day to remember!

Foi um dia incrível, cheio de bons momentos e só desejamos que o tempo tivesse passado mais devagar para aproveitarmos tudo ainda melhor. O tempo não chegou, mesmo coma  festa a terminar às 6 da manhã!! A melhor parte foi definitivamente ter a nossa família e amigos todos lá a festejar connosco. Um dia para ser recordado!

The dress

Gothenburg, August 10th, 2016

I wanted to write this today because it is fresh in my memory and I do want to remember the details. I will not publish this post just yet, but it will be published in the right time.

We planned a summer trip to the UK and Ireland. Firstly, I would go 3 days to Edinburgh with Johan. From there we would go to Belfast, in Northern Ireland, where his brother would join us and later on we would go down to Dublin, in Ireland, where we would run a half marathon. Johan lived in Edinburgh for 3 years. It was nice to go back as it brought us, more him than me of course, a lot of good memories. We have been engaged for about 8 months by now, but we are planning to have the wedding only in 2018. I was never too much of a girly girl and I had no idea what kind of dress I wanted to wear in my wedding party. All I knew was that I did not want to be a traditional bride. No white dresses, unless they had some really cool and different design. No long princess-like dresses. Nothing expensive. Somehow, I always felt I would rather spend big money on a nice trip than on a dress that I would only wear for half a day. With that in mind I thought it would be a good idea to just look at different models, colours, options to start figuring out what would I wear. Edinburgh seemed a nice place to start. I have always enjoyed shopping in the UK and since I was there I decided to have a look in some shops. 

It was Monday morning. We were walking towards Princes street, the shopping street, when we passed a shop with gorgeous and colourful dress-up clothes. There was a particular skirt + top combination that caught my eye. Johan, walking a few steps ahead of me turned around and said "you liked that, no". I was very impressed. The boy who never notices anything, had not only noticed there was something there but also that it was something that I liked. After some moments of hesitation we decided to go back and enter the shop. They had really gorgeous outfits. The materials were lovely and the colours adorable. That particular one on the window was just beautiful. I did not try it on. It would probably make me fat.

We went to Princes street and looked for dresses the whole morning and part of the afternoon. Nothing was to my taste. Everything was too normal, nothing seemed special enough. And the damn outfit in the window did not let go of me! In the end of the day I told Johan I wanted to go and try it on. The shape of the skirt made me think that it would not make me look good, so I could just as well go and try it, to get it out of my system. I tried it on. The lady working there was really nice and lend me some matching heels to see the full effect. As I stepped out of the cabin into the big mirror I loved it. It looked gorgeous! Johan loved it too. Very well... now I was thinking about it even more. We went back to the hotel weighting the pros and cons of buying that outfit. The biggest disadvantage was that the wedding is only in 2 years and my taste can change in the meantime. I wanted some girly opinion as well, to see if I was not completely crazy. I sent two pictures to my sister. She hated it. The colours, the shape, it was not me at all. Am I crazy? 

I checked that the same shop existed both in Belfast and in Dublin, and that gave me a full week to think about it. When we got to Belfast, we had to wait for Johan's brother in the bus station. There was a shopping centre just about 10 minutes from there and Johan suggested that I go there and see that they did have the same outfit. They did. On the window. I fell in love with it again. It was also then that I got over the pain of the fact that my beloved sister, who I adore so much, was so much against it. Assuming that it was a too big shock for her, a more traditional girl, that I would be wearing something colourful in my wedding, I emailed the photos to 2 friends. One of them works in fashion. The responses couldn't have been more positive. They both told me it was gorgeous and it fit me well. Whether that would still be in fashion in 2 years was questionable but they also told me that something beautiful would always be something beautiful. Every time I passed near that shopping centre I went near the shop and looked at the window. I didn't want to rush. I would wait until Dublin.

We got to Dublin around lunchtime. We ate something, picked up the start numbers to the races and wondered around. We ended up very near one of places I knew they had the same shop. I told the boys I wanted to go in and I would try it again. They came with me. On the way there I remember passing by a bus stop in which the next bus was going to a place called "Bride st.". No I did not want to make my decision based in signs from bus stops. I tried the same outfit. I loved it again. I tried different tops but the original one was still my favourite. I decided to buy it. D. also said that since it was not that expensive and not that eccentric even if I changed my mind in the future I could still wear it in another occasion. And I bought it! I bought it! There, in that very busy crossing in Dublin, wearing jeans shorts and a t-shirt, accompanied by the groom and the brother, I bought my wedding outfit. This was really unexpected. I never thought I would return from my trip with my wedding outfit.

I am not known for doing things in the conventional way, but what's conventional anyway? I have met so many different people throughout my life that no matter what I do or how I do something it will always be normal to some, out of the ordinary to others and probably a bit crazy sometimes. Still, I did not expect to go against tradition this much. I am enjoying the feeling of being different though. 

My dress is not a dress. 

It is not white. 

It is not long. 

The groom was the first one to see it.

My mom has no idea I bought it.

My sister doesn't like it (but she has only seen it in 2 pictures, so there's hope).

I bought it together with the two least fashionable men I know.

It doesn't matter whether people will think I'm not a proper bride or that I do not look good enough. It doesn't matter because I love it and it is what I want.

Every time I look at it I know that it's beautiful, that it represents me and that I do want to use it in my wedding party. I am sure of that now because today, as I tried it at home, in the quietness of my bedroom I felt like a bride for the first time.

That's also why I had to write this text today.

Day 4 - THE day

It was a tuesday at the end of March. We woke up to find a white layer covering the gardens outside. It was the last snow of the winter, We wanted it to be a relaxed day and the snowy landscape helped. We started by having a breakfast buffet at Ikea. Afterwards me and Johan headed home to our flat and got ready and met everyone else (parents, syblings and sister's boyfriend) down near the city centre. 

Era terça-feira e final de Março. Acordamos com uma camada branca que cobria tudo lá fora. Foi a última neve desse inverno, Queríamos que fosse um dia descontraído e o cenário nevado ajudou. Começamos por ir ao Ikea onde servem pequeno-almoço buffet todos os dias. A seguir eu e o Johan fomos para o nosso apartamento para nos arranjarmos e encontramos os restantes (pais, irmão, irmã e namorado) perto do centro da cidade.

No one except us knew where the ceremony would take place. We were told at the city hall that we could choose whichever place we wanted, so we chose our favourite place - the library! It has recently been moved to a new building and it's gorgeous. On the first floor it has these large windows all the way up that overlook the church and the centre and it was right there we did it. (The pictures don't do it justice, believe me) 

Ninguém, exceto nós, sabia onde a cerimönia ia ser. Quando fomos tratar dos papeis ao governo civil disseram-nos que podíamos escolher o sítio que quisessemos. Assim fizemos e escolhemos o nosso lugar preferido - a biblioteca! A biblioteca foi recentemente transferida para um local novo e é linda. No primeiro andar há grandes janelas que dão para a igreja e para o centro e foi lá que fizemos a cerimónia. (As fotos não fazem justiça, acreditem)

Hugs from the mommies / Abraços das mães

We chose the long version of the ceremony and that took about 2 minutes (imagine the short version...). Afterwards, there were a lot of pictures, both inside and outside in the park. 

Escolhemos a versão longa da cerimónia que durou cerca de 2 minutos (imaginem a versão curta...). Depois, houve muitas fotos, tanto dentro como fora no parque.

Me and my sister / Eu e a minha irmã

Us, the library responsible (left) and the one officiating the ceremony (right)

Nós, a responsavel pela biblioteca (esquerda) e o mestre de cerimónias (direita)

Unfortunately, the park was under construction and there were a lot of cars and scrap around, but we still got some nice pictures. To improve the pictures we took off our jackets and we were so happy that we didn't feel cold at all.  

Infelizmente o parque estava em construção e havia muitos carros e tralha em volta, mas deu na mesma para tirarmos umas fotos giras. Para melhorar as fotos tiramos os casacos e estavamos tão felizes que nem sentimos o frio.

None of us has ever worn a ring and none of us wanted to change that, so we got wedding watches instead. 

Nenhum de nós usou anéis na vida e nenhum de nós queria mudar isso, por isso em vez de alianöas temos relógios de casamento.

Afterwards we went back to our flat where we had snacks and champagne, a bottle we found from the year we met. It was really good! 

Depois das fotos voltamos ao nosso apartamento onde beliscamos e bebemos chamanhe, uma garrafa que tínhamos comprado do ano em que nos conhecemos. Era mesmo bom!

We went for dinner after a while and enjoyed really good food. At the end of the evening, the two of us headed to Gothia Towers, an iconic looking hotel in Gotheburg where we spent the night and woke up with this beautiful sunny view over the city. 

A seguir deliciamo-nos com um belo jantar e no final da noite, nós dois fomos para o Gothia Towers, um hotel icónico em Gotemburgo, onde passamos a noite. Acordamos com esta vista linda sobre a cidade.

It was all very simple and perfect, just as we wanted it!

Foi tudo muito simples e perfeito, mesmo como queríamos!

The floorball stick saga

(Português no final)

Johan loves playing floorball, a team game that looks like ice hokey without the ice and instead of skating the players run. He didn't know how to take his stick to Sweden. He considered sending it when his parents came by car in October, but he wanted to play a few more times and he didn't send it then. He was hoping to be able to bring it in the plane. At the check-in counter he asked if he was allowed. He was, but he would have to pay a fee that was way higher than the commercial value of the stick. He handed it to me, because my flight was much later and I was still going to the city center, and told me to give it to a little kid or to leave it in a corner. He was sad for leaving it, I could tell. It was a cheap floorball stick, but with many good memories, which for me made the perfect Christmas gift.

I decided to send it to Sweden by post mail. Easy, right? No...

Photo from the internet

1. I went to the main post office in Prague. It's a huge and beautiful building. I asked someone to help me take the right ticket to send a package.

2. I waited for my turn wondering how to send the stick. They probably didn't have a giant envelope or box. All I had was the stick, with its tip wrapped in foam and tape.

3. The numbers moved forward veeery slowly. Only two counters, out of 22, were working on packages. 30 minutes after I sat I realised there was a little shop in the corner selling envelopes and other packages. I should probably go there then! There's 10 numbers to go. It should be ok.

4. I waited in line and in my broken czech I tried to explain my problem. The lady suggested bubble wrap and tape (just like the one I left in the trash in the airport just before). I tried to work fast and I finished with two numbers to go. Perfect! 

5. I also got some paper piece to write the address and tape it to the package. As I was writing I heard an announcement in the speakers, in czech, and I saw everybody hurrying away from the door. A few moments later I understood that the system with the numbers has been turned off and now everybody is queueing...

6. I head to one of the queues, and there were again 20 people in front of me. Great... 5 minutes later a girl says something to the whole queue and everybody disappears. I asked if she could translate and she told me that counter was closing. 

7. Now, there was only one counter working on packages. I headed to that one. 10 minutes later, a lady came to me and in English told me she saw there was a lady with about 200 envelopes in front of me, and advised me to move to a different queue. She also told me that now any queue works. 

8. I chose the shortest queue and waited. 10 min. later I got to the counter. The employee told me I couldn't send it there. I did have to go to a special counter for packages. There were actually 3 of them, as there were 2 more hiding in a corner that I hadn't seen before. 

9. I went and waited in line again. This was my fifth line. I waited for about 20 minutes until my turn. The lady panicked, as they always did when facing a foreigner, but with my broken czech again and a nice smile I tried to explain what I wanted. She complained that I didn't have an address for the sender. I asked her for a piece of paper and that I could quickly put it on. She told me to not block the queue and pointed to the end of the line. It was my turn to panic! As kindly as I could, I asked if I could do it on the side of the counter, so I wouldn't have to queue again. She allowed me.

10. After the following costumer I tried again. The lady was nicer this time. She measured the stick. It was too long to be considered "normal". I needed to fill a special form. She sent me again to side of the counter.

11. After the following costumer and really hoping that was it, I gave her the stick again. By now, I hadn't even asked the price yet, but I didn't care anymore. I just wanted to send the stick and get off the post office! After some funny mixed language dialogues I understood that everything was ready and I had succeeded! I made it!!!

All this time I was not even sure if I could actually send the stick or not, as it had a weird shape. It did cross my mind to give up, but every time I thought about it I thought of J.'s sad eyes and I decided to stay. I had 4h left in the amazing city of Prague and I ended up spending 2h inside the post office. I don't regret it. It was a great surprise and I know it was all worth it! It was almost a Christmas miracle (almost because it got to Sweden after Christmas)!