Athens - Greece

Greece is a country of contrasts and its capital city Athens does not reflect the entire country. It is well known for its beautiful islands, in which the sun kisses the sea during beautiful sunsets and life slows down to a more relaxed pace. 

Athens, on the other hand, it's crowded, noisy and seems to never stop. Its streets breathe history and each wall has witnessed countless remarkable events. 

A lot has been written about Athens and I could write myself several posts about my trip, but I'll keep it simple and show you the highlights. Johan had a conference there and I joined him for a long weekend. It was much warmer than Sweden and it was nice to get away from the routines of work and school. 

A Grécia é um país de extremos e a sua capital Atenas não reflete todo o país. A Grécia é bem conhecida pelas ilhas encantadoras, em que o sol beija o mar durante o pôr-do-sol inesquecível e a velocidade de vida desacelera para um ritmo mais relaxado.

Atenas, por outro lado, é cheia de gente, barulhenta e dá a sensação de nunca parar. As ruas respiram história e cada parede testemunhou inúmeros eventos notáveis.

Muita coisa foi já escrita sobre Atenas e eu própria poderia escrever vários posts sobre a minha viagem. Em vez disso escolhi fazer um post mais simples com os destaques. O Johan teve uma conferência em Atenas e eu fui ter com ele fazendo um fim de semana alargado. Estava mais quente do que na Suécia e foi bom sair das rotinas do trabalho e da escola.

 Olympic stadium / Estádio Olimpico

 

 The Roman Agora of Athens

The Library of Hadrian

 

 Temple of Hephaistos in the Ancient Agora

   The Pantheon in the Acropolis

  Odeon of Herodes Atticus (an amphitheater)

 The Temple of Olympian Zeus

Change of the guard / A mudança da guarda

 Sunday morning is time to be outside and enjoy a cup of coffee with friends

Domingo de manhã é tempo de sair e tomar um café com os amigos

A taste of the islands in Athens, a corner we only found because we were listening to Rick Steve's podcast of Athens.

Um pedaço das ilhas em Atenas, um canto que só encontramos porque ouvimos o podcast de Rick Steve sobre Atenas.

These are really just the highlights because we walked around everywhere and visited everything, always listening to our private guide Rick Steve (obviously joking... we had his podcasts, which are very good!).  If you have never been you should really do it. If not for the history do it for the wonderful food and the frozen greek yoghurt.

Estes são realmente apenas os destaques porque andamos por todos o lado e visitamos tudo, sempre acompanhados pelo nosso guia privado Rick Steve (obviamente estou a brincar... ouvimos os seus podcasts, que são muito bons!). Se nunca foram a Atenas, vão. Se não forem pela história, vão pela comida maravilhosa e o iogurte grego gelado.

Sara Jump - Marstrand

Nothing better to keep you warm than to jump up and down!
Nada melhor para nos mantermos quentes do que pular para cima e para baixo!

Marstrand, Sweden - November 2017

Christmas market - Marstrand

Marstrand is a beautiful island just north of Gothenburg and any excuse to go there is good. It is of course much more pleasant to walk around the island in the summer, see another post here, especially because it gets windy and humid in the winter. But when I saw in the newspaper that Marstrand would have a Christmas market in the middle of November, when I was having exams and tests every week and really needed a break, we didn't hesitate and decided to go. 

Marstrand é uma ilha linda a norte de Gotemburgo e qualquer desculpa serve para lá ir. Claro que é muito mais agradável passear pela ilha no verão, como escrevi aqui, especialmente porque no inverno é muito ventosa e húmida. No entanto quando vi no jornal que Marstrand teria um mercado de Natal em meados de novembro, andava eu a ter exames e testes todas as semanas e a precisar de uma pausa, não hesitávamos e decidimos ir.

The market itself was a big disappointment, but the island was beautiful as always. Having lived in Prague my concept of Christmas market is clearly different. Or maybe it was not the concept but the size. And the prices. 

O mercado em si foi uma grande decepção, mas a ilha estava bonita como sempre. Tendo vivido em Praga, o meu conceito de mercado de Natal é claramente diferente do daqui. Ou talvez não fosse o conceito mas o tamanho. E os preços.

Outside the fortress / A fortaleza do lado de fora

I had imagined the patio of the fortress full of tends selling mulled wine, hot dogs and pancakes. I had dreamed with Christmas lights decorating the walls and reindeers here and there. There was none of that. Outside the decorations were very limited and all the tents were inside. The food hall was in a dark room and although there were not that many stalls it was super crowded and it was very hard to move around or even get to the front to see what was being sold. 

Imaginei o pátio da fortaleza cheio de tendas a vender vinho quente, cachorros quentes e panquecas. Sonhei com luzes de Natal a decorar as paredes e renas espalhadas aqui e ali. Não havia nada disso. As decorações eram muito limitadas e não havia tendas na rua. Havia uma sala escura com barracas que vendiam comida ou ingredientes. Apesar de não serem assim tantas tendinhas estava super cheio de gente e era muito difícil andar ou até chegar à frente para ver o que estava a ser vendido.

The main patio inside the fortress / O páteo principal da fortaleza

Apart from that there was a cute handicraft market held inside the tower of fortress. We had to wait outside in the cold for 15 minutes but it was worth it because the space although small was nice and the crafts interesting. 

Além disso havia um mercado de artesanato giro dentro da torre da fortaleza. Tivemos que esperar na rua ao frio durante 15 minutos, mas valeu a pena porque o espaço embora pequeno era melhor e as peças interessantes.

Swedish traditional Christmas mustard / Mostarda tradicional de Natal

Candles to burn during the advent / Velas para acender durante o advento

Despite the market it was still a well spent afternoon and one thing is true - Marstrand never disappoints. 

Apesar de tudo foi uma tarde bem passada na mesma e uma coisa é certa - Marstrand nunca nos desilude.

Växjö - Sweden

We visited Växjö, a lovely Swedish city, during in the autumn last year. It was not the first time we were there and I have already written about it here. The word Växjö means way in the lake and the city is surrounded by different lakes. The temperature was low but the weather was lovely with a really bright sky. This time we took the chance to walk more around the lakes and surrounding nature, and not so much in the city. We also visited Ingelstad again, where Johan's mother grew up.

Visitamos Växjö, uma pequena cidade sueca, durante o outono do ano passado. Não foi a primeira vez que estivemos lá e até já escrevi sobre isso aqui. A palavra Växjö significa caminho no lago e a cidade está rodeada por vários lagos. Estava frio mas o tempo estava bom, com um céu azul brilhante. Desta vez aproveitamos a oportunidade para passear mais ao redor dos lagos e na natureza em volta, e não tanto na cidade. Também visitamos novamente Ingelstad, onde a mãe de Johan cresceu.

Inglinge mound

Inglinge mound, in Ingelstad town located about 20 Km south of Växjö, is one of Småland's largest ancient remains, that goes back to the iron age, around 1100-500 AD. A circle of high stones surround the largest mound where there is a standing stone on top. Other small circles and can also be seen in the area. 

O monte de Inglinge, na cidade de Ingelstad a cerca de 20 km ao sul de Växjö, é um dos maiores restos antigos da região de Småland, que remonta à era do ferro, em torno de 1100-500 a. C. Um círculo de pedras altas cercam o monte maior onde há uma pedra em pé no topo. Outros pequenos círculos também podem ser vistos na área.

Ingelstad

 Rottnen lake

 Trummen lake, with Teleborg castle in the background

Teleborg Castle

Teleborg castle is a fantastic building that resembles a fairytale castle. Despite its medieval style it was only built in 1900 as a wedding present from Count Fredrik Bonde to his wife Anna Koskull. Nowadays it's used as a hotel and conference venue. Inside there's also a restaurant and it was exactly there we were heading. We had a three-course lunch to celebrate a birthday in the family and we even got the manager to tell us the story of the castle and show us around. 

O castelo de Teleborg é um edifício fantástico quase como um castelo de conto de fadas. Apesar do seu estilo medieval, foi construído apenas em 1900 como presente de casamento do conde Fredrik Bonde para a sua esposa Anna Koskull. Hoje em dia é usado como hotel e local para conferências. Lá dentro há também um restaurante e foi mesmo aí que fomos. Estávamos a celebrar um aniversário na família e experimentámos o menu de almoço com três pratos. Além disso a gerente esteve presente durante o almoço para nos contar a história do castelo e nos mostrar mais tarde o seu interior.

It must have been quite special to receive such beautiful castle as a gift. Recently, the Teleborg castle was also featured in the Swedish TV show Sjärnorna på slottet (it means roughly "stars in the castle"), in which stars from different areas lived there for a week and talked about each other's careers. Who wouldn't want to live in such place, with great views over the lake, the city and surrounded by this beautiful nature!

Deve ter sido bastante especial receber um castelo tão bonito como presente. O castelo de Teleborg foi usado recentemente no programa de TV sueco Sjärnorna på slottet (que significa "estrelas no castelo"), em que estrelas de diferentes áreas moraram por uma semana no castelo e conversaram sobre as suas carreiras. Quem não gostaria de morar ali, com aquela vista sobre o lago, a cidade e cercado por esta natureza tão bonita!

Unexpected winners

The winter olympics were fantastic and I really enjoy watching the different events. If I had to summarize these games I would call them the games of unexpected winners. 

Starting by Sweden which was at its best and finished the games with 14 medals: 7 gold, 6 silver and 1 bronze. Experts before the games had predicted around 8 medals in total.

The neighbour Norway was even more impressive conquering 39 medals, beating all other participating countries. Marit Bjorgen alone won 5 of those and became at the age of 37 the most decorated winter olympian of all times. She has won 15 olympic medals in total and 8 of them are gold. A living legend. 

But that was not unexpected. The following ones were.

Samuel Girard - Short-track Speedskating 1000m

During the semi final the commentators said that he wouldn't have a chance at the medal, but he went through to the final anyway. At the beginner of the final they said he was lucky to be there and wouldn't win. Then suddenly someone falls, dragging someone else along and there you go... Samuel Girard got the gold after all. Speedskating is fun exactly because of that - anything can happen. 

Photo from the internet

Ester Ledecka - Slalom Super G

The race was over, as the athletes left to compete were all ranked too low. Too low to win a medal, they all thought. The "winner" was celebrating, people were packing their things and the public started to exit the stadium. All this while Ester Ledecka was sliding down the hill. At first, the commentators pointed her mistakes with no interest but as they noticed how fast she was the enthusiasm grew. She ended up being the fastest crossing the finish line and was left in the middle of the snow, looking confused at the board. She just didn't believe she had won and thought it was a mistake, but the time was never corrected and the victory started to register. Skiing is not even her main sport, it is snowboard. Oh yeah, and by the way, a few days later she took the gold for snowboarding as well, becoming a remarkable two-sport history-maker. Way to go!!

Photo from the internet

Hanna Öberg - Biathlon

She is a young promising Swedish athlete and has been doing great, but no one could imagine or even dared to dream that she would take the gold at this early age. Biathlon consists of a combination of skiing and shooting (from 50m away) and a lot relies on the last part. Hanna is a great shooter and while top athletes failed their shots and had to take punishment rounds, she never missed one and headed straight for the finish line. She was very happy and surprised at the same time. Like she could almost not believe that it was true. Her colleague Mona Brorsson was even happier and their hug was my favourite moment in the whole olympics. A moment of pure and shared happiness. 

Photo from the internet

Emotion, tears, happiness, frustration and a lot of olympic spirit was what made the winter olympics in Pyeongchang. Now we have to wait another 2 years for some more olympic fun. 

A weekend away

It was a weekend but it could very well have been a full week, since it was quite intense. 

The plan was to fly to Porto on Friday to surprise my sister on her birthday. She had absolutely no idea we were coming, all she knew was that she was going to take a train to Porto after work. To make sure she wouldn't get suspicious I made up some story about having a party that day in Sweden and we spent the day before chating about what to wear and so on. 

On Thursday evening, around 9pm, we were starting to relax after all the packing when we got an sms informing our flight had been canceled. How nice... After a long time on the phone we managed to get rebooked on an even earlier flight, which we took after having slept less than 4h. We got to Porto after lunch and met my parents, who had travelled there from my hometown. My sister and boyfriend, who had arranged everything, came at the end of the afternoon and went to Catraio, a bar with crafted beer. My parents showed up soon after and surprised my sister. We waited 10 minutes to let her settle down on thinking that was it. But it wasn't. I came from behind and when she saw me I could see through her eyes how the information was slowly registering in her brain. It was really funny to see her reaction and all she managed to say was "it can't be you because you have a party in Sweden". The evening continued with dinner, where some of her friends also joined us. 

All in all, I think she had a really nice day and really enjoyed all the surprises.

Porto

Porto

On Saturday, the 6 of us travelled to to the heart of the Douro Valley, for the tasting and approval of our wedding party menu. On one hand it was strange to have one table settled in the middle of a giant empty room just for us, but on the other hand it was nice experience and the menu was more than approved by everyone. 

Afterwards we headed to Santo Tirso, the whereabouts of my sister's boyfriend. We walked around the town and ate the traditional sweets "Jesuítas", that are delicious. The day ended with a really nice dinner at his parents place. It was another day full of events.

On Sunday, before they all departed we walked around in Porto and enjoy the view and the fantastic weather - sunny and around 15ºC during the day. It was great to be able to walk around without any jacket on. 

When my parents, sister and boyfriend went back to their cities, the two of us did some shopping and ended up having a tapas dinner at our rented studio, while watching highlights from the winter olympics. 

We returned on monday to Sweden and were faced with -10 ºC. Quite a difference! However, we could finally go back to wear a t-shirt indoor, something we couldn't do in Portugal.