The Adventures of Matilda

Koh Tao Time!

2012-06-05T21:20:00.000+02:00

After far too much fun at the Full Moon party and in Koh Phangnon, we were ready to move on to the island of Koh Tao for some serious down time.

We had barely missed the fast boat so we had to wait at this cove to take the slow boat which we didn't really care about until just before boarding they came around handing out barf bags. We thought this was a joke for all the hung over full moon party goers. And in part it was, but mostly it was because the waters were really tumultuous from the monsoon season. For the 2 hour ride we were going over 12 foot swells that were literally rocking the boat 180 degrees. People were sick everywhere. They even had to turn off the engine at times to make it over the swells! It was by far the worst boat trip I have ever taken. DO NOT TAKE THE SONGSERM! Only use Lomprayah catamaran's! A lesson I do not need to learn twice and I hope I can prevent some of you out on the internet from having to learn! But it was all worth it when we arrived to the beauty that is Koh Tao!

We knew ahead of time we wanted to get certified to scuba dive while in Koh Tao. Koh Tao is the cheapest and most popular place in the world to get certified so when in Rome right?! I had done a little bit of research before our trip to narrow down the shop we wanted to use so we went and checked out my top choice first, Big Blue. We deemed them acceptable and signed up for housing and to finish our scuba course. We were to start the next day so we spent the rest of the day on the beach and watched the sunset.

Then we got a fresh fish dinner at the coziest place right on the beach! You can pick the fresh caught fish from a selection at the entrance to the restaurant and they grill it up for you and you get corn and potatoes too! Can't beat that!

After dinner we saw a group of newly certified scuba divers release lanterns and we admired them as they drifted into the sky.

Then we called it a night to get ready for our big scuba diving lesson!
Love Always,
Matilda

A Full Moon at Koh Phangnon

2012-06-05T17:03:00.003+02:00

Our flight from Chiang Mai to Koh Samui was delayed several hours so by the time we actually arrived in the islands it was almost sunset. The gulf of Thailand had been experiencing monsoons and the rain was causing closures and delays. Fellow travelers warned us their beach time was not at all sunny or they didn't even make it to the beach. We were a bit scared our time on the islands would be ruined be we stuck to the course! We had originally been debating if we would head straight to Koh Tao from Koh Samui or if we would take a two day stop over in Koh Phangnon to check out that island and experience the world famous Full Moon Party.

We did Make it to Koh Samui though! And at the Koh Samui airport you are shuttle from the airplace via these cute island life bus thingys! Since our flight was so late arriving we had missed the last boat to Koh Tao for the day, but we could still make our way to Koh Phangnon and so we decided the universe wanted us to experience Koh Phangnon and the full moon party. Sounds simple enough when you are reading it here but at the Koh Samui airport you are bombarded with salesman trying to take you here or there for a commission. It's hard to even learn about all the boat transport available because everyone just wants their commission, not what's the best trip for you. We made this mistake only twice before we learned to ask around multiple places for the correct news. But we had genuinely missed the boat to Koh Tao and didn't want to spend the night in Koh Samui so we boarded onto a sunset boat ride over to Koh Phangnon.

We were over the moon to be on the islands and the weather was great! Finally, the relaxing part of the trip! After so much activity and bouncing around we were ready to fall into island life. (Cheap) rooms were pretty booked up with the full moon party the next night but we only had to walk around for maybe 20 minutes before we found a bungalow with a price we were willing to pay ($20 US a night) with a room we were willing to sleep in. (Things can get pretty run down since it's party central).

Sunset from our bungalow:

We put our bags down and headed out to check out the town. We grabbed some food stand snacks and enjoyed the beach but it quickly became apparent that every night is a full moon on Koh Phangnon. We made some new friends - one KGB! - before calling it a night to make sure we had enough energy to enjoy the actual full moon party the next night. After a good nights rest we meandered the whole two blocks down to the beach and spent the day reading, swimming, and relaxing on the sunny sandy beach.

Enjoying fresh fruit smoothies on the beach! Notice how big the beach is for later in this post!

It was a great way to 'recharge our batteries' and we were immediately in love with island life. As the day wore on everyone was buzzing about the full moon party. Stages began to be set up in the water and dance floors, DJ's and vendor stands were all assembled. People were being shuttled to the island from neighboring islands and everyone began donning their new and obnoxious neon outfits. Then out came the day glow paint 'tattoos', fire jump ropes, and of course buckets. We even bought some of the obligatory neon gear and got all set for the Full Moon party. Here we are ready to rock and roll.

First stop was to get a bucket.

The traditional bucket is made of a fifth of your alcohol of choice with a mixer and even a splash of the red bull M-150 which is too strong to be exported and sell for five US dollars. There are rows an rows of vendors selling buckets. all have the same product at the same price. To differentiate their product they cater to name or countries. I guess some people are more likely to buy from a vendor displaying their name or flag or from a place where you get a free hug with purchase. Matilda isn't a common enough name for me to get into that hype! Buckets are intended to be shared but in the land of Westerners at play, everyone drinks their own. I managed to find a place selling mojito buckets which weren't great but pleased me better than red bull buckets would have!

At the mojito bucket stand we made friends with a group of Aussies. They were a lot of fun and enjoyed getting other tourists to stop and let them day glow paint them. Here's a random tourist getting a pizza day glow paint tattoo on his belly courtesy of our Aussie friends.

Then we parted ways and we watched the fire jump ropers and fire hoola-hoop jumping for a while.

The beach was quickly packed (look at all those people!! Not sure where they all came from, the island was not that busy!) and the night was over in a blink of an eye.

After more buckets than were necessary, hours of dancing, and late night street food it was off to bed.
Love Always,
Matilda

Ciao Chiang Mai

2012-05-23T18:43:00.000+02:00

After a sleepy morning we got up and had lunch at our favorite spot in Chiang Mai, Heuan Phen. their lunch spread is great! The place is packed with locals and the dishes are smaller so it's a bit like tapas and you can order several things to get a taste of the Northern style foods and fill your belly. You wont be disappointed here! I think we ate there 3 times in total and weren't once disappointed. I of course finished my food in Northern Thailand with my favorite Northern Dish the Kow Soy (and a Thai Iced Tea of course!) and Dale enjoyed chicken satay and BBQ ribs, yummy! Then it was off to the airport to head to Southern Thailand but I have just a few more bits of Chiang Mai I wan to share before we say ciao to Chiang Mai.

Of course one of these bits is a temple! :) Wat Chedi Luang is ruins of a Lanna-style chedi dating to 1441 and it is where the Emerald Buddha was originally located. The ruins are quite beautiful and it was interesting to see a temple of a different style since this one is not covered in gold nor does it have bright colors and dark wood everywhere. The brick and stucco was an interesting change of take in.

On the temple grounds are of course many Buddhas but most notably a beautiful and fairly large sized reclining Buddha. This one doesn't compare to the reclining Buddha in Bangkok but is magnificent in it's own way. We learned when the Buddha is in the reclining position like this it's the final stage before entering nirvana. The hair on this one is particularly Lanna style.

I also wanted to share this nice picture of Dale enjoying his favorite Thai beer Chang. Which we have decided must be pronounced with extra emphasis on the 'a' so it sounds like 'Chaaaaaang'.

Big chaaaaaangs for all! Okay, now we can venture to the beach! Ciao Chiang Mai, until next time!
Love Always,
Matilda

Wat Phra That Doi Suthep and the Night Bazaar

2012-05-23T18:11:00.001+02:00

For our last day in Chiang Mai we took a trip to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep just west of Chiang Mai in the mountainside. The locals say you haven't seen Chiang Mai if you haven't seen this Wat, they consider it very much apart of the culture of Chiang Mai. So it was a must see for us, even though we were getting a bit sick of temples. According to my Lonely Planet Thailand guide book:

The temple was first established in 1383 under King Keu Naone and enjoys a fantastically mystical birth story. A visiting monk from Sukhothai instructed the Lanna king to take the twin of a miraculous relic (enshrined at Wat Suan Dok) to the mountain and establish a temple. The relic was mounted on the back of a white elephant, which was allowed to wander until it 'chose' a site on which a wat could be built to enshrine it. The elephant stopped and died at a spot on Doi Suthep, 13 km west of Chiang Mai, where the temple was built in the Year of the Goat. ... The temple is famously photographed for it's gold-plated chedi, topped by a five tiered umbrella erected in honor of the city's independence from Burma and its union with Thailand. It is the temples chedi (and the sacred Buddha relic enshrined withing) not a resident Buddha image that attracts the majority of worshipers. The chedi has many Lanna-style characteristics, including the gate around the base, the redented square pedestal and the octagonally shaped bell tower. Flanking the chedi are several within containing Lanna-style Buddhas with their distinctive fat facial and body features, two upturned footpads, shortened chest bands and lotus-shaped topknot.

The temple was just as beautiful in person as the guide book made it out to be. We were lucky enough to get a very sunny day and the temple of gold was very shiny making it very impressive to look at.

The surrounding Buddha statues as well as offering stations were something to take in as well. I bought offerings for both Dale and I and we had a peaceful Buddhist moment. We each took a moment to light our incense and candle, and lay down our lotus in front of the Buddha statues while saying a little prayer.

Then we walked the temple grounds and admired the giant gongs and rows of bells.

We sat for a while overlooking the city of Chiang Mai from above. The temples in town are beautiful as well but I thought this was the most impressive. Partly because of the pilgrimage to get there and partly because of the chedi.

On our way back into town we stopped at a hillside tribe village. Chiang Mai is so far north it is considered part of the golden triangle with the neighboring regions of Burma, Vietnam, and Laos. The golden triangle was, from the 1920's until only several years ago when Afghanistan surpassed, the world's leading producer of opiates, mainly heroin. I didn't really know this when I was planning our trip to Chiang Mai but our driver on the way back into town from the temple stopped us at the hillside tribe village and walked us around and told us the history of the people as well as how to make the drug. Random.

The Thai King has been doing an excellent job of helping the tribal people get educated and earn incomes in other ways. So the drug culture is dying down but walking through the village you can definitely see the effects of long term drug use in the faces of the people. Most notably in the village, we saw this rooster in a cage being showed off for bets on his upcoming illegal cock fight. Our driver told us this is very illegal but since the mountain sides are so difficult to travel through, the people have enough warning when the cops are coming to disband and not get caught and so the continue with the cock fighting. Poor little rooster.

Back in the city that evening we went for dinner at a fancier restaurant on the riverside aptly named The Riverside. The views are great along the water with all the lights and the reflections.

The food was great too! Dale got a curry cooked in a coconut and I got the Northern regions specialty Kow Soy. Both were great! I could go for some Kow Soy now, I loved the curry with noodles and the pickled vegetables to take the edge off the heat. Yummy!!

After dinner we walked back to our hotel through the night bazaar. We weren't quite ready to begin acquiring souvenirs to carry around since we had just over two weeks in Thailand still but there were more than enough stalls to walk through and haggle with if you feel so inclined.

One food stall we spotted was selling fried insects!!! That's something I genuinely never thought I would see.

Here's a close up on the fried larvae, cockroaches, and grasshoppers.

Not only did I think I would never see this, I didn't think I would ever try them! But these guys in the picture below were at the fried insect booth too and they bought some and harped on Dale and I until we took the plunge. And I wish I would say it was gross and disgusting but I have to report back, fried insects are actually alright. I wanted to hate them, but they just taste like tiny chips really. After eating the bugs these boys hijacked us and before we knew it we were drinking red bull vodka buckets and dancing to Adele all night at Zoe in Yellow.

This random whirlwind of a night might just be my favorite from the whole trip. Who doesn't love making new gay besties over fried insects?!
Love Always,
Matilda

Treking Zen

2012-05-23T17:06:00.000+02:00

Before embarking to Thailand I had signed Dale and I up for a 24 hour Buddhist retreat where we would learn to meditate and have a chance to discuss Buddhism with Monks. I was really excited for a chance to learn first hand about a lifestyle and religion I have never experienced. I couple days before the retreat was to begin I checked the website (http://www.monkchat.net/index.php) and found out our session had been cancelled. I was, and still am, disappointed I didn't get this experience. I suppose I'll have to return another time! Not to waste our time, we decided to take a one day trek instead. The company we booked the trek with really cram packs your day full of activities. It wasn't this company but this is almost the same itinerary we had: http://www.protravelchiangmai.com/tour-detail.php?id=13221206882953

First stop was at an orchid farm. It was neat to see all the orchids in so many colors hanging in rows but honestly not a worthwhile stop.

Second stop was to visit hill tribes. I'd always seen the Karen Long Neck tribes on National Geographic and thought it would be interesting to see in person. I was wrong. It was sad. I felt like I was at a zoo and these human were on display. It made me feel sick. I'm almost 100% certain this 'tribe' which included four different tribes in one fenced off pay to enter location is entirely a tourist scam. No doubt they do not indeed live here full time. But the Karen tribe obviously really does wear the bronze rings around their necks and ankles. Apparently they originally started doing this to keep tigers from attacking them. Now it is part of their culture and religion. Well, it was a part of their religion for centuries until modern Christian missionaries have come along and given them money and food and built churches and in-doctrine them into Christianity. It's nice to see these people getting help but I can't help but feel a bit sad they are loosing their history. I bought a cheesy crappy necklace from them to try to help them, it didn't really soothe my soul at all though. Needless to say, I was ready to move on to stop number three.

Third stop was to ride elephants! We boarded our elephants and went on a ride around the property down to a river and back. It was a little bit scary. These elephants are so big I feel like if they really wanted to run they could haul! The trainers have sticks and hook into the elephants ears to steer them and slap them on their tushies to get them to move. I'm not sure the elephants are treated the best. They seemed tired and hungry. :( At the en we got to feed them pineapples and they really liked that.

Dale and I got to ride the Momma elephant and in the picture below her son is in front of us!

We paused at the elephant riding place for a lunch of fried rice and pineapples and then is was off to stop number four, a 'trek' up to waterfalls. the hike was not too long or too strenuous although some of the other people on the tour seemed to think otherwise. The waterfalls were very pretty and refreshing though and it was nice to beat the heat in the water for a bit.

After we hiked back to the truck it was off to stop number five, of white water rafting and bamboo rafting. I've done my fair share of rafting while living in Colorado so the novelty wasn't so big for me. Almost everyone else on the tour had never been before. I always enjoy a nice ride on the water though and looking up at the shore to appreciate the scenery from a different vantage point. There were of course oar wars too which were enjoyed by some. :)

The bamboo rafting, I give a big thumbs down. It was a whole five minutes of riding on the defunct 'raft' you can see to the left of me in the picture below. You share it with three other people and ours was not made very well and we did not in fact float very well. The water, while on the bamboo raft, came up to my waist. I was not amused. Five minutes of that was more than enough.

Then it was back to town to end our whirlwind day of adventure. Overall, it was a great way to do a whole lot in a little bit of time. If you have time at your leisure, I would take the time to do each bit in a more quality environment. But this way was almost comical and so entirely touristy!
Love Always,
Matilda

Cooking in Chiang Mai

2012-05-22T21:28:00.000+02:00

The next day in Chiang Mai I decided I wanted to take a cooking class. Dale surprised me and decided to take it with me! What a great guy he is. We signed up for a full day course from Baan Thai Cookery School. The course started with a short walk to a local market where we were taught what all of the things for sale were and bought the supplies we needed for our meals. This was helpful for figuring out what we were eating and seeing! I didn't expect there to be such different fruits and vegetables but they are so entirely different you wouldn't even recognize anything.

Above is the market we bought our eggs from and below a close up of snacks like fried pig ears, wasabi peas, and candied peanuts.

Here I am at our last stop in the market showing off all the produce I was assigned to carry home, only a lot of elephant ear mushrooms! This stall had fresh fish getting descaled, pre-made curry, and a whole lot of fresh fruit! Almost everything looked really good!

Then it was back to the school to learn to cook. The school is fairly primitive by first world standards but very nice by Thailand standards. Propane tanks fueled our wok stations. I think I'm a fairly advanced cook but somehow I've never acquired a wok and this left me desperately wanting a wok!

The cooking was always fully hands on and somehow in a class of 9, Dale always ended up doing the hardest work like soaking the rice in coconut milk or grinding the curry down to a paste. Our teacher who is also the owner of Bann Thai kept telling us that Thai people's secret to being sexy is spicy food. She said many times we needed to eat, "more spicy, more sexy". Dale and I still quote her! It was too funny.

I learned to make: chicken pad thai, chicken in coconut milk (pictured below), spring rolls, green curry with chicken (pictured below the picture below) and mango with sticky rice. Dale learned: pork red curry, hot and sour prawn soup, spring rolls, chicken pad thai, and deep fried banana.

Everything turned out fantastic! I have to say learning to make the curry was the most informative and delicious. Also, learning how to make sticky rice in the land of sticky rice was great also!

Overall, I would say the course was well worth the cost considering you eat all day. If you already know how to cook basic thai food, this is probably not the course for you. You can view all the pictures from the day at Bann Thai Cookery School's website.
Love Always,
Matilda

Buddhist Chiang Mai

2012-05-16T22:33:00.001+02:00

I don't really know much about Buddhism but I do know they make beautiful temples and statues. The style is so completely different than anything you see in and other religion. Chiang Mai has a whole lot of temples within her borders, something like 300. We spent our first day in Chiang Mai just walking the 'temple trail' in the old city which is walled off in a big square maybe one square mile or so. Inside the old city we saw more temples than I can count and part of the reason I've been putting off writing this for months is because I knew I would probably butcher the temple names. But, to the best of my knowledge, here's the truth about the Buddhist temples of Chiang Mai.

First stop was Wat Chedi Luang which dates back to the 14th century and was the original home of the Emerald Buddha, now a national treasure housed in Bangkok. I love the steep roof and all the intricate gold work.

Inside Wat Chedi Luang are beautiful buddha statues.

Next stop was Wat Phra Singh which is Chiang Mai's most visited temple and is a beautiful example of Lanna (the native people of Chiang Mai) art an architecture.

Monks walking to the bells where they swipe their hand along them as they walk down the row saying prayers. We learned one of the things Buddhists believe is that if you can hear bells you are still alive so the noise is a reminder of your mortality.

I really liked the reflecting pond with a small gold buddha looking out at the water from under the shade of the New Years decorated tree. Such a colorful and peaceful place.

Below is the ubosot which is the holiest prayer room and this one clearly displays the Lanna architectural with it's three tiered roof and intricate carvings. We were there just after New Year and just before Thai New Year so that is what all the decorations are for.

In the picture below you can see Thong Thip, the buddha, inside of Wat Phra Singh and this Wat dates back to 1345 and has royal ties.

Finally we ended our day admiring the Anusawari sam kasat, best explained by our guide book:

Proudly wearing 14th-century royal garb, the bronze three kings monument commemorates the alliance forged between the three northern Thai-Lao kings. The statues mark one of the cities spiritual centers and have become a shrine to local residents, who regularly leave offerings of flowers, incense and candles at the bronze feet in return for blessings from the powerful spirits of the three kings. - Lonely Planet Thailand 13th Edition.

It was a very enriching day learning about the Buddhists and admiring Chiang Mai.

Love Always,

Matilda

Beyond Bangkok

2012-05-16T20:00:00.001+02:00

After two full days in Bangkok we were ready to experience more of Thailand. I had pre-booked us a 1st class sleeper train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai and that was about the end of the planning I had done for Thailand! Both exciting and a bit scary. (Dale would have told you more scary than exciting before hand but now he's pretty convinced we did it right). Our train wasn't until the evening and we didn't feel up for anything too crazy so we took the day easy just walking around the city and eating. It happened to be a Monday which is the day Bangkok's food stalls are required to shut down for street cleaning. So we headed to MBK, one of the many huge and upscale malls. We walked around inside a little bit just to look at the stores, almost all the common American ones, and compare prices, much higher outside the states surprisingly! Then we made our way to the food court which was massive. If you are too squeamish to try the street food, these food courts are definitely the way to go. Lots of variety, good quality, and cheap too!

We settled on Raman noodles which were especially tasty and were made from scratch right in front of us! For dessert I got mango with sticky rice, I don't think I will live long enough to get sick of that! I would eat it for every meal if I could. After eating we walked our way to the train station and on the way we spotted many people putting these roses in front of a statue.

The best we could figure out was that it was a Hindu statue and these were offerings, so maybe it was a holiday for them? Who knows, but we sat and watched for a while and that was lovely.

We also made our way past this lovely Buddhist temple. There are so so many in Thailand but I liked the water in front of this one.

Then it was back to the train station where we only had to wait a short while for our train.

Here's our train! Pretty yellow and purple. Neither Dale nor I had taken an overnight train before so we were pretty excited.

I had done some research before hand and heard the basic cabins were a bit rough. So, we paid a lot more but still only $45 for the both of us to have private air conditioned cabins which still weren't much to look at as you can see in the photo below. They let us all bored before we had to do over an hours worth of back and forth on the tracks and then we were finally full steam ahead to Chiang Mai!

When we woke up and looked out the window it looked like all those Vietnam War movies you see. Which makes sense since all things considered we weren't so far from Vietnam but it was still quite the change from the crowded hot concrete jungle that is Bangkok. We weren't even off the train yet and we were already breathing better!

Love Always,
Matilda

Exploring Bangkok

2012-02-15T15:05:00.000+01:00

When we awoke on a quiet New Years Day we were excited to not feel jet lagged anymore and energized to explore the city. We headed out to take the river ferry up and down the river Chao Phraya which runs through Bangkok. The town has set up ferries you can ride for about 50 cents US Dollars and you get a nice ride along the river. Of course their are entrepreneurs right next to the ferry trying to get more money from you for a private ride which could be a nice option too but we enjoy using public transportation. The ferry boats aren't anything fancy but I thought the hotel ferries were pretty cute. Here's a picture of one (from the Hilton I think).

Riding along the river was a nice way to escape the heat since you get a good breeze off the water. But also, I was fascinated with the super fancy five star hotels right next to slums. It was quite a sight. I kept thinking about how in the US waterfront property is the most expensive. This must not be the case in Thailand since a lot of the riverfront is slums. Regardless, it was still a really nice ride!

When we exited the ferry we found ourselves in a market where we admired all of the yummy food but didn't purchase anything quite yet. It all looked great but we weren't quite ready to make the plunge. What can I say, we are spoiled Americans!

Next we did a walking tour of 'downtown' Bangkok. Bangkok is massive but luckily most of the things tourists want to see are in one area. Unluckily, that area is of course full of tourists and people catering to tourists so it can be a bit of a zoo. Of course their are tuk tuks everywhere, but I think it's fun to spot the tuk tuks!

I most of all enjoyed taking in the Siam culture, like this giant sculpture in the main round about with fancy pink elephants!

Wat Rakhang (wat means temple in Thai) was also in the area and it's very beautiful and I enjoyed spotting it as we walked around. The temple was built during the Ayutthaya period (from 1350 to 1767) and rests nicely along the waterfront.

Later that evening we went to a Muay Thai boxing match. I'm not big on fighting and the such but we had heard these are fun and Dale really wanted to see it. So, off we went. The fighters all looked really young and I felt pain just watching them beat on each other. They kick and punch and knock each other around much more than is legal in the USA.

When we were buying tickets to the match they wouldn't not sell us foreigners tickets to the 2nd or 3rd class seating areas. They said this was because things can get quite rowdy and a lot of gambling goes down. Maybe our match didn't have very popular people or something but it did not seem like 2nd or 3rd class were out of hand at all, in fact they weren't even that full. But of course, as foreigners we were only allowed to buy 1st class seats rink side. These tickets were many more times what the locals were paying but I guess that is part of being a tourist. The plus is we were rink side so we got to see every punch and kick very well! Even though we were 'only allowed' to buy the expensive tickets, I still think it was a fun and unique experience so I'm glad we went! Here's a picture of Dale in front of the boxing stadium in Bangkok.

Afterwards I guess we were feeling a little brave from all that fighting because we finally tried the street food. Here's Dale a little timid before the meal.

We opted for some sort of noodles and broth with vegetables and chicken. At least, that's what we could best decipher it to be. And it was delicious! Probably one of the top meals of the trip! Here's a look at the 'restaurant' where we bought and ate, a street food cart with plastic tables and chairs in the middle of the street. Love it! Love it! Love it!

Love Always,
Matilda

New Years Eve Bangkok

2012-02-02T00:06:00.001+01:00

I'm back in the home of the free, land of the brave. It took me a bit to get rid of the jet lag and adjust back to USA life but I'm finally feeling like blogging again so here begins the story of Thailand!

Dale and I were lucky enough to redeem miles for our trip to Thailand and even doing that we managed to get a direct flight to Bangkok from Stockholm. This meant a 6 am landing in Bangkok, but we were even luckier and our hotel let us check in that early and we took a quick nap before heading out to explore Bangkok. First stop was Lumphini Park, a nice big park in the middle of Bangkok where we took a nice walk and saw the King Rama VI statue.

And we sat and watched the monitor lizards swim in the water and crawl onto land. They are pretty cool but the girlie girl in me was a bit creeped out by them.

As we were leaving the park I spotted this beautiful tree and I just had to snap a picture of it. I'm not certain why this tree is decorated but I just loved all the bright colors and 'fanta offerings' at the base!

Next we hopped in a tuk tuk to go back towards our hotel but alas we fell victim to the age old scam of being driven where the driver wanted to go, not where we asked. The good news is, we were taken to a tailor and we were hesitant at first since the tuk tuk had taken us there. But everything in the shop seemed legit. We got to see the fabric, see where the suits were being made, all the stops. So, despite our tuk tuk hesitance, Dale took the leap and ordered not one but two tailored suits. We left the store not confident he would ever receive the suits which we were supposed to pick up on our way out of Bangkok three weeks later. At the very worst, we figured we would have a good story! You'll have to tune in later to see what happened when we returned to the shop to pick up the suits! Now the tuk tuk driver was satisfied and returned us to our hotel. Bangkok puts on a big firework show for New Years but we were already feeling jet lagged and overwhelmed processing all things Bangkok/Thai. So, we opted to celebrate New Years in our hotel neighborhood of Sukhumvit Soi 11. Here's a picture of the neighborhood.

And another view from the subway ramp looking down at all the electrical wires. It's amazing how much the city changes so drastically from one block to another. Sometimes not even in a block! Bangkok has these ridiculously big high end shopping malls that are super fancy and then right outside it's slums. Incredible. But anyway, I digress. All of the wires everywhere fascinated and scared me. As you walk around you can literally hear the buzzing of the wires. Not sure that's so safe.

While walking around the neighborhood we also saw men with caged birds which were for sale for immediate release. I believe they do this to make a wish but I'm not certain. We watched one lady buy and release. I'm skeptical they are trained to fly right back for capture and release again but we didn't see the birds hang around so who knows.

We did find (no shortage of) bars on the street. Literally, cars parked on the street and put tables and chairs out front and served you drinks or, like in the picture below, they became the bar. Dale and I were highly amused by this (which would never be legal in the land of the free) and sat down for a drink. We almost immediately made friends with a British couple living in Bangkok who loved the VW bus bar almost as much as us and we ended up staying there for a while chatting with them.

We finished the night watching the fireworks from a distance and headed home for some much needed sleep. And that concludes day one of our Thailand adventure. I hope to blog soon with more of the trip!

Love Always,
Matilda

Thailand Twenty Twelve Teaser

2012-01-21T19:57:00.000+01:00

Ok folks. As you've gathered if you're following along. Dale and I are in Thailand ending our time away from the states with a three week 'grand finale' or, depending on your viewpoint, starting twenty twelve out right! While you read this we are almost done with our trip but to get the blog rolling I've created the map below to give you all a rough idea of where we are/have been and what we are up to.

View Thailand Twenty Twelve in a larger map

I'll be back soon with all the Thailand stories!
Love Always,
Matilda

Hej då Stockholm

2012-01-19T20:08:00.000+01:00

I can't believe my year in Europe is coming to an end already. We had the opportunity to stay longer but for many reasons we decided not to stay. Later when I have more time I'll write a post reflecting on my year in Stockholm. For now, I can't believe it's time to say hej då (goodbye). Our last week in Stockholm was full of getting things ready to ship home and getting Dale and I ready for our 'big finale' in Thailand.

Luckily we didn't buy too much during our year in Europe so packing wasn't too intimidating. And after moving in April via the bus and shipping around the world a year ago we know a thing or two about space management. Lets just say space bags are my best friend. Seriously, that's one amazing product!

When it was all said and done we had 6 boxes and 3 pieces of luggage being shipped back. Coming over to Stockholm we shipped 3 giant boxes (which roughly equal the 6 boxes going back) and checked the luggage. So I call that a success! Of course, Dale did take back a full big luggage in September when he happened to be stateside so maybe we did shop a little bit.

And so it is. Time to say goodbye already. :(
Love Always,
Matilda

PrisXtra

2012-01-16T19:33:00.000+01:00

Here's one more post of something I've wanted to share for a while but just haven't gotten around to yet. Grocery Stores in Sweden! Here's a look into the shelves of the store I shop at, PrisXtra. PrisXtra is one of the bigger shops in Stockholm and I like the variety of food I can get there and I also think they are cheaper than some of the other stores in town.

Mostly I wanted to show you all some of the things that are different at grocery stores here. For example, the picture above is cheese in a tube. This seemed pretty strange to me at first but it works! At least, for some cheeses it does. Cheddar in a tube is not so strange but shrimp cheese? Hmmm.

Also, the dairy aisle just kills me. It is long and filled with dairy of every level of fat content and flavor. You can buy saffron creme fraiche or olive cottage cheese. It overwhelms me. If I am shopping for milk or basic yogurt I am good to go. But if I need something a little bit more advanced then that I always resort to asking the nearest Swede for help.

And here's the final interesting thing about grocery shopping in Sweden. The herring aisle. It's almost as big as the dairy aisle. I don't know what all the different types are but I think it's pretty interesting that there are so many ways to prepare herring. I can't say I needed to figure out this aisle. I guess I didn't integrate into society so well on that account but eating herring at the special events was more then enough herring for me. Extra herring as home was not necessary for this American.
Love Always,
Matilda

Protests

2012-01-14T21:21:00.000+01:00

I didn't talk about this yet because I wanted to share all the happy holiday feel good posts first but this is something Dale and I experienced I want to share. On December 10th when we visited the Christmas Market and watched the Nobel Ceremony we were walking around Gamla Stan when we were suddenly in the middle of a right wing extremist protest and counter protest. Here's pretty much the only news coverage I was able to find on the event (probably because I'm still using my English crutch):

Right wing extremist groups are clashing with counter protesters at Mynttorget in Gamla Stan, as the annual demonstrations were moved from Salem to Stockholm.

Chants and slogans could be heard as the right wing protesters were escorted outside the riot fence at Mynttorget. Police scattered one of the counter protest droves where groups such as Brittans damgympa and Aktion mot deportation participated.

Eggs, bottles and firecrackers come flying through the air as hundreds of counter protesters have come to interrupt the right wing protests.

"Right now it's quite chaotic. Several people have tried to get past the riot fence," said police spokesperson Diana Sundin, adding that several people have been arrested.

The atmosphere is very tense, news agency TT reported, and aside from the yelling and chanting, at least one boom has gone off.

According to police the boom came from Riksbron, but was caused by some form of firework, and nobody was harmed.

Police are doing their best to avoid direct confrontation between the two forces, but have allowed the counter protesters to stay temporarily at the Mynttorget before dismissing them.

"We might need to move them if they don't go voluntarily, but that's usually not necessary," police spokesperson Anders Gillander told TT.

Hundreds of counter protesters are gathered outside the Riksdag next to Mynttorget, and police have formed a human wall to control the crowd.

The first dozen right wing extremists marched right through the masses of counter protesters and were faced with chantings and pushes, which they responded to by yelling their own chants. About thirty police officers rushed to the site to avert fights.

The anti nazi network "Vi är 94 pro cent" (Literally: We are 94 percent) gathered hundreds of followers in Kungsträdgården in central Stockholm. The arrangers have held speeches and musicians have performed from a trailer.

Later the crowd of 500-1000 people started moving towards the Raoul Wallenbergs torg plaza, carrying placards saying for example "Stop right wing extremism".

Some are masked, but a majority are not. The crowd is under control, and a large number of police officers are following the march. From: http://www.thelocal.se/37858/20111210/

It was intense. One minute we were checking out the cute Christmas Market booths and the next we were stuck in a yelling crowd. We did not get hurt and the crowd wasn't violent but the feeling in the air was that things could turn violent at any moment. It was mostly scary for Dale and I not knowing what the protesters were chanting or what was happening. The vocabulary were words we had not encountered before and the lack of understanding was very confusing. Also, you almost never see police in Stockholm (well, in most of Europe) so to see a wall of policeman with swat cars everywhere and helicopters in the air we knew something big must be going on.

The far right extremists, from what I've learned, want to stop immigration and keep the culture intact. While the counter protesters believe everyone is equal. I had no idea about this division in Europe and this has been one of the more interesting things to experience in my year here. I always knew there were racists in the world and especially in the States so it's not surprising they are in Europe as well. But it has been surprising how big of a movement and how big the momentum is for the far right extremists in Europe. I'll definitely be following along to see how all this continues to develop!

Love Always,
Matilda

Christmas 2011

2012-01-12T20:03:00.000+01:00

For Christmas we had the great pleasure of Dr. Fede visiting us! He arrived on Christmas Eve and we decided to celebrate the Swedish way by eating a big meal on Christmas Eve. We started out with the mulled wine and then cooked up a ham and some other sides and served them along with all the food work gave me. It was a feast!

And we didn't even make a dent.

On Christmas day we walked around the city to show Fede the town and get out of the Christmas ham coma. The weather was beautiful but the town was empty. This did not feel like the busy Stockholm I've come to know but it still was nice to get out for a while.

It was good times with a good friend and good food! Who could possibly ask for more?!

A God Helg (Happy Holiday) it was!
Love Always,
Matilda

gifts and julbords

2012-01-09T20:00:00.000+01:00

This year was a strange one Christmas wise. Nothing was 'normal' about it. I didn't have a single present wrapped or a Christmas tree up. No family near by. I wasn't running around spending far too much money in crowded malls. It was nice. It was also lonely. So is the expat life. One thing that was unexpectedly pleasant was all the gifts my bosses spoiled me with. I mean, look at all this loot:

I made out like a bandit! Shirts, sweaters, salmon, sausage, different cheeses, etc.. Oh boy! They take care of their people in Sweden.

On top of all that we also had a big Christmas Dinner for coworkers. This is traditional and they call the event Julbord, literally Christmas Table or Buffet. Mine was at Tyrols the restaurant at Grona Lund, the amusement park here, and it featured wild animals. So, along with herring prepared something like 30 different ways, I got to try bear meat balls, wolf paw pate, and all sorts of other meats I never thought I would eat and over 200 different dishes to try! To eat a Julbord properly involves seven trips to the table. Dale's work had their Julbord at Ulla Winbladh where they handed out instructions for the seven rounds. So, here are the seven rounds a la Ulla Winbladh:

A selection of herring and cheeses to be accompanied by beer or aquavit.
Buckling, egg and an assortment of salmon to be accompanied by lemon aquavit.
A selection of cold meats and mustard as well as Christmas sausage to be accompanied by a bitter aquavit.
Lutefisk to be accompanied by a glass of red burgundy.
Prince sausage, meatballs and red cabbage to be accompanied by a decent ale.
Poached pear and assorted Swedish desserts to be accompanied by a glass of port.
Cake and chocolate to be accompanied by coffee and cognac.

I didn't make it through all seven rounds of food and I didn't even attempt the accompanying drinks. Although my coworkers did serenade me with the traditional aquavit drinking songs while they were in the aquavit buffet rounds. I did try the Lutefisk which is cod preserved by soaking it in lye and to get it ready to cook it must be soaked in water for 6 days to remove all the lye. This process leaves the cod somewhat jelly like and removes a lot of the taste. I was surprised that for all that work it doesn't really taste like much. The lutefisk is served covered in a cream sauce with peas and bacon bits and the toppings were pretty much all I could taste and I'm told that's a good thing. I can't say I love the herring but this year in Sweden has made me realize which way I prefer the herring prepared so that's something I guess. The Swedish cheeses are amazing and I loved the smoked salmon. And unfortunately bear meat balls and wolf paw pate are not so interesting. And dessert, well, who doesn't love dessert no matter where they are?! And that folks was my Swedish Julboard experience.

Love Always,

Matilda

StockholmsJul

2012-01-07T21:58:00.000+01:00

Starting this holiday season of 2011, Stockholm is dreaming of being THE holiday destination and to do so they have really beefed up their holiday lights and decorations. The name of the project is called 'StockholmsJul' meaning Stockholm's Christmas. I've had a lot of fun walking around town checking out the lights and every inch of the city their is a surprise holiday decoration to be found. These classic Christmas trees and boughs are at the Opera house.

Sergels Torg has never looked finer than it does with the Christmas trees and reindeer. Usually I'm not so impressed with Sergels Torg but this time of the year I think it's worth it to stop by and see the lights. And as a bonus, their is a small Christmas Market set up in the shopping area below the trees and reindeer. Although, the market in Gamla Stan is much better in my opinion.

The streets around Sergels Torg are covered with many different lights, some are ornaments.

Others are stars with lit trails.

The department stores in town all put on Christmas displays every year and my coworkers were a buzz discussing what the displays would be this year. But even before they had visited them for the year, they all knew NK, Nordiska Kompaniet, would have the best display. Many a Stockholmer makes a tradition of going to see the displays. So of course I dragged Dale down to check it out and here's a picture from the display I found the most interesting.

Santa-tv-face was a little disturbing but less so than fairy godmother Santa. I guess after so many years of the displays they have to get pretty creative to come up with new displays every year. Mostly I was amazed at how packed the sidewalk was just to walk past the display. Swedes take the NK Christmas display pretty seriously!

But from what I can tell the most beloved Christmas decoration in the city is the beloved and giant Christmas Tree on Gamla Stan. The plaque below the tree says it is even bigger and more beautiful than the one in Rockefeller Center and this one is so beautiful it is not allowed to compete in Christmas tree beauty contests. Ha! Not so lagom Swedes. :)
Love Always,
Matilda

Advent lights and glöggmingels

2012-01-05T20:19:00.000+01:00

Advent in Sweden is celebrated the four weeks before Christmas. Here is the story of Advent:

Advent means arrival, or coming, and since the 5th century AD has heralded the Christmas season and the birth of Christ. Since the 1890s, the custom in Sweden has been to light a candle every Sunday during Advent. The candles used to be placed in tiny Christmas trees, but from the 1930s onwards these were superseded by candlesticks of iron or wood. The Moravian custom of hanging a star made from paper, straw or chipwood in windows also found its way to Sweden in the 1930s, recalling the star that guided the Three Wise Men. The advent calendar dates from around this time as well. Children open a window in the calendar for each passing day until Christmas Eve.

In agrarian times, Advent was a hectic period when all farmwork was to be completed so that people could take Christmas leave. By 9 December,‘Anna Day’, the Christmas brew was to be ready, the lutfisk was to be soaked in lye and the baking was to begin. On Lucia Day, 13 December, candles were to be made and animals slaughtered for the Christmas table, and after Tomas Day, 21 December, all milling and spinning was to cease. Christmas fairs were then held in town. Since the Middle Ages, Swedes have drunk hot mulled wine (glögg), during Advent.
From: http://www.sweden.se/eng/Home/Lifestyle/Traditions/Celebrating-the-Swedish-way/Advent/
by Agneta Lilja, Södertörn University College

Dale and I celebrated Advent by putting up an Advent light in our window (which is now packed up and shipping home, I couldn't part with it!).

Here's a glimpse at the other Advent lights on our street. I think it's really beautiful to see all the light and it really does help brighten things up, especially with less than 6 hours of daylight and cloudy weather.

The four sundays of Advent the Swedes get together with friends or family for an Adventsfika or glöggmingel. My coworker had us over for a glöggmingel and we had the pleasure of drinking the glögg with her and some of her friends and family as well as eating ham, saffron buns, and gingerbread cookies (pepparkakor). It was cozy and comforting to just relax with friends during all the holiday craziness.

Candles and mingles?! I just might have to adopt these traditions!

Love Always,

Matilda

Saint Lucia

2012-01-02T20:17:00.000+01:00

I was a bit of a slacker and didn't partake in the Saint Lucia celebrations but I none the less wanted to share with you what Sweden does for Saint Lucia Day, December 13th. Here's the Wiki explination:

In traditional celebrations, Saint Lucia comes as a young woman with lights and sweets. It is one of the few saint days observed in Scandinavia. In some forms, a procession is headed by one girl wearing a crown of candles (or lights), while others in the procession hold only a single candle each.

In Sweden, Estonia, Denmark, Norway, and Finland, Lucia is venerated on December 13 in a ceremony where a girl is elected to portray Lucia. Wearing a white gown with a red sash and a crown of candles on her head, she walks at the head of a procession of women, each holding a candle. The candles symbolize the fire that refused to take St. Lucia's life when she was sentenced to be burned. The women sing a Lucia song while entering the room, to the melody of the traditional Neapolitan song Santa Lucia; the Italian lyrics describe the view from Santa Lucia in Naples, the various Scandinavian lyrics are fashioned for the occasion, describing the light with which Lucia overcomes the darkness. Each Scandinavian country has lyrics in their native tongues. After finishing this song, the procession sings Christmas carols or more songs about Lucia.

Some trace the "re-birth" of the Lucia celebrations in Sweden to the tradition in German Protestant families of having girls dressed as angelic Christ children, handing out Christmas presents. The Swedish variant of this white-dressed Kindchen Jesus, or Christkind, was called Kinken Jes, and started to appear in upper-class families in the 18th century on Christmas Eve with a candle-wreath in her hair, handing out candy and cakes to the children. Another theory claims that the Lucia celebration evolved from old Swedish traditions of “star boys” and white-dressed angels singing Christmas carols at different events during Advent and Christmas. In either case, the current tradition of having a white-dressed woman with candles in her hair appearing on the morning of the Lucia day started in the area around Lake Vänern in the late 18th century and spread slowly to other parts of the country during the 19th century.

In the Lucia procession in the home depicted by Carl Larsson in 1908, the oldest daughter brings coffee and St. Lucia buns to her parents while wearing a candle-wreath and singing a Lucia song. Other daughters may help, dressed in the same kind of white robe and carrying a candle in one hand, but only the oldest daughter wears the candle-wreath.

The modern tradition of having public processions in the Swedish cities started in 1927 when a newspaper in Stockholm elected an official Lucia for Stockholm that year. The initiative was then followed around the country through the local press. Today most cities in Sweden appoint a Lucia every year. Schools elect a Lucia and her maids among the students and a national Lucia is elected on national television from regional winners. The regional Lucias will visit shopping malls, old people's homes and churches, singing and handing out pepparkakor (gingerbread). Guinness World Records has noted the Lucia procession in Ericsson Globe in Stockholm as the largest in the world, with 1200 participants from Adolf Fredriks Musikklasser, Stockholms Musikgymnasium and Stockholmläns Blåsarsymfoniker.

Nowadays boys take part in the procession as well, playing different roles associated with Christmas. Some may be dressed in the same kind of white robe, but with a cone-shaped hat decorated with golden stars, called stjärngossar (star boys); some may be dressed up as "tomtenissar" Santas, carrying lanterns; and some may be dressed up as gingerbread men. They participate in the singing and also have a song or two of their own, usually Staffan Stalledräng, which tells the story about Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr, caring for his five horses.

A traditional kind of bun, Lussekatt ("St. Lucia Bun"), made with saffron, is normally eaten on this day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Lucy's_Day

So, there you have the history of Saint Lucia Day in Sweden. I did partake in the St. Lucia bun eating and I think they are very tasty. The saffron is very subtle and I don't think the bun tastes so much different then normal buns. At my office some engineering students came around dressed up as crazy non-traditional outfits and sang the traditional songs. So, I did get a feel for Lucia but not too accurately I don't think. Here's a video of the 'traditional' events as they were this year in Stockholm.

Love Always,
Matilda

A Nobel Day

2011-12-31T19:55:00.000+01:00

December 10th is the Nobel Day in Stockholm and Oslo with the Nobel Peace Prize being given out in Oslo and the other prizes given in Stockholm. In Stockholm the prizes are handed out at a ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall.

Dale and I decided to make an event of the afternoon and we went to the Concert Hall to watch everyone arrive. I didn't have high hopes of recognizing anyone but I was excited to see the Royal Family, well mostly Prince Carl Phillip but Dale has banned me from talking about him so yes I really wanted to see the Royal Family. :)

We watched lots of fancy limos drop people off, some of them even marked with the Nobel Prize Foundations logo.

But mostly it was too dark to see anything more than the silhouette. Finally we saw a stream of police cars and I knew it must be the Royal Family. Through the Royal limo window I could see Princess Magdalena but unfortunately the family went in a different entrance so my chance to meet Prince Carl Phillip and run away, err . . . see the Royal Family was swayed for now.

After everyone arrived we scurried home to watch the event on Swedish television. The prize giving was in Swedish so we didn't understand much but it was still interesting to see the whole event. After that all the attendees head to City Hall for a banquet which is also televised and a rather strange Swedish phenomenon if you ask me. It's literally just watching everyone eat and occasionally there is an art performance or something going on, but mostly just eating. After that, the attendees supposedly get invited to super secret no cameras allowed dance parties, but I guess I didn't make friends high enough up yet because I can without a doubt confirm I was not invited to any such party. You can watch the video of the ceremonies and banquets, see the menu, find out the designer of the Queen's gown and so much more at the Nobel Prize Website:
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/award_ceremonies/
Love Always,
Matilda
P.S. Happy New Years Eve all!! Be safe however you celebrate! Dale and I are celebrating New Years in Bangkok this year and you know I'll be sharing that adventure as soon as I can.

Gamla Stan Christmas Market

2011-12-29T20:30:00.000+01:00

Being American I had never been to or really known anything about Christmas Markets but they seem to be a big deal in Europe. From what I've learned about them they began in Germany and have grown popular in many European countries. I put off going to the market as long as I could, hoping for a snowy day to explore in. But alas, no snow in Stockholm so I had to cave. Arriving in Gamla Stan I was immediately in the Christmas spirit seeing all the lights and garlands.

The market its self was full of little red shed booth thingys (pretty sure that's the technical term) selling many Chrismtas goodies like gingerbread . . .

and Moose, Wild Pig, or Reindeer sausages . . .

Mistletoe and evergreen wreaths . . .

and of course Glögg, which is a little cup of hot mulled wine with raisins and blanched almonds. I was too busy drinking my cup to snap a picture of it but it was delicious and it definitely completed the Christmas Market experience.

I know the Stockholm Christmas Market isn't as famous as those in Germany but I can't imagine a better one - except maybe with a little snow!
Love Always,
Matilda

Social in Southern Sweden

2011-12-27T11:54:00.000+01:00

A couple weeks ago Dale and I took a quick weekend trip down to Lund, Sweden to visit our friends Fer and Lu and see their two adorable kiddos Fede and Hele.

It was a whirlwind weekend but we really wanted to make it down there before the holidays - and we just barely did that! We mostly just hung around enjoying chatting with friends.

But we did take a quick walk around Lund and Malmö. Both cities are much smaller than Stockholm, although Malmö is the third largest city in Sweden.

Lund is very much like our former residence (where we met Fer and Lu) Fort Collins, Colorado. It is a small college town with a nice city center. Malmö has a bit more going on, although I'm not sure why they have a giant lamp in town. It does happen to look just like a lamp I bought at Ikea so Dale made me pose with it.

In Malmö we took a nice walk around Malmö Slott (castle) where we passed by a pretty windmill. It was a windy day and Fer says they get lots of those in Southern Sweden so I guess now I know why they have so many windmills in the area! It is hardly ever windy in Stockholm.

We also got a good view of the Turning Torso, the tallest building in Scandinavia. Living in the 'old world' without skyscrapers has made me realize skyscrapers can be beautiful in their own way. Although, I prefer them with others to make a skyline more than just the one.

In Malmö Christmas cheer was in full force and we passed by some carolers in the main street and a christmas market too.

My favorite thing about visiting the smaller towns of countries is getting to feel the country more than you do in the capital. Being from Colorado I resonate more with small town America than New Yorkers. In Europe my experience has been just the opposite since I live in the capital of Sweden. It's a funny juxtaposition. But more than anything we were just happy to spend some time with friends and reflect on our experiences in Sweden. Thanks for having us Fer and Lu! Hope you have a nice holiday!

Love Always,

Matilda

Happy Holidays!

2011-12-25T11:40:00.000+01:00

Hello dear blog readers!
As a special holiday treat from me to you I have put together a season playlist just for your listening enjoyment:

Some of the videos aren't the best but the tunes can't be beat! Hope your holiday is wonderful no matter how you spend it or what you are celebrating! We have a special visitor from Berlin - Fede! But more on that later. :)
Love Always,
Matilda

Winter Jam

2011-12-23T10:53:00.001+01:00

A company here called Stadium (which sells sports goods) hosted an event called Winter Jam and it piqued Dale and my interest enough that we decided to attend. I was excited the event was at Stadion, Stockholm's Olympic Stadium which was built for the 1912 Stockholm Summer Olympics. I hadn't been inside yet and I was interested to see the inside. Dale was, of course, interested in the skiing and snowboarding.

It turned out to be a beautiful day and it reminded us a lot of Colorado to watch the snow sports. As the events began we weren't terribly impressed. No one was landing their jumps and the tricks were lacking. But as the evening continued things got better and the audience really got into it.

Dale gave the event a thumbs up. By the finals people were landing most of the time and sure enough a Swede came in first making the crowd go wild. From where we were sitting in the stands we were next to some British girls who kept talking like they knew everything about skiing and snowboarding but Dale and I were pretty convinced they had never been down a mountain. They provided good entertainment for us though!

When things were all said and done they brought out the top three's prizes and of course a throne for first place.

And then, because how could you have a winter event without it?, they brought out the motor cross event. Ha! Silly Swedes! But it was fun to watch the 'winter' bike jumps too. I think they are trying to get people in Sweden into the sport.

It did our little Colorado hearts good to feel a bit of home and see some of that white stuff. You would think being so much farther North we would have tons of it but nope. It's Dec. 23rd and we've had one snow storm which left maybe an inch of snow and that quickly melted off. It's been one of the hottest winters in Stockholm history! Insanity!
Love Always,
Matilda

Bar Life

2011-12-20T11:21:00.000+01:00

For my last post about Dublin, it has to be about the Bar Life for which the Irish are so famous. Here I present a mishmash of 'Bar Life' events from our trip to Dublin. For this experience Dale and I toured Jameson. It's no secret to you all the Dale loves Whiskey (remember he got to tour the distilleries in Scotland for his birthday this year?). Well, he somehow talked me into touring yet another distillery.

It ended up being pretty interesting to learn the difference between Irish Whiskey and Scottish Whisky. The main difference is Irish distill a third time while the Scotts distill twice.

Dale got chosen to be a special Whiskey taste tester and that entailed trying three different Whiskey's to detect different flavors. The tour guide didn't say which was which and let every taster decide their favorite before he announced that they all had picked Jameson. I thought that was surprising and pretty cool! But, I'm not a whiskey drinker so maybe Jameson is easy to detect or something.

We also visited The Stags Head, of which I've included a picture of the namesake above. Luckily I had printed off a Dublin guide from a local Dubliner posted on Design Sponge and the guide had suggested The Stags Head is the most traditional and authentic pub in Dublin. With a description like that, how could I not visit?! From my experience, The Stags Head is indeed everything the Dubliner said it was. I definitely recommend this spot to rub elbows with the locals and the live music doesn't hurt either!

As fine as The Stags Head is, we wouldn't have been proper tourists without stopping into The Temple Bar. The Temple Bar is quite famous for it's lively atmosphere and live traditional music every night. The night we stopped in was no exception and we happily sat for a while listening to the music.

For our farewell to Dublin at The Temple Bar Dale enjoyed a Guinness and Jameson while I finally tried an Irish Whiskey. Boy was that the finest Irish Whiskey I've ever had. Between that and the hot chocolates, I am convinced there is something magical in the Irish cream. (That would probably be fat! Ha!)

And in case you drink too much at any of the abundance of pubs all the cross walks remind you which way to look before crossing the street. A tool I found useful since there were so many one ways, I never was sure which way traffic was going to be coming at me!

One last stop of note is Leo Burdock's, a traditional fish and chips spot. There is a small seating area but after hours it's just take away. No matter where you choose to eat it, these fish and chips are quite tasty! They even made a malt vinegar on chips fan of me. I can't get enough now!

And with that we bid farewell to Dublin. I had a fantastic and relaxing time in Dublin and cannot tell you enough how friendly everyone was (or maybe I've been living in Stockholm too long). I hope to return to this friendliest of cities some day!

Love Always,

Matilda