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Monday, 20 July 2009

21st June - The Journey!

We've been pretty busy for the last month, so haven't had chance to update the blog! So we're going to try and cover everything we've done over the last month....

First up is the journey from Anderstorp to Luleå, where we stayed for a night before heading further north and into the Arctic Circle and finally to Kotamaa/Korpilombolo.

We left Anderstorp at 3am

6 hours later and we stop for breakfast

9:36am

12:35 - Höga Kusten aka The High Coast bridge

Me and Ida by the bridge

15:13 - Max's for lunch!

19:07 - Almost there!

We arrived in Luleå around 8pm and stayed in a family members flat. This was our first taste of 24hour daylight!

We spent much of the following day wandering round Luleå city centre and looked in a few shops, before leaving civilisation behind and heading further north for a couple of hours.

THE ARCTIC CIRCLE!

The sign for our 'village'...Kotamaa

The road to Kotamaa!

The main house!

The village was made up of the main house and assorted buildings and another large house which is owned by an elderly couple who rarely stay there.

The smaller cottage where Catarina, Lena and Gilbert stayed and the newer sauna

A view from our bedroom - the small cottage, new sauna, log shed and old sauna

The next post will cover our stay in Kotamaa....

Thursday, 18 June 2009

Wedsnesday 17th June - Mark and Lena water fight!

Tuesday 16th June - Simson's Birthday and kittens/sheep!

Simson's 2nd Birthday:

Above: Fika!!!!!!

Kittens (kattungar)/Sheep (får) at Joel's girlfriend's (Helen):

Above: Ida and lilla Joel!

Above: Mark and Batzeba!

Above: Joel, Eva, Caesar, Erik och Findus!

Sheep aka Får:

Ida had hoped that upon me seeing the cute kittens that I'd fall in love with them and that we'd be taking one home with us....

Her plan backfired as soon as I was asked "do you want to jump in the field and feed some sheep?"

Monday 15th June - Ida visits Anna's summer house

Following a heavy week, I (Mark) wasn't feeling too good on Monday, so stayed at home and watched Cloverfield with Lena...who is 9 years old!

Above: Anna and her house

Above: the lake and Ida's new Swedish cloggs!

Above: Småland paradise!

the biggest bra of all time!

Above: 110GG!

Above: Ida (28B)/Mark can only dream....

Wednesday, 17 June 2009

Sunday 14th June - Manhood test and the medieval game of Kubb

The Manhood test with Gunnar:

The morning after the wedding, Gunnar took me (Mark) on a 10k run round the local lake. He said it was just for fun, but I had a feeling it was to see what I was made of....luckily I passed the test!

Above: some cows we passed on our way round

Above: Mark and Gunnar

Above: the lake!

Above: 4k left!

Kubb aka Viking Chess:

Kubb (pronounced /kʉb/ in Swedish or /kub/ in Gutnish) is a lawn game where the object is to knock over wooden blocks by throwing wooden sticks at them.

Kubb can be simply described as a combination of bowling and horseshoes. Today's version originated on Gotland island, Sweden.

Rules vary from country to country and from region to region, but the ultimate object of the game is to knock the "King" over, before your opponent does. This, combined with the fact that there is a certain level of strategy that can be used by players, has led some players and kubb fans to nickname the game "Viking Chess." However, unlike chess, if a player or team knocks over the king before achieving their objectives, that player/team immediately loses the game. Some games have been known to last for hours.