Back in February, eight of my friends had a Girl’s Weekend in Budapest.
Before we moved to Sweden, I never gave a thought to Budapest, or had a clue where it was on the map. When we were all deciding where to go, a few of the girls mentioned Budapest, and that it’s one of the top places to visit in Europe. It is also known as one of the least expensive places to visit in Europe. When going away with the girls, having no children to look after, one usually doesn’t care where one ends up…. so I said, “let’s go”. The city itself is very pretty
the people were friendly, the company was amazing, and a great time was had by all.
Four of us arrived on Thursday evening, and the other four arrived Friday afternoon. We stayed at the Cortina, a beautiful hotel, and enjoyed the amenities each day. Our friend Ann-Marie, a local of Budapest, that lived in Stockholm with us for a few years, showed us around her fabulous city all weekend.
It was awesome to visit Budapest through a local’s eyes. She showed us all of her favorite places, and led us to all of her favorite foods. Friday morning she met us a the hotel and we started our site seeing journey.
The first stop, was to sample these sweet treats (I forgot the name) that were a cross between donuts and cinnamon pretzels from Annie’s Pretzels in the U.S. We spent the morning at the Central Market Hall
where we shopped and shopped. Now when I see or hear about paprika, I think of Budapest. It has the perfect climate to grow peppers where they are then dried, and ground to make paprika.
And Paprika was everywhere!
and since I love ghoulish, I was able to buy the Hungarian ingredients to make this masterpiece at home. I also bought a new bag, leather was very cheap. The booths were filled with many Hungarian crafts, clothing, and goodies.
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| my boys would have loved this stuff |
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| view of the market from the 2nd floor |
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| so many fruits and vegetables |
The Market was built in 1897 and damaged in the World Wars, then renovated in the 1900's. Look at the tiles on the roof.
Langos, (garlic bread with cheese), is a popular Hungarian food.
It was really good, however, the garlic was coming out of our pours, and I’m sure nobody wanted to be within 5 feet of us. After our garlic fest, we headed to the Gellert Baths, where we soaked in a number of thermal water jaccuzzi tubs. Which by the way, ridded the garlic from our pours. None of us smelled or had the after taste of garlic after those baths.
We went from ice cold tubs to warm, hot, and hotter tubs.
We were in steaming saunas, and then I enjoyed a pedicure. The pedicure was the best I’ve ever had. These dry feet turned into a baby's bottom. The water from the baths, come in through the adjacent caves. The medicinal underground springs became famous in the 13th century and the spa is decorated with original Art Nouveau furnishings, mosaics, stained glass windows and sculptures, The whole concept is quite fascinating.
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| The girls after the baths |
After the baths, we headed back to the hotel, where we had champagne in the lounge, and then made ourselves beautiful for a night out with all the girls. One of the reasons for our weekend away was a send off/farwell to our dear friend Heidi, who’s husband’s job is taking them back to the states.
As I mentioned in past blog posts, this life I live is wonderful, and also sad. We meet all these wonderful friends, but in the back of our minds, we know our time together is short lived. Thanks to social media, we will stay friends forever, but it doesn’t make the “goodbye” any easier. Heidi is somebody that I’ve only known for a year and half, but with all that we’ve been through together, it feels like a lifetime. I’m thrilled for her that she will be back in the states with her entire family living in the same country (she has college age children around the U.S.), but selfishly, I am sad.
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| Before heading out for fun night |
The next morning we headed out with Anne-Marie for another full day of site seeing. She walked us around the city, showed us all that we wanted to see, and shared many stories about the history of the places we visited. Their Parliament building is the prettiest I’ve ever seen.
We also walked over the Liberty Bridge. Liberty Bridge was built in the 1890's, looks like a chain bridge but it's really not. It connects Buda and Pest over the Danube river.
The Hungarian Statue of Liberty/Lady Liberty or Liberty Statue can be seen on top of Gellért Hill. The Statue of Liberty (1947) serves as a memorial for those who sacrificed their lives for Hungary, and stands in remembrance of the Soviet liberation of Hungary from Nazi Germany during World War II.
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| Statue of Liberty |
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| JUMPING |
.....and spent time at the Shoes on the Danube.
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| The baby shoes were so sad to see |
We were all touched, as we viewed the shoes exhibit. An American/Hungarian director paid for the exhibit. Sculptors Gyula Pauer and Can Togay created a memorial to the men, women, and children that were forced to strip naked on the banks of the Danube, in the middle of winter, and face the river. A firing squad from the Arrow Cross militia, shot them in the back at close range, and they fell into the river to be washed away. The memorial consists of 60 shoes cast out of iron. They used different sizes and styles of shoes, to represent that all walks of life were affected by this brutality during Hitler's days.
It was the first trip that I’ve been on that I didn’t have to worry about taking pictures. The friends I was with, not only love photography, but are amazing photographers. So, thanks Meg, Heidi, Nancy, JJ and Monica for all the photos. Instead, I was a able to soak up the sun, since we don't see it at all in the winter months in Stockholm.
Saturday afternoon we took a (sweet) culinary tour of Budapest. Our tour guide,
whom we really liked, took us to quite a number of cafes where we ate way too many desserts.
The first place she took us, Lotz Terem, which is a beautiful cafe located in a book store. In 1830, it was the first shopping mall in Budapest. Once inside the cafe, you forgot you were in a store. The bookstore was very quaint though, it made me want to curl up on the couch with a good book. From there, we walked the city, stopping frequently to enjoy treats.
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| we needed a break from sugar, so we switched it up a bit |
One of the shops had the most beautifully decorated treats. So unique in their design.
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| completely edible |
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| macaroons |
At the end of the tour, we were so full of sweets that many of the girls went site seeing again with Anne-Marie, to walk off some of the sugar.
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| the castle |
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| beautiful castle |
I had to go back to the hotel, put on a comfy pair of sweats, and relax a bit before meeting for dinner.
A few of us were sitting in the lounge,
when we realized that something big was happening in the lobby. Since the lounge was overlooking the main lobby, we had the best seats in the house. We enjoyed glasses of champagne while Hungarian celebrities walked the “red carpet” through our hotel, into what was the equivalent of their Oscar night.
We loved watching the girls walk in with their gowns, and the cooky ones walk in with their crazy outfits.
There was a mother/ daughter combo, that camped out in the lobby for at least two hours, and as each celebrity walked in, she had her daughter take a picture with them. It was quite bizarre. Needless to say, it was great entertainment and people-watching for us, before we left to go out.
Our last dinner in Budapest was my favorite. It was a “mom and pop” place, that had delicious Hungarian food. We ordered appetizers, delicious meals, and many bottles of wine… some of the girls even had room for dessert. But the most amazing part of this evening, when the bill came..... it only cost each of us $25.
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| 20,000 forint is equal to $70 |
We actually thought there was something wrong with the bill. After dinner we headed to the bar in the hotel. It was hopping because of the “Oscars”. The night was a perfect ending to our fabulous weekend. We laughed so much that we each woke up with sore abs the next day.
We came home to Stockholm to sunshine and blue skies, and temperatures in the high 30’s. You know my blood has thickened when I look at these temperatures as warm…. hoping for Spring to show its face early. That’s wishful thinking of course, but a girl can dream. This girl also caught some nasty bug, and I spent the first two days back, in bed. Thankfully, it came and went pretty quickly, and nobody else caught it.
Stockholm (and maybe even all of Sweden, I’m not sure) celebrates Sports Day on February 12th. This means that all students, in all schools, play sports all day long. I went with 3rd grade on their adventures. First we went to a dance studio where two instructors taught the kids how to street dance and break dance. When Smith originally heard that his class was going to dance for Sports Day, he was less than thrilled…. but changed his tune quickly when the instructors starting teaching them “baby freeze'.
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| Smitty putting on the moves |
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| 3rd graders learning the dance |
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| Smitty doing "baby freeze" his favorite move |
After dance, we headed to the other side of the city for an afternoon of rock climbing. While third grade was doing their thing, Jake and his fifth grade friends had a morning of badminton competition, and an afternoon of bowling. And all the while, Chase had a morning of snow sports at Humlagarden, with an afternoon filled with dance. All in all, sports day is my favorite day of the year. I love that the students are introduced to a variety of sports, and have a full day of physical activity.
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| I did it!!!! |
Even though the kids have been at SIS for almost two school years, I am still amazed and thrilled at the activities that they do throughout the year. We American expats all laugh, as we remember the amount of signatures, and paperwork, that is required in the schools back home, just to allow the children to step foot off campus. Field trips are not common anymore, and the thought of just taking the class to a park for a few hours, well that's pretty much unheard of. I know that many of you reading this are saying, “I like that they can’t leave campus, and that they have to jump through hoops to take kids out of school”, but now that I’ve experience it, I love that they are able to have a change of scenery at times throughout the week. The teachers are extremely comfortable walking the children through the train stations and through the city, and the children are used to it, and follow the buddy system rules. It’s a well oiled machine.
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| 3rd graders reached their first destination |
The other thing we chuckle about is how much work goes into taking 60 kids off campus, especially in the winter months. Here in Sweden, outdoor shoes are NOT worn inside. So when the kids arrive at school, they immediately change into their indoor shoes, which are kept in their cubbies. When entering the gym, I immediately take off my shoes, and change into my workout shoes. When arriving at someone’s house, I immediately take off my shoes, and wear my socks at the party. That's why we all love going sock shopping here, they are more important to our outfit than our actual shoes. This is my new norm.
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| a typical entry-way as guest arrive and remove their shoes and coats |
So, my point is, taking 60 kids from indoor to outdoor, and back to indoor, requires a backpack for everyone, to store extra shoes. Then when we arrive, they all take off their winter coats, winter pants, hat, gloves, boots etc. All field trips allow for this transition time, of changing in and out of the clothing. But, what I love most, is that it doesn’t deter any teachers from planning these trips. I have to say, when I was teaching, I’m not sure I would have been patient enough for this. :)
Friday, February 13th, SIS celebrated Valentine’s Day with a fun event for the kids. After school, the cafeteria was set up with craft stations, paint your face stations, Bingo, a cake walk and a number of other fun actives for the kids. Jake won an entire cheese cake at the cake walk, while Chase won a Lego set from the raffles. I worked the Bingo station and poor Smith was home sick with a 24 hour bug he caught. The next day, Valentine’s Day, my four valentines took me out to dinner and bought me my favorite flowers, tulips. We ventured out and tried Lebanese food. The boys were great, trying everything. They like most of it, and voted to go back and try it again one day. It was a great weekend of love
The following Monday, Steve took the boys to see LA Galaxy play Hämmerby in a soccer match. Chase was so excited that they were going, that he told his teacher at least 10 times throughout the day. They came home late Monday night, and woke up early for school on Tuesday. I was running errands around the city on Tuesday when I received the phone call from Chase’s teacher. “Hi Andrea, we are calling to let you know that Chase fell and hit his head”. I’ve received this phone call before, and it usually ends with “he’s fine, but we wanted to let you know that he did bump his head”. So, I was very casual when she called, and didn’t seem concerned at all… until I heard, “and the nurse feels that he needs stitches, so can you come and take him to the hospital?”. Well… there it was, the start of a long afternoon of ER waiting rooms. When I picked Chase up in the nurse’s office, he had his sweet teacher, Ms. Lisa hugging him, and his little face was all bloodshot from crying. He had a big white bandage on his head,
and the nurse was handing me taxi vouchers and explaining the protocol at the hospital. Before I knew it, we were in a taxi heading to Astrid Lingrid’s children’s hospital. After about 5 hours, we were called in to see the doctor. I had a front and center view of my poor baby’s head, and boy was I not expecting the hole to be that deep, and the amount of blood that came pouring out of his head. He was a bit traumatized, especially when the anastcia needle had to be put directly into the cut to numb the area. He was crying, screaming, and yelling at them to stop touching him! When it was all over, we went home, and he fell asleep in a few seconds flat. He was a celebrity at school the next day, as all the kids, including the older kids, knew about Chase’s stitches. The stitches were eventually removed by a doctor on the resort in Dubai. But not before Jake accidentally slammed Chase's fingers in the door in our hotel room. Fast forward to present day, Chase has a small scar on his head, and a finger with no finger nail. I guess this is par for the course for boy #3.
We landed in Dubai late Sunday night. By the time we cleared customs and arrived at our hotel room, it was 2am.
We woke up early the next day, as we were picked up and brought to the Atlantis Dubai, to begin our 'fun in the sun' vacation.
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| The view from our suite |
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| looking down from our balcony into the shark tank |
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| The beautiful Adriatic Sea |
I've been looking forward to this trip for months. You all know how much I love the sun, and how I love to be on the beach, reading a book, sipping a drink, and relaxing. Well.... it couldn't have come at a better time. By the time February arrives, those of us living in Sweden, are sick of cold, dark and dreary skies.
Dubai was a far cry from that!
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| Jumping in the desert |
Monday, it was actually a bit chillier than the norm. The wind was blowing, but the sky was blue. We checked into our room (which by the way was bigger than our apartment in Stockholm) and then headed downstairs to check out the resort. It was huge, and really beautiful. We were all hungry, so we sat at one of the many restaurants near the pool and beach. Lori and her crew joined us, and we we sat drinking these for the remainder of the afternoon.
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| Cody and Smith (or should I say Rico Swavvay) |
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| so happy to be relaxing with my hard working hubby |
Tuesday was the perfect day! We started with everyone on the beach, playing soccer, and hanging out.
Lori, Hallie and I sat on the beach ALL day. The boys moved to the water park for the remainder of the afternoon. Aquaventure Water Park was on site, and kept the boys occupied all week. Jake, Smith and Cody were able to go in and out on their own. The entire resort was similar to a cruise ship. Great fun was had by all!
That evening we all showered and heading to the Dubai Mall for some shopping, exploring, and a feast at P.F. Chang. Don't laugh... you are thinking, "why would she go half way across the world to eat at Chang's"? Well..... when you haven't seen American restaurants in two years, it's the simple things that make us happy. Lori and Kevin craved it as much as we did.
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| The Dubai Mall valet drop off |
Dubai felt a lot like America. (Except of course, the women's prayer rooms in the airport). The malls were filled with American stores, American restaurants, and many tourists. We did see men and women wearing thawbs (an ankle length garment, similar to a robe) and wearing keffiyehs (traditional headdress of the middle east), but there were many people dressed just like us. There is little to no PDA allowed in Dubai, so on the occasion when we saw a couple dressed in thawbs, holding hands, we stopped and looked.
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| Different attire on the patrons behind Jake at the KFC |
Check out the coke can:
Hallie was very excited to shop.....
The kids were thrilled to see donuts, ice cream and nutella crepes.....
I was so excited to see some of my favorite stores that don't exist in Stockholm....
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| Hallie, Lori, and me with our purchases |
From the mall, we could see the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.
Wednesday morning Lori, Kevin, Cody, Hallie, me and Chase woke up and met our tour guide, Abbas, who took us on the Desert Safari tour.
Smith and Jake were convinced this was going to be boring, so they stayed back at the hotel with Steve. They later realized that it was super fun, and they missed out on an amazing experience. Chase on the other hand, was very excited about it, and reminded them throughout the remainder of our vacation what a big mistake they made.
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| The kids with our guide in the Al Habab Desert |
Abbas drove us 45 minutes into Al Habab. What a change of pace this was from the Atlantis. As we drove, we saw camels walking on both sides in the desert. It was a very weird feeling to look around and see nothing but sand for miles and miles. I never in a million years thought that I would ever be in a desert in the middle east.
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| Lori and I in this massive desert |
The first part of the tour, Dune Bashing, was the craziest thing I've ever done. We all sat in a Toyota SUV, while Abbas sped through the desert, twisting and turning though the dunes.
This was another way to dune bash, but we preferred having doors and windows on our vehicle.
It felt like we were on a roller coaster. At one point, I looked back at Chase who was belly laughing in the back seat, screaming, "this is the greatest thing I've ever done in my life". I have to agree with Chase, it was at the top of my list too.
After dune bashing, it was time to sand surf. We used a snowboard to 'surf' the dunes. Cody went first....
Because of Chase's age, he and I were on the same board. Listening to his sweet laugh, made this an amazing experience.
After going down the hill, we had to walk the snowboard back up so the next person could have a turn. Chase loved running up the sand hill.... look how tired he is after a few rounds.
We were able to take lots of pictures in the desert. Abbas was a great photographer with his jump shot pictures.
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Beautiful desert sky
The final part of our tour was one that Chase looked forward to all week. He was so excited to take a ride around the desert on a camel.
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The three hour tour ended, and we headed back to The Palm. I will never forget this desert experience, and I can only hope that Chase has stored this into his memory bank.
That evening, we took the boys to the Italian restaurant on the resort.
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| The aquarium below our room |
Steve and I ordered this amazing seafood platter.
After dinner, we met Hallie and Lori for some gelato.
Thursday we spent the morning at the water park. I love going on the rides with the boys.... it's just pure, innocent, fun!
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| Love this little monkey |
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| The area for the younger kids.... Chase loved it! |
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| And the water pours down on their heads |
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| Sweet Smith |
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| Jake playing soccer while Chase goes down his slides |
After dinner we hit the gelato again (for the 4th time that week).
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| Boys being silly in the mini mall on the resort |
The next morning we walked through this....
To get to this.......
Along the way we saw....
The boys loved the marine life throughout the resort.
We were all excited about swimming with the dolphins Friday morning.
The wind had picked up a bit, the temperatures were a bit cooler, but the experience was amazing.
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| Chase smooching Blade |
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| Jake petting Blade |
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| Smitty kissing Blade |
For our last dinner in Dubai, we went to the marina. That was the place to be for a fun night out on the town. We had three little munchkins in tow, so dinner was it for the Paynes. There were tons of restaurants and bars, packed with people. The city was so pretty at night too. We ate at Aprons and Hammers. It was a floating boat, with incredible views of the city.
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| view from our table |
Jake ate a huge plate of crab legs, while the rest of had an assortment of seafood.
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| baby corn on the cob |
After dinner we headed back to the Atlantis to walk around the aquarium that was directly below our room. Chase was exhausted, so Steve took him to bed, while the big boys and I hung out with the fish.
But Daddy and Chase didn't miss out, because these windows were everywhere throughout the resort....
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| Hallie and the fish |
I had a very hard time leaving Dubai. It was one of the best vacations we've ever been on. Going from warm sun, beach, and relaxation, back to cold, dark, busy life in Sweden... was very hard for me. I think I had a case of 'post vacation blues' after leaving this view.
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| the view from our suite |
I also had a hard time leaving the fresh fruit that was available in our rooms, and in all the lounges. I discovered a new fruit while there, it's a cross between an apple and a pear. It's a very boring color, but it's so crunchy and sweet. I've never seen it before, until one day, soon after returning from Dubai, I went into an ICA (grocery store) that I've never been in, and what is sitting next to the apples, but my new favorite fruit. I figured out it's name is Nashi, and I've been eating them everyday since. Smith jumped on with me, and he loves them too. The only store I've ever seen them in is that one particular ICA.
I came home to a package from one of my very best friends in the world, Jacki. Jacki and I have been friends since middle school, and although we don't speak a lot throughout the year, (she has 4 kids) we never skip a beat when we're back together. The package had not only a very sweet letter to me, but also a Willow Tree.
I have a Willow Tree collection on my shelf. I love, love, love Willows!!! Now when I look at them, I think of Jacki and smile at how blessed we are to have our friendship, after all of these years.
We celebrated Smith's 9th birthday on March 6th with his friends from school. They played Laser Tag, then his three best buds spent the night.
Oh how I wish my mom was still here so I could say sorry AND thank you.... for all the times my friends and I kept her up all night with my many sleepovers as a kid.
Then on Sunday, March 8th, his true birthday, we celebrated Smith again.
We have a tradition in our family... for each birthday, we all make each other cards. Here's Smith reading Jake's card. It's during card reading that I'm reminded that they really do love each other... despite all the knock down drag out fights.
And Chasey is now old enough to write his own cards. He's very proud of his work.
I'm really excited to be doing things that I'm good at, and that make me feel successful again. Coming here, and only being a mom/housewife has been amazing.. don't get me wrong. But, I do miss teaching both in the classroom and in the gym. I'm finally doing both again. I'm volunteering at the school in Pre-K, Kindergarten, and 3rd grade, training the students and teachers on Phono-Graphix. It has been amazing to see the growth these children have experienced since we started working together. Chase is in my group in Pre-K, and he's reading stories on his own now. I'm also teaching a core class for the parents at the school on Tuesday mornings.
The weather has gone up and down in the month of March. It started out warm (well, I now think 40's is warm), and slowly and steadily has dropped. We've added snow along the way, and now it's just freezing rain. But, the Swedes don't shut down when the weather takes a turn, they keep on going as if it's 60º. So, we stood outside last Friday night while snow poured down and covered the field white.
The freezing rain poured down on us all day Sunday, as we watched Jake and Smith play in their tournaments. I'm really proud of the boys. They played hard, and never complained about having to be outside in these conditions. Unlike their mom, who was complaining (internally) all day.
Chase's Pre-K class has been studying transportation this semester. They concluded their unit when we went to Svårvägsmuséet (Transportation museum) in Södermalm. I loved seeing how vehicles like buses, trains, and cars have evolved over the years. The kids loved climbing into all the old forms of transportation.
They also took a train ride around the museum.
Last weekend we celebrated Åsa's birthday. Steve and I hosted Åsa and Jimmy, Niklas and Kattis and all the kids at our house for our monthly (well... maybe every 2 or 3 months) get together.
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| Make a wish..... |
A few days ago a very special care package came in the mail from Kiki. She sent the boys a bunch of their favorite American treats and foods, that we can't find here in Sweden. The Annie's mac and cheese received the most cheers, with the Sun Chips as a close second. Thank you Kiki for thinking of us.
I always like to end my posts with some of the funny things I see and hear while living in Stockholm.
1. Shoveling snow off roofs, watch out below. Don't walk next to this sign or you'll find snow on your head.
2. This amazes me every time I see it. I hope these men and women are properly compensated for their hard work.
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| Stockholm Mail Carriers |
3. The pink sled, that I”m assuming is used to go sledding, but I can’t figure out how one survives this outing without hurting themselves badly
I’ll end this blog with this article that came through The Local this month. There is so much truth to it, along with some fascinating reasons to live in Sweden. I hope you’ll take the time to read it… it’s actually quite funny.
Before we moved to Sweden, I never gave a thought to Budapest, or had a clue where it was on the map. When we were all deciding where to go, a few of the girls mentioned Budapest, and that it’s one of the top places to visit in Europe. It is also known as one of the least expensive places to visit in Europe. When going away with the girls, having no children to look after, one usually doesn’t care where one ends up…. so I said, “let’s go”. The city itself is very pretty 
And Paprika was everywhere!
It was awesome to visit Budapest through a local’s eyes. She showed us all of her favorite places, and led us to all of her favorite foods. Friday morning she met us a the hotel and we started our site seeing journey. 
The first stop, was to sample these sweet treats (I forgot the name) that were a cross between donuts and cinnamon pretzels from Annie’s Pretzels in the U.S. We spent the morning at the Central Market Hall
It was really good, however, the garlic was coming out of our pours, and I’m sure nobody wanted to be within 5 feet of us. After our garlic fest, we headed to the Gellert Baths, where we soaked in a number of thermal water jaccuzzi tubs. Which by the way, ridded the garlic from our pours. None of us smelled or had the after taste of garlic after those baths.
Smith and Jake were convinced this was going to be boring, so they stayed back at the hotel with Steve. They later realized that it was super fun, and they missed out on an amazing experience. Chase on the other hand, was very excited about it, and reminded them throughout the remainder of our vacation what a big mistake they made. 
It felt like we were on a roller coaster. At one point, I looked back at Chase who was belly laughing in the back seat, screaming, "this is the greatest thing I've ever done in my life". I have to agree with Chase, it was at the top of my list too. 
