Dalecarlia Hotel Dalarna

I concluded my 2 month adventure with a 2 day visit to Anna's aunt Birgitta in Leksand, which is in the traditional Dalicarlian region of Sweden. I should note we had a small delay on the train ride up to Leksand since the train hit a moose, which apparently isn't that uncommon here. Birgitta has been the best host up here taking me around and cooking us the best meals (in fact I have to get ...

... and their 18 month old son, Karl-Oscar on the 8 hour drive up to their place. They have a large property with a run down old house they are renovating just outside of a small town called Smedjebacken. It's a very nice little place and for anyone familiar with Swedish children stories it's very 'Alla vi barnen i Bullerbyn'! Anna and Johan had just built a little guest cottage so I had my own little place to ...

... again in July next year. Bev and I stay another day and won't leave until Monday morning for Stockholm. We spent the afternoon sitting in the warm sun and talking with the few left ....Anthony and Marguarita Miles from Oslo, Solveig Hammer from Stockholm and Paul and Kira Spenser from Mjölby. The length of daylight is long; we spent the rest of the day basking in the success of warm aura of how well this weekend went. Tomorrow on to Stockholm.

Today was a full day. Breakfast each day is a buffet from 8 to 10 am. Most people come and stay almost the full time in socializing and sharing of life's experiences. The view over the lake, actually one of Lake Siljan's bays is beautiful and peaceful. The first meeting was a PowerPoint seminar on the subject of Integrity by Jim Franks. Afterwards we had lunch on what we called "the hill." This ...

... evening meeting we had a barbecue on the hill. We have appreciated the all the people pitching in to help. Andy Lee, Ben Haworth and John Wënnstrom kept the bbq grills going. Jesmina, Elisabeth, Bev, Ingrid were preparing the food. In the evening we had a message by Johnnie Lambert about How to be a Christian living in isolation such as many of the people attending. Then Britton Taylor spoke about how to control anger.

Going to be a long day with getting to Sweden, then to Molnbyggen Strand in Leksand, get set up and hold our first get-acquainted meeting. We left our Uniquestay Hotel in Tallinn at 6:00 am to the airport which is only 12 minutes away. Aside from having to pay an additional $75 for baggage overage, the flight was uneventful. The 737 flight on Esotnian Air from Tallinn to Stockholm took only 45 ...

Via hällregn (som en dusch!) som medgav en hastighet på ca 70 km/ h på en finfin 110-väg nådde vi till slut Falun. Hälsades välkomna av Alex & Lina som dukade upp en strålande middag med jordgubbsdaiquiris, ingefärsgrillade scampi och hemmagjord mockaglass. Sedan blev det dags för en spelomgång i " Ticket to ride" där det gällde att bygga järnväg kors & tvärs över Europa enligtett intrikat regelverk. Mycket roligt även om värdinnan hade den dåliga smaken att vinna :-) Nu läggdags!

Nu har förberedelserna pågått ett tag. Böcker om Kina skall läsas, ett antal googlingar på platser som kan vara av intresse. Mycket kretsar kring allt jag hoppas hinna med vid sidan av studierna. Det visar sig väl så småningom vad tid jag har för allt annat. Snart börjar studierna här hemma på högskolan, och då får jag väl den första känslan för vad det är jag gett mig in på, - att lära mig kinesiska.

A nice sunny drive south. Made quite a milage. Tired we rolled into Mora. Parked at the railwaystation by the lake. Walked for a bit, asked round for a good preice on accomodation. Found a Best Western. Had a few beers and settled in for the night.

I went to Sweden to visit a friend of a friend! We had a great time - I was staying with him at his University Halls and made loads of really great new friends from all over the world. It snowed, it rained, it flooded - and then it for so hot we were sunbathing! I had a fantastic time visiting the local museums, getting drunk, getting to know more about traditional Swedish culture and came home with many great memories.