Ibis Vaesteras Västerås

... was time to leave) but we got off to a pretty good start. Our guide was very knowledgible, able to answer any of the questions that people were asking. We started off at Tourist information and headed down Skeppsbron and Cramérgatan to Almadalen where we got a quick overview of the history of the island. After that we wandered to the wall and saw a few different interesting sites before making our way back to the church. It was ...

... Fantastisk fika! Gick också ytterligare en plåtlåda plus, härliga tider! Avsked och sedan vidare mot Stockholm. Stannade på vägen till i Ängelsberg med anor från 1300-talet då bergsmannen Englika grundade denna bruksort (dagens andra världsarv!).

... proceeds to start advertising me as a green card opportunity! She is absolutely hilarious and everyone loves her in this town... It isn't long before she introduces me to a group of three girls who are my age and just finishing up university in West Palm Springs where they had been recruited to play soccer... they are unbelievably nice, seem to hang on Malin's every word (despite the slurred nature of them at ...

... drunk, and age meant nothing with people of all ages mixing at every table, locking arms in melodious song and dance! A few of Malin's friends meet up with us as does her boyfriend and I quickly realize that she knows everyone who passes by when we head to an outdoor bar/restaurant post after work festivities... A few hours at the outdoor venue, and a much needed bite to eat, and we walk back to the same bar that the ...

... nice relaxing start to the day, but find out that there's a water aerobics class starting. So we join in, being driven hard by our super-fit woman instructor in leotards, to thumping disco beats. I have never done aerobics before, and doing it in the water adds a whole new dimension - it's hard to keep your balance and there's a lot of resistance, giving you a really good workout - we all emerge hot and sweating after being pushed hard by our instructor. Then it's ...

Wanting to see more of Sweden, we planned a few days driving north of Stockholm, however the car decided to have a broken timebelt which we only fixed in the nick of time so we ended up with one day to drive. We decided to head for Västerås to see some viking stone ship settings. The weather wasn't great but it was very interesting and we managed to fit in a couple of caches. (www.geocaching.com)

... three to six months. Jonas, being an astute, rational fellow, was slightly alarmed by this and suggested that "it might be a good idea to find out." Jonas' concern jostled my remissive state of naiveté, so we sat down to a online search. After an embarrassingly short amount of time, Jonas presented his findings saying, "I think this is what you are interested in." It was a sight entitled "The Schengen Agreement." Now, before I go any further, can I just ...

... yes Mother, I know what they say about making assumptions about Europe: "It makes an ASS of the E.U. and ME," well, at least we can say the latter is true) But, yes, I "ASSUMED," wrongly, that this meant as long as I stayed less than three months, I was allowed to visit EACH E.U. country for a maximum of 90 days allowing me to frolic freely from country to country within the E.U., as long as I stayed less than three months in each. In the embassy sights I perused the existence ...

... as 'an email from the past'. On neighbouring Birka was another main headquarters but it is not accessible during winter. The surrounding waters are where the Vikings plied their rape and pillage trade and there is a sense of history about the place, but it is much nicer to visit in the summer when there isn't horizontal snow coming from ...

... idea what to expect for the standards of work. Well, I should get back to reading the many textbooks I have to ready (3 this month! and they are not small! but they are inexpensive). Email me! tell me what is going on! I feel so out of the loop, I should subscribe to a Vancouver newspaper or something... Swedish word of the day: tjena (pronounced: chi-en-a), meaning- hi, howdy Ta-tah, Katrina