The Lindahl News: Abroad Edition

Our son and his wife arrived the day after Anne and her flickas departed.  With our apartment all decorated for the holidays, we were in for one festive visit!  (Many thanks go out to Kari's parents for watching their boys while J and K were here in Sweden with us - they survived a snowstorm that closed schools, a power outage in their home and even a bout or two of stomach flu...whew!) As with the girls, we promised to have fika every day. We delivered on that promise. After John was coerced, bribed, asked to talk to Wes's class of Swedish students - the class being Intro to the United States of America.  John acted as a guest lecturer explaining what it is like to be an Election Judge in the Chicago area, He was more than ready for fika after his first true gig of being a professor. (Ask him about the time he masqueraded as such in his younger days.)  This was our Monday fika at the Bagarn Bakery. On Tuesday, usually a kanelbullar ...

It snowed (just a dusting) overnight!  So our fllickas got to see a bit of winter magic here in Jonkoping before leaving tomorrow...good thing they had their "new" snowpants. They would need them for the longish walk down the hill to the Lans Museum. There is a John Bauer Museum inside that I had planned on taking them to based upon an earlier visit that I blogged about on September 11. If you'll recall, John Bauer was a Swedish painter born in 1882 in Jonkoping.  He is best known for his illustrations of Swedish folklore and fairy tales. Here the girls show their enthusiasm for this museum. Once inside, there are racks of clothing to try on to fit right into the enchanted forest with its inhabitants.  Their mother and grandmother got into the spirit while the flickas made their selections. Choices made! I rather fancy this picture of the mother and her offspring. After all these costume changes, we headed to the ar...

Though a couple of weeks after her actual birthday, we knew we had to make a big deal out of having a Swedish celebration to mark the occasion here! Once back in Jonkoping after our time in Stockholm, we headed out in search of the cake.  Wes and I had had a sweet fika at the Bagarn Bakery earlier in November, so our crew headed there for fika (I promised the girls a fika every day they were here) and possibilities of cake selection. Family fika in process There was only one possibility...a pale pink marzipan Princess Cake topped with a delicate flower. Our Birthday Girl said, "Ja!" Every party needs a few decorations. This happened:   Every party needs guests and Anne's former roommate, Elin, came with her adorable youngest son. Because we are in Sweden, this was a morning birthday party fika. You might notice a panda bear theme here - M is crazy for pandas! Once gathered around the table, the cake was presented and the birt...

See the look on our faces?  It's just lovely to see our daughter and two oldest grand-daughters when they fly to Stockholm from Chicago! Anne was brave to travel with E and M as Dad stayed behind with their youngest daughter, H. Upon pickup from the airport, we drove to Stockholm to look for a parking garage. As E is a reader, she noticed the P-Hus (parking garage) and we all had a good laugh!  Add to this that enter is infart and exit is utfart ...oh, my! We were all cracking up...jet lag made everything even that more hilarious.   Once we calmed down, we walked to nearby Gamla Stan. This is the old part of Stockholm and it is so charming with cobblestone streets, cute shops and old buildings.  The girls had heard so much about fika , and it was time to dive right in to this most charming of all Swedish customs!  This was a fika-to-end-all-fikas as we let the girls pick anything they wanted as well as hot cocoa for some and ...