Angela's World

Phoenix - a first impression

2012-01-01T15:00:00.000+01:00

Believe it or not, Phoenix is the sixth largest city (population) in the USA. It does look big as you fly in to Sky Harbor which is located more or less in the center of the city and it takes about an hour to drive from one side to the other on the freeway with speed limit 65 miles/h (about 105 km/h). So there is no doubt about it, this is a big city. The city fills up an entire valley which is surrounded by mountains, the Phoenix Metro Area is often called The Valley. There is a network of freeways that ensures easy travel from one area to another and in between the freeways there are major roads with three lanes in each direction. What you learn though is to take the freeway as far as you can since the traffic lights are frequent on the major roads and can slow down you trip considerably.

The very city center has some high rise buildings but otherwise it is quite flat and spread out.

Historic Phoenix downtown.

One thing that surprises me is that there are many empty lots even in the very city center. I guess there is so much land to build on that it is not necessary to build everything in the same place and since everyone is driving everywhere there has been no need to.

This image is taken from Dobbins Lookout on South Mountain. If you click on the image you will see downtown on the left and the airport to the right.

Phoenix seems to have strict rules as to how buildings are allowed to be built. More or less all buildings and houses are beige and flat. Not many buildings have more than two or three stories. The result of this is that it looks the same everywhere all over the city. You can find yourself anywhere and if you drive 5-10 min in either direction you will find a place that looks almost the same. You will find the same stores and the same restaurants. Almost all restaurants here are part of a chain. So you don't really have to leave your neighborhood because there is nothing new to find on the other side of the fence.

Typical strip mall. You have to drive only a couple of streets to find the next one.

This is what most residential areas look like.

The neighborhoods are often surrounded by walls and the name of the place are written as you drive into the street. The fancy places are also gated.

It seems also that no one does leave their neighborhood very often. There is no city center that is a natural place for people to go, like we (at least Europeans) are used to. Downtown Phoenix does have some tall buildings, museums, shops and restaurants. But people does not seem to go here to hang out. This part of town always feels empty, almost abandoned. Not even after a big baseball game at Chase Field, which is situated in the very center of the city and takes almost 50 000 spectators, do you find more people walking around. The way to do it here is to take your car, go to the place you want to visit, if a museum, restaurant or shop, park as close as you can and when satisfied with your visit go directly with your car to the next place or home.

The only places that seem to attract the masses are the shopping malls. I guess the weather can be partly to blame for this because in the summer you do not want to wander around outdoors. You need to find a place that is air conditioned. But the really hot months are not that many, about as many as the very cold ones in Sweden. The rest of the year is very comfortable to be outside during the day.

One part of town that does have potential is downtown Scottsdale. Here you will find many restaurants and shops. Unfortunately they are mostly souvenir shops or art galleries. So if you are not in the market for presents or particularly interested in art you will still end up at the Scottsdale Fashion Center, the huge mall just a few block away. Also in downtown Scottsdale many of the restaurants are chain restaurants that you will find all over town.

I miss just going downtown, walking around a bit, maybe pop into my favorite shop, have a coffee with friends and just enjoy the atmosphere. The atmosphere in Phoenix though is missing, I am sorry to say. Just the other day though we learned more about Phoenix after a visit to the Phoenix Art Museum. I am now much more intrigued and it all seems to make more sense. But this deserves a separate post. Stay tuned.

2011

2011-12-25T02:21:00.001+01:00

This year I believe all posts are about the USA. This is no wonder since we have lived this year in Phoenix. Last year we were not living together and spent a lot of time travelling just to see each other. This year we have been together and in a completly different environment than we are used to, the desert.

It has been interesting. We have experienced higher temperatures than ever before and for the first time I have chosen to have dinner indoors because it is too hot outside. I have realized that too hot weather is just as limiting as too cold weather. Lucky for us we got to escape during August to find some cooler air in the Colorado Rockies and now during the winter it is much more comfortable.

Although we live in Phoenix I have actually not written anything about the city. It is time that changed. We will stay here until end of March so I still have some time to make up for lost Phoenix posts.

First though we will enjoy Christmas. The afternoon of Christmas Eve was spent by the pool with freshly baked "mjuk pepparkaka" and lots of glögg (Swedish mulled wine). The sun was warm in the afternoon but when it goes down the temperature here is not much higher than in Stockholm.

In the evening we had reservations at the Melting Pot which is a Fondue restaurant. Fondue is a Christmas tradition for both our families which made it the perfect choice. The American Fondue is somewhat different from what we are used to. There were no sides like potatoes, rice or chips (weird Swiss side... :-) ), the mix of meats was larger and there were more vegetables to dip. Although I missed the sides a bit it was a good call because we would never had made it through the meats if we had sides to eat while waiting for the meat to be cooked. We still got way too full since the Christmas dinner special was four courses featuring cheese fondue, salad, meat fondue and chocolate fondue... It is now noon the day after and I still don't feel like eating anything. But that how it is supposed to be on Christmas, or?

Favourite spots

2011-12-01T02:02:00.000+01:00

Usually my favourite spot anywhere is an elevated point where I can get a good view. In Stockholm it is the top of Västerbron, a bridge where you have a great view of the city center and the surrounding waters. This is unfortunately a very busy place with lots of traffic so I don't linger there for very long but I do make sure that passing this bridge is part of walks and runs in the area. As it happens, in Phoenix, one of my favourite spots is similar.

Phoenix is a very big and flat city. Usually you do not see anything further than the next block. As I drive to work I have to drive over the I-10 along Chandler Blwd where the bridge is just a few meters higher than the surrounding area. But because the city is so flat you can see all the way to Superstition Mountains at the other end of town at this place. The sunrise and sunset are usually very nice from here and you can easily see sandstorms rolling in from the south.

Luckily there are two traffic lights on the bridge itself and in this case I do not mind that these particular ones are always red when I come along.

Visiting parents

2011-10-03T07:10:00.000+02:00

In September my parents came over from Sweden to visit us in Arizona. The first few days we showed them around the area, looked at the views from Dobbins Lookout on South Mountain, did some shopping at the Chandler Mall, had drinks at the Hyatt in downtown Phoenix and drove the Apache Trail.

Apache Trail

Goldfield Ghost town along the Apache Trail

As usual the weather was sunny and a bit warmer than we had expected at this time of year. It has been around 40 degrees Celsius in Phoenix during this time. My parents had not ever experienced that kind of heat which required some getting used to.

After the sight seeing in the Phoenix area we did a 5 day tour featuring Prescott / Sedona, Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Las Vegas, Hoover Dam and Lake Havasu. It was a fair way to go and we had to spend quite a lot of time in the car. But it was a nice trip with a good mix of things to do. We did some hiking, shopping and sight seeing.

Grand Canyon

At the Narrows in Zion National park

My parents at Luxor

The Elvis fan

When we got back to Phoenix we had a rest day where we slept in and just went shopping in Scottsdale. In the evening we had a barbecue at the pool.

Tombstone down town

The last outing was a day trip down to Tombstone where we walked around the historic little down town, ate at one of the old saloons and watched the Shoot out show at OK Corral, featuring Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday.

At Crystal Palace where we had lunch

Thanks for visiting. We had a great time!

Worn out

2011-09-10T02:56:00.001+02:00

This poor pair of shoes have been with me since 2008. I bought them before a hiking holiday in Austria in August 2008. They have been hiking the Austrian Alps, Swiss Alps, Australian Alps, Red Center, Grampians, Kangaroo Island and other places in Australia, Sörmlandsleden in Sweden, Bukhansan in South Korea, desert hikes in Arizona and Utah, a number of 14ers in Colorado and probably a few more places I can not remember. They have even climbed a grade 5 at a couple of occasions.

They have been great and I am very sad to have worn them out. But I think it is now time to go look for a new pair.

More images from Colorado and Utah

2011-09-09T02:49:00.001+02:00

Of course we took loads of images during our latest trip. In case you would like to see more from our latest adventures in Colorado and Utah click here.

The Narrows

2011-09-09T02:28:00.000+02:00

The last day before heading back to Phoenix and reality again we hiked The Narrows in Zion National Park. This is a narrow canyon through which the Virgin River runs. It is so narrow that you have to hike in the river most of the time. Since this was going to be our last hiking day we did not care about getting our boots wet and the heat made it feel very tempting to hike in the cool river.

To be on the safe side we rented poles at an outdoor store that would help us keep the balance in the stream. Many hiked without but I was happy to have one so I didn't have to swim unless it was necessary. In fact we did not have to swim at all, at the deepest place the water reached up to my chest. Unfortunately this was after about 10 min so you had to get wet from the very beginning but then it was mostly knee deep.

It was a different and fun hike in the water but after a couple of hours we decided to turn back because we were getting a bit cold. Luckily at this time the sun was high enough to shine down into the canyon which helped us keep warm. I am not sure I would attempt this hike any other time of the year. In that case you have to rent a dry suite to keep warm.

Zion National Park

2011-09-07T02:07:00.000+02:00

View over Zion National Park from Angel's Landing

As we drove into Zion National Park we realized that we were getting back to desert temperatures. It was suddenly very hot again and it was hard to sleep at night. You can't really have the engine running all night for air condition... Bryce had been warm during the day but fairly nice due to the elevation.

The heat was a factor when we chose the hikes to do here. We decided on Angel's Landing as early in the morning as possible and Lost Canyon which was a short hike in the shade most of the day. It turned out to be a good decision and we had time to get out in the afternoon and have coffee in an air conditioned café, a swim in the cold river and a beer before cooking dinner.

You have to hike this narrow ridge to reach Angel's Landing

Fun stuff!

Overnight hike in Bryce Canyon

2011-09-06T01:10:00.007+02:00

Bryce Canyon

In Bryce Canyon we decided to do an overnight hike. We caught a lift with the tour bus to the south end of the park and hiked back to the more popular area closer to the entrance of the park. As we came to our final stop the bus driver told the other passengers, mostly overweight older americans, that he wanted to say goodbye to the two hikers and wish us a nice hike back. As we were leaving the bus the other passengers expressed their admiration and best wishes, it was obvious it is not very common to do a longer hike in this park.

At the starting point.

Before heading out you need to get a backcountry permit and reserve a spot at one of the few campgrounds along the way. We chose a camp about half ways after we added a loop of about 14 km in the south part of the park. Afterwards we realized that the loop had not been necessary to do since it was mainly in the forest without any view. It mainly just added time and effort. What we did see though were a lot of cute horned lizards, actually 19 of them. We had seen one in Arizona earlier this year and got the feeling they are rare to see but here they were everywhere.

Horned lizard

As we got our permit they also gave us a bear vault. This is a box with a lid that is bear proof in case one happened to find us and decide to try and steal our food. In the box we had to keep all food and scented items, like tooth paste. We also got very clear instructions on how and were to cook, sleep and go to the bathroom. We believe we followed the directions which should ensure that the park is kept clean and bears away from the tourists. They have had to put down two bears because they were stalking tourists looking for food. This is what happens when people leave food at campsites. Luckily we were not stalked, we only saw the foot prints of a mountain lion in the morning. We were ok with that.

Cooking dinner. Bear vault to the right.

Most of the hike was down in the valley underneath the rim which Bryce Canyon is so famous for. The very first part going down from Rainbow Point and the very last part coming up to Bryce Point were the nicest ones. On the way the trail went up and down a number of hills which turned out to be quite strenuous. The hike was in total about 50 km so we did about 25 km per day which is probably about what I can take with a heavy backpack and elevation change. We made it though and looked forward to shorter day hikes for the rest of the holiday.

Coming down from Rainbow point

Needles - an unexpected adventure

2011-08-25T01:49:00.007+02:00

After some breakfast in our favourite café in Moab we drove south towards Needles. The Needles is a part of Canyonlands National Park and since we already had a backcountry permit for this park we thought we should drive in and have a look.

This is what we did NOT read before driving happily along and now we also understand why the park rangers wished us good luck...

So, we did not know that we were about to drive one of the hardest trail in the state although it was written on our map, on the flyer we got at the ranger station and on the big board as you start the drive. We simply did not read it... Maybe sometimes it is good not to know everything.

We just wanted to drive in, hike a bit and camp somewhere in the park and then leave the next morning. It turned out being quite a drive with one of us most of the time in front of the car spotting the best way to go. We knew that the car was capable of a lot but we did not really want to try it out because we did not want to break it. Now we know more.

We made it through without any damages to the car, but next time we will probably hike into the area and leave the poor car safe on the paved parking lot. Once we reached our camp we went for a hike and it was all worth it because this is what we saw.

The fact that the hike was longer than we expected (our mistake again), that we had to hike the last hour or so in the dark (luckily we were clever enough to bring head lamps), that we lost the trail for a short while and were hungry and tired is something we don't really remember anymore. Somehow it is almost always worth it.

Arches National Park

2011-08-25T01:33:00.003+02:00

After a well deserved shower and over night stay at a camp ground we were ready to take on Arches National Park. We started with some coffee at a café in Moab before heading out to the park which is very close to town.

The first target was Delicate Arch which the park is probably most known for. It is a maybe 20-30 min hike to get to the arch, which is not too much but the heat makes it fairly tiring. We had checked the weather which said possible rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon so we did this hike first although the light for photos is better in the afternoon. With some tricks we still got a cool picture.

Next stop was Devils Garden which was a bit longer hike but featured some very nice views, arches and some rock hopping. The trail was a lot more fun here but we ended up in the middle of a sand storm so we had to rush back after half the trail. We met many tourists on their way into the area as we were coming out. Many with their SLR cameras in their hands trying to take pictures in the sand storm. The wind was very strong and you could feel the sand between your teeth. I expect some of them having to bring them in for cleaning afterwards. We had packed ours safely in the camera bag.

White Rim Road - Utah

2011-08-18T17:41:00.008+02:00

Almost ten years ago I stood at Grand View overlook in Canyonlands National Park, looking down over Colorado River as it meanders through the canyons. Halfways down I saw a trail following the white rim and I thought that some day I want to drive that road. A few days ago we drove down the Shafer Trail that took us to White Rim Road and exactly where I wanted to go.

The Shafer Trail is a steep trail with a series of switchbacks that takes you down to the white rim level. The trail then takes you along the rim in a very desolate area. There are a few camps along the trail but the number of visitors are limited and it is a quite long and bumpy ride so very few day trippers go that far. We spent two nights on the trail and saw very few people, only as we were entering the area and leaving again. Unfortunately the end part of the trail was blocked due to heavy rain so we could not drive the entire loop but had to go back the same way we came in.

The cool thing about the White Rim Road is the fact that it is isolated and you feel like you are the only people in this moon like landscape. At one spot you can look up to the Island in the Sky and see the tourists at the look out point looking down at you. Otherwise there is no sign of civilization at all. Luckily we brought some extra gas because we would not have made it back on only one tank of gas. And of course the beers we brought were also important. What else is there to do in the afternoon when you have reached your camp and it is still almost 40 degrees... :-)

Green River at sunset from our second camp site.

The white rim is white sand stone that runs along the canyon. At some spots you can walk out on the rocks and look down towards the river.

After two and a half days of driving mostly 20 mph due to road conditions it was nice to get out on the paved road again. It is fun to drive on this kind of trails but it is usually enough for a few hours. The picture shows an example of what it can look like and although it looks quite smooth it is fairly bumpy.

In this park we saw a few long horn sheep along the way. This one looks particularly cute.

Denver

2011-08-15T19:10:00.005+02:00

We did not have a lot of expectations as we drove into Denver after almost two weeks in the mountains. At first it did not look very impressive but as we drove through the city center we were convinced. Denver actually has what we miss in Phoenix, a city center where people spend time, where there are restaurants, bars and cafe's. On a Friday night people are walking the 16th Street Mall watching other people, street performers and shop windows. We immediately liked the city and nominated it to a favourite US city. We could live here. The problem now is that we don't really want to go back to Phoenix...

Very close to the center we found this little park.

Only in America...

We did it!

2011-08-12T22:39:00.006+02:00

Ten 14ers and one 13er in 10 days. Out of those ten days two were resting days which means three of eight hiking days we did two peaks. Right now I feel extremely good but I don't think I could have done many more without some more rest at this point. My body wants to do something else.

The last five 14ers were Mt Harvard and Mt Columbia (one day), Mt Yale, La Plata and Mt Elbert. Mt Elbert is the highest of the 14ers and the highest peak in Colorado and the Rocky Mountains. It was ironically the easiest one and had the biggest crowd on top. There were hikers on all peaks we visited but usually 5-10 others while on Mt Elbert there were probably about 20 and we met many still on their way up as we hiked down.

At Mt Harvard early in the morning we saw two mountains goats. This one was a bit scruffy looking but very cute.

Driving through an aspen forest to reach Mt Elbert trailhead.

We were surprised as to how few foreigners we met in the mountains. On ten peaks we only met three foreigners, two from the Czech Republic and one from Canada. All of these though live in the States at the moment as do we. I guess that we can now say that the international tourists does not make it to these wonderful areas. They are missing out on something! Apparently the tourists go to Rocky Mountain National Park and Mt Evans where you can drive all the way to the top of the mountain. It seems a lot of people from the cities in Colorado do weekend trips up to the mountains to go hiking, biking, rafting and 4 wheel driving. There was a very impressive traffic jam coming back to Denver on Sunday afternoon as we were leaving to go to Utah. Luckily we were going in the right direction.

Leaving the mountains for other adventures.

Five 14ers done, five to go

2011-08-08T19:24:00.009+02:00

Uncompaghre, 14321 ft or 4365 m

Now we have done five 14ers and one 13er. We threw in the 13er just because it was named Matterhorn. This Matterhorn is much easier to climb than the Matterhorn in Switzerland. The peaks we have climbed so far are Handies, Redcloud, Sunshine, Wetterhorn, Matterhorn and Uncompaghre. Redcloud and Sunshine we did in one day as well as Wetterhorn and Matterhorn. The two last mentioned peaks were a bit different than the others because you had to do a bit of climbing to reach the top. It was quite fun, easy climbing more scrambling really.

On the top of Matterhorn.

Enjoying the view on Uncompagre.

We had one days rest after 3 peaks and now another lazy day before we are aiming to do five peaks in four days. We do not know if we will make it but we will try. The reason is that in four days the weather forecast says there might be thunderstorms and we would like to avoid them if possible.

There are lots of marmots around these mountains, we see them everywhere. This one we found quite close to the top of Uncompaghre. Apart from marmots we see chipmunks, deer and elk. They claim bears are around but we have not seen one so far and honestly I do not have to...

14ers in Colorado

2011-08-05T19:46:00.006+02:00

About 20 years now I have dreamt about going to Colorado and climb 14ers (mountains higher than 14000 feet or 4250 meters). In 1999 I bought the Lonely Planet Rocky Mountains and started to read in about the area. However I never made it there until now... The picture shows the view from Handies Peak towards Uncompaghre, Wetterhorn and Matterhorn.

After having spent the summer in Arizona with temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius it was nice to get up higher and get some fresh air. Also we all of a sudden had to experience rain again which we have had very little of although it is monsoon season in Arizona.

Although the mountains here are very high it looks like the Alps on 2000 meters. The tree line here is at around 3000 meters while in the Alps it is around 1800 meters. So even if you are much higher here you can not really tell except it is much harder to hike due to the elevation. We thought we were in good shape on Arizona heights but here it feels like I have not done any exercise in a long time.

On the top of Sunshine.

So far we have climbed three 14ers in two days and are now having a days rest. We are after all on holidays and do not want to strain our bodies too much the first few days. Tomorrow the next peak awaits.

On the way up on Handies Peak you walk through this lovely valley with loads and loads of flowers. Very beautiful.

Monument Valley

2011-08-05T18:47:00.004+02:00

The first stop on our month long holiday was Monument Valley. It took us the whole day to pack up everything and drive up there. We got in late afternoon just in time to take some photos and get settled at the campground with a great view of the valley.

This was the view from the campground at sunrise.

The next day we drove a loop in the valley where you can have a close look at the buttes. The Monument Valley is on Indian land so at the view points they sold indian souvenirs and food. We tried some indian fry bread and stopped endless times to take photos.

The Marlboro man

Preparations for holiday

2011-07-28T06:21:00.005+02:00

In two days we are finally off on our 4 week long vacation. Since we are at the moment residing in Arizona we thought it would be a good opportunity to see Colorado and Utah. I have been dreaming about going to the Rockies for many years. I actually bought a Lonely Planet Rocky Mountains in 1999 and now am finally going! Let's hope also that the weather is on our side.

About a month ago we bought a car here since we noticed that we could not get to all the places we wanted to go without a high clearence 4 wheel drive. It was not difficult for us to agree on buying a used Toyota FJ Cruiser. We have been building some wooden storage boxes that also form a sleeping platform.

The plan is to camp out in the car and occasionally spend a night at a hotel. We will also try to make one or two multiday hikes and camp in the back country somewhere. In Colorado we would like to hike a few 14ers and in Utah there are a number of National Parks to see, like Arches, Canyonlands, Sion and Bryce. We will see how much the weather and time allows us to do. Somewhere in between all the mountains and National Parks we might visit Denver and do some city sightseeing.

This is me and the car at our camp site at Mogollon Rim a few weeks ago. We had a great view as we were just by the rim and we could watch the lightning in the valley below.

Day hike in Grand Canyon

2011-04-02T15:21:00.005+02:00

When visiting Grand Canyon we thought that we can not leave until we have made a proper hike into the canyon itself. Unfortunately we had only one day so we looked around for a suitable hike. Close to the Grand Canyon Village there are three trail heads from where you can hike down into the canyon. There is also a trail along the rim which is about 20 km long, but this was not an option this time. Way to little elevation change, we wanted a good workout.

We chose between one hike along a ridge that looked very cool and a longer hike down to Plateau Point. We decided on the longer hike which we thought was suitable because the weather was still cold. I imagine it being a pain when it is 40 degrees Celsius. The description said it would take 8-12 hours and since we are fairly fit we thought we would make it 8 or even less.

So the day before we stacked up on some Swedish crisp bread, ham, cheese and some snacks. Luckily I had looked at the weather forecast before we left and knew it was going to be cold so we were prepared with hats and gloves and warm jackets. When we got up in the morning the car was frosty and the sun had just began to warm everything up. It was however still around 0 degrees Celsius as we started hiking. The first part of the trail was a little bit icy but we managed to stay on our feet.

At the center of the image you can see Plateau Point which is our goal.

We left the car just before 8 o'clock in the morning which we thought was early enough but there were already lots of people on the trail. A lot of people had spent the night camping in canyon and were hiking up to the rim in the morning. That is now the plan for our next visit.

It was a little bit odd to walk down first, usually we hike up mountains and once you reached the top you know that it will not take longer to walk back. Here it is more difficult to plan the time since you are not sure of how long it will take you to hike up again.

We thought we kept a fairly good pace down, faster than most people and it turned out to be right. We made it there in 2 h 20 min not 3-4 hours that the description said. At Plateau Point you have a marvelous view of the Colorado river and the canyon. We spent almost 1.5 hours at the lookout, having lunch and enjoying the view. The temperature was now about 15 degrees and very pleasant.

Our lunch spot

The view from Plateau Point

Before noon we thought that it was time to start heading back. We were going to drive back to Phoenix in the evening so we did not want to get back too late. We were able to keep the same pace up as down so we made it back up to the rim in 2 h and 10 min. This was supposed to take 5-8 hours. The fitness program we have been doing the past month seem to have had an effect... We came back up much sooner than we thought so we had time to enjoy the view and the sun some more at the rim before we got into the car and drove back home.

Grand Canyon and Grand Canyon

2011-03-31T22:50:00.005+02:00

The past weekend we visited Grand Canyon. We went to both the eastern and the western part which will explain the title of the post.

From Las Vegas we took one of these touristy tours which included a flight to the canyon, a visit to the Skywalk and a meal. There is no doubt about it, the Grand Canyon is grand. But if you expect anything else than a canyon at this site you might be disappointed. The scenic flight did not even go over the canyon but just landed on the airstrip on the same side of the canyon that we came from. If you happened to sit on the wrong side of the plane you did not see much of it. From the air strip there are buses taking the tourists to two sites, Eagle Point and Guano Point. At Eagle Point you will find the Skywalk which is a walkway with glass floor built out over the canyon. You walk out and can see the canyon underneath your feet. It is quite cool unless you are afraid of heights in which case I would not recommend it. However I was disappointed that it was not possible to see all the way down to the river on the bottom of the canyon, this point is quite far away from the Skywalk itself.

The Skywalk

Once we had gotten this far we were quite hungry and went in search of food. It was told that Eagle Point would have Asian food and Guano Point some local barbecue type of food. We chose Asian but as it turned out that you had to sit outside to eat we decide to go and have a look at what the barbecue was like. This day it was very cold and windy so anything outdoors did not feel very attractive. Unfortunately, at Guano Point you also had to sit outside to eat but now there was nothing more to choose from. The food resembled something out of a school kitchen in the 80's, the only thing worth eating was the brownie. I was left very cold and disappointed after this meal.

The view from Guano Point

The only thing that was indoors was the souvenir shop and considering it is very cold in this area for a number of months every year and the rest of it you are in need of air condition, I am surprised they have not built a decent café or restaurant where you can enjoy the view. It looks like there was meant to be more, at least at the Skywalk, but nothing has been completed and the whole place is a construction site. It is amazing considering the amount of tourists visiting this place that they can not make it more enjoyable to visit.

If it wasn't for the great views of the Canyon I would have asked for a refund.

The next day we drove to the eastern side where Grand Canyon National Park is. It is a fair drive from Las Vegas and we arrived late in the afternoon. As we drove into the Park we still had not seen a glimpse of the Canyon. We parked and followed the signs to the Rim. All of a sudden this impressive canyon was at your feet, almost giving you a dizzy feeling. It is hard to grasp how large it is and how far it might be to the other side. As you stand there you imagine the surprise of the first people finding this canyon and what they thought as they were planning to head straight on.

The view from Yavapai Point

In this area you find several visitor centers, hotels, restaurants, guided tours and well planned walkways and hikes. The walkway along the rim is about 20 km long and there are several places where you can hike down into the canyon. You can even ride a mule down if you do not want the exercise.

The view from Plateau Point halfways down the canyon

On this side the Canyon is more impressive and also the fact that it is nicely build up around it makes it more worth going to this side. For anyone who has the time I highly recommend going here instead of the western side from Las Vegas.

Our first roadtrip in the States - Joshua Tree National Park

2011-02-09T18:00:00.000+01:00

Joshua Tree National Park was exactly the change of scenery that we needed. From fancy bars, restaurants and huge yachts to desert, rock and mountains. In two days we did three hikes. All of them were easy, the mountains here are not very high and the trails are easy to walk.

We drove into the park through the southern entrance at Cottonwood Visitor Center. From here we hiked to Lost Palms Oasis which was a very nice hike that featured some cool parts through small canyons, dry river beds and at the end an oasis with palm trees. To reach the oasis you had to walk down a fairly steep canyon. The view was of course much better from the top of the ridge where we stopped for some snacks.

Walking along a ridge to Lost Palms Oasis.

The palm trees at Lost Palms Oasis.

On the way back to the parking lot we climbed Mastodon Peak which was a quite airy peak with lots of boulders you could climb around on. In the background you can see the Salton Sea.

The second day we picked up some breakfast at the local supermarket and drove up to Keys View. The plan was to sit and watch the view while eating. We ended up eating in the car and then went out for 5 min to take some photos. The reason being that it was extremly windy and cold outside. From Keys View you could look towards the south and Palm Springs which is outside the National Park.

At Keys View.

Close to Keys View we hiked the Lost Horse Mine Trail. This is an easy hike which takes you past an old gold mine which is fairly intact. The mine was build in the late 18-hundreds and was in use for almost 4 decades. In total it produced about 280 kg of gold and 450 kg of silver. After visiting the mine we climbed a couple of peaks along the trail which were not really on the map. Just for the fun of it. It was very windy and cold also here so we did not stay for long. At the end the trail seemed to be never ending going through the valleys back to the parking lot. When we came back we had been away for 2-3 hours so it was actually shorter than it seemed.

Joshua Trees.

After a sandwich lunch at Cap Rock (were we found some bolted climbing routes which made us miss our climbing gear) we hiked Ryan Mountain. It was a quite easy hike which did not take more than 30-40 min. This peak is in the center of the western part of the park and from here you have a great view of the whole Joshua Tree National Park.

The view towards north west from Ryan Mountain. On many of the small rocks you can see in the valley there are climbing routes. So next time we will be bringing climbing gear.

On a mini hike in Hidden Valley just before the sun went down. The light was fantastic this time of day. It is at these moments I seriously consider buying an SLR camera.

Joshua Tree is a great place if you like hiking, desert and large boulders. The rock formations you find here are amazing and there are many places to play around among the boulders.

Having fun at White Tank campground.

We found it magical and will be going back. We highly recommend a visit if you have not been here.

Our first roadtrip in the States - Los Angeles to San Diego

2011-01-25T05:38:00.005+01:00

Leaving the dream world of Las Vegas, we drove towards the coast and the next city of dreams, Los Angeles. We arrived at night in Pasadena which we knew nothing about accept that it was close to Hollywood and Santa Monica that we planned to visit the day after.

Pasadena turned out to be a very nice place. Here you find Caltech and this is also where they host the Rose Bowl. We walked around the little city center at night and it was filled with small restaurant, cafes and shops.

The famous Hollywood sign from Griffith Observatory.

The day after we drove into Griffith Park to look at the view of the city. We stopped at the Observatory, took a few pictures and noticed how yellow the air around this city is. Somehow it was not very tempting to go on anymore...

The view from Griffith Observatory towards the sea and Santa Monica.

After driving through Hollywood we ended up in Santa Monica where we walked along the beach, had some food, some beers and took it easy for a while.

Santa Monica beach.

The next day we met an old friend of mine, Sonia, in Longbeach, where we had brunch together. Afterwards we walked around the Marina and out to the Queen Mary, one of the first great ocean liners, which is now a hotel and museum. Longbeach is also a very nice place for a walk and a few beers.

We then drove along the coast to the northern part of San Diego. Almost the entire coast line is filled with upscale residential areas with small cosy city centers with nice restaurants and expensive stores. We did not see more Ferrari car dealers anywhere else... Here it is very obvious that a lot of people have a little too much money. And it makes you realize that even if you thought that you have a pretty decent home it is nothing compared to this. For comfort I think that they are probably not as happy as I am...

Now the time had come to check out San Diego. We started with breakfast in fancy La Jolla, went for a walk on Mission Beach and then strolled around the marina in the city center and the Gaslamp Quarter with all its restaurants and bars.

At Mission Beach.

Gaslamp Quarter.

At the Marina.

This is where the bananas come from.

After three days of going from one nice, more or less fancy place to another, drinking beer and strolling around we were fed up and both felt that we had to do something. Said and done, we left the fluffy world of the south west and headed towards the mountains and some hiking.

Our first roadtrip in the States - Las Vegas

2011-01-24T04:55:00.010+01:00

The day after we arrived in Phoenix we left on our first roadtrip. First stop was Las Vegas. We had not really planned this trip, we more or less just drove off to see where we would end up. The last few days in Sweden we watch the Ocean's movies so the first stop felt natural. I had never been to Las Vegas before and it was about as sick as I had imagined. A kind of Disneyland for grown-ups.

On the road.

We drove in from the east just after sunset and you could see the lights from the city behind the mountains the last few miles before you actually drive into the valley. As you turn a corner the city appears and you can clearly see the Strip and all the casinos. It is a weird feeling after driving hours through the desert on roads that seem to go on forever. Out there everything seem quiet and vast and suddenly you are facing this city on steroids. It is no coincidence that the museum of neon signs can be found in downtown Las Vegas.

The Strip by night.

When you look at the map you don't think the Strip is very long but what you don't realize is how large the casinos really are. Just to walk straight through a casino is not a matter of minutes but more 15-20 min. We did not, in two days, see all of it.

Having a lunch time beer in front of the Bellagio. It is after all holidays!

I was a bit disappointed that not more people were gambling, it all looked kind of empty. Many tables were closed and most of the slot machines was unused. However considering the size of the place I guess the number of players was still impressive.

I am still working, so no, we did not win the Megabucks...

Some of the casinos were very nice, my personal favourite is the Venetian. The shopping mall with a canal through the middle is really impressive. Otherwise I think we both liked the newly opened Cosmopolitan, they have this quite cool bar in the middle of the casino.

The Venetian shopping mall (it is indoors...).

At the bar in Cosmopolitan.

After two nights though I was ready to leave. It felt like we were stuck in a dream world and had to escape to reality again. Back on the road again we headed towards Los Angeles. Coming soon...

2010 - 2011

2010-12-30T23:05:00.002+01:00

I am minutes away from shutting down the computer before I go to bed and then head off to the airport. This time we are going to Phoenix via Portsmouth and for 6 months! Unfortunately I have to work there but we hope to get some time to have a look around the area and possibly do a few short trips within the country. 2011 will be about work and a life in another country but what happened really in 2010?

This past year has been dominated by many short trips to Switzerland (for me) and Sweden (for Andy) but we also managed to squeeze in two trips to the Maldives and one to Iceland. Although the trips to the Maldives felt big at the time they now seem quite distant. Both since it is almost a year ago and because we decided not to dive in a few years in favour of climbing and hiking. I am glad that the commute between Sweden and Switzerland is over and that we now live together. It makes everything so much easier and more fun. But even though the short trips were hard I will also miss Lucerne and its surroundings. We have had lots of fun with all the wonderful people there and that I will look forward to coming back to.

If I have to choose one picture to represent this year it would have to be from the mountains in Switzerland. Maybe not because we spent the most time in the mountains, I am not sure we did, but more because for me personally it has all been about Switzerland and the fact I love the mountains.

Lucky me there are mountains in America too.

Happy New Year!

At the beach

2010-11-17T22:24:00.005+01:00

Last weekend my brother and I drove down to Gothenburg to go to a beach party. Yes, it is November and bloody cold and dark so how did this happen? One of our sisters and her husband both turned 40 so they took the opportunity to throw a party. It was held at this brilliant place where they had actually built a little beach and with special lamps the temperature came up to about 30 degrees. Before dinner we were hanging out at the beach bar under the lamps with cold beers.

This did not make me long for a holiday in the sun... noooooooo...

Last chance

2010-11-12T21:07:00.002+01:00

Winter is definately around the corner. In Sweden we have already seen the first snow. This week we had a snow storm and although it is a few days ago there are still traces of it on the ground. Lucky me then who could go down to Switzerland last weekend and enjoy some warmer weather.

Since the weather was nice we took the opportunity to go on maybe the last hike of the season. Since it is cold and snowy on high altitude we chose Bürgenstock this day. This mountain is only about 1100 meters but beautifully situated at the lake Vierwaldstätter See and famous for its views. This particular mountain does not have a gondola but actually a lift that can take you up the last few hundred meters. This day however it was already closed for the season, not even the café was open. So we did not get our standard beer on the top of the mountain but had to be content with what we had brought along.

On the way we had some serious Sound of Music moments. Like here when we crossed a meadow with this spectacular view.

As we came around the mountain we got this great view of the lake and Lucerne. This side of the mountain is very steep and the footpath is not intended for people that have issues with heights. At some places they have even made tunnels through the rocks. Very nice hike that can be made a little longer if you choose to leave the car close to Stansstad and take the way over Bürgenbergwald.

Bern

2010-11-11T21:41:00.003+01:00

Last Friday I went to meet my friend Isabelle in Bern. The sun was shining and it was around 15 degrees Celsius. Bern is a pretty town with a lot of atmosphere. We went for a walk to see if the bears were out and they were, the mother with her two cubs were playing around. For you who don't know, a bear is the symbol of Bern and there are a few of them living by the river in the central part of town.

Before I headed back to Zug I, by mistake, went up on the roof of the central station. It turns out the view from up there is great. It was a particularly clear day and the mountains were visible at the horizon. And there is a café up there as well. Good to know next time I am in town...

Never thought

2010-10-17T21:34:00.003+02:00

I never thought that I could get tired of flying. But at the moment I am. The past year I have been flying a lot to Zürich, once or twice each month. Normally the trip is a part of a journey for me, a part I rather enjoy. At first the beginning of a trip when expectations are built and you finally realize that you are on your way. Then at the end when you have time to think about what you have experienced and decide whether you will miss it or not.

Basically I do like flying, the atmosphere at the airport and the isolated time on the flight itself. But in this case the flight has just become a way to get to where I need to go. Like taking the train to work. I don't go by train because it is fun but just because it is the only way of getting there. The flight is not important anymore, just a hassle, just a long train ride. I have noticed that I don't really think of it as travelling but just going somewhere. I do not experience the flight like I normally do. I either sleep or work because otherwise it would feel like a complete waste of time. Every time I am on my way I am eager to get there, I don't feel like spending time on a plane. I just want the time to pass and the flight to be over instead of feeling that it is a part of an exciting trip.

Soon the trips to Switzerland will be over. I can't wait. Then I hope the feeling of flying will go back to what it used to be. Hopefully I will soon enjoy a view like the one in the picture above (which is the Swiss Alps from a flight from Stockholm to Milan).

Climbing in Melchsee Frutt

2010-10-12T13:44:00.001+02:00

This past Sunday we went to Melchsee Frutt for some climbing. They have a big climbing wall just a few minutes walk from the car park and cable car station. The wall is not high but long, most routes are one pitch only but there are a few 2 pitch routes around. Totally there are about 130 routes ranging from grade 3 to 8 on the UIAA scale. So there is plenty to choose from although this easy to reach place attracts a lot of climbers.

Having a break at the climbing wall.

As well as on Saturday it was cloudy below 1500 meter but we had beautiful weather. Today it was also 10 Franken day which means it only costs 10 Franken to take the cable car up to Melchsee Frutt. Due to this there were loads of hikers around and you can see the ant trail along the lake which had no end. Fortunately though there were not too many climbers.

The view from the climbing wall. This is the difference between climbing in the Alps and in Stockholm area...

Autumn hike in Switzerland

2010-10-11T12:27:00.004+02:00

This past Saturday we did the Four Lake Hike (Vier Seen Wanderung) between Melchsee Frutt and Engelberg. The SBB (Swiss Railway) has a special ticket for this hike which includes train, bus and cable cars on both ends which makes it quite worth its price. Otherwise the trains and cable cars in Switzerland are very pricey.

In the valleys the fog was thick the entire day but above 1500 meters or so the sky was blue and the sun was shining. The perfect day for an autumn hike on high altitude.

Hiking along the rigde from Bonistock towards Tannensee. Below us on the right side there is a climbing wall with more than 130 routes in all ranges. Actually we came back on Sunday to do some climbing there.

Tannensee.

Having lunch at Engstlensee. This was the lowest point on the hike and after this we had to climb about 400 meters to Jochpass and then down again to reach the cable car on the other side. On Jochpass we did get a well deserved beer before we walked down the last bit. The hike took about 4 hours. With breaks we spent about 6 hours on the track.

All pictures were taken by Michael Wicki who brought us on this hike. Thanks for a great day, Quicky!

Autumn finally

2010-10-03T10:09:00.005+02:00

One morning this week as I was heading off to the subway as usual I saw something unusual. I have been living here for almost 10 years and I can not remember seeing anything like it. It looked like the building was radiating.

A man who passed me as I was taking the picture had not noticed the light phenomenom but when he saw me looking up he had to stop and take a better look at it. How many people this morning missed out on this because they were only looking down at their feet?

It is now a lovely autumn, cold fresh air and sunshine. The sun is getting lower which means that the sunrise is now coinciding with my travel to work. The light this time of year is magic in the morning. The combination with the colours on the leaves makes this my favourite season in Stockholm. Not even the complete stop in the subway which added 30 min to my trip could spoil my mood after seeing this view.

Timing

2010-07-15T21:31:00.004+02:00

Last weekend I went to Switzerland again to visit Andy. This time the weather was not on our side and we cancelled the planned two day hike in Grindelwald. Instead we decided to hike up the Pilatus which is Lucerne's house mountain. It is a "smallish" mountain about 2150 m or so, which is a few meters higher than the highest mountain in Sweden, Kebnekaise.

It was a very hot day with temperatures well over 30 degrees and we did wonder on the way up to the top what the h-ll we were thinking of. We could have been having a lazy day at the lake... Of course we had also decided to walk all the way from town and not from the foot of the mountain. In good time we made it though and could enjoy a well deserved beer at the top before we hiked all the way back again. We had stunning views of the Vierwaldstätter See and Lucerne. Unfortunately I forgot my camera this time so no photos today, you will have to imagine it.

On the weather forecast they had warned for thunderstorms and clouds did start coming in during the afternoon. As we came closer to town the sky was completely black behind us and we started to walk faster in order to make it back before it started to rain. It did start to rain a little and we actually ran the last few hundred meters. When we came up to the apartment it had started to rain very heavily and a few minutes later it hailed. It was one of the more violent thunderstorms I have experienced and we managed to time it by a minute. Considering the whole adventure was about 10 hours I think we did a pretty good job.

Because I do not have a picture from this hike I am attaching one from our latest tour. This picture is of us crossing the rope bridge was taken by Johannes Peschut who we met on the climb.

Good things about hiking in the Alps

2010-07-04T22:00:00.000+02:00

There are several reasons why I like hiking in the Alps. I like rock so the dramatic exposed peaks in the Alps suites me just perfectly. Other good things are that the season is a bit longer (than in Sweden at least) and there are no mosquitoes. Also if you don't have a lot of time or don't feel like hiking through the forest on low altitude or have problems with your knees you can in many places take the cable car. This way you can do cool hiking on high altitude even if you just want to do a day hike. But my favourite is that after a steep hike up to a hut somewhere you can always get something cold to drink.

Here, at the Weissmies Hütte in Saastal, we found a sofa where we spent the afternoon with a beer until the guy who worked in the hut came and told us that dinner was served. What a great place!

Via Ferrata (klettersteig) on Jegihorn

2010-07-04T11:19:00.004+02:00

The weather made it! It was a beautiful day when we went out to climb the Via Ferrata on Jegihorn in Saastal. We had spent the night in Weissmies Hütte about 1 hour from the start of the Via Ferrata.

The first part of the the route was easy climbing with a few ladders. After an hour or so we reached the ridge. Once on the ridge we had to climb down a little to reach the rope bridge we had to cross to get to the top of Jegihorn.

It was a fairly long rope bridge where you definately had time to think about what could happen if you slipped...

The small dots in the center of the photo are our shadows when we are on the rope bridge.

Immediately after the rope bridge we had to climb up this thing.

After the rope ladder there was a fairly vertical wall we had to climb before reaching the top. They had added some grips to make it easier. This was my favourite part, very exposed and with a fantastic view. Nice!

After about 2 hours on the Via Ferrata we reach the top of Jegihorn on 3206 m. We were hanging around the top for more than an hour talking to other climbers before we headed down to the Weissmies Hütte again for some lunch and a beer. For those who like Via Ferratas I can definately recommend this one, I was climbing it with a smile on my face.

Weather...

2010-06-23T21:02:00.004+02:00

When planning to do a long Via Ferrata the weather forecast is quite important. You don't really want to get stuck on a mountain secured to a 1 km long metal wire when a thunder storm arrives. So right now I am obsessed with the weather report. Until yesterday it was going to be brilliant in the area we are planning to go to but now it looks like this:

Damn. I hope they are wrong.... Guess I should start looking for something in another area where the weather might be better. Well, looking forward to going to the Swiss mountains and I am bringing my own sunshine anyway. :-)

Glad midsommar!

The Royal Wedding

2010-06-21T21:41:00.002+02:00

I guess many of you know that this weekend there was The Royal Wedding in Stockholm. An event that attracted an amazing amount of people, including some friends of mine and myself... Our plan was to drink something bubbly, enjoy ourselves and look at the spectacle.

We found a what we thought was a good spot to see the happy couple when they would go by in their carriage. Naturally we ended up seeing basically nothing (see picture above) because at the last minute loads of people who had been standing in front of the castle now came our way to see the crown princess again. And on top of that the glasses for the bubbly were stuck in the crowd somewhere else. Bummer. However we managed to take care of that in a bar close by, where they also had big screen tv's. That's where we should have been all along, of course...

The night ended well though with rooftop bar hopping and many glasses of champagne. This is the view from Hotel Anglais's champagne bar.

My new favourite subway

2010-06-16T21:56:00.003+02:00

This past weekend Andy and I visited our friend Birgit in Copenhagen. On our way to Christiania we caught the subway. This is the first time I have been able to sit in the very front of a subway train and look out the window when going through the tunnels. I was fascinated and this quickly became my favourite subway. Until now the Beijing subway topped my list where they have very long cars with poles down the middle which enhances the movement of the train. They also have these cool displays in the tunnels. But this was so much more fun. Like it!

Iceland - just the way it sounds

2010-06-06T19:52:00.000+02:00

For Easter this year I went with Andy and his company to Iceland. I guess we were 20-30 people and the schedule was full. We spent in total 6 days on the island. We drove from Reykjavik to Akureyri on the north coast and spent most of the time in the area around Akureyri. The landscape around Reykjavik was not too impressive but as we came further north the views were simply spectacular.

Reykjavik.

The view from the house we stayed at in outside Akureyri. This is a very beautiful area which I would like to visit during the summer sometime. Unfortunately there was still a lot of snow in the north which made it difficult to go hiking and horse back riding. But of course perfect for the ones who wanted to rent snow mobiles.

Naturally we had time to visit a few of the many hot springs. This is the famous Blue Lagoon close to Reykjavik.

We also passed a number of water falls, this is Godafoss.

In Reykholt we learnt more about Snorre Sturlasson, the famous writer, who lived and was murdered here in 1241. You would think that such an important historic place would also look impressive but this was a tiny village with about 10 houses, 2 churches and a what looked like an oversized hotel.

I would like to return to Iceland but then in the summer and spend more time hiking or horse back riding. The best thing about this country is the beautiful and vast landscape. The worst thing is the stinky hot water...

Unexpected view of Manhattan

2010-06-06T08:00:00.000+02:00

A few weeks ago I got stuck over night in New York on my way to Phoenix. I was not in a very good mood because it was a stupid mistake from the airline that made us come in a few hours late to JFK and I just missed my connection to Phoenix. They set me up at one of the crap hotels close to the airport and I basically just checked in, had dinner and went to bed (in smoking room which was all they had, yuck).

However I did get a beautiful view of the sunset over Manhattan as I came into the room which saved the day and improved my spirit some.

Nice

2010-06-05T16:47:00.004+02:00

At the end of April I went to Nice with my friend Helena. The plan was to get away for a weekend, hopefully sit in the sun, eat good food and drink some wine. We managed with all of it, no problem. The weather was perfect, between 20 and 25 degrees and sunny the entire weekend.

We stayed at a hotel at the water front in the old town. It was the perfect location, very close to everything. Just a few minutes away was a square where they had a market during the day and outdoor restaurants at night.

We walked all over town, here we are on our way up the Chateau Hill which has a stunning view of the city and the coast line.

From the top of Chateau Hill you could also see the snow covered mountains in the north. Beautiful!

The old town had lots of winding streets with small shops and restaurants. The colours in Nice are amazing, the houses have the warm yellow and red tones, the blue water and all the flowers with many different colours. I remember thinking the same the first time I was at the French Riviera a number of years ago and it was as striking as back then. I still love the colours.

The small boats in the harbour were also colourful where they were squeezed in between the huge yachts.

A champagne picnic on the beach was an absolute must. Lovely! Could have stayed there for a long time.

Thanks for a great weekend, Helena!

Maldives again

2010-03-31T20:48:00.002+02:00

Well, we were not planning to go back so soon but we got an offer we couldn't refuse and we felt like going diving again. :-) This time we did not spend any time on an island but only on the dive boat, the Sachika.

Once again we saw a whale shark but not during a dive but while snorkeling so it was not really the same. Still nice however, this one was a bit larger than the last one we saw, maybe 6-8 meters. What we did see this time was one poor hammerhead shark which quickly disappeared when it saw us and lots of mantas! We had a great manta dive with many rather small mantas, maybe 3 meters at most.

They came very close and were more than I could count.

Manta.

There were also lots of reefs and thilas to be discovered. Some of the dives we had done before but they were all nice dives so it was not a problem for us. And this time we knew what to look for.

And sometimes the current was quite strong.

When the other guests tried to catch some fish from the dhoni (the smaller boat that we dove from) we decided to bring a bottle of wine and enjoy the sunset and later the stars. A perfect end of a perfect little holiday.

Can't wait to go diving again...

My Swiss "office"

2010-03-31T11:05:00.003+02:00

Occasionally I work from Lucerne, Switzerland. This is the view from my "office". Today is a lovely day, I think I will go for a walk in the lunch break.

mirror on the wall

2010-02-18T13:29:00.000+01:00

At some hotels I have stayed at in Asia they have this great idea to heat parts of the bathroom mirror so that it will not be completely misted over when you get out of the shower. Brilliant, isn't it? However being somewhat above average Japanese height is a problem. What you see in the mirror is about this:

So you end up with a sore back for bending forward until the mist is gone. It almost worked...

let's try eat - back in Japan

2010-02-17T16:08:00.003+01:00

This week I am on business in Japan. I haven't been here for a few years so I was happy to go although the schedule might not be the perfect one. We did have some time though when we got to Narita to have a shower and then managed to get some sushi at Tokyo Station before going off to a customer meeting. How is it that the sushi here is so much better than anywhere else? Even at what you would think would be a crap place at the Tokyo station it was absolutely delicious. It is not a coincidence that I try to avoid sushi anywhere else than in Japan.

Coming back on the train from customer site at night after a very loooooong day my mood improved when I realized (and it took more than an hour) what was written on the box my desperation pizza was delivered in. "You can eat tasty and comfortably without feeling anxiety anything". How true is that?

Asia is the best!

First time winter hiking in the Alps

2010-02-03T19:32:00.002+01:00

A couple of weeks ago I went hiking for the first time during the winter. I was visiting Andy in Lucerne and the weather was supposed to be good so we decided to go hiking. Our first plan was to hike the Pilatus but they warned us for avalanches so we chose Rigi instead.

When we started it was cloudy but soon we came above the clouds and the sun came out. Although it was January it was really warm. Compared to Sweden the sun actually makes a difference here...

The view was of course superb once we came out of the clouds.

As we came down again the sun was setting over the lake. This was the first time winter hiking but not the last. Until next time...

Holidays in the Maldives

2010-02-01T20:30:00.004+01:00

On Christmas Eve 2009 Andy and I went to the Maldives. The main purpose was of course diving but also just to get away for a few weeks.

The first night we spent in Male, the main island/city. It was not a very exciting place. We decided to go have a beer and celebrate the holidays. When we were ordering the beers we realized that this is a non-alcoholic country... We did try the one "beer" they had, but I am not sure it was such a good idea. It was awful.

The next day we were picked up at the airport by the dive crew. The diving was done from a dhoni, a smaller boat which carried the diving equipment and compressors. It was big and comfy with a huge sun deck. The main boat, Sachika, was quite new and beautiful. The cabins were very roomy, comfortable dining room and bar and on the large sun deck there was a jacuzzi. And they had proper beer...

The diving was not fantastic but quite ok. There were lots of morays, puffer, sting rays, some white tips and the usual stuff.

The anemones had really nice colours.

The turtles were not very shy. On one dive we found a fairly rare zebra moray who happened to be next to an eating turtle. The turtle did not care that it all of a sudden was in the middle of a group of divers. It was simply munching away very relaxed.

But the one dive that made it all worth it was when this guy decided to swim by at our safety stop. It was a small whale shark, maybe 4 m long. Cute!

After the dive cruise we stayed on a tiny island, Dhiggiri, for a few days. It was basically the hotel with a beach around it. You could walk around the whole island in 5-10 min. Some people were to stay here for 2 weeks, we were quite happy with less than a week. It was a beautiful spot, really a paradise island. Very relaxing and calm.

There was a reef around the island and the snorkeling was good. The corals were not great, they were not great anywhere due to el Nino and the tsunami. But there were lots of fish to look at. They had a dive shop on the island so we went diving a couple of times. We did channel dives which had more or less current. We saw some shark, drifted along the reefs and played around on the sandy bottom. They were nice and relaxing dives, we had fun.

On our way back we had to stay one night in Qatar. We spent the afternoon walking from the "old" part of town where our hotel was to the finance district with the tall modern buildings. It was quite a long walk along the water front. This walk was probably longer than what we had moved all together the past two weeks.

Qatar was an interesting place. It was extremely clean and organized. Apparently they have the worlds largest export of gas and they are only 3 million inhabitants. They seem to be doing pretty well...

You know somebody who talk too much?

2009-12-18T01:28:00.002+01:00

Hana showed me this at the Rose bush museum in Tombstone.

There are solutions for everything...

Mini vacation in Tombstone

2009-12-18T00:47:00.004+01:00

This week I went on a business trip to Phoenix, Arizona. When in the area I took a day off, rented a car and drove a few hours down to Tombstone to see my friends Harry and Hana who lives there.

Tombstone is a small sleepy little town with a big history. It is known for being a violent mining town about 100-150 years ago. If Wyatt Earp and O.K. Corral sounds familiar, this is where is all happened.

The center of town is blocked for all traffic and more or less all houses have a history to tell. For lunch we had a buffalo burger in the Crystal Palace Saloon which has been around since 1879 when it opened as a brewery.

Harry and Hana also took me on a drive over the mountains to Pearce. It is a beautiful place and the weather could not be better. Sunny and not too warm. At this point I do not miss Sweden that just had a snow storm the other day...

Thanks Harry and Hana for a lovely day!

Finally mandu

2009-10-28T13:37:00.003+01:00

Last time I was in Korea we had lots of great food but we did not have time to eat any mandu (dumplings in English). Today though I had the opportunity to go sample a few. Just a block from the hotel I could get a big plate of different dumplings for less than 3 €.

I think Korea is my favorite food country at the moment. Of course Japan is high on the list also but I have not been there in such a long time that I tend to forget how good it is.

The kimchi mandu is my favorite, I think. Yummy!

Ballet in Korea?

2009-10-26T19:21:00.004+01:00

Tomorrow I am off to Korea for a few days. This time they found me some sort of suite at a hotel in a suburb outside of Seoul. There are lots of good restaurants in the area and it is close to customer site so I am quite happy. Now, click on the image and check out the facilities.

I get a Hang-on-the-wall plasma screen, bath stuffs and a clothes blush. It really bugs me though that I do not have a rental car so I can use the ballet parking. I suppose these drivers are spectacular. Would have been interesting... Instead I guess I have to hang around the main entrance and wait for someone to park their car.

Room with a view no7 - Galapagos

2009-10-10T22:04:00.003+02:00

In 2003 I travelled around South America. When I was in Ecuador a friend of mine, Peter, happened to go on holidays in the same area. I convinced him to extend his trip and come with me to Galapagos. We took a one week boat tour around the islands and then stayed on a few days to go diving. Galapagos is a magic place, a place where you can see hammerheads when snorkeling, swim with sea lions, have to go around birds that nest on the footpaths and check out the blue footed boobies. I have never seen the amounts of fish diving as I did in Galapagos, the diving is really outstanding (although maybe a bit cold for my taste...).

From my bed in our cabin I had this view. Since I was a bit sea sick the first day I really appreciated being able to lie in bed and look out at sea.

Klettersteig on the Daubenhorn

2009-10-03T11:53:00.007+02:00

In Switzerland in September I met up with Andy, one of my dive buddies on the liveaboard in Australia. It turned out we have more in common than diving, we also both like hiking and climbing. So it was not very hard for me to convince him that we should do the klettersteig in Leukerbad that leads up to the Daubenhorn. I had done some research and was really eager to do this particular klettersteig.

Leukerbad and the Daubenhorn in the centre of the picture. That's the wall we are climbing.

We drove from Lucerne, where Andy lives, to Leukerbad on a Saturday and the next day we got up early in order to make it to the first cable car. That would take us to Gemmi Pass from where it was a short hike to the beginning of the climb.

We were not the only ones who had this great idea. It was a bit crowded at the beginning of the climb.

This was the gorgeous view we had all day long. In the distance you can see the Monte Rosa massif which is were I was heading the next day.

The weather was perfect and even on the top of Daubenhorn at almost 3000 meters it was still warm. The klettersteig on Daubenhorn is the longest in Switzerland. It was about 4 hours climbing and totally it took us about 5 hours to reach the top. It was mostly climbing on a vertical wall. In some places it was slightly overhanging and at one point we climbed through a cave. The climb was not really difficult but very long which makes it hard.

Mad Andy. Like climbing is not hard enough... In the background is Gemmi Pass.

Having fun on the ladders.

The Swiss are weird....

5 hours later we finally made it to the top!

Thanks Andy for a great adventure!!

Hiking in Switzerland

2009-10-02T23:00:00.000+02:00

Matterhorn

In September I went hiking around Zermatt in Switzerland. The area is absolutely beautiful and the weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold and a clear blue sky. The first day I hiked from Zermatt to Schönbiel Hütte, next to Matterhorn, via Trift Hotel. The part between Trift and Schönbiel was fabulous. This was one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever made. Straight ahead I had the Matterhorn and to my left the Monte Rosa massif. Magical!

Halfways to Schönbiel Hütte with a view of the Monte Rosa massif.

Getting closer to Schönbiel.

Having a well deserved beer with a view of Matterhorn on the terrace at Schönbiel Hütte.

The second day I walked back to Zermatt via Hörnli Hütte, from where most people climb the Matterhorn. The Hörnli Hütte is also a popular day hike and I got stuck in a group of older people determined to reach the Hütte. The last bit was quite steep and it was not very easy to pass people, you simply had to adapt to the pace.

At Hörnli Hütte.

The third day I took the train up to Gornergrat (on around 3000 m) on the other side of the valley from where I had been the first two days. Because it is so easy accessible it is also very crowded at Gornergrat. They have a fancy hotel, a shopping centre (!) and an observatory. For me it defeats the purpose of going to the mountains if there is a lot of people around. I like the solitude and the calm. So I had to walk away from the hotel and I did not have to go far to loose the crowd. 15 minutes walk and I was on my own again.

Gornergrat.

I must say my favourite side of the valley was the Matterhorn side. The view of the Monte Rosa from a distance was great. It was a bit more green on that side which I appreciated. Next time I will bring a picknick, some wine and sit down and look at the view for a few hours.

Baggage handling at Arlanda

2009-09-29T19:10:00.004+02:00

Arlanda Airport is (according to my experience and everyone I know...) the worst airport in the world on luggage handling. Usually you have to wait almost 1 hour to get your bag from the moment they start unloading the plane and now I am not just that unlucky person who always gets their bag last. No, everyone is waiting for a long time. They do give you plenty of time to think about how difficult it can be to transport bags the few hundred meters from the aircraft to the conveyor belt. I am an engineer and do not consider myself the most stupid person in the world, but I can not figure it out.

When I arrived from Switzerland a few weeks ago I had a surprising experience. I got my bag within 10 minutes from when I arrived at the belt! My heart was filled with hope and I thought that finally they had changed the routines and from now on it would be like a dream to come back home.

This morning I came back from Chicago. I was in a little bit of a hurry because I had to make it to a meeting in the office. But light at heart I thought that today I would be out of here in no time. I came to the conveyor belt and at the display it said that the luggage would arrive within 6 min. Perfect, I thought. After about 10 minutes they opened the door in the wall and sent out 5 bags. I am sure these were only dummy bags that disguised staff went out to pick up only to keep people happy for another few minutes. The door in the wall was closed again. This is mentally very frustrating. After 15 minutes or so they opened the door again and out came a few bags. Do not think this was all of them, no, again they closed the door. After a few of these turns and 30 minutes later I finally got my bag and I was not the last one!

Since I travel quite a lot I have to learn how to handle this without going completely crazy. Instead of being very stressed and angry I think of stories about what the staff is actually doing behind that wall. How they are coming up with ways to trick us instead of actually getting the bags. It is now a joke for me and my friend and it makes us laugh instead.

Room with a view no6 - Seoul

2009-09-19T17:58:00.003+02:00

Last week I was on a business trip to Seoul, South Korea. This was the view from my hotel room at the Imperial Palace Hotel. We stayed in Gangnam with a with towards the city centre. This picture was taken early in the morning. The Seoul Tower is on the hill in the centre of the picture.

Diary

2009-09-12T15:00:00.000+02:00

In Adelaide earlier this year I got caught in the rain. I happened to pass a pub just as it started to pour down. What to do? Of course I ended up at the bar with a beer. This was early afternoon and I was really planning to stroll around town. Instead I decided to catch up a little on the diary which I had not written in a week or so. I had to use the camera and look back at the pictures to remember exactly what had happened what day.

As I was sitting there the bartender asked me if I was travelling. He said that he also loves to travel and always writes a diary when he is away. We ended up talking about our favourite travels and dream destinations between orders from other guests. I eventually ordered food and stayed much longer than I expected. I don’t remember his name or what he looked like really and I could not give directions to where the pub is. But the episode is still stuck in my memory as one of the good afternoons in Australia.

To see someone writing in a pub or café I thought would keep people away. I would probably think that this person is concentrated and does not want to be disturbed. Maybe the diary is just a way for a travelling person to shield herself from the surroundings for a little while without having to sit in a boring dorm room or messy hostel living room. Not that this was my meaning when I wrote my diary during my last trip. I normally just thought it was more inspiring and fun to sit somewhere people were moving than at the hostel or hotel. So I am glad everyone is not like me and starts talking anyway and that it sometimes starts to rain and change your plans.

A great side of life

2009-09-04T00:52:00.003+02:00

After finishing the last emails I closed the laptop. I looked out the window and we were closing in to Zurich Airport. It had been cloudy in the northern parts of Europe but here the sun was going down and spread its golden light over the hills surrounding the city. It made me smile, I am on holiday.

As I was walking to the baggage claim I saw this picture many times. I think I like this country…

Alain de Botton at Heathrow

2009-08-22T10:26:00.002+02:00

Alain de Botton has got access to Heathrow airport during one week and will write a book about what he sees and experiences. I love that idea, airports are so fascinating! I want that book!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8208951.stm
http://thefastertimes.com/travel/2009/08/19/tft-exclusive-alain-de-botton-reports-live-from-heathrow/
http://www.vagabond.se/Redaktionellt/Nyheter/Resenarernas-egen-filosof-skriver-bok-pa-flygplats/

Room with a view no5 - Taipei

2009-08-22T00:23:00.002+02:00

Taipei 101

Taipei 101. For some reason I am extremely fascinated by high buildings. Usually the first thing I find out in a new city is where I can get a good view. Taipei was no different. The first time I visited Taiwan I was only there for one night and the only thing I really knew about the place was that the city featured the highest building in the world (well, the highest officially opened one at least..). So the only plan I had for the afternoon was to visit this famous building. I went up to the viewing floor before the sun set and stayed until it had become dark and all the lights were out. Magic.

The pictures here are all from my hotel room at the Hyatt which is just across the street from Taipei 101. Very convenient for someone with my interests.

The base of Taipei 101 which is a very fancy shopping center

View towards the City Hall

Ice Bar Stockholm

2009-08-14T20:54:00.004+02:00

The only time you really do touristy things in your own city is when people are visiting. This weekend my dive buddies from the Nai'a in Fiji, Harry and Hana, decided to come and see me and Stockholm. Tonight we went to the Absolut Ice Bar. I had never been there since as a Swede living here you don't normally choose to go to a place where it is always around - 5 degrees. You get enough of that during the winter. And I have been to the Ice Hotel a number of years ago and was quite satisfied with that. But now it was time to check it out.

Hana and Harry

Self portrait

When you go into the bar you are given a coat. They do not expect you to stay more than 45 minutes and I think we made it to 40. At that point my toes were frozen and desperately craving sunshine again. We had good fun in there though, drinking out of the ice glasses and enjoying the ice art.

Of course the drinks are served in ice glasses.

There were plenty of beautiful details.

If you have never been to an Ice Bar I can really recommend it. But do wear socks...

In Soho every day is a wine day!

2009-08-12T22:54:00.004+02:00

No, I have not been to London or New York. I was in Gothenburg where there is a restaurant / wine bar / café called Soho. It is a really nice place with several sections featuring different styles. You can stop by for a glass of champagne at the bar, cakes in the atrium or dinner in the dining room.

One thing I like about this place is that they have, in several places, printed text directly on the wall. This sentence I particularly like!

That was a long time ago...

2009-08-12T22:37:00.004+02:00

Today I went to Systembolaget, the Swedish liquor store. I was going to pick up some wine and beer for the weekend since this was the last chance for me before Sunday when I am cooking for my friends, Hana and Harry, who are visiting Stockholm.
When it was my turn at the counter the sales guy said: So, Miss, do you have id? I gave him a big smile and my id that says that I have been able to buy alcohol for about 15 years. He looked a little embarrassed but I took it as a compliment and left much happier than I was a few minutes earlier. What a sweetheart!

Perfect summer

2009-08-10T22:38:00.004+02:00

As any Swede would tell you, there is no better place than Sweden on a nice summers day. Last Saturday was one of those perfect days. I was visiting my sister, Helena, and her family close to Gothenburg. It was warm enough to go to the beach, actually swim and lay in the sun all day but without getting sun stroke. When we came back from the beach my brother-in-law, Micke, made us mojitos with fresh herbs from the garden. Perfect day.

Me and my nephew, Joel, coming back from the beach.

Room with a view no4 - Philippines

2009-07-30T21:25:00.000+02:00

Christmas 2008 I spent on Big La Laguna beach in Puerto Galera in the Philippines. The hotel we stayed at (Campbell's Beach Resort) was at the very end of the beach with a huge terrace outside the room. From there we had a great view of the whole beach. We could watch people snorkeling, swimming, eating and drinking at the beach front restaurants. We saw when people were coming and leaving. The beach was small enough to keep track of everyone staying there. After a week it felt like we were leaving a family.

Big La Laguna beach

Big La Laguna by night

Here and now

2009-07-22T14:00:00.000+02:00

They say that you should concentrate on where you are and live your life here and now. I totally agree. But I do like when here is changing fast. For example; last year I left from Taiwan to go diving in Mexico. That in itself was a big change in "here". From work in busy Tainan to the waters outside lazy Cozumel. On the way there however I had a long lay over in San Fransisco. As it happens a colleague and friend, Magnus, lives not very far from the airport and my flight arrived appropriately on a Friday night. He booked us a table not far from the airport and we met at the restaurant. This was by far the best lay over I have ever experienced, good company, good food and lots of great wine which I had been craving in Tainan.

The time difference was to my advantage this time. I left Taiwan late Friday night, arrived 6 hours earlier on the same night in San Fransisco, had a great dinner and then arrived in Mexico around lunch time on Saturday. The problem is that at some point I had to go back. And in this case it took me two days...

I felt very fortunate to experience three very different places during such a short period of time. All places have their special charm and I find it difficult to choose one favorite place in the world.

Budget anxiety

2009-07-20T21:10:00.000+02:00

I am in agony. How much money can one spend on a three week long holiday? There are so many things I would like to do but is it realistic to spend that amount of money? What is really reasonable? The problem is that I want to go diving and do some decent diving as well. This is unfortunately quite expensive. The difference between finding a fairly good hotel and spend the time surfing, sun bathing, visit temples, museums and possible renting a scooter compared to diving two weeks is big! If I chose not to dive I could go on a much longer holiday or several holidays for the same money. However I am not sure my company would allow me to go on 3 month holidays every year so what am I saving it for?

Now I could list a number of things, sensible things, to spend the money on. Like buy a larger apartment maybe which would be an investment for the future and not money just thrown away. But the sum I am talking about would not even upgrade my apartment to include a balcony so why bother? Then again, I have chosen not to have a car, not upgrade the apartment, not buy that flatscreen tv and so on to be able to do exactly this. And I know what I enjoy and what makes me feel alive. That is travelling and not being able to live in a different apartment. Still it feels very hard to decide to make such an expensive trip. Why is that? Have I not just myself answered my question?

I do know myself well enough to know that I will not be able to resist this:

or this:

or this:

photo: Marcus Carlberg

or this:

photo: Marcus Carlberg

I just have to face it. I am hooked...

Afternoon tea

2009-07-14T15:02:00.001+02:00

Last week I decided to somewhat spontaniously go to London to see a couple of friends for the weekend. My favourite thing to do there is to have Afternoon Tea. Thankfully my friend Simon was willing to come with me. On Simons recommendation we ended up at the Wolseley which you can find on the same street at the Ritz where they offer a somewhat more stylish version. I found the Wolseley however to be very good. Five kinds of sandwiches, warm scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream and of course a good selection of cakes. And lots of tea. Mmm.

Since we had to wait for about 3 minutes to be seated we had just enough time to pop over to the bar and pick up a couple of glasses of champagne.

There is hardly a better way to spend an afternoon in London. Love it.

Room with a view no3 - Greenland

2009-07-14T12:00:00.001+02:00

A few years ago I did something as exotic as horse back riding in Greenland. We flew in to Narssarssuaq in the southern part of the country and took the ferry to the otherside of the bay where horses and a local guide was waiting for us. The second night, after our first day on horse back, we stayed in a house at the end of the bay with this lovely view from the bedroom. This area is stunningly beautiful and well worth a visit.

Post travel depression

2009-07-01T21:36:00.011+02:00

Everyone I have spoken to since I got home from my 3 months holiday have asked me if it is good to be back. I hate this question because I feel like saying: NO! But I can't because I realize myself that this is the best time of the year to be in Sweden, it is summer, it is warm, the days are long. It is really amazing when the sun sets at 10 pm, you are still sitting outside, you don't even have to put on a sweater and there are no mozzies. I am not saying I do not enjoy it. It is lovely to have picknicks by the water with friends at sunset, going for a boat cruise in the archipelago, not having to wear socks and all that.

Despite all this I have what could be called "post travel depression" and I might be the only one that this ever happens to. It is just when I have come back that I want to leave again the most. It usually takes me a while to get used to being at home. I have been back about a month now and I am still waiting for it. I can not remember ever being homesick. But every time I am back from travels I miss it dreadfully, more than I miss home during the trip. I think it is because I know that the travels are time limited and that I will always go back at some point. I also know that if I want to I can just go home at any time. Home is always there. That is kind of the point of it.

Travelling is about total freedom, doing whatever you want whenever you want to. Going from one place to another, discover new things, all the time new experiences. Making new friends is a big part of the fun. I feel like I am leaving a new family behind, people that I would like to get to know better. Maybe I will meet some of them again, maybe not. The maybe not makes me sad. Wouldn't it be weird if I did not miss being out there?

How can I not miss a city skyline at night,

driving on the wrong (yes, it is!) side of the road,

climbing the highest mountain in the country,

hiking hung over in tropical heat, after drinking ridiculous amounts of Bundaberg Rum with new found Aussie friends,

hanging on 5-ish meters watching the life under water (photo: Andy Durrer),

sailing amongst sand fringed islands,

watching the sun rise on a mountain top.

How can I not miss it?

Room with a view no2 - Thredbo

2009-06-29T12:11:00.001+02:00

Thredbo in New South Wales, Australia, looks very much like a ski resort in the European Alps. It is situated at the foot of Mount Kosciuszko, the highest peak in Australia with its 2228 meters.
It was late autumn when I was there and it was getting quite chilly. On 2000 meters the wind was very cold and you had to find a sheltered spot if you wanted to stay for a snack. But of course it was worth it because the view were outstanding.

I stayed at the YHA in Thredbo, which was one of my favorite hostels in Australia. It was a hostel where you wanted to hang around the kitchen and the common area. It was actually cozy! The personnel was also lovely and very helpful when I was planning my hikes.

Because of the season the hostel was more or less empty and I got a 4 bed room all to myself. Nice! It was also the favorite room of the receptionists' daughter, a 7 or so year old who also showed me the way. I can see why she liked it and so can you in the picture.

Nai'a

2009-06-23T10:00:00.001+02:00

Nai'a means dolphin in Hawaiian and that was the name of the dive boat I spent 7 days on in Fiji. This was the most luxurious liveaboard I have been on (they even offered turn down service). I had my own cabin which was about the same size as the one I share with 3 other girls on the boat in Australia. The crew was great, all were very nice people and they were singing and playing for us in the evenings. Of course they also arranged a kava party which is absolutely necessary when in Fiji. Kava is the local alternative to alcohol which they seem to consume enormous amounts of although no one actually likes it. And it does taste awful.

Kava party.

The boat was very spacious and we were only 13 divers onboard. We were divided into two groups and dove from two skiffs which went to different dive sites. This was very nice compared to the Spirit of Freedom in Australia when 25 divers were dumped in the water at the same spot.

The diving was very similar to diving on the Great Barrier Reef with three exceptions; the colors were more vibrant in Fiji, there were lots of soft corals and the fish were generally smaller (everything in Australia seemed to be on steroids). What I enjoyed the most were the colors, I have never seen anything like it. By the end of the dives I often backed off from the reef a little to just watch the colors and the enormous amounts of small fish on the shallower parts of the reefs.

Lovely soft coral. Photo: Marcus Carlberg.

Kansas. Photo: Marcus Carlberg

We dove in general four times a day (three day dives and one dusk dive) and were fed with the most amazing food in between dives. I easily got used to the second brekkie, what a great thing...

Me! Photo: Marcus Carlberg.

Once again I had great luck with my buddy, Marcus, an instructor with a lot of diving experience and a camera. :-) He was travelling with friends, Hana and Harry, and we had lots of fun during the entire week. Thanks, buddies! All underwater photos posted here are taken by Marcus.

Harry, Hana, me and Marcus

I can really recommend diving on the Nai'a in Fiji. It was definately one of the best diving trips I have made.

Pygme seahorse. This one was ridiculously small, it is much easier to see what it is in the picture than in real life. Photo: Marcus Carlberg.

Photo: Marcus Carlberg.

There were lots of clown fish around. Photo: Marcus Carlberg.

Cool nudibranch. Photo: Marcus Carlberg.

My subway station - Thorildsplan

2009-06-22T13:00:00.000+02:00

During my absence they decided to redecorate my subway station, Thorildsplan, in Stockholm. Before, the walls used to feature quotations from the exiled Swedish 18th century poet, Thorild, who named the place. A lot of streets and places in this area are named after Swedish poets like Lidner, Runius, Fröding, Stagnelius, Almqvist and many more.

Now, it has become an arcade game from the 1980's... I can not say I do not like it, it is a little cute. The architecture of the station with its stairs and different levels is very suitable for it. It is definately a big change in theme from before.

Room with a view no1

2009-06-20T17:00:00.000+02:00

Looking out the window from my sisters guest room made me think about different places I have visited and the view from where I have been staying. It was not difficult to come to think of a few favourites, like the YHA in Threadbo, the Grand Hyatt in Seoul, the cruise boat in Galapagos and so on. I will try and find pictures of the best bedroom views I have had during my trips and I am starting with this one:

The lovely view from my sisters guest room in Luleå. Always when I visit here I end up spending a lot of time looking out the window and I know I have several pictures of exactly this view. This picture is taken close to midnight on Midsummer Eve 2009.

Midsummer and the light

2009-06-19T22:49:00.000+02:00

It is Midsummer weekend and I am visiting my sister Viktoria and her husband Janne in Luleå in the northern part of Sweden. The 21st June is the longest day of the year and even though we are south of the Arctic Circle it does not really get dark because the sun only goes down for a short while. The picture is taken around 11 pm when we were finishing dinner. The light up here during summer is simply spectacular. I love watching the sun go down while having tea after dinner and see it rise before finishing the next drink. I am having a great midsummer much thanks to my hosts, you guys are priceless! Thank you!

Citybanan

2009-06-16T13:00:00.000+02:00

In 2017 it will not necessarily be as nice to arrive by train to Stockholm from the south as it is today. Just before you arrive at the Central Station the train exits a tunnel and all of sudden you can see the central part of Stockholm. The view is really spectacular, to your left is Riddarfjärden and the City Hall and to the right the old town. Especially if arriving in the late afternoon when the light makes the facades glow in the sun light it is magical. However the two available tracks are limiting the traffic and the work to build a tunnel under Riddarfjärden to extend the capacity has just started. So it will then be important to get on the right train that will give you the view, but how are you supposed to know? I wonder if they will mark the trains with a view in the timetable...

Working at Riddarfjärden

Taiwan go go go!

2009-06-15T22:07:00.000+02:00

When I went home from my long holiday in Australia and Fiji I flew through Taipei where I had been for about 5 months before the trip. It was a little weird to come back and I was only going to spend a few hours in the airport. But as I was walking between the terminals I saw this poster on the wall and got very happy. I had almost forgotten but Taiwan is still the same and somehow I will miss it.

Taiwan really good!

Better to have it and loose it...

2009-05-16T01:03:00.000+02:00

The best thing about travelling is that you continuously meet a lot of very nice people. Even though you might not spend much time with all of them they often mean a lot to your experience of a place. It is sometimes difficult to say goodbye to the new friends you have made. I often wish I could just stop time for a while, I do not feel ready to go on yet. Sometimes I even wonder if it is worth the effort to get to know new friends if you just have to say goodbye and probably never see them again. But at the end of the day what you gain is so much more and it is better to have it and loose it that not to have it at all. And you never know, you might meet up again somewhere, sometime.

To all the new friends I have made in Australia: I will miss you loads!

Spirit of Freedom

2009-05-04T01:33:00.000+02:00

The Spirit of Freedom. Photo: Andy Durrer

Last week I had the good fortune to be diving the Great Barrier Reef on the Spirit of Freedom. It was an intense week with a total of 27 dives including 3 night dives. When we were not diving we were eating or sleeping. The chef fed us great food constantly.

Unfortunately we did not make it out to Osprey Reef in the Coral Sea due to the weather. We were hoping for good visibility and possibly some hammerheads and other sharks. Instead we continued to dive the Ribbon Reefs. The diving was easy, mostly fairly shallow and none or weak current. The corals are amazing and it was mainly small stuff we were looking for. There was the occasional white tip reef shark and turtle but otherwise we focused on nudibranchs, flatworms etc. My favourite dive sites were Cod hole, which is known for it spectacular coral formations and the potato cod (huge, ugly fish) and Steve's Bommie, a pinnacle that has lots to look at on depths from 5 to 30 m. Unfortunately on the pinnacles it becomes very crowded when 25 divers gets in the water at the same time...

Deep talk with a Potato Cod. Photo: Andy Durrer.

Beautiful nudibranch. Photo: Andy Durrer.

We found this sleeping pufferfish on a night dive. Is he not adorable? Photo: Andy Durrer.

This liveaboard was different from others I have done. The biggest difference was that there were about 25 divers (a lot!) and that the dives were not lead by a dive master. The navigation was not very complicated so it was no problem to dive on your own. I was lucky though and got my own personal dive master and instructor. My buddies, Birgit (dive master) and Andy (instructor) were simply the best. We had lots of fun both in the water and on the boat. I will miss you guys!

Having a well deserved glass of wine with my buddies, Andy and Birgit.

Apart from excellent diving the crew and the other guests made the trip unforgetable. I had a spectacular time and will never forget this lovely week.

Me! Photo: Andy Durrer.

Trust me

2009-04-27T01:05:00.000+02:00

I won't.

Part two

2009-04-27T00:48:00.000+02:00

When I arrived in Cairns yesterday it felt like a whole new trip had started. It was 10 or more degrees warmer than Sydney and the humidity a lot higher. This kind of weather is for me strongly connected to holidays while the Sydney weather is more familiar. The pace is also significantly slower, people walk slowly and are just hanging around.

This is the kind of environment I will spend my last month of travelling in. Actually today I am a little worried that I will find it boring after being fairly active down south with hiking and other activities. But I have two weeks of diving and 3 days of sailing planned so I think I will be fine. :-) I am very good at adapting to the surroundings...

In just a few hours I will board the dive boat, the Spirit of Freedom, which will take me and about 20 other divers around the Great Barrier Reef and the Coral Sea for 7 days. So in a week and after 25 or so dives I will be back to civilisation in Cairns with more stories.

Until then...

Oh, did I tell you I bought a boat....

Dear Debbie and Graeme

2009-04-25T05:13:00.000+02:00

One good thing about joining a group is all the nice people you meet. Hiking the Overland Track was not only a fantastic experience when it comes to scenery but I also got to know you. I enjoyed our conversations about travels and Australian football. I didn't realize before I came here that australian rules football even existed.

Thank you so much for you hospitality, for inviting me to your lovely home in Ballarat and to the footy game in Melbourne! You made me feel very welcome and it was a real treat to spend a few nights with you and your family.

I hope we will meet again soon, maybe in Sweden or hiking somewhere in the world. Maybe the European Alps next time?

Take care and send the family my love.

Angela

Canberra - hmm

2009-04-21T13:19:00.000+02:00

I passed by Canberra on my way from Thredbo to Sydney without any expectations really and ended up mostly fascinated. There is a weird feeling about the place. Although there are people around, it is quiet and somehow unpersonal. I got a strange Metropolis (you know, Fritz Lang silent movie) feeling... I do not know if it was how the city is custombuilt for workers (it was designed by an American architect not even 100 years ago), the people who all seemed to be programmed to be going somewhere special or the cool Art Deco architecture of the Hyatt Hotel. I guess it was the combination.

It is like a big factory where it is decided how people should move and behave. Like everyone is here for a purpose, not just living here.

It is also odd how the city is small enough to walk around but not made for walking. Many streets does not have sidewalks, footpaths sometimes just stop and when you reach a crossroads it is not always possible to cross it. Again I get the feeling that somebody is trying to make you move in a certain pattern. I guess usually cities are build around people while here it was the other way around, the people was put in a city.

When I arrived I went for a walk to find lunch and have a look at the Parliament and other sights. The guy at the hostel had suggested Kingston or Manuka for lunch where there are many cafees and restaurants. Sure enough I found a nice place called "All things chocolate". No, it is not what you think, it was actually the soup of the day posted outside that caught my attention. But after reading their menu and the raving articles on the wall I could not leave without a hot chocolate with chai flavour. Yummy!

The new Parliament.

After coming back to the hostel which was cituated in the centre of Canberra, I decide to go and check it out. I arrived 5.35 pm just to find that everything was closed! This is the capital city, is it not? The only thing I could see was people in suits walking focused down the street.

I decided to go to the movies to kill time. When I came out after 9 pm I could actually feel a different atmosphere. Finally, I thought, this is when things are happening. It turned out that the cafees all closed at 10 pm... But thankfully this is a big city and it was possible to find food later at night. I am sure you need some time to find where to go and figure the place out and that is what I do not have right now.

I was only staying one night but I could not leave until I had seen the city during business hours. This was just too interesting. So the next morning I went out to see the difference. The shopping centres were now busy so it seems that also here shopping is an important activity. Still though the streets were quite empty and it was fairly quiet.

Canberra is really a nice city, beautifully set at the foot of the mountains with a nice lake and lots of parks. The roads are very wide, it is very easy to get around and even in rush hour there is no traffic. The people are very friendly and helpful. I did like Canberra, maybe because it was interesting and made me curious. During my stay in Australia I have met a few people from the capital and after visiting the place it somehow makes sence.

Dear Chris

2009-04-19T13:20:00.000+02:00

Dear Chris,

When I finished the Overland Track I was full of energy but when arriving in Hobart I relaxed and took the time to do nothing. It was wonderful after 4 weeks of travelling without any real stops. I loved having long breakfasts at the cafe around the corner from your house. It was great just wandering around town during the day, visit you at work and helping you with your (yes, it was boring...) paper work. I have never seen a jeweller work before. You make the most beautiful things and I can see how it can be very rewarding. Your customers are always happy! I do understand that you really love what you do. (http://www.metalurges.com.au/)

Thank you for meeting me in Lake St Clair and taking me in for a few days. I enjoyed every moment of it, the view from Mt Wellington, the pancakes, your delicious soup and your Skyline. Do thank your Dad for lunch and showing me around his winery. I have some hope for Chardonnay now. And thank your friends for extending their invitation to include me. I loved the lobster pizza. Jaaa....

I hope we will meet again soon.

Love

Angela

Late afternoon at St Clair.

More hiking

2009-04-18T14:13:00.000+02:00

This trip was from the beginning going to be a diving trip but has so far been mostly focused on hiking. (I am planning to do about 50 dives so that is still to come.) Honestly I was not really aware of the hiking available in Australia. I did buy a Lonely Planet called Walking in Australia before I left Sweden but I did not read it until I arrived here. The result has been that I have gotten stuck in places like Bright and Thredbo, ski resorts which offer lots of brilliant hiking.

Because I did not bring any camping gear I can only see a small part of the National Parks and makes me realise that I have to come back to do more camping.

I had some bad luck with the weather in Bright. One day a storm prevented me from hiking and when the forecast promised me good weather on Mt Bogong, they were just joking... Mt Bogong is the highest peak in the Victorian Alps (1962 m, I think) and a challenge with its 1400 m elevation change in 8.5 km. In a few hours I was at the top and it was freezing... It was still frosty on the ground and a very cold wind was blowing. I managed to stay at the ridge for about an hour before it got too cold. It was partly cloudy and I had some good views but not the 360 degrees I was hoping for. The hike was beautiful though, especially when you reached the ridge above the tree line. On a nice summer day it would have been lovely to spend a day up there.

Mt Bogong.

On Mt Feathertop I was more lucky. I hiked the Razorback, a 10 km long ridge walk, to the top. When I started it was overcast but I could see blue skies at the horizon and I did have good views. About 1 hour before I reached the top clouds came rolling in and kept coming. It was not too cold on the top so I stayed there, had my lunch and hoped that the weather would get better. Just as I decided to leave the sun came out and when I turned around it was clear. I had the most fantastic view towards the Mt Buffalo Plateau.

The Razorback and Mt Feathertop.

On Mt Buffalo plateau I found my own little spot on Mt Dunn. This is one of the granite peaks on the plateau but obviously not the most visited. I got about one hour of solitude on the peak, one of those moments you feel like you are the only person in the world. Lovely! The highest peak on the plateau, the Horn, was full of people but a really good sunset spot. It had the most amazing colours.

Enjoying Mt Dunn.

On the way to Mt Dunn.

Sunset on the Horn.

In Thredbo, the main target was to climb Mt Kosciuszko, the highest mountain in Australia. Since Thredbo is a ski resort you can take the ski lift to almost 2000 m and then stroll up to the top at 2228 m. It is basically a highway to the top and it is very crowded because it is so accessable. The hike itself is not as rewarding as Mt Bogong but the views are spectacular from the top. Tomorrow I am heading up to the same area to climb a few more peaks.

On Mt Kosciuszko.

The Grampians

2009-04-18T13:40:00.000+02:00

After reading about and seeing pictures from the Grampians I included Halls Gap to my travel itinerary. The mountains in the Grampians are not very high, below 1000 m, but they are spectacular. There is a lot of exposed rock (my favourite) and rock hoping or easy climbing is often required to reach the peaks. The highest mountain , Mt William, was actually the least spectacular in the area because there was a paved road all the way to the top which was littered by masts and a humming transformer. But the views and the sunrise from the top still made it worth while to go there. Sunrise on Mt William.

Mt Difficult, in the centre of the park, was very good. It took about 2 hours to reach the top and that was obviously enough to loose the crowds. Scott, an english guy who I met at the hostel, and I were the only ones there except for the wallaby which escaped as soon as we arrived.

View from Mt Difficult.

Made it!

My favourite though is Mt Stapylton, a not very famous peak in the northern part of the park. It was not very high in comparison but the rocky peak and the climbing required to get there was just the best.

Taking it easy on Mt Stapylton.

During my stay in the Grampians the weather was just perfect for hiking. It was around 22 degrees and sunshine. Can it be better?

Heavenly hiking

2009-04-01T01:07:00.000+02:00

One of the highlights on this trip was the Overland Track, a 6 day hike on Tasmania. I have dreamt about hiking here for a long time and when I realised it was still hiking season I did not hesitate. The Overland Track is supposed to be one of the best in the world. Of course I had to see if this was true...
23 March I started the track with a tour company called Wilderness Expeditions. We were 6 tourists and 2 guides. Since I am travelling alone and not carrying any hiking gear I had to join a tour that would provide everything I needed. We carried all gear ourselves except food which the guides, poor guys, did. The gear was exceptional, Hilleberg tents and Marmot and North Face clothing.
Before we started I thought it was going to be harder. I am not used to carrying a lot, I usually go for one day or two day hikes were it is possible to buy a meal by the end of the day. My backpack weighed about 12 kg and honestly it was no problem at all. We hiked 3-5 hours a day and it felt like a luxury hike especially since the guides insisted on doing all the cooking... The first few days it was difficult to just hang around watching someone cook your food but it was surprisingly easy to get used to. :-)
Tasmania is not known for its good weather and I believe we were very lucky. We only had rain one day and some showers for two days but the rest of the time was fine. Temperatures were ranging from 5 degrees at night to about 20 when the sun came out. In the evening my hands and feet got a little cold but otherwise the gear kept me warm and cozy.
The scenery varied from great views of the vast country to lakes and rain forest. It was absolutely beautiful at all times and I was walking with a smile on my face for 6 days.
Of course can not any picture make the place justice and it is terribly difficult to choose a few pictures that would describe the whole track.

At Marions lookout. Cradle Mountain in the background.

One of the many lakes we passed.

Sunset at New Pelion Hut.

Never stop travel

2009-03-21T08:21:00.000+01:00

The view was painfully beautiful at Cape Borda lookout on Kangaroo Island. The dramatic cliffs and the waves against the rocks in contrast with the soft afternoon sunlight. We saw dolphins playing in the waters further out to sea and the sea lions swimming closer to the rocks just below us.

I was talking to Marilyn, a lady double my age, who happened to take a left turn when she was supposed to take a right. She ended up at Kangaroo Island and did not know when she was going back home. She usually slept in her car but today she had treated herself to one of the cottages just by the light house. This was not the first time she was travelling like this and certainly not the last.

You just never know where life will take you. If you let it.

Marilyn. My hero.

To die for

2009-03-21T08:18:00.000+01:00

This little baby koala was found under a tree without its mother. Is she not adorable?

Guess what I found on Kangaroo Island?

2009-03-21T07:40:00.000+01:00

Kangaroos! And wallabies, lizards, scorpions, possums, koalas, sea lions and more. So far Kangaroo Island is the place in Australia I have seen most animals and that's without even looking very hard. Unfortunately they always turn their back to me when I want to take a photo... Kangaroos, wallabies and lizards were often seen from the car, unfortunately more often flat on the road than alive on the side of it (and no, Stu, I did not take any pictures).

One day I walked to Grassdale Lagoon on my way to Hanson Bay on the south coast. I found that it was packed with kangaroos early in the morning. I had no problems getting close to them. They did look a bit sceptically at me while chewing the grass and eventually lazily bounced off to a different location when I came too close.

At Seal Bay I saw a pup with its protective mother. The little sea lion took a few very hard looking "steps" before it fell back flat on its stomach like it suddenly decided to play dead. Otherwise there was not much action on the beach at Seal Bay, they were just lying around in the sun relaxing. I can understand that they need a few days of rest after being out to sea feeding for three days, which is what they apparently do.

Kangaroo Island is a very beautiful place. The scenery is spectacular and it is a very relaxed place. Definately worth a visit.

On the ferry to Kangaroo Island.

The southern coast of the island.
At Remarkable Rock, which really is remarkable!
The colour of the sea was amazing at Remarkable Rock. It had a deep blue intense tone which was fantastic.

Great road that leads down to Remarkable Rock and the light house.

It's a tough job but someone has to do it...

2009-03-21T07:29:00.000+01:00

Wine tasting at Peter Lehmann in Barossa Valley.

Dear Adam

2009-03-17T01:34:00.000+01:00

Dear Adam,

Too easy. That is probably my favourite of your favourite expressions. It sort of describes the West MacDonnells, the pub at Glen Helen and you.

Thank you for showing me more of the area and a couple of the best breakfast spots ever. Climbing Mt Sonder in the dark and having breakfast on the top is definately on the top 5 list of things to do. Ok, we missed the sunrise by a few minutes but the beauty of the place is unreal.

It was a treat to spend a couple of hours on the top before heading down for a swim in the gorge below.

I am very glad to have had the fortune to see some of the West MacDonnells with some who knows and truly loves the area.

The pub at Glen Helen is really the best water hole. The people and the atmosphere made me want to stay. I really hated to leave the beautiful sites and your good company.

Don't ever change!

Angela

Having breakfast on Mt Sonder at sunrise.

Like magic

2009-03-15T10:00:00.000+01:00

I booked a 5 day tour in the Red Centre mostly because that is something you should do when in Australia. Then only thing I knew about the area was that this is where you find Uluru (Ayers Rock). I was not very keen on doing a tour either but decided it was the easiest way to see the place. I had chosen the bit more expensive tour and was happy to avoid the partying 21 year olds.

The first day we visited Uluru and did the base walk around the rock. The colors are wonderful and it is a quite cool rock. I did enjoy it, especially the sparkling wine in the sunset and sleeping under the stars.

Uluru at sunset.

Next stop was Kata Tjuta and a walk in the Valley of the Winds. Now I got a little more excited because I liked the hike and the views better.

The Valley of the Winds.

When we arrived in Kings Canyon the next day I was convinced that this is an area that one really has to experience. The colors are spectacular and the views fantastic.

My favourite spot in Kings Canyon.
Kings Canyon.

Day 4 we spent a few hours with Craig, who is an aboriginal. He told us about their culture and showed us some rock art. The stories he tells makes perfect sence when you are in this area.

Craig.

The last day in West MacDonnell National Park I probably fell in love with the place. I can not really say what it is, it just made me happy to be there. Maybe it is the emptiness (in comparison with the always busy Taiwan) and the space or the atmosphere and the people. Probably the combination. Our tour guide, Adam, obviously really loved the area and I think it rubbed off.

Ormiston Gorge.

When looking out on the desert you feel like you are the only person on earth. You see nothing at all in any direction except a beautiful landscape. No cities, roads, lights, nothing.

On Mt Sonder.

The Red Centre definately worked its magic on me and I hated to leave.

Darwin-Alice Springs

2009-03-06T09:11:00.000+01:00

After a brief stop in Brisbane, I went to Darwin. In the end I only got one day there and the city itself might not need much more attention than that. I did however find some very nice places and had a good time. The reason why I went to Darwin at all was to catch the train to Alice Springs. I arrived yesterday and enjoyed the city and the company of some new friends. The sunset from Anzac hill was fantastic.The train ride itself seemed faster than I thought, the main reason being that I ended up in the restaurant car drinking beer with two Aussie truck drivers, one war veteran and some other travellers. We had a great time and the beer helped us fall asleep in the uncomfortable chairs. It is however very fascinating that you can go for 20 hours without actually seeing anything except desert. The reason why it takes so long is because the train's average speed is not more than 85 km/hour. Partly because there are a lot of animals in the area that might cause the train to derail if it is going to fast.

From one thing to another

2009-03-06T09:03:00.000+01:00

This is the last thing I saw in Taiwan before I left:

And this is the first thing in Australia:
My holiday has started.

Leaving Taiwan for new adventures

2009-02-28T05:40:00.000+01:00

My stay in Taiwan has quickly come to an end. Tomorrow I leave and will travel around Australia and Fiji for 3 months before it is time to go back home again.

It has definately been an adventure to work almost 5 months in a country which is so fundamentally different from where I live. The Taiwanese, I have found, are very friendly and helpful when they can. The language makes it difficult many times. I have not had much time to learn and often people start talking to me although they must realize I do not understand. They can talk for a long time usually it all ends with laughter but sometimes they seem somewhat irritated. Normally they give up and walk away, like the police officer who pulled me over for speeding on the freeway...

It does feel nice to leave but there are some things I will miss also, especially the food. I know it is a bit contradictive but I will miss the things that are also the biggest difference from home and the things that makes it hard to be here in the long run. I am still fascinated by the infrastructure, the houses, the traffic and the total adoration for small cute things (Hello Kitty). Like how many seem to move their livingrooms partly out onto the street, the fantastic Taiwanese left turns (you sneak over just before it turns green or simply ignore cars driving straight ahead) and the shops which sell loads of unnecessary stuff with cartoons on them. Maybe it is not so surprising, the things I recognize from home I have probably not noticed very much.

What I will not miss is the lack of fresh air and calm and relaxing outdoor areas. The mountains in Taiwan are beautiful but far away from Tainan.

Well, it is time for new adventures...

Snacks

2009-01-10T06:14:00.000+01:00

Fragrant crispy entry. What is that? Sometimes it is difficult to know what to buy in this country. How do you avoid everything that tastes like dry fish? This one looked particularly promising. Best tasty! Click on the image and read all the text. Crispy crispy good flavour. :-) Actually it was one of the better snacks I have had since I came to Taiwan.

Necklace

2008-11-19T16:43:00.000+01:00

Have you not always longed for a necklace like this...? Complete with thermometer and everything.

Red lights

2008-11-11T02:19:00.000+01:00

The traffic in Taiwan is interesting like in many Asian countries. The scooters are everywhere, carrying anything and driving fast. Taxis have a tendency to pass a whole line of cars waiting for a red light and just stop in front of everyone in the middle of the cross roads after the pedestrian area. These guys would not be very popular in Sweden but here no one seems to be very upset.

Red lights does usually not stop anyone. When walking across a street you should never start walking immediately when it turns green because there is always someone who decides to drive through the red light. There is also a small difference between Taipei in the north and Tainan in the south. One taxi driver explained it very well to our chinese colleague, Kezhao. He said that a red light in Taipei is a warning but in Tainan it is only decoration.

Walking down the street

2008-10-24T08:36:00.000+02:00

The houses on a typical street in Taiwan are narrow and tall, much like town houses. Commonly not more than maybe 3 meters wide. On the ground floor it looks like a garage with a metall door that can be raised all the way to the ceiling. In most cases there are some sort of commercial activity on the street level and I guess that they live upstairs. It might be a restaurant, garage, mechanical work shop, hair salon or any type of shop selling a wide variety of things, from clothes and watches to motors and scooters.

Sometimes it is hard to figure out what they are up to. Often the place just looks like a normal messy garage but if you look closely you can see some kind of product laying around. Business does not always seem to be very good and there are usually no particular opening hour. So to make sure they do not miss out on any customers they simply move their livingroom halfways out on the street. It is not uncommon that you have walk around some people watching TV on the sidewalk.

It can be tricky to walk down the streets of a Taiwanese city. The sidewalk is full of scooters, cars, tables, trash or anything really that they can not (or do not want to) fit in the house. You simply have to step out into the street and risk being hit by a car or racing scooter.

Often the same type of shop is clustered in one area. The other day we found the wedding area, several streets only containing shops selling wedding clothes. When we turned around one corner there were instead only jewellery shops. We had to walk several blocks before we found any type of restaurant which we were really looking for.

Hello Kitty!

2008-10-24T08:27:00.000+02:00

I did not get the Hello Kitty Suite. I am so disappointed!