If you go down to the woods today

In the song that starts the same at the title of this blog, there is a teddy bear picnic.  Thankfully none of those in the woods where we were today.  Hemlingby is a city owned outdoor recreation area complete with hiking trails, mountain bike trails, small ski hill with lift, some old barns, a number of animals such as sheep and a lodge type building serving as a restaurant and meeting center.  They do a lunch buffet which has salads, a main and two soups.  On a cool rainy day, it is perfect.

The rain was fairly steady most of the morning while I was in at the Saturday market --bread, smoked salmon and cheese (does life get any better?).  However, after lunch the clouds moved away and while the forest floor was wet, there were no more showers.  With a little sunshine, one could appreciate the fabulous new green tips on the spruce trees and the lovely leaves on a tree which has huge pollen-laden flowers in the style of a poplar (puddles have a yellow powder floating on them).  Tova Elise loved the outdoor obstacle course and was able to climb on some of the apparatus.  We walked about 4 km and could already see the blueberries set on the little plants of the forest floor -- good season ahead.

The rain has been welcome as the weather has been quite dry lately, though I don't know that anyone wants to rhubarb to grow even faster and bigger.

Feels like......

Richard and Jennie have now been here for just over 4 years.  They have bought a house and have settled into a Swedish way of life.  They shop locally and try to buy Swedish products in the grocery stores where possible.  (Remember the words of Gustav Vasa -- first king of Sweden:  Be Swedish!)  They have adopted the Swedish attitude toward weather -- no bad weather, only bad clothes.  Tova Elise has all her naps outside, usually on the back porch.  The rain cover on her stroller is well used and this afternoon she was out in the Chariot with Richard as he ran.  Their car only racked up 5000 km last year as usually they work and play locally by bicycle.  Jennie is quite fluent in Swedish and Richard understands most conversations but with his work (he is an English teacher at an English school) he doesn't have the opportunity to practice the language as much.

So today as we were walking in the light rain, I asked if it felt like home.  He said yes immediately.  Home is where the heart is, and their hearts are most definitely here.  They love the sporty culture of the country, the snow in winter and the camping possibilities in summer.  They love their work here and their home.  Gavle is a great place to live -- big enough to have most things of culture and convenience, and Stockholm is only about 85 minutes away.  They have made friends through work and their sporting endeavours.  Thanks to computers and phones, the contacts with family and friends on the other side of the Atlantic are strong.   I am reminded of a small plaque that my mother has in her house which translates:

'My home, my dear little one; full of sunshine and rest.  How I hurry to your peace at the end of the working day.'  I'm so glad they have found that here.

And when I come -- which has now been about 5 times, it feels like visiting with an old friend.  The familiar patterns are comforting and delightful.  I know where to find pear cider in the liquor store, I know who has lovely bread and who has interesting day-old baked goods.  I know where to find the washroom at the mall and that I need to have a 5kr coin.  I know several different routes to get downtown.  I know where to find Moomin souveniers.  I know which stall at the market has lovely hot smoked salmon.  Feels like -- a great place to visit again and again.

Carpe Diem

If the day's forecast is for great sunshine and the 3 of the next four are for rain, yes, you seize the day and head outdoors.

Tova Elise has her big nap in the morning which provided time for weeding and transplanting in the gardens.  When she awoke, we made our way to a local outdoor recreation centre -- Hogbo Bruk (sorry can't add the umlauts).  Well, we stumbled upon their Children's day which meant that there were kids everywhere -- with balloons, getting their faces painted, playing fish pond, getting horse rides, paddling in kayaks, visiting all the animals and even doing rabbit jumping races.  The last of these I had never seen before -- you have a rabbit on a leash and it has been 'trained' to jump over fences -- think horse jumps in miniature.  Well, rabbits refuse gates even more than horses, so there is a continual 'pick up the rabbit, carry it back a few steps and then try again' process.  But those guys can jump when inspired!

Lunch was kid oriented -- that means meatballs, mini hotdogs, and pancakes on the buffet.  In the afternoon, Richard and Jennie did a mountainbike route while TE and I walked around the lake.

Too many people for an afternoon coffee there so we stopped at IKEA for an ice cream or coffee -- can't go wrong for 5 kr each (less than $1).

We further enjoyed the glorious day with supper on the back porch -- thanks IKEA for making good pizza!

getting there is half the fun?

I find going east to be much harder than going west.  It is Wednesday evening here in Sweden and it feels like it should just be the end of a long Tuesday due to my lack of sleep -- how we punctuate each day.  I could nap, but then it takes longer to get settled in the new time zone.

After I got the weight of the bicycle bag (with bicycle) sorted out -- should be 23 kg instead of the 30 kg I had in there, the flight out of Toronto and into Frankfurt went easily.  I think there was about an hour total of sleep.  Frankfurt airport was a breeze with no suitcase or bike to drag and that place is very well signed with helpful service people.  Coming into Arlanda was a bit rough, but no problems.

I knew that getting the bike onto the train would be my biggest challenge as it meant pulling my suitcase and the bike bag at the same time while changing terminals.  Trouble.  The track between Arlanda and Upsalla was shut for some reason and so I had to find a bus to take me to Upsalla and then run to catch the next train to Gavle.  I arrived only about 40 minutes later than originally scheduled. Thanks to the strangers who lent a hand!

Jennie and TovaElise came to pick me up.  The little one does not make strange and was immediately gurgling and laughing with me.  She is a delightful toddler with the funny initial walk, but wanting to check everything out.  She was playing with the Lego blocks I brought her and the stuffed creatures.  But I'm sure she liked being outside and running through the back yard even better.

Forget the 'cold north' here -- the lilacs are in full bloom, all the trees are fully leafed-out, and Jennie's garden already has some little green tomatoes on the plants.

it is good to be back here!

Tenerife summary

So the Canary Island trip is over.  Aside from the passport business, it is certainly an adventure that I would look to repeat or expand upon.  Some of the memorable things:

1.  Hills are your friends -- so my son-in-law says and every cycle trip I had to remind myself of that 'truism'.  Make no mistake, I do not like hills.  The Portugal tour a year ago helped me to tolerate hills -- mountains, but not even that was like Tenerife.  There were no flat stretches of road more than about 200m.  The hardest one for me was the road by the banana plantation.  On the first day, Monday, it nearly killed me and I had to rest at the top to stop my legs from shaking and feeling like I was going to collapse.  Yesterday, I did it twice, along with other ascents and the second time felt better than the first.  I had jokingly said after Monday that if I did that ride every day I would be in shape fairly soon.  Well, I certainly got a good start on that.  I will miss that the bicycle won't be part of every day when I get home.  OK, hills are the kind of friends that (slowly) grow on you.

2.  Dried fruit is a true treat.  For each lunch and supper, there was a lovely selection of prunes, dates, figs, raisins and apricots.  Most of the dates and figs I have encountered were smooshed together or so hard that you could barely get your knife to chop them.  Those were only distant relatives of the beautiful looking and very tasty items offered beside the cheeses.  What a lovely combination.  And sometimes, the fruit was rehydrated in a syrup or sauce to accompany a meat dish or support some fruit compote.  I shall be adding this to my menus.

3.  Bananas are big business.  I have never seen plantations of this fruit under burlap.  Some of the fruit is grown in the blue plastic bags and some is just out in the open.  Plantations are in irrigated terraces surrounded by concrete walls to protect the trees from wind and banana thieves!


4.  Volcanos make amazing islands.  All of the Canaries are volcanic and the last eruption on Tenerife was about a hundred years ago.  Congratulations to the builders on this island for using the natural materials.  Our resort had amazing walls built of the black igneous rock.  The paths were done with patterned concrete to emulate the walls.

5.  Palm trees are fabulous.  About 4 years ago, Kieran became fascinated by palm trees and would watch them excitedly.  Now TovaElise is discovering the fascinating interplay of light and movement of palms swaying in ocean breezes.  There were actually date palms at the resort, but no one seemed anxious to pick and enjoy them.

6.  Time with family tops everything, and going to an all-inclusive resort makes sure that everyone can be pampered.  Thanks RIU BuenaVista for putting us into a great villa.  TovaElise is almost 6 months old and a happy, healthy girl growing astonishingly.  She is strong standing on her legs easily.  Most of the time she sits independently.  Her grip is very strong and you know it when she grabs!  She laughs easily and does not make strange, though when she gets tired, only Mom will do.  A wonderful time!

"Yes, it's here"

That was the sweetest morning salutation in a long time because it meant I had not lost my passport.

I discovered the item missing last evening after Rich, Jennie and TovaElise went to bed and I was packing.  It was not in the safe in my closet where it should have been.  I searched through all the paperwork again.  I went up to the front desk to ask if had been left in the room where I had first checked in.  "No, our cleaning staff always checks the whole room including the safe".  We called the Canadian consulate and since it was a Saturday night we had to call Ottawa direct where they have 24hr emergency answering.  That lady could only suggest that I start the lost passport procedure which would have to go through Madrid on Monday morning.  If she started it last night, it would mean that even if the document was found, it would no longer be valid.  I said no.  I went back to the room to think and realised that I had left the original room in pristine condition and there might be a chance that the passport was still there.  Needless to say, it was a very long, unsettled night and at 6:30 this morning I was camped out by the first room making sure no one left early and I missed them.  Well, a light came on about 7:15 and at 7:30, which I deemed to be a half-way acceptable time, I knocked on the door.

It was a pair of lovely older English ladies who could understand my request and checked immediately.  They had no used the safe at all and then came that wonderful sentence quoted in the title.  A HUGE WAVE OF RELIEF!  I hurried down to our villa and was able to relate to Rich and Jenn that all was well.

So now I am here on Norwegian flying back to Gatwick.  Hope to get another blog (telling of the last part of the stay on Tenerife together with some pictures) done before landing.

It's all up and down

The only complaint I have about the RIU Buenavista is the internet access.  The 'download rigor mortis' commercial certainly applies here as you wait for at least a minute for each connection.  Today we have had enough and bought a week of internet from a local hotspot that we get nicely on the patio of our villa.  So, I am sitting here on the deck, listening to the ocean and looking at the lights of the boats on the sea  -- not a hard life.

We had requested adjoining rooms, but they don't have any.  Instead they offered us a villa -- 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms a big living area and a little kitchen with a lovely deck/patio all around facing the ocean.  In fact, that's where I am now.

Tenerife is the all up and down mentioned in the title.  There is a central volcano peak -- high enough to have snow even now and then numerous smaller peaks all around.  There are a few beaches, but for the most part the shoreline is volcanic rocks jutting into the sea.

I have a cruiser bicycle and it serves me fine.  Mostly I am in the lowest gear grinding up the hills.  The main road is quite narrow without a shoulder and with quite a dropoff so I don't ride there though some cyclists do.  The cars are very considerate but I am just not comfortable enough to have them going by.

If you have mobility issues, this is not the resort for you.  The hotel is on many different levels with ramps and stairs everywhere.  The pools are on different levels and the walkways around are kept open and clean.  I have never seen a zamboni for pool decks before!

The resort is at least 50% Scandanavians -- Norwegians, Swedes, Finns and Danes.  Then there are some Brits and some Germans.  Me, the Canadian, is a novelty.  The grounds are groomed, the palm trees kept beautifully trimmed, the hedges clipped, but the most striking features are the volcanic stone walls -- everywhere, many over 2 m tall.  They are done with minimal mortar to give the impression of dry stone structures.  The same patterning is reflected in the textured concrete walkways which makes for a great deal of gray!

sorry, no pictures yet.