Beach Day

Guess what day we picked for going to the beach? Naturally the one with the worst weather... go figure. The morning started out pretty nice and sunny, but Kathryn and I had some errands to run. First we washed our Golden car real quick so we can return it to the grandparents in good shape, and then we had to pick up Kathryn's passport at the police station which took forever.
We decided to go to a really nice beach about an hour away in the south of Sweden. Of course once we got there the rain started. We still stayed, because this was our last full day we were staying in Helsingborg, and we wouldn't get another chance to go swimming.
First we ate at a fish-place. Nice and fresh fish burgers for everyone, except for dad, who since he was being treated decided to get some kind of huge seafood sandwich. For some reason the place was crawling with wasps, and it seemed like all of them wanted to have a sip of my dad's Fanta. At one point there were 4 crawling on his can and another couple in his glass.
After that we headed down to the water.
Not everyone wanted to get in, as you can see, but once you got in, the water was quite nice.
We saw an interesting sign on the beach, and it will be the question of the day. What is the sign telling you?
Hint, the answer might lie in the end.
Back at the house we had some milk noodles and Falukorv (bonus question: What is Falukorv?) and then we had our meeting. Micah and Kristine hadn't gotten much out of the meetings in Swedish, so we had a little private meeting for their benefit. We promise we won't make a habit out of it though...
We ended the evening with hot open-faced sandwiches. Some with ham and pineapple and some with some mushroom gunk and ham which I didn't touch.

Not much

We didn't have anything special planned today, but my parents and sisters were going for an outdoors play, which I figured wasn't going to be that great for foreigners, so we decided to just roam Helsingborg some more, and then hit the movies.
We ate at an Indian restaurant, where they were playing some hilarious Indian music videos. If you remember what went on 2 years ago, we ate at that very same restaurant.
We did a lot of walking back and forth, and found some interesting items that will beautify our home and wow our guests :)
We ended up watching Inception, which was a great movie, as I'm sure most of you know already, and also eating a pile of candy... might not be enough left to give to the winner of the competition :)
I figured I could throw in a picture of our ticket booth, so you can see how we travel back and forth to Helsingborg.
Random Sweden Question: What is Sweden's main export? (Besides handsome Swedes)

Late update again #3 (Beautiful Helsingborg)

Tuesday:

All recuperated from our ordeals, we were ready to hit the town... once we woke up that is.
The place where we are staying, Påarp, is only a short train ride away from Helsingborg. (Question: how many Swedish crowns does the ticket from Påarp to Helsingborg cost?) Since Kristine and Micah had never been here before, we went to all the cool sights.
Micah and I managed to find a place that sold a mobile network adapter so now we should be set for the rest of the vacation.
Lunch was in a cozy little restaurant that seems to try to please everyone. Kathryn and Kristine had fish and boiled potatoes, I had Kebab and baked potatoes, and Micah had fajitas without the bread that tasted Indian. There were Italian, Greek, Swedish and Turkish dishes all mixed on the menu... Everyone liked it :)
We walked around along the waterfront, checking out the imported Palm-trees (they keep them in pots and take them away for the winter), and also we checked out some apartments where we can move in, once we make the millions we need.
After some delicious ice-cream, we hit the train and headed back to our house, where my cousin had been preparing a meal.
Kathryn claims we look the same, but I don't see it. I refused to post the picture, since I don't want any second opinions... :)
On the way from the train we stopped to exercise on a tree. Kathryn got a nice video of it.
At the house I noticed a poor bumble-bee that was drowning in a water-collector, so I saved it and fed it honey. He wouldn't leave, so I ended up having to put him away on a leaf. He spent about 30 minutes on my hand drying off and eating with a tiny little tongue... I think he thought I was him mommy :)
The food consisted of chicken on sticks, and some chorizo that was uncooked... until you put it on the grill that is. We also had some Tzatziki (Bonus question: recipe again... Get me one and I'll give the first person that gets it right 5 points. Nothing for latecomers.) and another sauce with some peppers and stuff. For dessert, my other cousin had made some cloudberry ice-cream.
My older cousin Ola married an Italian girl, Vita, who was raised in Canada. My younger cousin Viktor married a Swede who is blond... go figure :)
Both are super-sweet.

Late update again #2 (the death-ride)

Monday:

Ok, today was the day of the long trip down from Härnösand to Helsingborg (Question: How long should that take?) We were happy that it was going to rain so that the sun wouldn't be beating down on us all the time. And, boy did it rain! My grandparents car is tiny, so we really had to squeeze in the 4 of us and our luggage. We were invited to my aunt and uncle's for lunch at the half-way point, and down to there it was pretty much uneventful. We even figured out a way to keep the peace in the car. Lunch was delicious. My uncle grilled various meats and my aunt had some potato salad made with new potatoes. Yum.

Rain was still pouring down, but we had high hopes we would arrive around 9:30pm. What could possibly go wrong? Well, how about the windshield wipers just stopping mid-window??? After pulling over and trying to figure it out by ourselves, Micah and I realized that we needed some tools to even see what was wrong. Fortunately, our wives were stellar examples of supporting mates. Once Micah and I got a tool, we also realized that we needed some skills. Unfortunately, those we couldn't acquire as easily. When I went to return the tool, the mechanics must have thought I looked too pathetic, so they offered to help out (even tho the place was closed and they weren't "official" mechanics). The guy had never worked on a Toyota before (it was a Volvo shop), and he had the look of a druggie, but was very nice. After about 45 mins, he had gotten the wiper-arm reattached, but was missing the part to keep it locked in place. He left the access open and showed me how to reattach it. Fortunately, it stopped raining after 3 wet re-attachments. We stopped for pizza at around 9pm. The guy was closing shop, but again, the pathetic looks struck gold :)

11pm a tired, gold-colored car pulled into it's final resting place, and we crashed. (Not the car.)

Late update again #1 (public talk)

Sunday:

Ok, so, we lost our internet for a while again, so now I have to catch up...
I didn't do much beside practice my talk, since nervousness finally caught up with me. The ladies went out for some service in the morning, and then we headed to the KH for my big performance :)
All things considered it was not too terrible. Of course everyone told me it went great since I grew up there, but I noticed some things that needed improvements... well maybe in 2 years...
Mom made some really delicious stir-fry in the evening, and then we had some more ice-cream and watermelon. I love that stuff! :) Now my vacation can finally start for real, I will not worry about a thing.... or so I thought.

Question: When was Härnösand founded?

So sorry

I know you people have been looking here everyday, but don't forget, he who waits for something good... so I won't really give you much to read today either. I just got back online (story will be here soon) and it got too late to post anything of consequence, so you just get a question.
Today when we were walking around in Helsingborg, we looked over the ocean and saw another city. What is the name of that city, and what country is it in?

Mammas Pizza

Micah was complaining today that everyday we've been doing something, and that he wanted a day doing nothing... I guess he got worn out from all that hiking with Kristine's cousins. Well I thought today was pretty slow, but I guess he doesn't consider a short walk doing nothing :)
My dad took Kathryn out to a return-visit living about 30 mins away, so I was stuck with Kristine and Micah, and we walked down to Härnösand City, which is considerably smaller than it sounds.

We just browsed around in some random stores, and then we met Hannah who just had done some work with the candy in the morning. She is covering a little bit for my mom when she is on vacation. We finished with a walk through the old part of town which is very quaint looking. We have a question for you here too. What does the blue sign on the right side in the picture with my sister mean?

I decided it was time to introduce Micah to a Swedish bakery, and he formed what I think will be a life-long relationship with the baked goods :)
By the way, Stephen. I'm sure you'll appreciate hearing that my mom has been serving us some Gifflar every now and then since she made a ton and froze them... they taste really good even when reheated.

On the way home we ran into a rabbit jumping competition or training... not sure which, but we decided to film it since it was very adorable,and I figured there might be some old ladies watching the blog that would appreciate it. This video is neat since the rabbit wasn't in the mood to jump, instead it just stopped after each jump to start eating. :)

Since my public talk is tomorrow, it was really crunch time for me, and I noticed I was a bit short, which didn't help... I thought it was long enough, but I guess my internal clock is off. My dear wife thought it was hilarious to make me sip this obviously non-alcoholic drink while I was working on my talk... I stopped writing after this picture was taken by the way, I don't want to give anyone any bad ideas.

The Girls decided to go for some walking exercise, while Micah and I spent some time bonding.
Mom made us Pizza in the evening, and everyone loved it, eating until it was coming out our ears.