Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Monday, 25 April 2011
Monday, 10 August 2009
Getting unpacked and sorted out
We've spent days unpacking (7 suitcases x23kg plus hand luggage!!) and finding room for everything, sorting through things, weeding out anything that is too small or no longer used/needed). It is still not all done but after a major overhaul in the kids' room today we are getting there.
It is always nice to come home, living in someone else's place and out of suitcases for over 6 weeks takes its toll and we've done it twice in the last 12 months - that's 3 months of the year away from home!!
Our saving grace when we go to Canada is the cottage, it is our refuge, our home away from home where we can really unpack, relax and be ourselves.
Walking back into our apartment brings a very unique feeling and I feel it upon each return, with some variation. It is hard to put words to it but the place always feels so crisp and neat and depending on where we have been it often feels very, very small. Sometimes I walk into a room and get a shock at how small it is, sometimes the whole place shocks me for how small it is - especially when we have been in Australia where we have so, so much space at my mum's place.
But even if it feels small it feels undeniably ours and I like it - at least until we have unpacked all the suitcases and then it is just crazy and it drives me crazy having all the stuff everywhere!! And as I said, it takes days to get it sorted out..... On the upside it forces us to go through everything every six months or so - every thing in here has to have a good reason for staying!
I'm tired of living in a small apartment, 73 square metres is not a lot of space when you have two kids - even if the original owners did have three and lived here for 50 some years.... That's Stockholm living for you - our friends and peers at home would hardly believe their eyes!
But we have to be patient and hang in there a little longer. Our time will come, I know it will. And there are lots of good things about living in a small space - epecially when you are a hoarder by nature - it has been a good, long lesson for me. This small space has a positive impact on the kids too, in lots of ways - Makaila has made it quite clear that she wouldn't want her own room - even if she could (we'll see how long that lasts).
It is always nice to come home, living in someone else's place and out of suitcases for over 6 weeks takes its toll and we've done it twice in the last 12 months - that's 3 months of the year away from home!!
Our saving grace when we go to Canada is the cottage, it is our refuge, our home away from home where we can really unpack, relax and be ourselves.
Walking back into our apartment brings a very unique feeling and I feel it upon each return, with some variation. It is hard to put words to it but the place always feels so crisp and neat and depending on where we have been it often feels very, very small. Sometimes I walk into a room and get a shock at how small it is, sometimes the whole place shocks me for how small it is - especially when we have been in Australia where we have so, so much space at my mum's place.
But even if it feels small it feels undeniably ours and I like it - at least until we have unpacked all the suitcases and then it is just crazy and it drives me crazy having all the stuff everywhere!! And as I said, it takes days to get it sorted out..... On the upside it forces us to go through everything every six months or so - every thing in here has to have a good reason for staying!
I'm tired of living in a small apartment, 73 square metres is not a lot of space when you have two kids - even if the original owners did have three and lived here for 50 some years.... That's Stockholm living for you - our friends and peers at home would hardly believe their eyes!
But we have to be patient and hang in there a little longer. Our time will come, I know it will. And there are lots of good things about living in a small space - epecially when you are a hoarder by nature - it has been a good, long lesson for me. This small space has a positive impact on the kids too, in lots of ways - Makaila has made it quite clear that she wouldn't want her own room - even if she could (we'll see how long that lasts).
Sunday, 9 August 2009
Our brush with H1N1
wow.... it has been a while, almost two whole months since I last blogged and even then there wasn't a whole lot of activity from me.
May and June were busy with relocation work and getting www.liveinsweden.se live, June also saw a number of loose ends being tied up with odd clients and classes, packing, and preparing our home to be enjoyed by others over the summer.
Then came our departure week and a close call with the infamous H1N1. Days before we were due to head to Canada we had a friend and her daughter come and stay only to leave the next day, be admitted to hospital, and then be diagnosed with H1N1. The day the results came through will be remembered as one of the most stressful in my entire life (mmmm.... now what does that say about my life?). I spent the day on the phone to the local doctor, the children's hospital, the infectious diseases institute etc etc etc.
In cases like this it is always interesting to see how others react. My friends who survived the Tsunami blew it off, hugged us and said have a great holiday - let us know if we can do anything - they said. Then there are those who really panic.
The doctors finally decided to test Kieran as being under 5 he is high risk and we decided that all four of us would take Tamiflu as a preventative measure. None of us had any symptoms so we were given the all-clear to fly to Canada and told that unless we developed symptoms we were free to move around as normal. You have to love the doctor's attitude at Karolinska hospital who noted that we were at least flying to a country where the flu was running rampant!!
None of that really lightened our load and we spent the next few days on edge. My mother-in-law, a sufferer of a lung disease was understandably, less than thrilled considering she is also in the high risk category. Nothing like getting a holiday off to a good start.
Finally Kieran's results came back as negative and we got word that considering we still didn't have any symptoms we could safely assume that none of us had caught it. That's not something I treat lightly considering our children spent hours together playing in a closed environment.
Had we not been flying I would only have had to worry about our health, especially that of my son who as a four year old is supposedly more at risk. And considering he had recently had strep throat followed by a vaccination his immune system would not have been at its best.
Flying from one country to another adds a whole new dimension to things. What are the repercussions if we say "to hell with it" and go? What happens if we have to cancel our flight? Who would pick up my mum and her partner 5 days later if we didn't make our flight, or couldn't get another? What if we go, symptom free and then get sick? What then if our insurance didn't cover us? Canada is one hell of a country to be in if you don't have travel insurance. But again our Tsunami friends reassured us that it would all be sorted out if needed. Experience is a wonderful thing.
In the end I decided to be upfront about coming in contact with H1N1, make the phone calls and get the run around. I spoke to all the doctors and I put Kieran through the horrid testing - a very, very, very long thing stuck up into his sinus passages, in the car park behind the clinic because they would not have us in the clinic, by a doctor in a suit that resemble Darth Vader's only it was clear. The poor kid was traumatized for days, Makaila too, who ended up hiding behind the loading bay so she didn't have to watch. But it did give us peace of mind, for what it was worth. We were given the go-ahead, told we could move about freely and a few days later found out we could put it all behind us. I just hope Kieran doesn't hold it against me the rest of his life......
People are saying all sorts of things about this pandemic and you hear words like hysteria, over-stated, under-stated, weaker strains, mutation, vaccination and concern for the coming winter being thrown about the place. The thoughts and theories, speculations and assumptions about H1N1 are plentiful.
But out of all this there is one thing that has really struck me, and that is how vulnerable the flight staff are as they move hundreds and hundreds of people around the globe every day.
A young boy was feverish and threw up in the seat behind us on our way to Canada. He and his brother were flying from Cambodia to see his grandparents in Toronto. The staff helped him as best they could. Then the man in front of us on our way back to Stockholm had a fever and felt like he was going to vomit. The staff took his temperature and helped him as best they could.
I can't help but think of our friend who works as a steward, and goes home after each stint to his wife, his four year old and his one-month-old baby. Our brush with H1N1 pales in comparison......
May and June were busy with relocation work and getting www.liveinsweden.se live, June also saw a number of loose ends being tied up with odd clients and classes, packing, and preparing our home to be enjoyed by others over the summer.
Then came our departure week and a close call with the infamous H1N1. Days before we were due to head to Canada we had a friend and her daughter come and stay only to leave the next day, be admitted to hospital, and then be diagnosed with H1N1. The day the results came through will be remembered as one of the most stressful in my entire life (mmmm.... now what does that say about my life?). I spent the day on the phone to the local doctor, the children's hospital, the infectious diseases institute etc etc etc.
In cases like this it is always interesting to see how others react. My friends who survived the Tsunami blew it off, hugged us and said have a great holiday - let us know if we can do anything - they said. Then there are those who really panic.
The doctors finally decided to test Kieran as being under 5 he is high risk and we decided that all four of us would take Tamiflu as a preventative measure. None of us had any symptoms so we were given the all-clear to fly to Canada and told that unless we developed symptoms we were free to move around as normal. You have to love the doctor's attitude at Karolinska hospital who noted that we were at least flying to a country where the flu was running rampant!!
None of that really lightened our load and we spent the next few days on edge. My mother-in-law, a sufferer of a lung disease was understandably, less than thrilled considering she is also in the high risk category. Nothing like getting a holiday off to a good start.Finally Kieran's results came back as negative and we got word that considering we still didn't have any symptoms we could safely assume that none of us had caught it. That's not something I treat lightly considering our children spent hours together playing in a closed environment.
Had we not been flying I would only have had to worry about our health, especially that of my son who as a four year old is supposedly more at risk. And considering he had recently had strep throat followed by a vaccination his immune system would not have been at its best.
Flying from one country to another adds a whole new dimension to things. What are the repercussions if we say "to hell with it" and go? What happens if we have to cancel our flight? Who would pick up my mum and her partner 5 days later if we didn't make our flight, or couldn't get another? What if we go, symptom free and then get sick? What then if our insurance didn't cover us? Canada is one hell of a country to be in if you don't have travel insurance. But again our Tsunami friends reassured us that it would all be sorted out if needed. Experience is a wonderful thing.
In the end I decided to be upfront about coming in contact with H1N1, make the phone calls and get the run around. I spoke to all the doctors and I put Kieran through the horrid testing - a very, very, very long thing stuck up into his sinus passages, in the car park behind the clinic because they would not have us in the clinic, by a doctor in a suit that resemble Darth Vader's only it was clear. The poor kid was traumatized for days, Makaila too, who ended up hiding behind the loading bay so she didn't have to watch. But it did give us peace of mind, for what it was worth. We were given the go-ahead, told we could move about freely and a few days later found out we could put it all behind us. I just hope Kieran doesn't hold it against me the rest of his life......
People are saying all sorts of things about this pandemic and you hear words like hysteria, over-stated, under-stated, weaker strains, mutation, vaccination and concern for the coming winter being thrown about the place. The thoughts and theories, speculations and assumptions about H1N1 are plentiful.
But out of all this there is one thing that has really struck me, and that is how vulnerable the flight staff are as they move hundreds and hundreds of people around the globe every day.
A young boy was feverish and threw up in the seat behind us on our way to Canada. He and his brother were flying from Cambodia to see his grandparents in Toronto. The staff helped him as best they could. Then the man in front of us on our way back to Stockholm had a fever and felt like he was going to vomit. The staff took his temperature and helped him as best they could.
I can't help but think of our friend who works as a steward, and goes home after each stint to his wife, his four year old and his one-month-old baby. Our brush with H1N1 pales in comparison......
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Tuesday, 9 December 2008
Aussie Expat Returns Home
But not without much contemplation and it seems I am never to be freed from it. Our trips to Canada just don’t get me thinking the way coming back home does.
I’ve been gone since 1995, plus the 15 months I spent away before that, and right from when I check In at Arlanda thoughts about my homeland start. I see another Swedish-Australian family lined up to check-in beside us, they remind me of so many others I have met over the years…..
I guess my first thoughts go to categories – and fighting the ones that people box us into. I don’t want to be like anyone one else, I never have and I can chuckle and think of many who would laugh and say – don’t worry – you never will be! But I am glad I don’t live in the U.K. – like so many Aussies do. And I’m not just another expat who has spent a few years abroad – I’m kind of more lost than that – am I one of those that has been lost to another nation, another life. Was Australia never good enough for me? Never the way I wanted it to be? Or did it just happen this way.
Entering the airport and going through the motions – customs etc brings me tface to face with my contemplation of my own national identity – who am I? Where do I belong?
As we drive from the airport my mother asks if it feels good to be at the end of our journey, yet sitting in the car that last hour is probably the hardest bit. And as the city and the suburbs whirl past me I am struck by what I like least about this place – the sheer vastness of this city, its urban sprawl and the roads. They are adding another lane she informs me – that’s great but what are they doing about the infrastructure – public transport?
And the overwhelming feeling of coming home to my city – to a city I no longer know. Staring at her face and seeing so much that is familiar, but so much that is not. It fuels my irritation over the building that is going on, developing, exploiting – business is big in this part of the world – money will buy you anything you want. Or am I just overcome by the strange and empty feeling of not feeling at home in the very place where I am supposed to feel at home?
It’s now 4am in the morning, I have slept a few hours but the awoke and my mind started spinning, my thoughts racing. My children sleep peacefully beside me, their stimulation is of a different kind to mine. I’m grateful they are sleeping and not disturbed by that now.
It is funny, moreover, interesting to read the thoughts of other bloggers that reflect my own. The Hairy Swede wonders if you ever stop translating prices into your own currency. I stopped a long time ago, and in my head Australian prices are still where they were over 15 years ago – when I left.
I know I am not the first to contemplate my own national identity, and I will not be the last. My own children probably have it ahead of them. Belonging is central to our needs as human beings – what an alienating feeling it is to come home and yet not belong here…..
Yet I smell the eucalyptus as I come out of the airport and I lie here listening to the birds and their first early morning calls, and I know I am at home. And it feels good!
I’ve been gone since 1995, plus the 15 months I spent away before that, and right from when I check In at Arlanda thoughts about my homeland start. I see another Swedish-Australian family lined up to check-in beside us, they remind me of so many others I have met over the years…..
I guess my first thoughts go to categories – and fighting the ones that people box us into. I don’t want to be like anyone one else, I never have and I can chuckle and think of many who would laugh and say – don’t worry – you never will be! But I am glad I don’t live in the U.K. – like so many Aussies do. And I’m not just another expat who has spent a few years abroad – I’m kind of more lost than that – am I one of those that has been lost to another nation, another life. Was Australia never good enough for me? Never the way I wanted it to be? Or did it just happen this way.
Entering the airport and going through the motions – customs etc brings me tface to face with my contemplation of my own national identity – who am I? Where do I belong?
As we drive from the airport my mother asks if it feels good to be at the end of our journey, yet sitting in the car that last hour is probably the hardest bit. And as the city and the suburbs whirl past me I am struck by what I like least about this place – the sheer vastness of this city, its urban sprawl and the roads. They are adding another lane she informs me – that’s great but what are they doing about the infrastructure – public transport?
And the overwhelming feeling of coming home to my city – to a city I no longer know. Staring at her face and seeing so much that is familiar, but so much that is not. It fuels my irritation over the building that is going on, developing, exploiting – business is big in this part of the world – money will buy you anything you want. Or am I just overcome by the strange and empty feeling of not feeling at home in the very place where I am supposed to feel at home?
It’s now 4am in the morning, I have slept a few hours but the awoke and my mind started spinning, my thoughts racing. My children sleep peacefully beside me, their stimulation is of a different kind to mine. I’m grateful they are sleeping and not disturbed by that now.
It is funny, moreover, interesting to read the thoughts of other bloggers that reflect my own. The Hairy Swede wonders if you ever stop translating prices into your own currency. I stopped a long time ago, and in my head Australian prices are still where they were over 15 years ago – when I left.
I know I am not the first to contemplate my own national identity, and I will not be the last. My own children probably have it ahead of them. Belonging is central to our needs as human beings – what an alienating feeling it is to come home and yet not belong here…..
Yet I smell the eucalyptus as I come out of the airport and I lie here listening to the birds and their first early morning calls, and I know I am at home. And it feels good!
Monday, 8 December 2008
And the long journey is over...
Well, 33 hours later we have arrived. 33 hours door to door!! It is a painful trip and I asked myself countless times both before and during it why I was doing it on my own. I watched those with babies and thought – ahhh they were the days – it was so much easier then.
But we survived. K slept quite a bit, M about 2 hours and me – none! Thank goodness for the on-demand movies in the back of the seats!!
But we survived. K slept quite a bit, M about 2 hours and me – none! Thank goodness for the on-demand movies in the back of the seats!!
Friday, 5 December 2008
Bags are packed & we're ready to go
Alarms are set, taxi ordered, the most essential things have been done. I've stocked up on cough medicine, cough drops, panadol/alvedon, and nasal spray. Hopefully we won't drive those around us crazy with our coughing and sniffing.
They carry-ons have cars, books and a possum (stuffed toy) in them.
I've got candy stashed for when I have to wake them at 4am to get them onto another flight and extra food in case they get hungry or won't eat the aeroplane food - because it is the wrong time of day or because they don't like it.
Got the passports, ticket info, Kieran's visa (poor thing is not yet an Aussie citizen) and extracts from the population register in case I need to show he does not have a double surname even though the Swedish passport makes it look like he does.
And we have glögg and pepparkakor.
We take off here at 7am Saturday and we touch-down at 11.30 Sunday morning. Australia here we come!!
Bye bye to all those I didn't get a chance to speak to - will be back online in a few days.
Take care!!
They carry-ons have cars, books and a possum (stuffed toy) in them.
I've got candy stashed for when I have to wake them at 4am to get them onto another flight and extra food in case they get hungry or won't eat the aeroplane food - because it is the wrong time of day or because they don't like it.Got the passports, ticket info, Kieran's visa (poor thing is not yet an Aussie citizen) and extracts from the population register in case I need to show he does not have a double surname even though the Swedish passport makes it look like he does.
And we have glögg and pepparkakor.
We take off here at 7am Saturday and we touch-down at 11.30 Sunday morning. Australia here we come!!Bye bye to all those I didn't get a chance to speak to - will be back online in a few days.
Take care!!
Thursday, 4 December 2008
Tired, sick, but almost ready to go home
The boy has had a temperature for the last 24 or so hours, a cough all week and a bit of an earache today - none of these are a good recipe for 30 something hours of travel. We'll see how he sleeps and how he is in the morning - might be a trip to the doc's tomorrow.
I feel a kind of burning in my chest - as soon as I slow down it will pounce on me too.
Last day of work tomorrow, then to finalise a few things before we prepare for a 5am taxi ride on Saturday morning.
We're almost there.
I feel a kind of burning in my chest - as soon as I slow down it will pounce on me too.
Last day of work tomorrow, then to finalise a few things before we prepare for a 5am taxi ride on Saturday morning.
We're almost there.
Friday, 28 November 2008
Australian Day In Stockholm Nov 29th
If you are jealous because I'm heading Down Under in a week then you can get your own taste of Australia tomorrow at the Australian-New Zealand Friendship Society's Australia Day event.
It is being held at BaraVi Bistro Bar,
Skånegatan 59 in Stockholm from 1.30-4pm.
Here is the program for the day:
Have a go on a didjerido with Lars Wallin.
I was active in this board and the Scandinavian board for about 5 years - so what can I say - it is a great organisation with lots of great Aussie-Kiwi enthusiasts and Lars Wallin is a fantastic didj player!!
Bookings are to be made to asalofvendahl@hotmail.com but if you are in the area on Saturday it would be well worth your while popping in to say G'day!
It is being held at BaraVi Bistro Bar,
Skånegatan 59 in Stockholm from 1.30-4pm.
Here is the program for the day:
- Information about the Society "Travel Society for enthusiasts" by President Erwin Apitzsch.
- Concert with Australian-inspired folk music by Lars Wallin and The TribeLars (highly recommended).
Have a go on a didjerido with Lars Wallin.- Time for mingle and to meet the national board of the Australian-New Zealand Friendship Society of Sweden.
- Lecture: "Guide tips for a great day in Sydney" by Thorolf Andersson.
I was active in this board and the Scandinavian board for about 5 years - so what can I say - it is a great organisation with lots of great Aussie-Kiwi enthusiasts and Lars Wallin is a fantastic didj player!!
Bookings are to be made to asalofvendahl@hotmail.com but if you are in the area on Saturday it would be well worth your while popping in to say G'day!
Friday, 8 August 2008
Departures and Arrivals
Getting in and out of Canada is never that easy - of the 20 or so international airports I've gone through Toronto's Pearson is by far the worst. Arrival for me has meant climbing off a long flight with two tired children, walking the long passageways to Immigration, dragging 2 kids and 3 carry-ons behind me without travelators or trolleys. And don't even get me started on Immigration - travelling alone with children in to that country is a nightmare - the only country I have been in where I have to have documented permission from the father that I can travel alone with my children. Sure - it is in the interest of the child in the event that it has been kidnapped - but as I said to the woman last year - do you seriously think I would bring them to their father's country if I was kidnapping them?? "I decide whether or not you enter this country" she curtly advised me. In my mind it is just another of the many fears that one seems to face in the great space of North America.
Anyway, all that is another story - even if it will remain etched in my memory forever.
Our departure this year was a little more eventful (or less) than it usually is. Once we checked in all 8 suitcases, all of which had been strategically balanced to ensure none weighed more than the allowed 23kg, and paid for our oversized piece (one of our checked in pieces was a framed picture that Ty inherited last year but that didn't make it home with us and was carefully packed in miles of bubble-rap, pillows and towels) we headed to the gate. It cost us 120 dollars (720 kr) to take an oversized piece with us - about the same as it would have cost to send it surface mail. This check-in procedure is always a little nerve-racking and the tension is there until everything has been accepted. You never know if the scales at home will be the same as those at the airport - although this year Tyler went out at the last minute and bought new ones when the two we had borrowed were giving different readings (that spiced up the situation a little - let me tell you!!).
Despite being there the required three hours beforehand (somewhat different to Swedish regulations of an hour), time seemed to go quickly and after discovering that Canada no longer provides a tax-back service meaning there is no duty-free shopping (!!) we headed to the gate and boarded the Air Canada flight heading for Frankfurt.
Little did we know that the thunderstorm and the huge bolt of lightening that seemed to hit the tarmac itself, had actually closed down the airport and we sat on the runway for nothing short of two hours before finally taking off. We were number 20 in the line-up and judging by the long line behind us I can only guess that there were at least 20 planes behind us - it is cool to see them all lined up like that - waiting to take off.
I can only say that I am so glad I bought the kids a milkshake each and that I had a ribbit sandwich and boiled egg in my bag - all of them despite protests from my other half - we would all have starved to death otherwise - particularly the boys.
The rest of the flight was uneventful - the kids slept some of the way but not much of the 7 or so hours (K 4 and M 2 or so) and upon arrival in Frankfort we and two others were quickly and efficiently escorted through the airport to our flight to Stockholm, which we made much to our surprise and appreciation - another 4+ hours in the airport would not have been a barrel of laughs.....
Needless to say that not all our luggage made the flight - 3 pieces were left behind but were delivered to us later in the evening. I thought that it would be a miracle in disguise and that we were not going to need the large taxi (which costs more) to get us home. Alas we had the over-sized picture frame with us and needed the over-sized vehicle. Unfortunately, I did not heed all the warnings and ask the driver what the charge would be but rather assumed it was the price advertised on the vehicle - small print said otherwise - oversized vehicles carry and oversized price. The whopping 750kr (125 dollars for a 40 min drive) came as a shock and the driver and his company representative at the end of his phone, got to hear my fury - even my Canadian neghbour who saw that we had arrived came out and argued with him. In the end I gave in (she later told me she would have ripped it up and said- I'll pay you the advertised 495 kr and nothing else - I only wish I was a sassy as she is).
Still, here we are, safely at home and all our possessions arrived unscathed. Shame I didn't take any photos of the chaos either before our departure or upon our arrival - at home. Eight suitcases and five carry-ons is a lot of luggage and the packing and unpacking of it is quite an event. Poor Grandma had to endure the full extent of the chaos for the first time and despite the appearance of the situation we are experts and this year's packing was a lot less stressful than it has been in the past - it was mostly clothes, a car seat (for the car we don't have!), some inherited pottery, a few food items, toiletries and some toys and books (including M's birthday present) - all of which now fight for space of their own in our mansion of an apartment.
Despite forgetting some of the things we like to buy we did come home with Mac&Cheese (not for me I hate the stuff), Mandarine Salad dressing, Ranch dressing, smoked almonds, Brown sugar BBQ sauce, chocolate chips (unobtainable in Sweden!) and peanut butter - what I just discovered, much to my dismay, is that they are almost all Kraft Products - oh how I hate to support the multi-nationals - give me the little guys any day.
And now, at 3 am, it is time for me to try and get some sleep - although I might ring my mum first - I only wish I had stayed up when she rang and woke me at 11am this morning. The kids went to bed a mere 30mins ago and Ty is watching a movie. Tomorrow is going to be ugly! I'll have to drag them up much earlier than they want to be - whoever said that kids don't get jet-lag has obviously never travelled with kids - it is no fun to force their little bodies to adjust to another time schedule. We'll have to find someone to be social with tomorrow - that should make it easier.....
Goodnight..........
Anyway, all that is another story - even if it will remain etched in my memory forever.
Our departure this year was a little more eventful (or less) than it usually is. Once we checked in all 8 suitcases, all of which had been strategically balanced to ensure none weighed more than the allowed 23kg, and paid for our oversized piece (one of our checked in pieces was a framed picture that Ty inherited last year but that didn't make it home with us and was carefully packed in miles of bubble-rap, pillows and towels) we headed to the gate. It cost us 120 dollars (720 kr) to take an oversized piece with us - about the same as it would have cost to send it surface mail. This check-in procedure is always a little nerve-racking and the tension is there until everything has been accepted. You never know if the scales at home will be the same as those at the airport - although this year Tyler went out at the last minute and bought new ones when the two we had borrowed were giving different readings (that spiced up the situation a little - let me tell you!!).
Despite being there the required three hours beforehand (somewhat different to Swedish regulations of an hour), time seemed to go quickly and after discovering that Canada no longer provides a tax-back service meaning there is no duty-free shopping (!!) we headed to the gate and boarded the Air Canada flight heading for Frankfurt.
Little did we know that the thunderstorm and the huge bolt of lightening that seemed to hit the tarmac itself, had actually closed down the airport and we sat on the runway for nothing short of two hours before finally taking off. We were number 20 in the line-up and judging by the long line behind us I can only guess that there were at least 20 planes behind us - it is cool to see them all lined up like that - waiting to take off.
I can only say that I am so glad I bought the kids a milkshake each and that I had a ribbit sandwich and boiled egg in my bag - all of them despite protests from my other half - we would all have starved to death otherwise - particularly the boys.
The rest of the flight was uneventful - the kids slept some of the way but not much of the 7 or so hours (K 4 and M 2 or so) and upon arrival in Frankfort we and two others were quickly and efficiently escorted through the airport to our flight to Stockholm, which we made much to our surprise and appreciation - another 4+ hours in the airport would not have been a barrel of laughs.....Needless to say that not all our luggage made the flight - 3 pieces were left behind but were delivered to us later in the evening. I thought that it would be a miracle in disguise and that we were not going to need the large taxi (which costs more) to get us home. Alas we had the over-sized picture frame with us and needed the over-sized vehicle. Unfortunately, I did not heed all the warnings and ask the driver what the charge would be but rather assumed it was the price advertised on the vehicle - small print said otherwise - oversized vehicles carry and oversized price. The whopping 750kr (125 dollars for a 40 min drive) came as a shock and the driver and his company representative at the end of his phone, got to hear my fury - even my Canadian neghbour who saw that we had arrived came out and argued with him. In the end I gave in (she later told me she would have ripped it up and said- I'll pay you the advertised 495 kr and nothing else - I only wish I was a sassy as she is).
Still, here we are, safely at home and all our possessions arrived unscathed. Shame I didn't take any photos of the chaos either before our departure or upon our arrival - at home. Eight suitcases and five carry-ons is a lot of luggage and the packing and unpacking of it is quite an event. Poor Grandma had to endure the full extent of the chaos for the first time and despite the appearance of the situation we are experts and this year's packing was a lot less stressful than it has been in the past - it was mostly clothes, a car seat (for the car we don't have!), some inherited pottery, a few food items, toiletries and some toys and books (including M's birthday present) - all of which now fight for space of their own in our mansion of an apartment.
Despite forgetting some of the things we like to buy we did come home with Mac&Cheese (not for me I hate the stuff), Mandarine Salad dressing, Ranch dressing, smoked almonds, Brown sugar BBQ sauce, chocolate chips (unobtainable in Sweden!) and peanut butter - what I just discovered, much to my dismay, is that they are almost all Kraft Products - oh how I hate to support the multi-nationals - give me the little guys any day.
And now, at 3 am, it is time for me to try and get some sleep - although I might ring my mum first - I only wish I had stayed up when she rang and woke me at 11am this morning. The kids went to bed a mere 30mins ago and Ty is watching a movie. Tomorrow is going to be ugly! I'll have to drag them up much earlier than they want to be - whoever said that kids don't get jet-lag has obviously never travelled with kids - it is no fun to force their little bodies to adjust to another time schedule. We'll have to find someone to be social with tomorrow - that should make it easier.....
Goodnight..........
Thursday, 7 August 2008
We're all messed up
It is 11.15pm and we have only been up since 3pm (we were awake half the night) - not sure what time bedtime will be tonight - I took the kids for a long walk but I think they still have a few hours left in them. Will have to be tough in the morning and make sure we are up at a decent time - by midday at least.....
Not that there is any reason to be up during the day - rain and 14oC - is this summer??? And no we don't want to hear that the weather has been beautiful here until now - we don't believe you!!!
Not that there is any reason to be up during the day - rain and 14oC - is this summer??? And no we don't want to hear that the weather has been beautiful here until now - we don't believe you!!!
Monday, 23 June 2008
My kids love flying
The turtle suitcases are very popular and get lots of attention.
Movies are great!
But tiredness got the better of him in the end....
And then he slept most of the flight, leaving me with little room on which to sit.
Unfortunately his sister did not follow his example - she hardly slept the entire flight (a mere 30 mins)!
Robin picked us up and we left home at 7.30am, arriving at Grandma's at 10pm that night, or 4am Swedish time - so it was a 21 hour journey.
We all slept through the night and woke at 6 am. Makaila fell in to bed at 6 tonight, Kieran at least had a snooze during the day.
We'll see what tonight brings.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
