Gothenburg, Sweden

May 21st - May 24th

It's time for us to say ciao to Italy and hej to Sweden. Our New Zealand/Toulouse Sabbatical friends (Sofie, Wylie, and Mara) are spending the end of their sabbatical year in Gothenburg, Sweden. We figured, why not go visit them while they are there. They were kind enough to let us crash at their place in Mara's bunkroom bedroom and moved Mara into their bed for a few nights. The best was listening to Mara say, "Nej" instead of "No." She's just too cute, and we always have a great time with Wylie and Sofie. Thank you both so much for your hospitality!!

May 21st

• 11am flight from Florence gets canceled

• We spend the day at the tiny Florence airport 

• Get on a new flight through Paris that arrives in Gothenburg at 11:30pm

• Wylie and Sofie are nice enough to be waiting up for us, even though we arrive to them after midnight

The next couple of days in Sweden....
May 22nd
Parks! Gothenburg has some amazing parks and green spaces. We got super lucky with the weather and Sofie and I took the kids out and about while the guys worked. 
Slottsskogen

Giant whale climbing wall 

Tallest, longest slide ever

TickTock

Hedge maze - Maggie and Mara's heads popping up

Huge park with tons of travles

Pool of Seals in middle of park

Checking out the duck pond

Oh, and there are penguins here too

Lunch at the park cafe

Ice cream time

Nature's playground

Finn collecting giant stick weapons

Once a monkey, always a monkey

Finn gets a haircut after the park

View of the city from the kitchen - Great location!

May 23rd 

Today we took a tram and then a ferry out to one of the many islands in the archipelago off the coast. There are no cars allowed on the islands, but they are filled with homes, biking and walking paths. It was so cute!!

This shows the way we took out to Styrso

Near Sofie and Wylies place

The cute neighborhood that S&W live in

Cute cafes everywhere

An example of how L-O-N-G Swedish words are 

Some fresh strawbs before the ferry ride

On the ferry

Ferry

Passing by lots of small islands

We've arrived 

Cafe where we ate lunch

Found another great park

Park time

Ferry stop on the island

Quaint properties dotting the island

Cute yard

So lush everywhere

No cars on roads - how nice

Heading to the beach

Homes on the beach

Time to take a dip

Sweet Mara playing in the sand

I've got you now pirates

Fika - an afternoon coffee/pastry break in Sweden. 

Trying the local Swedish liquor

We didn't make past the first two

View from apartment at night-sunset at 11:30pm and sunrise at 3:30am

May 24

Our visas expired today and we officialy have to leave the Shenegan region of the EU.

Our flight was in the evening, giving us some more time to explore Gothenburg, 
We spent most of the day at The Museum of World Culture, Varldskulturmuseet. 

World of Games Exhibit - Showcased a history of games and games from all around the world. Also, described why people love games and why they are an important part of play. Perfect exhibit for our game loving family!

Together Exhibit - An interactive play area for kids of all ages with loads of great messages that even adults could learn from. I loved it!

Goodbye to Papa Wylie

Getting Jay the largest cinnamon roll on the planet

One last time at the playground