Journey to a Swedish island...

I'm on my way to the island Öckerö to visit a friend and enjoy a Sunday lunch. It's quite a long journey, but looking forward to what surprises the afternoon might offer.

On my ipod I have the following to keep me company:
Florence and the machine
Swedish band First Aid Kit
South African bands Freshly Ground and off course Prime Circle ;)
The Amelie sountrack (for the French side of me) ;)
Snow Patrol - Called out in the dark (a new favorite)
Russian Red which I love
Swedish Melissa Horn
And oldies...Pink Floyd and Alanis

The day is grey, but winter started to move on, making way for small buds, green grass and warmer skies. Lets hope for some sunshine on the island of Öckerö.

Rome (definitely) wasn't built in a day

I came back from Rome with sore muscles and with a horrible cold, but it was all worth it!  Now I just want to go back for there is so much more to see and explore! 

Rome is a mixture of culture, beauty, jealousy, glory, history and indulgence.  Our hotel had an amazing location and we could walk everywhere.  We arrived late afternoon on a Thursday and had the whole evening to explore the streets of the age old city.  The sounds of Rome, coming from the streets and it's people, has an extraordinary ring to it that I immediately recognized after watching the Italy part in Eat Pray Love again when we arrived back in Sweden. 

And off course I had to do my research "Rome in 2 days" and book a Vatican tour beforehand!  And that really helped our time limit!  Our first night we explored Trastevere, where the cute and cozy little characteristic trattories (an informal restaurant or tavern serving simple Italian dishes) can be found between the cobbled streets and authentic, medieval neighbourhood.  Trastevere is separated from  the rest of Rome by the River Tiber and this was our furthest walk from our hotel, but a beautiful one!  And yes, we got lost on our first evening.  One-and-a-half-hour-lost, getting me in bed far later than I had planned.  And after a couple of glasses of red wine this wasn't the most fun I ever had, but definitely and adventure on its own.  We accidentally walked around the Roman Forum (which was Ancient Rome) instead of through, but then (luckily) ended up at the beautifully lit up Colosseum. And what a sight! I felt a couple of a chills down my spine and tears down my cheaks!

Our first day basically consisted out of the Vatican museums, the Cappella Sistina (Sistine Chapel), St. Peter's Basilica and Piazza Navona.  The Vatican tour provides you with amazingly interesting facts.  I've never been a fan of the Vatican or it's politics, just because they pillaged the whole of Rome and all it's treasures are locked up in their museums and vaults.  Who knew they stripped the Colosseum of it's marble to build St. Peter's square?!!  But I have to admit, the tour was interesting and watching Angels and Demons in the aftermath was a kick!

Piazza Navona - having a glass of wine while the sun touched the last colorful buildings in the square, watching artists and their paintings, with the three baroque fountains spurting water softly through its ocher-colored water, artists trying to make a coin with interesting gestures - giant flying bubbles, the invisible man with glasses, a stage with actors dressed up in medieval costumes, a horse carriage and the beautiful Italian language in the air.

Day two and three consisted out of  The Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, the Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, the Imperial Forums, the Arch of Constantine, the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill and a lot of Pasta and Pizza!

There's so much to do and see in Rome and around every hook and cranny is a sight worth seeing or a cobble street worth exploring.  On our way to the bus station on our last day we walked straight into a parade:  a children's street carnival.  Children dressed up as cartoon characters could be found all around Rome (and I started to notice it on Piazza Navona the day before).  And this sums up Rome for me:  a surprise around every corner!

Piazza Navona

Old movies, Chinese tea and the snow outside

Today is Valentine's day or as they call it in Swedish, Alla hjärtans dag.  Hubby is working and I am on holiday as it is Sportlov (the official Swedish Ski holiday).  I am not going skiing.  But I am saving my energy for Italy, Rome, on Thursday.  We are thus postponing Alla hjärtans dag to Friday!

I'm spending my time re-organizing my cupboards, drawers and life.  Planning and distributing things I don't need to the waste basket.  Building on my "dream-file" - a file I have covered in collages of pictures of beautiful, exotic places I still want to visit (PS. everybody should have a dream-file.  It's a lot of fun!). 

After all my shuffling about, I start to get tired - the typical holiday relaxation mood.  And the snow falling outside contributes to my mood.  I put on an old movie that I've been meaning to watch for a while, a 1946 film - It's a Wonderful life.  I enjoy the energy with which the actors played in those days and all the drama, songs and words strung together which makes the 1940's the 1940's.  I take out my Chinese tea (bought in China and send to Sweden in a box after we left Asia) and my 5 kronor (R5) IKEA tea strainer, make a cup of delicious tea and sit back and enjoy Alla hjärtans dag!

May you have a relaxed Alla hjärtans dag!

Búzios, Brazil

As a little girl, I remember, I saw a photo in a magazine of a statue of a girl sitting with her suitcase overlooking the ocean. I didn’t know who she was or why she was staring at the ocean in such a beautiful-sad stature. Never knowing that I would someday sit on her lap and look at the ocean with her, I tore out that picture and kept it somewhere.

After we had enough of Rio’s never-ending heat, noise and over-crowded waters, we ran into a fellow South African who told us about Búzios. Again, we didn’t plan it, but it was one of my favorite parts of the trip. We took a bus from Rio to Búzios, without knowing what to expect or what we will find.

Búzios is a small town about two hours from Rio. Once the preserve of pirates and slave traders, then popularized by legendary movie star Brigitte Bardot in the 1960s, a quiet fishing village, now luring peace-seekers away from busy Rio.

Brigitte Bardot had come to Rio de Janeiro with her Brazilian boyfriend but could not leave his apartment without being followed by the paparazzi. The couple escaped to Buzios. While she was there, she fell in love with the town - so much that she stayed for months longer than she planned, and returned often for vacation.

Her statue sits along the main street of Búzios, the Rua das Pedras (Street of stones), overlooking the ocean and the beautiful sunsets.

Búzios is a hidden gem, a treasure. And Brigitt Bardotts saw it and showed it to the world and to me: Fishing boats resting on clear blue waters, fishermen statues pulling ropes along the horizon, beautiful, calm beaches. The best way to explore the curving shore of Búzios is to rent a buggy. Exploring the cobble streets and coastline can be tricky, (use a map!), we got lost quite a lot. It is a paradise once you find the beach. "Mielies" (corn cobs), cashew nuts and coconuts are being sold on the beach by locals on "stalls on wheels" which are very cute. Seafood and beer are a treat to enjoy at the “restaurants” (tables and chairs on the sand) on the beach. We found a room on the street overlooking the ocean with a local family. I remember the woman quite clearly as she had a small room in which she painted Mandalas. The most beautiful ones I've ever seen. She didn't ask us much for the room, and for the location and cleanliness it was a great place to stay. Therefor I would not recommend hotels or even hostels for this little town. Try the locals!

Búzios was our last stop in our South American journey and rounded it up in a magical and peaceful way. We kept prolonging our stay as we fell more and more in love with Búzios until it was really time to go back, otherwise we would have missed our flight.

Rio de Janero, Brazil

Tall and tan and young and lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes walking
And when she passes, each one she passes goes - ah

When she walks, she's like a samba
That swings so cool and sways so gentle
That when she passes, each one she passes goes - ooh

(Ooh) But I watch her so sadly
How can I tell her I love her
Yes I would give my heart gladly
But each day, when she walks to the sea
She looks straight ahead, not at me

Tall, and tan, and young, and lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes walking
And when she passes, I smile - but she doesn't see (doesn't see)

Antonio Jobim.  One of my favorite songs.  And standing on Ipanema beach with this song in my head was priceless!
 

The heat of Rio flabbergasted me. We arrived in Rio and had to find a place to stay as we didn't book. We walked around for what seemed like hours. I wanted to collapse from the heat and having to carry my backpack. I think travel exhaustion also kicked in as we've been traveling South America non-stop for 3 weeks at that time. We found a (crap) room in the end with only a fan in the back of a hostel, with no swimming pool. Luckily after walking around a bit we met a fellow traveller who took us to his hostel with a swimming pool and we could soak our tired traveling souls in the cold water.  Then we started exploring again:

The Brazilian beaches are white sand, clean and popular.  Behind the beach lies a street turned market in the evenings.  Lights shower the beaches green at night. 

Copacabana

Busy nightlife on Copacabana

"As you sunbathe on the beautiful Ipanema beach with the postcard perfect Dois Irmãos rocks to the side of you could be forgiven for forgetting that you are also in a major city; until that is that you realize that the birds patrolling the beach are not seagulls but the notorious city dwelling pigeons! The mixture of these different elements combined with the sweltering heat (which even during winter when I arrived regularly hit 30 degrees plus) gives weight to that quote about it being a "hot, sweaty mess". " - A Flavour of Rio by Rhiannon Ball

Overlooking Copacabana and Ipanema beaches are hotels, high sky-scraper like buildings.  Behind these grand statues are shacks stacked row upon row on the "unique to Rio hills" (shaped like cones).   The shacks truly look as if it might collapse downhill any minute.  But what a true and honest sight!

A city of contrast indeed (although Lonely Planet's travel writing books advises never to use this sentence, as it is seen as a cliché), this is exactly what Rio is.  A city of contrast; the Christ statue overlooks Rio and is indeed as magnificent a splendid as some movies (e.g. Romeo and Juliet) and TV shows (An Idiot abroad) suggests.  For me, this was a highlight (although I had to pray for the fog to lift so that I could see the statue and experience its glorified view). 

Tip: on a foggy day it really is difficult (even if you're standing right underneath it) to see it, for the fog covers the whole statue and the view as well.  But as the fog lifted the whole of Rio lied beneath our feet.  Arms outstretched, this statue, in all its glory is indeed a Wonder of the world and as wonderful and magnificent as pictures and postcards suggest.  Seeing it with my own eyes was something completely different, though. 

Yes Rio has its grimy areas.  On our way to the statue we drove through a small bridge.  And we drove past a body.  Yes, a dead person.  I couldn’t look, he was probably shot.  Danger can lurk around every corner if not careful, but all in all it is a beautiful city and the views from above are gorgeous.

Tip:  staying in a hotel right on the beach with a magnificent view isn't always that expensive, it will surprise you.  The prices could surprise you and it's worth having a look. The hotel we stayed in in the end had a swimming pool on the roof overlooking the spectacular view of Copacabana beach and Sugar Loaf hill.

Tip:  At the night street market you can buy small, beautiful hand painted paintings of the Rio hills and its shacks: a great memorabilia or present that can be framed at home.   

We weren't in Rio in Carnival time, but traces of it could be seen everywhere.  To describe Rio de Janero I would use the following words:  Surprising, hot, abundant, sweaty, messy and an unusual contrast.

A snowflake on my boot today

It started to snow.  My first knee-deep, thick-patched, soft-bright-white snow.  Everything felt perfect.  Not even the too-hot heaters on the tram could spoil my mood.  It wasn't too cold or too dark, just perfect.  The snow seemed to have a white-balance effect on me. 

As I listened to Comptine D'Un Autre Ete - L'Apres Midi and J'Y Suis Jamais Alle (my new favorites from the soundtrack Le Fabuleux Destin D' Amelie), it seemed as if the bells, accordion and piano fell into perfect rhythm with the falling snowflakes.  And I too, fell into a perfect, peaceful rhythm. 

On my way to the tram stop I stuck out my tongue to catch a few snowflakes.  It tasted sweet.

I listened to Guilty (a old gramophone recording, from Le Fabuleux Destin D' Amelie),  re-living the old days where snow also fell, but on an older Gothenburg.  Where people walked the streets in gowns, top-hats, long black jackets and canes; where old cars drove through the snowy streets greeted by the occasional horse-carriage.  I was in a dream, a wonderland.  And then I fell with my new white playthings back down to earth.

Now I am filled with snowflakes, from the inside out; filled up and filled with.  I love every moment of my new, white ambiance.

 

Kids falling to the ground right and left to make snow angels!

 

My Orient Express

I’m drinking tea.  But before I start, I smell it.  The aroma shocks me.  I’m surprised, taken aback.  I stand up to find the small package the tea bag was in.  It’s in the garbage bin and without thinking I search through it.

When I started to make tea I wanted peppermint tea, but my box was empty.  So I took out the free- coupon-tea I received somewhere somehow and decided to try it.  Even though it was green tea and I wasn’t in the mood for green tea, I wanted to try it.  And because it was green tea I threw in two spoons of sugar (I normally drink one spoonful).  I find the empty package and read the label.  “Green Tea Tchae Orient”.  And there’s a little frog on it saying that it is rain forest certified.  Well, well… my good deed for the day, I thought.  Rain forest certified! Can you imagine that!  I turn back to the aroma, after washing my hands, off course. 

I smell berries, no… spices.  Spiced berries?  No…peppermint! Yes, no, yes or no?  Or was it just the fact that I really wanted peppermint that I smelled it?  But I love the smell with or without peppermint.  I taste my new intrigue.  Spice… definitely a burning sense, taste and smell of spice.  A rich, burning, wonderful sensation meets my tongue.  Everything is perfect… except for one thing… my tea is cold.  With all my wondering about and exploring the package and thinking and enjoying the smell, I let the tea go cold.  O well to the microwave with you... rain forest certified! 

And while I smelled my way through the tea I thought about life (And this is maybe where the time went).  I wanted something, couldn’t get it and received something else.  But in the end it was something new, something out-of-the-ordinary and wrapped up in a nice package.  I used it, tried it with no expectations.  And I got a bountiful of words and tastes in my mouth.  I got a lot more than I ever imagined.   Life is sometimes like that.  May your 2012 be awarded for all the risks you take!

“The universe will reward you for taking risks on its behalf.” – SHAKTI GAWAIN  

found on http://jazzyjenn.tumblr.com/post/15871884844