Stina Wersin

This post is an unabashed plug for the Swedish illustrator Stina Wersin. Her work is so beautiful, simple and perfect. I could just eat her portraits. I've been taking a watercolor class and her oozing blogs of color are an inspiration. Here's her website.

Amsterdam - part 2

OK, where was I ...

We decided we had to see some tulips, what with being in Holland and all, so we drove (my Mom was a good sport despite being squashed between the kids' enormo Britax carseats in the back seat that still smelled faintly of barf) to Keukenhof, about 20 minutes from Amsterdam, which is apparently THE place to go to see tulips. It was a little pricey and a lot cold, but it was fun to see all the different varieties of tulips (and the plethora of Japanese tourists taking lots of close-ups of flowers):

If you're in Amsterdam you have to get on a bike (without a helmet of course)! Merel and Dennis took us on a great ride around town with the kids in bike boxes (you, too, can own one for about $2700). I know Julian looks a little skeptical, but he and Ava loved it (you could tell because they were oddly silent most of the way, even though they got a bit wet):
You also MUST eat bitterballen, deep fried balls of creamy potato and veal served with mustard dip. Oh, I love a country that loves fried foods!

We also continued our tour of European zoos and went to Artis, where the kids investigated the natural world:
By the way, I highly recommend having a grandparent along for trips with kids, especially one as cute as my Mom. It was a treat to be able to go out with Merel and Dennis for an Indonesian feast without Julian yelling about having green things on his plate and asking for noodles and butter:
I think those are the highlights of the trip. Mom and I did go to the Van Gogh Museum, which left me pretty cold, and I went by myself to the Anne Frank House, which was almost visible from our apartment and really moving. I was happy I didn't take Ava, which I considered for about 5 minutes. No way was she old enough for some of those pictures. Come to think of it, I may not be either.

And if you're ever in Bremen (hey, it could happen) the Best Western Zur Post is awesome for kids. It was actually really nice to stop over in Germany for a night. I am always slightly paranoid about speaking German because I've lost a lot of my vocabulary but not my accent, so I sound, well ... slow. Oh well, I sound a lot worse than that in Swedish. Herregud!

Amsterdam - part 1

We just came back from a terrific trip to Amsterdam. We picked Amsterdam because we wanted to see Merel and Dennis and their new baby Thomas before moving home and because we could get their without flying, which is just a pain in the butt and very expensive with 2 kids, even within Europe. Don't let those RyanAir ads fool you -- flying from Sweden to anywhere is pricey! Plus, we thought it would be cool to take the overnight ferry (with our car) from Gothenburg to Kiel, and drive through Germany to the Netherlands.

So on Friday we picked the kids up from school and headed over to the Stena Line Germany port to get on the ferry. I have never been on a ship bigger than the ferry to Alcatraz, so I thought it was pretty cool to see our little cabin (little being the operative word) and explore the boat, which was packed with 600 cars and 1700 people. As far as I can tell people basically eat and drink the whole time, which is OK for an overnight trip, but sheesh, sort of gross. The kids loved the Curious George play area that had Curious George (Nicke Nyfiken in Swedish) cartoons playing 24/7. Amazing how even cartoons in foreign languages are like kiddie-crack. They were less excited by the waiting around that is sometimes required when getting off the ferry after a night at sea: The next morning we drove off the ferry at Kiel and made our way to Amsterdam. It took forever because of traffic jams and a barf incident (thanks for the memories, Julian!), and we got into town after about 9 hours on the road.

Happily, our rental apartment that we found on VRBO was situated perfectly on the Prinsengracht, bordering the Jordaan neighborhood, and was actually big enough for 3 adults and 2 kids (my Mom would be joining us shortly). You just never know from the pictures how big it actually is (our place in Barcelona would NOT have worked for 5 people though it said it would have). I have learned my lesson to always ask for square footage from now on. Anyway, it's hard to see from the 2nd picture below, but the house was on 4 mini levels, with 1 room on each level i.e. lots of stairs for the kids to throw things down and teeter on making me really nervous and yelling "safe side! safe side!" way too many times. Merel and Dennis came over our first night and we met Thomas and ate pizza and it was a perfect welcome evening. Slightly surreal to see them in Amsterdam (OK, they're Dutch, I know, but they just went together with Gothenburg in my mind, and that takes some adjusting).

Anyhoo, my Mom flew in the next morning and Adrian picked her up at the airport and she was a trooper and stayed up all day battling jet lag. Good Grandma! We went for a canal boat trip and I think the kids MIGHT have looked out the window once. Julian mostly played with "Spot" the horse and "Lasso Man" and Ava mostly talked.
We also had drinks and poffertjes (little fat pancakes with butter and powdered sugar) at this adorable cafe called 't Smalle a couple blocks from our apartment that I loved, especially because you have to climb up some ladder-like stairs to get upstairs where it's super cozy. Amsterdam IS super cozy in general if you ask me:My shot of the outside doesn't do it justice:

San Francisco, the temptress

I just came back from a whirlwind 5-day trip to San Francisco. I had the best time. The entire time I felt like San Francisco was trying to prove herself to me and tempt me home. Look how beautiful I am! Look at the weather I have in March! Look how friendly my people are! Look at all the amazing people you know who choose me! What do they say about having to leave to appreciate what you have?

My primary mission for the trip: register Ava in a SF public school. For anyone not familiar with the enrollment process for the SF Unified School District, let me say that it can only be described as long, opaque, stress-inducing and random. People cry ... people call each other bad, bad names ... people move to Marin ... people enroll in very expensive private schools (we're talking $15,000/year and up) because they give up on the process ...and some people thank their lucky stars. Happily, after 6 months of angst (and waaaay too much time reading a blog called the SF K Files, which covers getting into kindy in SF) we are in the latter group, slightly stunned to have received our first choice school in the lottery. So Ava is now officially registered in kindergarten. Weight off shoulders officially lifted. There's still that little issue of the school district needing to cut $113 million next year and California schools ranking in the bottom 20% in the nation, but hey, I'm feeling cheery anyway.

I also managed to renew my driver's license. Sounds small, but it's huge since I haven't been able to drive in Sweden since last September. Now I plan on just driving in circles around Gothenburg, just because I can.

Great Swedish kiddie lithographs

Melodifestivalen

Ever wanted to see Dolph Lundgren (he's the Swedish guy who played the big blond Russian in one of the Rocky movies) sing "A Little Less Conversation" while he chops ice and wood blocks in half with his bare hands? No? Well, the Swedes do, and now so do I!

It's all part of the annual magic that is the insanely popular Melodifestivalen. Melodifestivalen is the Swedish run-up to the Eurovision Song Contest. Each week you watch 8 performers sing some of the greatest and most horrendest pop songs ever and vote for your favorites. Then there's a finale in Stockholm at the Globe theater and the winner gets to be Sweden's official entry at Eurovision in the summer. The cheeze! The fashion! The Swedish pop! We have been watching on Saturday nights with the kids, who tell us whom to vote for. Julian always likes the blond ladies with big boobs and flashy clothes, like the lady from the Alcazar in the picture above. Ava actually picks songs she likes, for example this catchy number called Kom from a band called Timoteij (and yes, the girls in the band do all look like those old Timotei shampoo ad girls).

Gothenburg for kids - best places

For anyone coming to Göteborg, here are some of my favorite things to do with kids:

Universeum
Otherwise known as our home away from home in the winter, Universeum is science discovery museum right next to Liseberg. The 3-story indoor rainforest is always a winner (especially when the monkeys are out), as is the aquarium, where you can see Hermann the shark. We spend most of our time, however, in the play area called Puls on the 2nd floor, where you can test your speed on a mini sprint track, ride on a mechanical horse, design your own digital truck, and lots more.

City Library
I just love the Stadsbibliotek, not just because it's around the corner from our house on Götaplatsen, but because it's got a cozy, warm and bright kid's room (with a potty!) with lots of English (and French, German, Norwegian, Arabic, etc.) books, some puzzles and toys. They also put on an amazing array of talks, story hours, lectures, exhibits, etc. Plus, they added a decent cafe off the main rotunda last year so you can buy a juice box on your way in or out.


Liseberg Amusement Park
Our local amusement park with a surprising number of rides for kids ages 2-6 (and of course plenty for older kids, too). I like it best during Christmas time when you can still go on a roller coaster in the snow, but also go ice skating, visit Santa, ride a reindeer-pulled sleigh, check out the Christmas crafts market and warm your hands over drums of hot coals set up around the park as you drink a mug of glögg.

Maritiman
Scramble over and through a collection of 12 or so ships that are anchored in the river close to downtown, from a destroyer to a fire boat. Then have a good cup of coffee and a cinnamon bun in the floating cafe.
Waffles and fish
At the Sjöfartsmuseet (Museum of the Sea) in the Majorna section of town, start your weekend with an all-you-can-eat waffle breakfast in the small cafe, then check out the aquarium or the new play room on the 3rd floor and let the kids burn off the whipped cream and strawberry jam toppings.

Stadsmuseet
The City Museum has a large play area for kids where they can play store, give lessons in an old school room from the 180os, or move barges around a winding model of the Göta River. Head downstairs afterwards to the super-cozy cafe that has a box of toys in the back and plenty of pillars, nooks and crannies for the kids to chase each other around.

Slottskogen
In summer, nothing beats a picnic and people-watching in this sprawling park at the top of Linnegatan. We have spent many a sunny afternoon hanging out on the lawns, playing at Plikta playground, and visiting the cute petting zoo (where pony rides are just a couple of dollars each). Also hidden in Slottskogen is a pool full of energetic penguins, a moose family and a few bored seals. My favorite place to get a glass of wine in summer is Villa Belparc, a restaurant with a huge, picturesque outdoor terrace that overlooks a small lake/pond with a big fountain. The kids love exploring the terrace, eating the yummy french fries and feeding the ducks. In summer, don't forget to buy strawberries on your way home from one of the stands around the park.


In the winter, try the Naturhistoriska Museet (Natural History Museum) that looks down over the playground. It's a bargain (a yearly pass is about $7) and the collection of stuffed animals is old-school creepy to delight boys and girls of all ages.
Swimming
In the summer, the possibilities for swimming are endless. The beaches along the coast are gorgeous and rugged, but we like the kid-friendly and sandy beaches in the Delsjön nature area, especially the beaches at Harlanda Tjärn and Delsjön itself. Both have grassy shaded areas, sand, swings, shallow water for wading and ice cream vendors (key!). An extra benefit of this beach is the cute Cafe Lyckan that is just a short walk away. They do delicious waffles, and outside they have a goat and some bunnies (that they say you can take home if you like). This is the beach at Delsjön last June.
In the winter you can do drop-in swimming at the very warm and low-key Sporthallsbadet, which is next to the large Valhalla swimming complex. This warm pool has tons of floaties and swim noodles to choose from, and a tiny slide. For older kids, Åbybadet south of town is a huge, raucous swim complex with multiple pools, a decked out kiddie wading area and 3 huge spiraling slides that elicit screams from swimmers of all ages.

Kid-friendly Cafes
Most cafes in town are generally kid-friendly (and many have changing tables), but some try harder than others. Glädjebubblan is a big cafe with a play area that's great for babies and young toddlers. And I just love Språkcafeet, the language cafe.

They have a box of toys in the back and a changing table in the bathroom, but this one gets my recommendation because you can sit outside (like the ladies above) and let the kids run around Esperantoplatsen as you eat your delicious vegetarian buffet lunch.

That's all for now, folks!