Solig Maj !

(sunny may !)
May in Stockholm has been gorgeous, beautiful, sunny, warm, and all together very enjoyable ! The vegetation woke up and exploded in green leaves and colourful flowers, the weather was perfect, the water warmed up, and still the air kept its freshness and its pureness...

At the beginning of the month, Alexandre joined school (yeah!) whilst Ruben was on vacation, so Eric took Ruben on some outings for a change.

Elizabeth, grand mere Zaza, came to visit us... waiting for her to arrive !

We took Zabeth on a tour of our island - griesparken playground, the woody hill in the centre of the island, the school, the grocery store..

Zabeth got into child care duties, spending time with Ruben on his vacations and taking care of after schools activities during the week.

And Eric got to go on a 3-day bike ride !

Thursday May 10th was a holiday so Zabeth, I and the kids went to the beach in Kungsholmen. A beautiful day out and we were not prepared for the heat ! The morning was cool initially and then the sun started pounding and it got very hot... The sun gets much stronger than one would expect here. 

Zabeth was staying in the guest apartment of our building. This is a nice flat with a dorm bedroom, a large living room and direct access to the big, big terrace of the building and its super-sized barbecue. We seized this opportunity to enjoy a dinner out, celebrating Zabeth last evening with us and Eric's home coming.

The trees started seriously blooming.

On the sunday, we met up with Manu, Sophie and their kids in Solviksbadet - Bromma beach. We spent a long and enjoyable day out there ; the kids had a wonderful time playing together on the sand, dipping their toes in the water and I even went for a swim (well, a dip rather than a swim - the water was still cold, around 15 - 16° at the time) !

After that, Ruben went back to school and Eric enjoyed his first free time in Stockholm ! He still does not have a lot of time by himself, since he drops off the kids at 9am and picks them up at 3pm, but it makes a big difference in his life. He has been able to meet up with some musicians, to sign up for language classes for after the summer, and he is also now looking for a job. Hoping he will find something he likes and with a decent work / life balance !

The next week end, may 18th, we had the immense pleasure of discovering that the water was turned on at griesparken and that we had a plaskdamm (paddling pool) very close to our place (ie the football arena up there is actually a basin). Ruben and Alexandre are having a blast with this (they are generally having a good time here !) and we are impressed with all the ways the Swedes make life good for the kids. Also, griesparken is usually not very crowded so it is really a very nice place to go to.

This is also when the lilacs started blooming and when we realized that Stora essingen is full of lilacs !

Once in a while, I go for a walk when the kids are in bed, crossing the tramway bridge towards Bromma and walking in the forest alongside the water to reach lovely Appelvicken.
The view over our island from the bridge is great.

 Appelvicken, its very cute houses, harbour, lilacs and, of course, apple trees.

 On the sunday, we went to the beach in Langholmen for a change of scenery (still a very reasonable 15 - 20 min bike ride for our place). Langholmen is a small island north of Sodermalmm, with few houses, a lot of forest and nature areas, some very cute gardens, and a nice beach.

 Both Eric and I went for a (relatively) quick swim, and we got to try the (not environmentaly-friendly but fun) Swedish disposable barbecue : open, light up, put your korvs (sausage) on !

(Eric enjoying his veg-sausage)
The view over to Lilla Essingen and, over there in the background, Stora Essingen.

In the afternoon, we traveled to Sundbyberg to meet with Frida and her family at their home. We had a lovely and very swedish ficka on their terrace, with strawberries, whipped cream, rhubard crumble, and kannel bulle whilst the kids were bouncing on the trampoline, and then went out to the forest near by for a walk.

 After that great day out, I left for 6 days to Budapest, where we had a retreat with our colleagues from all over the world.
Waving good bye to the kids and Eric as they headed out to school on the monday, before leaving to catch the plane. I am impressed that Eric manages to bike with both Ruben (on his follow me) and Alexandre (on a kids seat) - and the way to school is seriously uphill !

Arriving in Budapest, with a nice view over the city and the island of Margaret where we would be staying. The retreat was intense, to say the least, so we did not have time to really enjoy the island. We did have a farewell cruise on the Danube so at least got to see some of the city.

After my coming back and to change a bit from the beach outings, we went over to Djugarden island, for a paddle boat tour and a ride on the island.

The ride around the island is very beautiful ! The sea flows through a canal on the northen side of Djugarden ; after that there is a nature reserve, then one reaches out the eastern tip and the more open sea towards the archipelago, and finally one bikes along beautiful houses on the southern shore.

As we are getting close to midsommer, the sun rises very very early (if not to say ridiculously early... 3.39 am today) ; it still sets quite early (21.53)  but the sunsets are a long, drawn out and beautiful affair. We can now even see lighter skies to the north in the middle of the night.
The view from our apartment, end of May, and then from the shore.