Sun in the city and outside it

Yesterday was the first real day of spring in Gothenburg. So much sun that my eyes, used to the grey and cloudy days of Lund, were in shock. After the party, we took a boat to one of the many islands outside the city and simply enjoyed a walk by the seaside. Amazing what a little sun can do for one's morale! Now, back in the colorless Lund, the contrast with the beautiful yesterday is even more striking.

Downtown Gothenburg, with its typical church spire and blue tram

Draken, or the Dragon, another landmark

The boats are part of the local public transport network, so to travel 45 minutes into the archipelago costs as much as any bus or tram ride in the city.

Sunny day on the beach (well, it was not all that warm, but still...)

Cute local kid, transported in the local fashion (how many uses for a beer case?)

So much sun, I was completely blinded

Party in Gotheburg

Martin's younger sister, Karin, and her husband, Henrik, have bought a new apartment in Gothenburg and this past weekend we were invited to attend their home-warming party. Here are some pictures illustrating the event.

Chevre cheese balls with chives

Marinated chicken

Dips and veggies

Gratin aux legumes, variant with rosemary (not for me)

Legumes gratinees, variant without rosemary (much better, if you should ask me)

Martin, actively in a conversation

Lots of guests (only some of them on picture)

Egon, the sweetest little dog

The living room of the new apartment

Dublin - bars and landscapes

One of my photo themes was the name plates of bars and pubs. They are full of imagination and color, as you can observe! The second series of pictures covers a trip taken by car towards a beach area on the margins of the city (forgot the name). Very exciting!

Dublin - people

Some pictures from Dublin. We stayed with Irina, Dan and their young daughter Sara. We took walks in and around the city, talked a lot and ate good food - including scones, my favorite English-inspired dish if you can call it so.

Food

As always when in Paris, food is an important part of the everyday. Besides loving the window displays of stores, this time we have also visited the Agriculture Exhibition, where different countries and producers displayed their products.

Trip to Paris

After I have submitted my first draft to the PhD Committee, it was time to relax. We took a short trip first to Dublin (pictures coming shortly) and then to Paris, in order to meet friends we have not seen in years.
Here are some impressions from the Paris trip.

Christmas at Emma, Frank, Ida and Tea

Tartu, Estonia

This last week I spent two days in the city of Tartu, a town similar to Lund both in size (about 100 000 inhabitants) and in orientation (both are centered around their respective universities). Another common feature of the two is that their universities have been founded both by Swedish kings, and almost at the same time: Tartu in 1632, Lund in 1666. Unfortunately I did not have time to explore the town at ease, this being a working visit, but some small instants of Tartu have been captured on camera:

The Main University Building
The University Cafeteria, where we had dinnerMain Square, decorated for ChristmasThe View from my hotel windowThe City Hall

Advent

Yesterday was the first of advent and in the traditional Swedish way we celebrated it by having friends over and eating at least 7 types of cookies. Here are some pictures to prove there was truly such an explosion of sugar confections!











And here it is the happy hostess, wishing you all a happy Advent

House-warming party

I just noticed that the previous post dates from the 1st of April! What a long time of silence! But hre comes a new post, loaded with pictures from our fun inflytningsfest as it called in Swedish. We move every year so by now having this type of party is a real tradition!
Thank you all who could come, it was lovely to have you here! And to those of you too far away to come to this party, I hope there will be some opportunity to celebrate together at some point in the future!