Gothenburg

Aaaah, home sweet home! It came as a surprise, my longing for home on our little jaunt down to the westcoast of Sweden and Göteborg. Why, you ask? Well, the reasons are many, but mainly as this place epitomises what is summer, relaxation and what is good in life to me, and it is somewhere that has always been a constant in my nomadic uprbinging (that is a positive thing FYI). How exciting that I finally got to show it off to Mark, and we went on our first family holiday!

We did the obligatories, such as going to Liseberg Theme Park, even managing to steal a little time to ourselves and going on the hunt for some fun rides of our own. Dont get me wrong, it was fun and exciting riding around with Maia and Lily on the rides we went on, they just aren't as thrilling as grown up ones hehe. Poor Mark, most of the rides that he wanted to go on, like the  ''shoot you up stupidly high and drop u just as quick'' towers all had max height limit of 195cm. A whole 9cm shorter than what dear husband is. Shame. So, with the mammoth queues that abounded during the warm lovely day in the middle of the holiday period, we managed to find ourselves ONE ride, with only 35mins queue time and with no height restrictions. We ended up on the classic Lisebergsbanan, a rollercoaster, and we grabbed the very front seats - yay for us!

Next on the hit list we had Slottskogen. A massive, beautiful park with petting zoo's and animals to go and see, as well as massive playgrounds and lush grassy expanses dotted with pretty flowers, also in the middle of the city. We saw a couple of Bambi's, that now are no longer in enclosures in the park, but allowed to run free, and this very much excited Maiabus. Not once did she whine and moan about not wanting to walk, and Lilypops was chilled and happy in the pram, varying between exciting squeals and giggles. Bless.

I think Marks favourite bit was driving an hour and half up the coast line to Sannäs, and being able to swim in the sea and soak up the atmosphere of a sleepy, summery idyll right by the sea.

And then, before we knew it, it was time to drive home. This time, we didnt run ourselves ragged seeing all the wonderful friends we have here, and it is with a guilty conscience that I admit that it was very nice to just be by ourselves, enjoying our family. As great as it is seeing long standing friends, some of whom have even been like family over the years, things start to feel a little stressed when we have a list of things to do hanging over us. So my lovelies, you all know where Umeå is, so get thee going to the north!...just not today, its raining so not much fun ;)


All in all, much needed, much enjoyed and certainly to be done again. But for longer. The trip has even made us consider buying a cottage by the sea and not a house, as our apartment is everything that we need, both space and location wise, and we have the bonus our own garden. One cant have it all, even if that would be nice.