Trip to Iceland, 14 April, Part: 2

Our trip to Iceland started early on a Sunday morning. My brother Robert picked Sandra and me up at about 7:30 am and drove us to the Nils Ericson terminal in Gothenburg, where we met up with Bea and Adam and took some early morning pictures and video before hopping on a bus headed to Kastrup, the airport in Copenhagen. 

Bea always looks happy, Adam "can only do indifferent", Sandra looks a bit tired, and I tried to show how happy I was, despite my being very tired, as usual.

We said goodbye to Gothenburg, and I waved as we drove past Liseberg (because once you've driven past Liseberg you're not in Gothenburg any longer, you're in Mölndal, which is pretty lame, everyone knows that :P).

Sandra and I sat in the front seats, because I usually suffer from motion sickness, and I much prefer NOT vomiting all over the place. I'm crazy like that. Since driving through Kungsbacka and such is pretty boring we took a lovely picture of ourselves instead. 

After Kungsbacka and the rest of Halland (snoooore!) comes Skåne. I have friends from Skåne, so I won't talk too ill about the place, but, although being green and nice, it is very flat and monotonous. I guess that's why Adam and Bea decided to just sleep instead of admiring the view... ;) (I think they look adorable!)

From Skåne you can drive over the Öresund bridge and just minutes later find yourself in Denmark. I took a couple of bye-bye Sweden pictures and one of the bridge, for those of you who find that sort of thing to be very exciting.

We decided to fly from Kastrup since there weren't any direct flights from Gothenburg and it was cheaper than flying via Stockholm. Saving money means losing time though, so the travelling took the better part of the day, leaving us stranded at the airport for about 5-6 hours. Fun was had by all, except us. We went outside to eat lunch, amidst all the stinky fumes, and tried to kill some time, since we couldn't even check our bags in until several hours later.

I always look super sexy, I know. We ate, we filmed, we smelled the fumes, perhaps got a little bit high off them, and we ate some chocolate. Chocolate is always the answer, the question is not very important.

(I think maybe I was under the influence of the fumes here...)

With several more hours to go until we could even check our bags in and go through security, we parked our behinds on some chairs, made ourselves as comfy as possible and played a kind of word association game. I'm sure you can tell we're extremely interesting and exciting people.

And finally, after so many and long hours, we went through security and did a bit of shopping. When I found this Smirnoff I couldn't help but remember two Christmases ago, when we had pudding with glitter on it and Julie wondered aloud if our poo would be sparkly the next day. (Note: The next day my poo WAS sparkly, in case you were wondering. I checked. I think it is important to conduct research when faced with questions like this. I am very scientific, you see.)

And so, after travelling and waiting an entire day, we finally boarded our flight! We were really excited (as you can tell if you watched the video I posted a few days ago) and even Adam managed something resembling a smile (he is a very happy chap though, make no mistake!).

I was very impressed with the TV screens in front of us, they made the three hour flight much more enjoyable! I watched The Hangover Part II and a couple of episodes of New Girl, and all of a sudden we were above Iceland!

My very first picture of Iceland!

This is basically what Iceland looks like (at least in the southwest part around the Reykjavik area), flat, muted colours, lava stone, seashores and long, mostly empty roads.

We landed as the sun set, and it was just beautiful.

Here are some funny-looking Icelandic words for you!

From the airport a bus picked us up and drove us to our apartment hotel. Easy and practical, I do recommend Flybus for anyone travelling to Iceland. Adam took a quick picture of me enjoying the view from the bus while the sun set completely, it was just vast and empty and harsh and lovely. Five minutes in the country and I already loved it.

Trip to Iceland, 14 April, Part: 1

Here's a little video from the first day of our trip to Iceland :)

Please ignore the fact that some of us (mostly me...ok, only me) look...well, less attractive than one could wish. It was a reeeeaaaaally long day of travelling, from 7:30 in the morning till about midnight, and we alternated between being overly excited and energetic and tireeeeeeed. 

When we flew in over Iceland and I, for the first time in my life, saw the coastline I was just amazed... It looked so different from home (Sweden), yet I felt...well, almost at home. It sort of reminded me of the Swedish and Norwegian mountains (fjäll). It was a strange and wonderful feeling. The only things we could see while we flew in, as the sun began to set, were the lava fields, snow and the sea (and a few islands). That was all. No houses or towns or anything else.

And when we walked out from Keflavíkurflugvöllur (Keflavik airport) and saw the blueish, purplish, pinkish sunset and were almost swept away by the strong wind, I felt really happy. It was beautiful, and I do love the feeling of wind whirling around me, especially if it smells like the sea.

More pictures and videos from Iceland are coming up, just hang tight!

München Christmas 2012

Prepare for a picture diary entry from my Christmas trip to Munich (München)!

Early on Christmas Eve we went out on the town to check out the Weihnachtsmarkt at Marienplatz. My brother and I were having a good time remembering things from our childhood there, including these Lebkuchen (or Pfefferkuchen). If memory serves me right they're not super tasty to eat (Swedish pepparkakor are SO much better!), but I think they are pretty and fun to look at.

The bell tower of the Rathaus.

The Rathaus.

The maypole at Viktualienmarkt. In Bavaria it's common that the maypole stays up all year round.

A really big Christmas pyramid used as a stall selling some food or beverages.

We found this stall that sold amazing chocolate items, like a camera, horseshoes, bolts and various other cool things.

This is what a proper Christmas tree looks like.

The back of the bell tower.

An inner courtyard inside the Rathaus.

 Feldhernhalle at Odeonsplatz.

Brilliant door handles.

I found these lovely nuns in a window.

On Christmas Day we took a stroll through the Englischer Garten and sat down at a Biergarten for some beer, Spezi and Brezn. Delicious.

My father loves beer. I do not.

Stepsister LA enjoying her beer too.

A bit further down on this street (right hand side) is where we used to live when I was little.

Christmas crackers are so...fun...hm.

Stepsister Dee and I made äggost! It was delicious.

This is some sort of big round ball thingy at a shopping mall in München.

Inside that same mall they have plants hanging from the ceiling, looks amazing!

One thing I love about München is the architecture. The buildings look so very European and you can find quirky little things like these everywhere.

This is one of München's most famous buildings, the Frauenkirche.

This is the Justizpalast in Karlsplatz.

Behold our beautiful äggost!

We went back to Marienplatz early one day, and just made it in time to watch the last few minutes of the Glockenspiel playing. I love that.

Found a store where I actually wanted to buy stuff. Most stores in München are expensive and boring, so this was a happy find.

My brother and I walked over to the Hauptbanhof and bought something to eat. He went for a kebab, but I, LOVING them, bought two Brezn instead. This one with salami, and the other was an Obatzder Brezn.

Inside the Frauenkirche. I hate religion, but I really do enjoy a beautiful church. You can't hate a building just because it was built for some retarded reason. Enjoy the architecture instead.

I love these houses at Viktualienmarkt, so colourful and lovely.

Our second before last evening we went to a bar to have a few drinks. Mine were spectacular.

This is a Coconut Kiss, tasty as fuck!

After the Coconut Kiss I ordered a Radler and a Raspberry Mojito, which was, hands down, the tastiest drink I have had in my entire life! I am so going back there next time I go to München.

Our last day we went to Schloss Nymphenburg, which used to be the main summer residence of the Bavarian rulers.

The palace is fucking huge, massive really (you should click on the link and check out the scrollable panoramic view on Wikipedia). Unfortunately, we only went for a walk in the park behind the palace, but I will definitely be back to go inside it some time.

A picture I found on Wikipedia, from ca 1730.

I really love Munich. I spent five of my childhood years here, and basically have nothing but good memories from this city. Last time I was here was almost ten years ago, so I really enjoyed finally coming back. Being there again and having such a lovely time re-awoke my happy memories and I found myself actually considering moving back there. It is such a beautiful and nice city, full of lovely people from all over the world (lots of foreigners!) and with a happy spirit, close to the Alps, with lots of castles and palaces, and full of meat and beer and good times. I guess we shall have to wait and see what the future brings, and if it brings me back to München! ;)

Tschüß!