Love, love, love Sweden!!!

We arrived in Gothenburg on a rainy Sunday afternoon.  It was quite chilly and it felt great.  Our drive found us with no trouble and we piled all 9 of us plus huge amounts of luggage into his large van.  What a luxury - we have a driver and vehicle for the entire month we are in Sweden so no more struggling to figure out how to get to museums, etc.  He will drive us up to the door and drop us off, returning to pick us up at a designated time.

I fell in love with Sweden on the drive up to our destination in Mullsjo at Folkhogskola.  The terrain here is much like that of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan or the northern portion of the lower peninsula, my favorite place in the world.  Lots of birch trees, thick, lush green forests, little sparkly and big sparkly lakes, and that cool, cool air.  This place resonates with me - it's like I'm home - like I feel when I get to go to northern Michigan for a week or two.  For others that feeling comes when they are in the desert, or the mountains, or at the seashore but for me it's that northern Michigan and now Sweden type place. 

By the way, today (May 31) is David's birthday.  I have nothing planned so if you get a chance, send him birthday wishes on his facebook page.

The Folkhogskola is a lovely place.  Our apartment is in the building where we eat our meals.  We have a little living area with a round table placed up against two big windows, a couch, book shelves, two beds, a little kitchen, and plenty of closet space and other storage, and TA DA!!! a huge, soaking tub in the bathroom.  I squealed out loud when I saw it.  We sure weren't expecting that.  So I've been taking wonderful, luxurious baths that heal my sore muscles.

We can walk to town on a very nice walking path which winds around a lake.  Mullsjo is small but so far has had everything we need, including the train which we can take everywhere, and bus which goes everywhere the train goes plus to little towns.

We are served 3 meals a day in the lovely dining room which features two walls of huge windows looking out onto the woods and lakes and has dining tables and chairs in that light wood that seems to be everywhere here.  There are fresh flowers in little vases on the tables.  Food is served buffet style and it is wholesome and scrumptious.  Breakfast features hot hard boiled eggs, a selection of lunch-type meats and cheeses, pickled vegetables, fruit sauces and a hot cereal.  The hot cereal with the fruit sauce is yummy!

The staff and faculty take a coffee break around 10 or so and there's a deck off the dining room that provides a great setting for conversation and relaxing.  Lunch is pretty big with lots of fresh vegetables, pickled items, and yesterday we had sausages and potatoes for the entree.  Dinner is apparently a lighter more lunch-like meal. We missed dinner last night because we walked to town with Janna (pronounced Yahna) a photography teacher whom David met when he was here in February.  She and her husband helped us with train and bus tickets for the month, while I purchased a new hair dryer and some other items.  They got on the train to go home and we waited for the bus to go back to the campus but got tired of waiting for the bus so we walked back.  I've found that I can use my carry-on as a kind of "cane on wheels" and it helps me walk.

Now, why did I need a  new hair dryer?  We purchased one in Tulsa that was for both types of current. When I got ready to use it in Paris I didn't realize it had a switch to determine which type of current to use and it was on 120 so when I used it on 120, it burned up.  So much for my new, universal hair dryer.  My new one, purchased in Mullsjo, cost  398 kroners - I'm not sure how much that was in dollars!  I'll have to look at my credit card bill, I guess.

We have a laundry on campus and it is interesting, especially the dryers.  The washing machines are all front loaders with not much space in them.  They don't have dryers like we do.  There is a dryer that is like a big closet with places to hang clothes, and then you turn it on and hot air kind of blows through it.  Awhile later your clothes are dry.  There's also a room where we hang up our clothes on clothes lines and turn on the heat/air and shut the door.  Hours later the clothes are dry!

Today we are going to go on a little trip with the faculty on a bus and then a ferry to an island.  We'll have dinner with them and there will be a speaker type program (in Swedish!) and I assume we will get to walk around the island for awhile so we're looking forward to that.  The faculty are all very welcoming and friendly and they all speak English.  It's nice that David already knows them from being here in February.

Bottom line, I feel like we just landed in paradise. We are pinching ourselves and saying to each other, "I can't believe we get to do this!"

Goodbye Paris

On our last day in Paris I splurged and took a taxi to the Rodin museum and gardens.  It was totally worth it because I arrived after only 15 minutes with lots of energy for the museum visit.  While it was quite busy, it wasn't as crowded as the Dorsay the day before and the gardens were very relaxing.  Since I was by myself I could go at my own pace and just linger wherever I felt like it.  My favorite part was the building that housed the museum - a old hotel where Rodin once lived.  It looked kind of like the Tulsa Garden Center before they renovated it.  They are going to renovate the museum - make repairs etc. beginning this winter.  I took a taxi back to our hotel in Monmarte.  David and I had a nice dinner and walk around our neighborhood that evening.  Our room was right on the street, Rue de Marcadet, which seemed to be party central every night we were there. Lots of raucous hollering, huge crowds, very noisey.  We found our ear plugs that we brought along for the plane worked great.

We had to get up the next morning (Sunday) at 4:00 a.m. to catch our shuttle to the airport.  When you're riding down the French expressways you could be anywhere - Tulsa, OK; Joplin, USA.  We flew to Frankfurt, changed planes and then on to Gothenburg. 

The first stage of the trip ended but the second stage was just about to begin . . . .

The French

Some observations at the risk of lumping all the French together in one big heap.  I love the language.  It's so lilting, especially when the women say "bonjour Madam" "Merci Monsieur."  They are very polite with formal greetings and goodbyes.  The women dress very well with lots of them wearing scarves and they are very trim.  I even see men wearing scarves tied in different ways, even those puffy scarves made out of light material.Sometimes I think we are offensive even though we don't mean to be.  David and I stopped at a sidewalk cafe late today.  I had tea and David had Irish coffee(s).  My feet were sore and my legs all swollen so David helped me lift them up and put them on a chair. Then our server brought me a stool.  It felt great. But then a man walking by said something really loud about "madame" and I don't know what it was but apparently it was very derogatory because I said "what did he say" and a gentleman at a nearby table said "you don't want to know." 

We went to Versailles today and I noticed how very competent all nine of us were getting onto the right train, exiting when we needed to and then getting on the next train without having to look at maps of the subway system for long periods of time.  We got to Versailles pretty early but it soon got very crowded.  I enjoyed seeing all the thrones, canopied beds with huge beds with feathers on top and marble walls, marble fireplace mantles, etc. etc.  David and I ate lunch in a very nice restaurant there (hope you don't mind if I talk about food, we haven't had a bad meal yet).  I had quiche lorraine with salad and David had grilled scallops with rice.  We each had dessert - he had a melt-in-your-mouth creme puff almond thing that was to die for and I had a macaroon only not like ours, more like a wafer with some cream in it.  Not surprisingly, we aren't having any dinner tonight because we're not hungry and that meal blew the budget!

On the way back from Versailles, we stopped at the Muse' Dorsay.  We didn't have to wait in a line at 3:00 p.m. but the place inside was so crowded.  There was one show-stopping masterpiece after another plus what a gorgeous building.  I could just picture it in the 1930s with bunches of trains linining up, entering and exiting, with their whistles blowing and people scurrying to catch their trains.  David provided me with an art history lesson on many of the paintings and most were familiar to me from all those art history papers I typed for him when he was at TU.  Definitely more of a thrill than the Louvre. 

I couldn't help but think at Versailles about how we cycle through the same types of times over and over again.  The King didn't like Paris so he had his Dad's hunting lodge made over into this massive castle with over-the-top gilding of real gold all over everywhere, then had to pay the members of his court to come out there and be with him thereby spending all the money while his people  - the everyday folks - went hungry.  Then the poor people rebelled.  The only thing that's different is that very few are rebelling at this time. 

Not sure what we're doing tomorrow except I know that David and the students will be out photographing. I may go to the Rodin gardens, not sure.  Tomorrow is our last day here and then Sunday we fly out very early and head for Sweden. Nicole N. was kind of enough to comment about how she landed in a surprised gentleman's lap in London on the tube when she was backpacking around Europe.  Keep the comments coming - thanks Wendy, Matthew, Nicole, and Jeremy!



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Just another day in Paris, France

We've been having one adventure after another since arriving in Paris yesterday.  Gosh, yesterday?  Seems like we've been here for days already.  The plane trip over wasn't bad.  We were able to get some sleep and we found our shuttle, etc. at the airport without too much stress.
We went on a boat ride down the Siene last night.  It was relaxing and awe-inspiring to see all the great architecture along the river.  Great bridges, one after another, the Louvre, Notre Dame, and the Eiffel Tower all lit up at night.

Getting to the boat, however, was a challenge.  We took the Metro (subway) and had to change trains many times - up stairs, down stairs, jump on quickly, etc.  I jumped on one of them at the last minute and received a scolding from a French gentleman who told me not to do that again and to be more careful.  Then he looked at my "fanny pack" bulging out at my side and just rolled his eyes.  In the meantime, David had jumped on another car with all of the students and in his car, a pick pocket tried to take his wallet out of his front pocket.  He grabbed her arm really hard and she was trying to get away and David was calling out loudly, "police!  police!"  He got the wallet back.  Onlookers were highly amused by the incident, including to the students who observed the whole thing. David is now keeping everything in his neck wallet thing.  Later on, we're still hopping on various trains, trying to get to the river cruise, and I was leaning over, pulling a seat up (they fold up when not in use) and the train jerked to a start at a high rate of speed - I flew over to the other side of the train and into the lap of a very surprised gentleman.  Whew!  Thank God I landed on him or I might have been hurt. Instead I was just shook up and wanted to cry because of the shock. 

We did much better today when we took the train to the Louvre.  However, after walking aroundthe Louvre for hours, I hit a wall.  Took a taxi back to the hotel and slept all afternoon.  I ache in every part of my body,especially my legs.  I knew the Paris part of the trip would be physically grueling and it is.  David and the others went on to the Dorsay and David loved it, couldn't say enough good about it.  So I'll make it over there before we leave.  Tomorrow we go to Versailles.  Oh,we saw an exhibit of Napoleons Apartments today at the Louvre.  Huge chandeliers - one after the other, a major size dining room - it seated 46 around the table, all velvet drapes, paintings on the ceilings, gilded gold everywhere.  I really enjoyed seeing those rooms.

David liked the drawings that the artist/designer prepared before doing the tapestries, etc. for Versailles. 

We had a lovely meal this evening at a small place near the hotel here in Montmarte.  We shared some fois gras with bread, wine, a salad with greens, mozzarella, and tomatoes with a viniagrette and chocolate mousse for dessert.  It was very very nice.

More later . . . . . weary traveler (and it's only day 2!!!)

Joplin

We came up to MSSU and Joplin Monday (yesterday) to finish packing and check in with everyone who is going on the trip.  As you probably know, much of Joplin has been devastated by a savage tornado that hit here Sunday evening wrecking St. John's hospital, the Wal-Mart, Builders Square and the high school.  MSSU is the shelter for those who have been left homeless.  We haven't seen much of the devastation because it is cordoned off but many people we encounter, including several students going on the trip with us, have lost everything and even have lost loved ones.  So, it's a difficult time for many folks here. 
We leave for the Springfield airport at 1:30 today and our plane leaves for Atlanta at 4:30.  From Atlanta we fly to Paris, leaving at 11:30 p.m. and arriving in Paris tomorrow early afternoon.  We have plenty to keep us entertained on the flight including movies and tv shows downloaded on our new little computer, and several books downloaded onto my Nook.  The first thing we do in Paris, after checking in to our hotel (maybe a little nap?) is take a boat ride down the Seine.  We already have our tickets.  I've read that the Eiffel Tower is beautiful at night.  This will be the last post, I think, until we get to Paris.
We are wondering if ash from the Iceland volcano will be a problem for our flight over, or maybe even our return flight . . . . . hmmmmm.... That's it for now. 

Preparations

I've never blogged before and I'm not sure if I've ever even read a blog, but we are going on the trip of a lifetime and it seems like blogging will be a good way to let our friends and family know what we're doing and seeing while we're away.

It's only a few more days before we leave on our 5 week trip to Paris and Scandinavia!  We are escorting 6 art students to Paris, Sweden (Stockholm, Gothenberg,) plus Copenhagen and Oslo. Our  home base will be in Mullsjo Folkhogskola from late May until the end of June. We will visit art museums for the most part, as some of the credit the students will be earning will be for art history. 

Any tips for our visit to Paris would be most welcome.  We've been scouring the tour books but there's nothing like hearing from folks who have been there.