An invitation I could not turn down - with friends in Aalen

A friend I got to know through music a couple of years ago said, "why don't you come up for a couple of days! We would love to see you!" Well, the feeling was mutual so I booked a ticket and took the train to Aalen. I left Maia in good hands with a couple of her best friends from Unterseeschule - as I left they were so busy with x-box, Maia had barely time to say good-bye ;-)

A little over 2 hours and I stepped off the train in Aalen, where Franz greeted me at the train station. We drove back to the house and were welcomed by Regine, Helmut and Marianne. I have been here only twice before, and yet it feels like seeing old friends again!

Franz and I went for a long walk leaving the others to prepare the bbq ... hmmmm, well, we did help clearing up afterwards ... a bit anyway ...

Where is it? Ah, ok, now I see it!

 

I know I keep repeating  myself!! ... but, it really was another fabulous evening :-)

 

I bid you all a very good night ;-)

Revisiting Wild- und Freizeitpark in Allensbach

It is Pfingstferien - school holiday to celebrate Whitsun - for 2 weeks a the moment in Germany. We decided to take the opportunity to go to the animal park in Allensbach (if you open this link be sure to turn the volume down a bit!) only a 20-minute drive away.

 The children were not overly enthusiastic about the animals - swings and such are a lot  more fun!

Part of the park is fenced off so visitors can walk around among deer and pigs. Another part has lots of fun stuff for big and small to try.
There are also plenty of tables, benches and grills for anyone to use as they please. We had our own disposable grill (I looove these things! So convenient) with us and had a very nice picknick when hunger set in.

Chicken kebab - Maia's favourite!

 Thus reenergized, the children were off again.

 "On top of the world!"

A beautiful day with a lot of fun and 3 very happy ... and tired children. Sara and I did manage a little snack before we also crashed ...

An evening walk in Gundholzen

Our hosts Sara, Luana and Derik live in a small village - part of Gaienhofen community - called Gundholzen just a short walk from Lake Constance on the north side of the Höri peninsula. It is simply beautiful ...

... and slightly chilly!

Herzlich willkommen!

Arrived in Gaienhofen and were immediately warmly greeted by our lovely neighbour Jochen. Back already? Yeah, well ...
On to Gundholzen and ...

... Luana and Derik had been busy ... aaaawwwww.

Gaienhofen auf der Höri - as beautiful as ever. We have been swimming, eating, playing, talking, drinking and ...

... well, enjoying :-)

A walk in the park

Mum, Maia and I decided to go for a walk ... so we sent to Trollenäs Castle not far from Bosarp, where mum was born.

The house to the left is the castle, and the one to the right a chapell where I used to work when I was employed as an organist/choir director in this area. The chapell does not have any form of heating so it was only operating during the summer months. This is a place where many want to get married ... believe you me ...

Hidden among the trees is Borgstugan, nowadays a café.

 

 Time for coffee and ice cream.

If anyone would like to know more about this place, have a look here or here (in Swedish). More pictures of the castle, also the inside, can be found here.

A day in Landskrona - Landskronadagen

My home town of Landskrona celebrated 600 years last year and in that context there were several big events in town. One (two ...) was The Landskrona Days - one in the spring and one in the autumn - was such a success bringing the citizens and the entrepeneurs together, that the city decided to continue this arrangement.
May 24, 2014 saw the spring Landskrona Day and of course we took the opportunity to explore what was on offer. Mother Kerstin, father Ulf, uncle Bengt, his grandchildren Noah and Tilia, Inger, Maia and I met up downtown.

Music of all kinds, art, dance, different clubs displaying ... well, whatever they were for, food and drink.

Future moto cross aspirant? She does look like a natural to me ... then again, I might be biased.

 "Mummy, I want one!"
Sure, have two :-)

Lots of people out and about. The building to the left is the museum, where an exhibition of Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd's Non-Violence collection was on.

A little trivia for whoever wants to know:
The knotted gun -
In 1980 Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd created an artwork, known as “Non violence” or “The knotted gun”, for reasons described as follows:
"When the artist learned that his friend, John Lennon, had been murdered, he became so upset and angry over this senseless death that he went to his studio and started working on the “non-violence” project. “My first sketches in three dimensions were rather rough and simple, but the important thing was that the idea of the knotted barrel was with me from the very start,” he said.
The swedish artist produced different variations of the piece, the most famous being the sculpture installed in 1985 in Malmo/Sweden . It consists of a large replica in bronze of a 45-calibre revolver, the barrel of which is tied into a knot. The gun is cocked, but the knot makes it clear that it will not shoot.

Well, now we have one in Landskrona :-)

In front of the museum is a big empty area previously used for military excercise, but nowadays it is an open space with plantations, pools and space for events. On this day it was an amusement park!

 

A robot man scared the ... out of the children ...

 

Maia and Tilia in a bumper car, Noah in another one just behind them ... lot's of fun was had!

A fabulous day at Tivoli, the oldest amusement park in Europe

A must every time we visit Sweden is a visit to Copenhagen and Tivoli! Maia and I went with uncle Jens and a whole bunch of other people on a very sunny and beautiful Sunday. We thought there might be a lot of other people having the same thought, but as it was the week before graduation. People were probably busy with other things, because we had the parc ... well not to ourselves, but at least there were very short queues!

 Here comes their own marching band with Pierrot in the lead.

It was a hot day ...

A little boat ride with my favourite daughter. I was laughing my head off because in another boat was my brother and his fiancée and that boat was so low on one side (guess which one ...) that it is was almost taking in water every time he moved!

The park itself is so beautiful and very well maintained. Many people, also a lot of elderly, get a season pass and spend their days in this lovely environment probably people watching. Tivoli offers a whole range of different concerts, ballet, children's theatre and also has its own symphony orchestra, that regularly give concerts.

 If you follow the fence in front of the building to the right you might spot a big white bird, it is a white (or albino?) peacock! Really beautiful ... and VERY loud :-)

 

No, I did not ride this one ...

 No, I did not ride this one either ... but Maia did. Free fall for like 100 metres! ... well, maybe not quite, but it did look like it.

On our way to ...

... ICE CREAM break

 

We ended the day with a meal at Wagamama restaurant inside the park (!!) then it was time to take the train back home with many happy memories.

Thanks everybody for making this a most memorable day!