Feels great to be back in Vegas! I miss my friends and family in Sweden the instant I leave, but I’ll go back or they’ll come visit soon I hope 🙂
My somewhat healthy eating habits went out the window while in Sweden. My favorite cafe in Sweden is called ‘Lisas Grabb’. Nicklas the owner, bakes everything fresh every morning and all the bakery stuff is so good! The service is also a bit different there. You pick you own plate and drink. No fancy coffee machines here, just good old brewed coffee and you fill your own cup. Or grab a soft drink from the refrigerator. When you are finished, you tell Nicklas what you ate and drank, and he rings you up.
Always the best to see and catch up with friends. Have been friends forever and I love them!
Also had a night with relatives and their significant others. Was just supposed to be a dinner, but ended up at some bar with too much of everything liquid hahhaaa… During the night plans were formed that they all are coming to visit in Vegas. They all agreed that the temperatures here need to cool down or they’d melt LOL…
Sweden provided some sunny days (or hours at least). Took my nephew’s son out to some outdoor pools. I made my sister swim with him because the water was pretty damn freezing. I prefer hot Vegas pools thank you very much 🙂 I took a cat nap in the meanwhile 🙂
Then there is the continuing issue with my shoulders. First off, thank you everyone that emailed me with suggestions on how to rehab them! A friend suggested acupuncture and I went twice. As you might know, I’m not a fan of needles, but it was OK. I believe acupuncture can help a lot of issues, but can’t say I got much relief. Worth a try though… Happy he didn’t puncture my ‘floaties’ while at it hahahaa…
I also saw a chiropractor the day before flying back. Seen him before and he is amazing. He thinks my issues are related to my posture. A bit heavy on the front, and that has caused my shoulders to pull forward. I now have a posture correction harness I try to strap on as often as I can. Very frustrating as I can’t sleep if I don’t take a painkiller before bed. During the day they feel pretty OK, but at night I get a throbbing pain in arms. I think my next step is to go for an MRI, to rule out any tears or whatever else they might find.
A couple of selfies and pics of Stockholm while gift shopping before returning to Vegas…
Guess who was very happy with me returning? Hunter 🙂 He stayed glued to me the first 2 days. He jet lagged with me on the couch too. You can question his choice of space hahhaaa….
Went to see Angel right away to drop off the chocolates I brought her. Ended up sharing them with her. We also went to a Tiki bar with some friends one night. Healthy living can start tomorrow!
Found this chocolate bar in my carry-on bag that I’ve forgotten about. I was going to snack on blueberries, but ended up wolfing down the chocolate bar. I reason that it’s better to not have any sugar in the house when trying to make healthy choices next week. So it was better I ate it, right?
Today I’m going to the Sphere for the first time! Going to see Wizard of Oz there. Super excited about it! Plans for next week is to get a mani/pedi, get back to work properly and try to figure out what to do about my shoulders. Oh, and healthy eating 🙂
After a week in Sweden it was time to pack up for my annual hike with my sister. This is the 6th consecutive year we’ve went. This time we set out for the 160 km long Padjelanta Trail in the northern part of Sweden.
You feel every extra kilo in the backpack on your back! The weather forecast looked rainy so we both bought rain pants. Most of the huts sell food and snacks, but since you don’t know what or how much they’ll have, we brought food for every day.
We flew up to Gällivare early in the morning on a smaller propeller plane.
From there it was a 3h bus ride to Ritsem where you can start the trail from. Saw reindeer on the road and we had a pee break at a cool hotel on way. Had to take a pic of the stuffed bear since I have a slight bear phobia…
We spent the night at Ritsem since we arrived late. Most rooms have bunk beads and since I thought I might roll out of bed we made a barrier out of our slippers 🙂
There are 2 departures with a boat in the morning to shuttle you over to where the trail starts from. In very good spirits and ready to tackle the first 18km of the trail!
There was a small settlement where we started where the Sirkas Sámi have their summer stays. I loved this church ‘kåta’. ‘Kåta’, traditional Sámi housing back in the day.
After about an hour it started raining lightly. Then the wind picked up and it started raining even more. Luckily half-way to our first stop, there was a small shelter. We went inside to make some food, hot chocolate and put on long johns.
A Sámi guy also entered to have some shelter from the rain. He worked on the trails in the area during summer and otherwise hunts reindeer. He also happened to mention that there are bears in the area. I had a slight panic attack until he said that the bear will see us, but we’ll never see them. Puh!
Warm & full, we took on the last part of the trail. The weather switched between rain and no rain. Beautiful surroundings with a lot of waterfalls. Worth mentioning is that the water is so clean here, that you can always fill your water bottle up and have ice cold and fresh water. Yes, my rain poncho on top of my backpack makes me look something from the ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ character!
Our first night we spent at the Kutjaure Mountain cabin. All the cabins have one or two wardens that supervise the cabins. Everyone is asked to help bring in water in buckets, empty waste water buckets after doing dishes, chop up and bring in logs for the fireplace and clean up. The cabins have no running water or electricity. They have gas though so you can heat up water/food and pots, pans, plates, glasses and utensils to eat and cook your food from. Here is dinner with the fireplace going and us having our coffee the next morning before heading out.
2nd day was 19km. A bit of rain and most of the day was cloudy. We met a German lady who had taken a break and offered us some coffee. Most of the people you meet on the trail and in the huts are super friendly! Saw some reindeer too 🙂
2nd night was spent at Låddejåkka cabin. Dinner was a super tasty Bison Chili and a Blueberry Peach Crisp for dessert 🙂
The 3rd day was one of our longer days and it was 25k. We skipped one of the huts and it made the hike longer. The trail was pretty even and easy even though it started with a 4k long uphill climb. A lot of heavy fog when we reached the top, but so quiet and peaceful!
Since there was no rain we had some porridge with dried raspberries, coconut flakes and goji berries for lunch. Some chocolate chip cookies too for some sugar to help with the remaining kilometers 🙂
The 3rd night was spent at Staloluokta cabin. This was the only place along the trail that had a sauna. Us being Finns obviously we got very excited! I can’t describe how good and rewarding it felt after the long day! And to wash off properly too! 2 thumbs up for Staloluokta and their sauna!
Since we both prefer to eat outdoors, we always start our mornings with just black coffee. Then hike and find a good spot for breakfast. It’s a good thing we are so alike – wake up early, fine with starting the day with just coffee and pretty much keep the same speed on the trails.
The 4th day was an 18 km day. Very beautiful scenery and so green everywhere.
Found a nice spot by a waterfall to eat and rest. Right after we packed up we spotted a small group of reindeer. They say that if you spot a white reindeer, it brings you luck!
Most of the days so far had been cloudy and rainy. This afternoon we finally got some sunshine! Had to sit down and just enjoy the warmth. Probably our legs needed a break too 😉 See, the reindeer brought some luck right away 🙂
When we almost were finished, we come to this wide river. No way around, but through. Soaking wet feet, socks and shoes ! And 10 minutes later there was another river crossing just as wide, so we arrived with clean feet at Tuottar cabins 🙂
Here they had about 6 smaller cabins with 3 bunk beds in each. We shared our cabin with a solo hiker from Catalan. The water was down at the river where we just came from and kind of far. The guy was a gentleman and told us to chill and he’d walk down and fill the water buckets so we didn’t have to 🙂 Instead we went to see what the store had to offer. My sister got very happy to find that they had beer. Even though it cost like 3 times more than in the store 🙂 Oh, and there was a rainbow so more luck to us hopefully!
5th day was a 26km day again since we skipped a cabin and walked to the next one. Started with decent weather. A little pit stop by a river…
Right after we had to cross that river. Soaked again… I think from this point on, our shoes and socks never completely dried up for the rest of the trip!
Since my hiking shoes are made of leather they don’t let out the water. After each river crossing I had to stop and empty the water out of them and wring out my socks.
We were pretty exhausted by the end of this day. It rained on and off and the final stretch was downhill and the trail was wet, muddy and slippery. We had made reservations before for all of the cabins. They say you have to arrive before 6pm to be guaranteed to get your room. Otherwise it might be given to someone else without a reservation, since you might not show up. We got a bit stressed at the end of the hike since we didn’t arrive until 6.45pm. Our longest day so far. But we were lucky and got our own room at Såmmarlappa Mountain cabin 🙂
Our 6th day was a 19km stretch. It got more woodsy as we were on lower elevation. That also meant that the trail was even more wet, big pools of water and a lot of mud you tried to step around. Also the weather cooled down. Around 5°C in the morning and you could see some fresh snow on the mountain tops.
We could feel the kilometers in our legs by now and felt good when we finally arrived at the Njunjes Mountain cabin. All the cabins have a fire place, or a heater, in the common room, and in your room so you can dry stuff up. All my crusty socks went up 🙂
Last day was an easy 13km stretch which felt good. You mostly hiked in the woods. We both prefer the higher grounds with open landscape and where you get the views for miles.
Then you have to get on a boat to get a ride to the last mountain station which is Kvikkjokk.
Since there is only one bus which leaves 05.25am daily from Kvikkjokk, we had to spend the night there. Treated ourselves to a delicious 3 course dinner at their restaurant. My starter was smoked elk, fermented reindeer and first time trying reindeer tongue. I wasn’t going to eat that, but the waiter said it’s the best, so gave it a try and it tasted pretty damn good! Dinner was reindeer steak and for dessert we had vanilla ice cream with cloudberries. Cloudberries only grow up here in the north and are called ‘the gold of the forest’. If you ever get a chance to try them, do it! Soooo good!!!
Next morning we took the early bus for about 5h to reach Luleå where we caught a flight back to Stockholm.
What a hike! We both agreed that this was our hardest and most strenuous hike we’ve been on so far. The rainy weather played a huge part since we made fewer stops along the trail. We learned that we need to study the map before-hand if there are a lot of climbs and downhill parts before we decide to just skip a hut. This hike was recommended to be done in 9-10 days and we did it in 7. Even though it was hard at times, it was beautiful and me and my sister always have the best time together. It feels great that we pulled it off and tested our limits. Can’t wait to see what we plan for next year! Thanks for this year’s adventure sis!
More of my time in Sweden coming hopefully on Sunday. Giving jetlag and my sugar cravings a fight now hahahaa…
I consider myself a veteran traveller, and I still, I leave stuff to be handled to the last day or 2. First I had an appointment at DMV to get a Real ID, renew my drivers license and register my car in Vegas. I show up and get a big “NOPE” at the window! This because I didn’t bring all the paperwork needed. Yes, there probably information in the appointment email, but I obviously didn’t bother reading it. Only thing I could do was getting my VIN number checked which was behind the DMV office… Puma vs DMV = 0-1
At least I got my hair fixed! I liked that the dryer looked like I had a halo. Meet your holiness Puma 🙂
Last custom orders got shot too!
And at midnight before my flight I was packed and ready. I was aiming for only one packed bag, but ended up with 2.
Flying to Sweden went smoothly and landed at 8am the next day in Stockholm! I prefer arriving at my destination in the morning so no time is wasted!
My friend Linda picked me up at the airport and we spent the whole day together. Met up with my sister later and we went for meatballs, since that’s one meal I miss when not home. This place make them fresh every day. Served with the brown sauce, lingonberries and pickled cucumbers. YUMMY!
They also bake their cinnamon rolls fresh…
Jetlag has been put on hold. Met up with my cousin the next day and we went for a walk. Stockholm is a beautiful city surrounded by water.
Had to make a pitstop to avoid dehydration 🙂 My cousin is not as photogenic as I am, so he has to deal with a smiley over his face!
Walked a bit more and then went for food. I love beef tartar!
I haven’t really been eating any, or at least very little, sugar since I got home from Prague since there was an overkill of it there! I can’t resist to buy ‘lösgodis’ here though. The salty licorice candy is the best!
Had a bunch of girlfriends over for dinner this weekend. So much fun to catch up, so I forgot to take one single picture 🙁
On today’s schedule is to go and buy the last things for our hiking trip. Been looking at the weather forecast and it looks like it’s going to be pretty cold and some rain. Will try to keep my packing in my backpack to a maximum of 10kg. We have to bring more food this time, so I’m guessing I will end up at 11-12kg. Can’t wait to hit the trail!
Got an appointment booked with a Chinese Dr before our hike too. A friend recommended him, and I hope he can relieve some of the pain in my shoulders with acupuncture. Fingers crossed.
I hope everything with you is peachy! I’ll catch you after my hike in about 2 weeks from now unless I get lost up there 😉
I feel that all I did last week was running to different doctors appointments. Unfortunately my shoulders are hurting pretty bad again. Wake up several times at night from pain, but get some relief from getting my cold sleeves from the refrigerator usually at around 4am, sliding them on and I can then get a couple more hours of sleep. Been Googling, ChatGPT’ing and getting advice from people who had rotator cuffs issues on what to do.
First off I was going to a rheumatologist. Never even heard about that. I was specific when booking it that I wanted cortisone shots in the front of my shoulders if they didn’t find any other issues with me. Long story short, I was seen by a student who after a few questions just said, yeah, probably a tear in your rotator cuffs. Asked if I wanted to do bloodwork for auto immune diseases. I said I emailed them my bloodwork from a month ago and maybe she can check if there were answers in there. “Naaah, there probably won’t be” she said and asked again if I wanted to bloodwork. I asked where the Dr is since I wanted to see if I can get cortisone shots. Turns out the Dr was not even there. At this point I just said thanks and left. I wrote them later about my experience, they apologized and I received a full refund.
Managed to find another orthopedic Doctor. The first place I went to before didn’t have any appointments until end of August. After examining me he didn’t want to give me Cortisone since the first shots should’ve taken care of the area where I have pain now. But I got stronger painkillers and muscle relaxers. Which he forgot to send to the pharmacy so I’m still waiting for them. Going to book an MRI for when I’m back from Sweden.
You woud think 2 appointments would be enough. Nope, got a UTI too so popped by an urgent care and popping antibiotics now. Does it sound like I’m feeling a bit sorry for myself? Yup, you’re correct! But came across this great quote – ‘pain is inevitable, suffering is optional’, so I try to keep that in mind and remind myself that it will get better! Makes me also think of people who have way worse conditions, pain, etc, so I’m going to cut my bitching right here!
Can’t just deal with pain. Had to be a bit vain too and get some Botox. Was recommended this great place from a friend and wrinkles are smoothing out as I write here 🙂
When not being at the doctors or being vain, work had to be taken care of 🙂
I’ve gone for walks which always makes the pain better and have done exercises at home. The other day when I got on the walking path around 2pm, I see a man standing in the grass watching his dog run around. Because it’s so hot at that time not many people walk the trail. I pretty soon realized that he is naked. I’m pretty close when he sees me and hastily bends down to pull on his shorts. I walk past and he greets me. I say hello back and continue walking hahahaaa… Not totally kosher I guess, but I didn’t get too nervous since he had a dog and just seemed to be a nudist!
Yesterday Hunter was lying on the sidewalk right outside the house. I hear yelling and I run outside. He is all puffed up and in staring contest with a woman and her dog on a leash. All of a sudden he bluff charges them. I yell at him and he luckily comes to me and lets out a little growl while not breaking eye contact with the intruders on our street. I asked the woman if they were OK? Luckily she was chill and nothing happened. I apologized for my ‘sons’ behavior and I think he was guarding our house as their car was parked right by my drive way. When we were inside I gave him a treat and said he was a good boy protecting our street and house LOL… He was not too upset though and lied down outside on my broken umbrella that fell over. Yeah, it will be trashed later than sooner…
Also went by REI yesterday to look at some hiking gear for my trip to Sweden. My shoulders will somehow have to survive the hiking trip, because I’m too excited about it! I’m thinking of getting this backpack since the one I have is for men, and not a perfect fit.
Other than that, I observed and helped Greg when he was shooting Angel this week. He is so good and creative and he lets me experiment too under his watchful eye 🙂 Got a hair appointment tomorrow, seeing Angel, and then DMV on Tuesday. Got to pack too and as European weather is very moody, better bring something for every possible season! This is how I feel when I think about packing… I ‘d rather nap!
Hope you are in good health and if you got leftovers of it, send it my way 😉 Will write to you from Sweden next week!
OK, here is the post about our hike. Writing this and going through the photos again brings back so many fun memories from along the trail. This time we trekked the most northern part of the King’s Trail or Kungsleden as it’s called in Swedish.
We flew up to Kiruna at 8.25 am and it was a short flight.
From the airport we took a taxi to the Abisko Tourist Station where the trail starts. You can obviously hike it the other way around too, but we chose to start in Abisko. We had planned to eat lunch at the Tourist Station, but it was so packed and crowded with people finishing up the weeklong Fjällräven Classic. We bought a couple of sandwiches in the shop and took off…
You start by passing the Canyons which had this super clear turquoise water.
All along the trail there are meditation spots, and this one had a stone with a quote by Dag Hammarskjöld.
The sun came out and we took a short snack break. Our favorite – knäckebröd (crisp bread) with smoked reindeer spread and some salami.
Seeing the mountain cabin after a days hike is always rewarding. Even though it usually looks pretty close, it’s almost always at least an hours hike away.
This cabin had a store and even though they sold a lot of other stuff, they had a whole refrigerator dedicated to beer hahahaaa…
This mountain cabin is called Abiskojaure and us being Finns, we obviously appreciated them having a sauna! Usually the first hour is a mixed hour with men and women, then women, and lastly men. Almost everyone is naked and you chat about your day on the trail and where people are from. A lot of foreigners… They had a sandy beach and it’s perfect to cool off in between! Not a bad backdrop either…
After the sauna and dinner we pretty much crashed in bed. Great first day. First day’s stage Abisko – Abiskojaure, 15km.
Usually my sister and I are the first ones up. We usually awoke between 05.30 and 06.00. We prefer to just have a cup of coffee and then head out.
We usually hiked about 1,5 – 2 hours and then picked a spot to have breakfast at. I usually ate a porridge. You just need to boil water, pour it in the bag, let it sit for 8 min and then enjoy 🙂 It was pretty windy and sometimes a bit of a drizzle so this big boulder offered some shelter.
It was a long stretch in the valley next to this lake. The wind increased so I had to use my scarf as cover.
On this stage there is an option to take a boat on the final stretch. It cuts your hiking 4km shorter. When we reached the boat dock, it started raining pretty hard and about 6 people sat in the boat house waiting to take the boat. We decided that we’re here to hike, so that’s what we’ll do! We did question our decision a couple of times when it poured down and the wind was almost blowing us off the trail.
Here the rain and wind quieted down and we could snap a couple of beach pics hahhaaa…
Finally reached Alesjaure mountain cabin pretty soaked. But all the rooms usually have a furnace so we lit it and warmed up. Also great for drying your clothes.
This place also had a sauna by the lake- yeayyyyy! They had stairs going down to the stream below so you could go take a dip. Here we met a Japanese woman who never took a sauna before. Us Finn’s obviously gave her the run down and I took her skinny dipping in the stream too 🙂
The 2nd day’s stage was between Abiskojaure – Alesjaure, 21km. Pretty beat and hoped for better weather for the next day!
3rd day Alesjaure – Tjäktja – Sälka, 26km, We decided to do 2 stretches on our 3rd day and skip a night stay at Tjäktja. But first, quality coffee from Verve with a candle light 🙂
Beautiful morning to start our 3rd day…
It was a loooong day. We took breaks, snacked and drank coffee and hot chocolate. Finally saw some reindeers too 🙂
We passed the highest spot on Kungsleden – Tjäktjapasset, 1150 meter above sea level. It was a long stretch of stones and rocks and then a climb to get up there. We took a break at a small hut up on the top (if you look closely you can see a tiny hut in the ‘dip’ between the mountains) before hiking down to this valley that was so much prettier and greener…
I’m not going to lie, we were pretty exhausted and very happy when we finally spotted the Sälka mountain cabin!
To our surprise they had a sauna here too so we just threw in our backpacks and hit the sauna. Felt amazing after the long day.
Normally we book a room with 2 bunk beds. It was busy here so we had a bunk bed in a room with 6 bunk beds. Pretty tight, but everyone is respectful of the space, so it wasn’t a problem…
Per usual we enjoyed our coffee in the empty kitchen/common room by ourselves…
Luckily our 4th day was a shorter hike. From Sälka to Singi, 12km.
Beautiful morning and we found a great spot by the water to enjoy our breakfast at.
Even found some Cloudberries. I think I wrote about them before too. They only grow up in the north and are called ‘skogens guld’, the gold of the forest. They are so tasty and the jam made of these is expensive. Later we also found a spot with a lot of blueberries 🙂
Made it to Singi. No sauna here, but a lot of nice people that we met along the trail, so we spent the evening chatting while eating dinner and snacking,
The 5th day was also an easier day from Singi to Kebnekaise, 15km. Started our day with spotting some reindeers. Otherwise it was a pretty cold and foggy day.
We finally came down to a valley and the weather cleared up some. We found a spot and took a snack break. Pretty much had to throw our stuff back in the backpacks because 5 min after the picture was taken it rained. The weather changes fast up there…
The last stretched was mixed with some rain, wind and finally when reaching the Kebnekaise mountain cabin the sun decided to make an appearance.
Kebnekaise mountain cabin is a big place. Understandably since a lot of people come here to climb Kebnekaise. We booked dinner at the restaurant and had some wine and beer. It was a nice treat after eating freeze-dried food for five days 🙂 The risotto was delicious and I think I ate about half of a loaf of bread too hahahaa…
Checked the forecast for the next day. Some days you can’t go to the top of Kebnekaise since the weather is not permitting it. But luckily on that Tuesday when we planned to go up it looked good!
So finally on our 6th day it was time to do Kebnekaise, Sweden’s highest mountain. We were ready to head out at 6am. Wanted to have plenty of time. A few others headed out too. Beautiful morning! We opted for the southern peak via the western trail. If you do the northern peak, you needed to do it with a guide.
We had to start taking clothes off and soon as the climb started. It’s “only” 8 km to the top, but it’s almost all uphill you climb on loose rocks and boulders which makes it feel a lot longer.
Up, up and up. A lot of short breaks and pauses. After this mountain there was a steep descent down to ‘Kaffedalen’.
The weather rapidly changed and a thick fog came in. From ‘Kaffedalen’ it started to climb again. This is actually from where you start climbing Kebnekaise. The first mountain and climb is just a taste of what’s to come 🙂 We were so focused on climbing and making it up so we forgot to take pics going up here until we reached the old ‘topp stugan’ or the old safety/summit cabin. You can see how dense the fog was. We decided to pop our Champagne here 🙂
A Finnish lady entered the cabin so we got to chat some Finnish. She said it was another 20-30 min to the top, then another 50m with snow where you needed spikes for your shoes to be able to go. It was foggy up there too and no view she said. We decided this was high enough and started our descend. This was what we saw when we started our return.
But as we got further down it cleared up a bit. This here is ‘Kaffedalen’ and you’re officially down from Kebnekaise. From there you go uphill and it was pretty slow going at this point hahahaa…
But we were in good spirits and took one last break with apple crumble pie and hot chocolate to have energy for the last stretch.
It took us 5h to climb up and 7h to come down and back. It was a hard day and we’re happy we did it! We hit the sauna and showers after and then had dinner before crashing in bed. A tip might be to start the trail the other way around than we did, and be more rested before climbing Kebnekaise.
7th and last day. Hiking to Nikkaluokta, 19km. There was also an option to take a boat on this stretch too that would shorten your hike by 6km. We wanted to enjoy our last day outdoors so we hiked.
Guess how happy we wore when we found out that there was a cafe where the boat picked up and dropped off hikers? We went inside and I had a waffle with whipped cream and cloudberry jam. SOOOOO GOOOOD! The place is called Enoks and they also have reindeer and elk burgers which looked super tasty too.
The last part of the trail was super easy walking. It felt like fall was coming up in the north. It was beautiful and we finally arrived to Nikkaluokta.
From there we took the bus back to Kiruna airport and then a short flight back to Stockholm. I guess I was pretty tired hahahaaa…
A total of 128 km hikes with Kebnekaise included. My backpack weighted 10kg when we started. Most of it was food. The stores at the mountain cabins sell food, but I’m picky and want to eat good, so I brought all my food with me. I will remember this adventure with my sister forever. Thanks for the company and memories sis!
OK, that was that about the hike. And now to Vegas 🙂 I have been here for a week and one day today. Love it here so far. Hopefully I can get a post up during the week about the past week here. Hunter is very happy too 🙂 Met some friendly neighbors and signing up at a gym next week. Tomorrow I’m having coffee with a friend I knew in LA long time ago, but she also lives in Vegas now. Oh, and my birthday is on Friday too wohooo! Oh, I’ve been a week without smoking too 🙂
How was your week? Or/and got something fun happening this upcoming week?
Sorry for not being on here for 3 weeks, but Sweden got busy and I thought I’d write it each week, but then 3 weeks flew by…
OK, the biggest thing that happened during that time was the yearly hike up north in Sweden with my sister. We made it up Kebnekaise which is Sweden’s highest mountain. So cool and a bit impressed by us! A separate post about the hike and climb is coming too.
I had to take a look in my calendar to remember everything I did. I landed in Stockholm on a Friday and didn’t get my luggage when I got to Stockholm. No worries, went home and had friends over for dinner and drinks 3h later 🙂 No time to waste…
On Saturday I didn’t hear anything about my lost luggage and had a dinner and party planned so had to head out to look for an outfit. Like always when you ‘just-have-to’ find something, you find nada! I scrambled an outfit together from my sister’s closet and out we went! These people are no amateur party goers so it was a great (and late) night out 🙂
Got my bag on Sunday and jet lagged some…
During the week I met more friends, family, and recorded some more stuff for an upcoming podcast that me and Cyril recorded while we were shrooming in Jamaica. For some obvious reasons some stuff we recorded in Jamaica was a bit ‘not clear’ hahhaaaa…
Met with one of Sweden’s most beloved people – Mark Levengood. He always wears great jewelry and bling so we blinged up together. These pieces come from Pearl Octopuss.y and they have such cool pieces!
Also bought all we needed for our hike. Mostly food but also got a mosquito net for my head. Not this one as it felt a bit overkill…
After a week in Stockholm we flew up to Kiruna and hiked for a week. But like I said, more about that in the next post.
No time to rest after the hike. Had lunch with these gorgeous people and talked about maybe doing something fun together in the future. I love meeting creative people and Anna is an amazing photographer and Patricia a casting agent among other things…
Straight from there to record another podcast. After I called a friend and dragged her to one of my favorite cafes in Stockholm – Älskade Traditioner, to finally eat some meatballs. I actually ate meatballs there the next day too because you can’t get enough ‘balls”… On a side note, when my mom was alive, she always made meatballs for me as soon as I got to Sweden.
Also did a health exam in Stockholm at a place called Neko Health Center. It’s some high tech machinery that scans your whole body, other scanners for other parts, measuring different things and a blood test. Long story short, I had ‘optimal’ and ‘great’ values mostly, but obviously was told that I should quit smoking. No shit! (today is my 2nd day without cigarettes).
One of my best friends in Sweden, Linda, decided to put together a delayed 50th birthday celebration. It was held in a double decker where previously some hippies had lived. Such an amazing bus and I could totally see myself drive around in it like the Merry Pranksters in case you are familiar with them 🙂 I even have the acid! It was a 70’s themed party…
The location is a bit on the countryside so one of the guests had pigs in the woods that we went to see…
And Jorgen proudly showed off some creepy faces he bought. Things got weird hahhaaaaa….
Next day it was another of my great friends who threw a 50th birthday celebration. I’ve known Karina for over 30 years and we share a lot of fun and crazy memories together. I hope we will have another 30 years at least to make new memories even though I hope they are a bit more of a mature nature hahahaaa…
I slept over and the next day we had lunch at Elfviks Gård. Such a cool place. Like a farm with some cute stores, animals and a cafe.
From there it was a short drive to Ellery Beach House where we checked in. We did the same thing last year. Heated outdoor pools, saunas, swimming in the ocean and finishing off with a 3-course dinner. There might of been a couple of cocktails and wine too…. And my favorite, breakfast buffet in the morning!
The room was a bit tight and we joked that one could get stuck between the bed and the wall. I shot a little video clip and when I’m going to wiggle myself out of there I somehow fall sideways on the floor. And would’ve been stuck unless Karina hadn’t pulled me up while laughing her ass off! This could’ve resulted in a lawsuit in the US LOL 😉
After checking out we drove to her horse to check on him. Karina and I met when we were hanging at the stables as youngsters. I really love being around horses…
From there we headed into town where I had to find an outfit for the next days’ party which was a restaurant opening for a friend. The theme was pink party. Luckily I have a friend who designs great outfits for events, artists, etc. and he helped me. I like the purple one and had to try it on even though it’s not pink. I ended up with the first dress but asked them to make it shorter and less ladylike hahahaaa…
Got my hair washed and blown out the day of the party.
In Mexico I became friends with a Swedish artist, Sanna Fried and she has moved out of Mexico too and back to Sweden. Took her to my go to cafe in Stockholm – Lisas Grabb. Always get some fat & carbs in you before a party!
The party the next day was so much fun! If you are in Stockholm and need a great place to eat, try Restaurang Art. Cool artsy interior design, great food and drinks.
I had to give-up early since I had an Uber booked for 03.45am the next morning. This was because I decided spontaneously I should live in Las Vegas. Lease signed, virtual tour, and as of yesterday I live in Vegas 🙂 Viva Las Vegas! A friend drove and Hunter was a bit stressed at first, but then chilled the rest of the trip 🙂
I really like our new place. My goal was to find a furnished place with outdoor access for Hunter. Will show some pics later when I manage to put some stuff away 🙂
Now heading to get groceries, then probably a nap and maaaaybe I can unpack 1 suitcase. Just maybe though… Here’s some leftovers from Sweden and a couple of days in Utah before Vegas…
Happy Labor Day tomorrow to all the gringos, and to the rest, enjoy your Monday 🙂
I had a great time in Sweden. Got to see a lot of friends, family, snow and froze my butt off, went to a couple of spas and a cruise, party and dining & a lot of tasty Christmas foods…
My flight from Mexico City was delayed so I had a long layover in Frankfurt. At least I slept and ate good on the plane 🙂
Didn’t get to my sisters until 1am. My sister is the best and had my favorites lined up as I got there 🙂 Also a belated birthday gift which was a supersoft Fjällräven sweater! Thanks sis!
Next day I started with breakfast and a fika at my favorite cafe in Stockholm, Lisas Grabb. There’s a lot of regulars there and this time I was introduced to a guy named Jorgen. He is a pro hiker and has written 8 books about hiking. He gave me this book, so hopefully on my next hike my backpack will be a lot lighter.
I don’t think I’ve shared this before, but I have hearing aids. I barely used them in the past, don’t ask me why, but maybe because they don’t feel really sexy LOL… I have noticed my hearing is worse and it’s annoying when I miss things in a conversation and have to ask people to repeat themselves 16 times. And people repeating themselves are just as annoyed. So, I finally upgraded to what they called the ‘Rolls Royce’ of hearing aids. Daaaamn, it’s like a new world! I hear birds, snow crunching, and can secretly listen in on other people’s conversations hahahaa… Also they have bluetooth so I can take my calls or listen to music in them. I also got a TV adapter so I can listen to the TV in them without having to turn up the volume to the max. Glasses, hearing aids, where will this end hahahaaa… #gilf
Met up with my sister later for dinner and what was going to be one drink. But more and more friends kept showing up and all of a sudden we are playing ‘Truth or Dare’ and doing dance off’s hahhaaaa… Needless to say, there was more than one drink being had…
On Friday me and my sister went to Yasuragi, a Japanese styled spa in Stockholm. Perfect way to recover 🙂 We hit the saunas, different pools and then had massages and food. No cameras allowed so couldn’t take any pictures from the spa.
The weekend I spent with one of my best and definitely oldest friends Karina. We did some Christmas shopping, eating, drinking and catching up all day. On Sunday we checked in At Ellery Beach House which is another spa hotel in Stockholm.
We hit the sauna and even managed to take a plunge twice in the ice cold water outdoors. Then some chilling and pre dinner drinks 🙂
Also met up with my childhood friend Pia. We went to Liljevalchs and checked out the Fredrik Robertsson exhibition – The dress makes the man. He is probably the only one in Sweden buying Haute Couture. Very cool outfits!
This was really out of the blue, but on Tuesday I went to casting for a Swedish movie. I’ve never done well in castings because they’ve always given me the script right before turning on the camera and then asked me to deliver the lines. I can never remember any lines so I pretty much read the paper from top to bottom, and as you can guess, it’s never a success. This time I got my lines before and was able to study and remember them so I thought it went pretty good. But then I always think I do good. Whether it’s in tests, performances or whatever and that’s not always the case hahhaaaa…
Party time! Had a night out with my friend Katrin and a couple of other girls. Katrin is a great because she doesn’t half ass things and when partying with her, she rarely talks me out of a great (sometimes bad) idea. Like when we hit a bar/club after dinner and I spot a ceramic panda with guns that I thought was awesome. I convinced a bar man to find me scissors and I freed him for a better life with me. I then wore him in my pants with his head and guns sticking out the whole night. Yes, I was going to make it mine until Katrin calls me the next day that the owner of the panda, also owner of the club/bar, demanded his return to captivity! Oooops… But I did as I was told and I think the panda had a blast in my pants for a night out on the town 🙂 I only found this picture from the night out hahahaaa…
I had some gringos in town and took them sightseeing in the rain and snow. We checked out the Christmas Market in Old Town and I obviously fed them meatballs too at Älskade Traditioner, which is another favorite place of mine in Stockholm.
On the 23rd we all went on a cruise to Mariehamn. An island between Sweden and Finland, but I believe it’s ruled by the Finns. We were 10 in total with a couple of kids included. Raced motorcycles, ate Swedish/Finnish Xmas foods, shopped candy and then I played Bingo. I love Bingo and used to play car bingo with my mom. I’m quite lucky in games so when it was time for 5 rows to get bingo, who do you think won??? Me of course 🙂 31 Euros so don’t get too excited hahahaaa…
Finally Xmas Eve and Santa time! We headed out to my nephew’s place out in the woods. So beautiful (and cold) with all the snow…
Lots of food…
I was winding the kids up about Santa Claus so they were almost poo-ing their pants in excitement hahhaaaa… I think I might of been more excited about Santa than they wore and he finally came.
The 25th I went to the stable with my cousin. I used to do horseback riding so it was great to get to pet a horse again. And there were stable cats that I was chasing to pet too…
That is pretty much what I managed during my stay in broad strokes. There was a lot of fikas, more meatballs and friends, so here they are in a mix…
And can you guess what this is? Sorry, my humor…
I got a cold now but my plan is to be rid of it by January 1st 🙂 Too much to deal with a cold and a hangover 😉 What are your plans for tonight? I’m going to a party with an Intergalactic Cowboy/Cowgirl theme. I love costume parties so I will see what I can come up with 🙂
I will do a recap of 2023 and my plans for 2024 too. You got any plans or resolutions? Yesterday I got an invite to go to Goa in India in February. I think I’m going to jump on it 🙂 OK, more to come, need to nap now so I can stay up until midnight! Me & Hunter wish you a fabulous New Years Eve whatever you got planned and the best start on 2024!
Today we’re celebrating Christmas here in Sweden wohoooo… And I guess it’s celebrated in some other Nordic and European countries as well. You gringos got to wait until tomorrow. The Santa is from Finland after all so I think we got it right 🙂 Aaaaanyways, I just wanted to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, God Jul, Hyvää Joulua & ¡feliz Navidad!
Are you guys wearing Christmas sweaters by the way? I found this sweater in a thrift store and I think it’s pretty awesome. I think it’s gnomes from outer space, high on acid hahhaaaaa…
OK, I’m done wrapping my gifts and my sister is prepping her homemade mustard with whiskey. In a bit we’re heading out to some relatives and friends out in the woods. Look forward to relax and eat a lot of good Finnish and Swedish Xmas foods 🙂
