Tag 168 - Lysvik, Sweden (06/27/2020)

In our second week, we started renovating Hanna's yoga room. The first task was to remove the old wallpaper. As it turned out, we had to remove a total of 5 layers of decades-old wallpaper from the wall, which was a very sweaty task in the attic with almost 30 degrees Celsius.

We also continued diligently working on our lawn mower garage project. Here, we had to paint all the individual parts and screw the outer frame together.

During the weekend, it was the summer solstice and therefore the Swedish Midsummer celebration.

So, we were all invited to Hanna's sister Sophia and her husband Robin.

After a five-hour drive, we arrived at their house near Gothenburg. There we also met Nils and Lea and their dog Marley. The three of them are from Hamburg and have been living in a converted van for a couple of years now. They used the coronavirus time to renovate their van at Sophia and Robin's.

For the Midsummer celebration, we traditionally decorated a Maypole with birch branches and flowers. We spent the day together with lots of delicious food, some schnapps, and a refreshing swim in the nearby lake.

After a great weekend with many interesting conversations, we headed back to Lysvik.

During our last week, we still had some to-dos such as filling and painting the ceiling of the yoga room, completing the garage, and doing grocery shopping.

We also cooked some delicious dishes together with Hanna, such as the Swedish dish 'Flying Jacob,' which tasted surprisingly good.

On our last evening, we were given traditional flower wreaths as a farewell gift and enjoyed a wonderful summer evening with cheesy nachos and beer.

We will really miss the days with Hanna and André. For three weeks, we were able to be part of their daily lives, got to know some of the family members, were provided with excellent food, and were able to be creative and complete some projects.

We will certainly miss playing 7 Wonders in the evenings :)

We have now been in Sweden for exactly two months and have experienced this country in a really intense way, making the time and the people here a very special part of our journey.

However, we are ready to move on, explore new countries and cultures, and have more adventures.

Therefore, we have decided to explore the Balkan region in the coming weeks.

For us, the countries of the former Yugoslavia are completely unknown.

Following the life motto of our jungle friends from Bukit Lawang 'Never try, never know!' we will now make our way to Serbia, where we are sure to have great experiences waiting for us!

So, stay tuned and see you soon!

Your world travelers,

Bianca and Michael