Familia, Surströmming na zaidi

Moin!

Hope you missed us ;-) Let's be honest... we've been a bit lazy with the blog lately, but we promise to do better!

What's new with us? We had a big family visit at the Sweden camp for the past two weeks! Mine's mom Ute, Mine's sister Sarah, as well as Sergey's mom Lisa and Sergey's cousin Alexandra flew in one after another. We're excited to hug our loved ones and experience the full Sweden program with them.

Having two mothers on board always means (over) full stomachs! The conversations during meals about the next meal will stay in our memories for a long time :-)

When it comes to drinks, culinary standards have been set. Recipe for the newly developed 'Russian Moose': Take half dried, slightly sugared lingonberries (freshly picked from the Swedish nature, of course), gin and tonic water, ice cubes et voila! Russian Moose (see photos). Other top favorites in the race for naming: Bloody Vostok, Ivanovic Sour, Kärrnäset Libre and Jämtland's Finest :-) Thanks for the creative suggestions to the Swedish crew!

Another highlight was our Surströmming escapade... (Surströmming is this fermented stinky fish from the can or a Swedish delicacy). Due to lack of experience, we bought the hardcore version right away (i.e. whole fish including innards). It's a bit embarrassing, but we didn't get far with it... that the can should be opened outside - we figured that out on our own. But after the fragrant brine was sprayed into our faces with pressure when opening (skunks would definitely have great respect for this stuff), and the unappetizing sight of the innards, the threshold to try a bite was simply too high. The forest animals didn't touch it either. We'll put this project on hold for now. ;)

We unfortunately didn't see any northern lights this year, we'll save that for next time (but they do exist as you can see from Toni's pictures)... instead, the new toilet house shines in typical Swedish colors :)

The family weeks also marked the end of our time in Sweden for this year. It was our last chance to stock up on super Woolpower Östersund clothes for the cooler days of our upcoming trip :-) We're practically sitting on the source here.

The next two weeks we'll spend in good old Germany, meeting friends, taking care of last paperwork, enjoying the delicious whole grain bread once again, and getting ready for Asia. We're looking forward to it!!! :)

Stay tuned! Big hugs,

Mine & Sergey