Monday 31 August 2020

First day of school 2020/2021

Back to school today!
Well, school of sorts anyway - e-learning unfortunately continues for all secondary students in Abu Dhabi. At least for the next four weeks we have been told, but my guess is that it'll be for the unforeseeable future.


Our IB students, Lucas in Grade 11 - first year of the the DP program, and Linnea in Grade 9.

Sunday 30 August 2020

Home quarantine halfway point

So we've reached the halfway point of our home quarantine, one week done, one week do go. I actually don't think it's that much of a hardship, I guess I'm a homebody at heart.

Some of my friends here have been extremely bored throughout their quarantine and found it dragged out. Of course it makes it easier to have older kids who are practically living their best life - being locked in their rooms, able to do whatever they want on unlimited screen time, day after day. That'll all change tomorrow when school starts of course, it'll all be good with some routine again.
I'm also grateful we are in our own home, with our own stuff. I have friends who recently did 14 days quarantine after arriving into Brunei, and they had to do it in a hotel room.

It feels a bit like I'm still on a trip though, as I'm staying in the guest room for this quarantine period. I kind of like having my very own bathroom, and sleep undisturbed - I might stay there!

Sunday 23 August 2020

Finally

So finally it was travel day for us as well. After the rollercoaster of emotions of the past many weeks we were so ready to get home. Still a bit nervous considering all the hoops we still had in front of us to jump through, but at least checking in at Landvetter was easy peasy. Traditional last photo at departure point:



I liked this wall decoration at the airport, so pretty!


Stress affects different people in different ways. For me it goes straight to my stomach. So it wasn't until we had done the transit in Frankfurt (without any issues) and sat down by the gate in super good time that I was finally able to eat something. Linnea was keen on trying out a German pretzel and I had coffee and the sandwich I had bought at Landvetter.

Then onto Etihad for the last leg home. We sat up the front and enjoyed a nice meal and a few movies on the way home.



On arrival in Abu Dhabi, we were prepared for queues but we were so lucky that there was no other flight coming in at the same time; so we were through all the extra checks, PCR-test and immigration and in a taxi in less than half an hour.
Now we "only" have to do the mandated 14 day home quarantine. Ah well.
At least we are home!

Friday 21 August 2020

Come rain or shine

In the very last week of our stay I managed to even drag Linnea out into the woods for a walk, or to take a "forest bath" as one of my friends said! Trying to enjoy as much as we could of the nature before it was departure time.


My very last walk this summer was a rainy one, but I actually didn't mind. It is still so beautiful and I'm so thankful I get to be outside, I enjoy it in any weather.

Monday 17 August 2020

If I could bottle this...

Another spectacular evening walk. I just soak it all in. I try to take a lot of photos which I can keep to look at when back in the sandpit, on those extra beige days.







♥︎♥︎♥︎

Thursday 13 August 2020

Our superstar

After coming back from our day in Göteborg the evening turned into a bit of a hectic scramble, due to a sudden change in travel plans. Nathan and I decided that if possible, Lucas should go home on his own (as there was no reason he stayed behind), and Nathan managed to find him tickets the next morning already!

I got really busy printing out all the papers needed and repacking the suitcases. I needed to send Lucas home with his things obviously, but also wanted to fill his suitcase to the limit with other stuff.
In between all of this we also had to have dinner, and eventually get to bed early as the alarm was set for 04.30... But of course I couldn't sleep... the nerves, the worries.

My big boy. His very first solo flight, and it had to be under these very strange circumstances.

Of course I did shed a few tears saying goodbye (what kind of mother would I be if I didn't worry?) but Lucas himself was cool as a cucumber. Having done nearly 270 flights already, he knew what to do.

Mormor, who had come along to drop him off, and I actually stayed by the airport (we had brought a 'fika' basket, of course!) until he took off. For no reason in particular, I just wanted to see the plane off.


Everything had gone perfectly fine. Even the transit in Frankfurt had been smooth, no issues at all; and most importantly - he made his Mummy very happy and calm by texting and keeping us updated all throughout the trip. Such a superstar. ♥︎

It took him some time after arriving in Abu Dhabi, to get through after landing as there was a couple of other flights coming in at the same time. This created some queues at the PCR-testing and by immigration. Nathan was there to pick him up, and now he can look forward to the 14 days of home quarantine. Something I have a feeling he wont mind at all... he will be living his best life just inside his room, with his computer and games..!

Tuesday 11 August 2020

Sculpture in Pilane

Another thing I have had on my list of things to see and do for a while, was the Pilane Sculpture Park, and considering it's an outdoor attraction, it would be a Corona-safe thing to do this summer.


This sculpture park is situated at Tjörn Island, about an hour north of central Göteborg. Each summer there is a new sculpture exhibition here. You can walk around as you please, or follow the signposts which will guide you along the trails in a big loop, passing the dozen or so big sculptures scattered throughout. Here are photos of a few of them.

Ida Koitila - Earth:



Kim Simonsson - Girl feeding a two headed rabbit:



From the hills you have a great view of the Bohuslän archipelago and the sea. Here we were making our way up to the next artwork by Per Svensson - Talking point:





Ingela Palmertz - Diagonal in room and Sitting figure:
 




Charlotte Gyllenhammar - Night Descend and Donald Baechler - Paradox owned the pilgrim:

 

Roland Persson - Explorer:


The large white head is called "Anna" and is by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa. This monumental sculpture is a permanent feature of the sculpture park; it is a favourite for many, probably because of its sheer size and its position on the highest point of the park. It and has become a landmark for the whole west coast.
 





The walking trail also took us through some of the ancient grounds, for which Tjörn island is so famous. This settlement site is Iron Age, from about 2500 years ago, and consists of approximately 90 ancient monuments, including stone circles, burial mounds and more.

Haga

Coming to the end of our stay it was time to get our PCR-tests sorted before our return trip, and I had picked out of the clinics in Göteborg, which had easy parking nearby. I googled a bit about the area where the clinic was located before we went, as I knew there was supposed to be a café there with some world record cinnamon buns that I wanted to try.
So after we had done the tests we took a walk through Haga, a very cosy part of Göteborg.

We found the 'Husaren' café, which boasts of "The Worlds Largest Cinnamon Buns", so of course we had to try one. Look at this monster!

They also had enormous cookies of all kinds. So we tried a cinnamon bun and a giant caramel cookie, for the wow factor and to be able to tick off "the worlds largest...". But I must say the cinnamon bun was just ok, and the cookie was really disappointing.



At least it fed all four of us easily, so with full bellies and new energy, we were ready to take on the afternoon activity - the sculpture park in Pilane (next post)!