NOLA
For our five year anniversary, Carina and I took a long weekend in New Orleans, Louisiana. We stayed at the Ursuline Guest House, nestled in the heart of the French Quarter. This was a wonderful place to stay, as it wasn't too close to all the raucousness of Bourbon Street, but it wasn't so far away that everything was a labor to reach. Bill, the owner, was a wonderful host, and we thoroughly enjoyed chatting with him over the complimentary wine he offered every night. I shared with Bill that were it not our anniversary trip I would have liked to have rented a car to just drive around to see some of the reality of post-Katrina life. Bill informed us that there is a bus tour offering precisely that experience in a safe, controlled way and encouraged us to take it. "We need your tax dollars," he said, "so you should see for yourself just how bad we need 'em!"...
moreUkraine 2007, Part 1
Thursday morning we flew to Kiev, Ukraine with a brief layover in Riga, Latvia. The Kiev airport was markedly different from anything we had yet experienced, and was something of a portent of things to come. There are very few organized lines, instead folks just congeal into large masses and fight their way to the front. Ann met us just outside passport control, and took us to the taxi that she had waiting. We had a pleasant catching-up in the taxi, which was a nice distraction from the terror induced by driving in Kiev....
moreSweden 2007, part 3
We stayed for a few days in Finspang with Siw and Eilart, friends of Carina's mother. On Sunday morning we had coffee with Eilart's wife and her husband while the twins played for a while with Rebecca, one of the granddaughters of Siw and Eilart. Again I was struck by how welcoming and gracious everyone was, and it was relaxing and refreshing to have a great conversation over coffee and snacks. Sunday evening we went to visit Ulla Brit, Carina's aunt. At her house was her daughter Gunilla, and Carina's cousins Michael and Nicholas (whom we had previously met in Boston when they were visiting their aunt Birgitta). The evening was filled with comfortable, familial conversation and more coffee and snacks....
moreSweden 2007, part 2
Thursday evening we attended a Saint Lucia musical recital hosted by the daycare that Helena's daughter attends. It was extremely cold outside, but the kids were all so adorable!...
moreSweden 2007, part 1
We left Monday afternoon for our winter vacation. After a boring 9 hours on the plane, we arrived in Copenhagen, Denmark. After a short conflict with the payphone, we met with Michael Heilemann for lunch. Even though we only spent a brief time together, it was a real treat to meet him! I've known Michael for several years through his work on WordPress and K2, and more recently with Habari....
more