DAYTRIP: MONTSERRAT... & tapas & wine

Up on a mountain, long ago, a priest found a carving of a virgin mary. The priest wanted to take this holy piece home to his chapel to increase his power and wealth, but as farther he came from the place where the virgin was found, the heavier the statue became. Eventually, the statue became so heavy he could not carry it one bit further, so the priest realized that God had told him that the statue's rightful home was where he found it. The priest carried it back and instead started to build his church around it.

"And that is the story about Montserrat." our guide Francesco told us as we drove on the winding roads in the shadow of the mountain's ridge, on our way up to the legendary castillo. The mountain itself was impressive enough, towering like the back of a dragon.

"Monserrat mountain was Gaudí's biggest source of inspiration." Francesco continued and my heart purred in the chest. Gaudí had already become the biggest source of inspiration in my imaginary future carrier as a painter, so to see the place that made him create such beautiful pieces was going to be breathtaking.

Also, we were going to get wine. Which might not at all have something to do with the level of pepp we were feeling when the bus finally stopped in the scenic area.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start from the beginning.

BARCELONA FROM THE SKY

THE FIKA PROJEKT: Eating the gigantic KANELBULLE of Haga

THE FIKA PROJECT: PART TWO

In our attempt to try and mastering the art of Fika in Gothenburg, we were bound to cross paths with this famous mutated baked good at some point. 

The concept is really simple - you take the typical Swedish cinnamon bun and make it about 4-5 times bigger. When we started The Fika Project, Felicia pitched ideas on what to eat and where to Julia and Jonas, and when she said "..Oh, and so the gigantic kanelbulle in Haga, naturally..." Jonas admitted He. Had. Never. Been. In. Haga. 

THAT WAS THE UTTEREST FORM OF DISGRACE TO YOUR GOTHENBURGIAN HERRITAGE, 

Julia and Felicia thought and off course also told him so, and the next stop on the Fika-map was set. 

WHEN LIFE IS LEMON-ISH, TAKE A WEEKEND TRIP - 24 hours in Stockholm

Although Gothenburg is The Best Swedish Town - true story -, we do come second in one area: the musical scene, as in having more than one musical currently playing. Because of that, we had to go all the way to the grand capital to see the Swedish production of Book of Mormon. 

We had the fortune to stay at relatives, as Jörgen, Felicia's mother's boyfriend, so kindly opened up his home to us. 

When trainprices are what they are, our two night stay resulted in only one day in Stockholm, as the cheapest train left from Gothenburg at 8 pm friday night and the return trip started early sunday morning. But even though that, we had time to spend 24 great hours in Stockholm. 

Here's our day. 

SWEDISH TRADITIONS: Celebrating 'Semledagen'!

Sweden isn't known for being particularly nationalistic - actually quite the opposite. The national anthem has been changed and banned several times and many swedes don't even know when the national day is.
But what Swedes lack in engagement for the calendrial holidays, they more than make up for with their excitement for the.. The calendrial sweetdays.

One Swedish tradition in particular is celebrted with banners and fanfares - and with good reason: 

SEMLEDAGEN

JULIA & JONAS PRESENTS: TAIPEI IN PICTURES pt 1

This is a part of our series 

TRAVEL CORRESPONDENCES, 

where our friends provide us with pictures from their fantastic trips abroad to help us spread inspiration.

This digital postcard comes from JULIA & JONAS, Felicia's sister and her boyfriend Jonas, from when they were in Taiwan this autumn.  

After enjoying the many quirky cafées and bustling city of Seoul, Julia and Jonas had a more serious agenda to take care of; 19 years ago, Jonas got adopted from Taiwan, and this was the pilgrimage back to see if he could get in contact with his biological parents. 

Did they succed in finding his birth parents? 

THE FAULT IN OUR TRAVELING GENERATION

We live in a fantastic world in a fantastic time. Boarders are open, a lot of people have the economy and social media opens up to new views we had no idea about.

In our whole life, we have know we were bound to leave at some point. We saw these possible futures with stars in our eyes, only thinking about the sights we were one day to see. I remember being 9 years old and saying that I will one day move out of here, to learn languages and meet new cultures.

THE ULTIMATE QUICK-GUIDE TO SOUTH EAST ASIA FIRST-TRIPPERS

- PLEASE NOTE! POST STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION! -

Mona called Felicia one day.
"Hey, I looked at your blog for some inspiration on South East Asia in general now when I'm going to Singapore, but... I kind of just want a post with the most essential tips. Do you guys have anything like that that I just havn't found yet?"

Sadly, we were forced to respond with a no, we don't have that on our webpage. Yet. But it was a really inspirational idea and we sat down immediately to sketch on a post.

The thing was, there is sooo much to know before going, there could be a whole book about it. And there is. Countless of them. Therefor we decided to boil it down and personalize it up a bit from the ordinary backpacker's guidebook - after all, we are not your ordinary backpacker. 

Even though we are being typically-Swedish-modest, this (awesome) GUIDE still INCLUDES

- Personal fails and how to avoid them

- How to trick both cookies and swindlers

- How to not be The Dumb Tourist

- 

Here we go. 

ALKEMISTEN - A Café Story

THE STORY ABOUT THE SUMMER PALACE IN BEIJING

Once upon a time in China, 

two Swedes were on a tourist trail,

searching for the not-at-all-hidden treasures 

and ended up in the Summer Palace in 

BEIJING

What waited them was not lurging mystery 

or etheral fog tucking the grounds in 

with acients stories, 

no, 

because the two Swedes had been out for quite a long time now

and were frankly quite tired of old buildings 

so they did what they do best

and strolled and strolled and strolled 

and took staged photos and ignored the signs in broken English 

and ate one or two really disgusting hotdogs

(seriously China, what do you put in those?!?)

and the day was not perfect 

or forever memorable, 

but quite nice and comfortable 

and visually pleasant 

and that is certainly good enough