Books all over the place

Yup, got some reading to do. And what did I do today? I went for a lunch with a dear friend which developed into shopping and shoe-hunting. Didn't find anything though.

Here's a video clip, when talking about books, that might bring some nostalgia to the Swedes.

International Suit-Up Day!

For those of you who watch How I Met Your Mother know what I mean when I write "Suit Up!". For the rest of you: start watching the series! ;)

Oh okay: shortly, it's a character in the series that always, and I mean always, wears a suit. He even sleeps in a silk suit pyjamas! Anyways he always tries to get the other characters to "suit up!". He sometimes do an other type of suit up, like "snow suit up", "slut suit up", "law suit up"

So on Suit-Up day you are supposed to wear a suit! I don't have any, but some guys in my class did it, and I know e.g. my little brother does it too. A fun way to spice up the everyday life with, and you most agree with me that guys look better in a suit ;)

Oscar in my class and I (doesn't he look a bit like Barney?)

I finish with the Suit Up Song/ Nothing suits me like a suit:

10/10-10 One Day on Earth

One Day on Earth - Original Trailer from One Day On Earth on Vimeo.

From One Day on Earth

Vision

Ok, I have a new vision with the blog; shorter posts but more often!

I'm sitting and eating a grapefruit. You know when you cut it in the middle and eat with a spoon. Charlie the dog was sitting next to the table and thought it looked really delicius, so I gave him a small piece. It wasn't popular:

ps. don't eat grapefruit infront of the computer.. it gets all dotted and sticky..

Sleepwalking

This post is for Nick and my dad, who don't really enjoy the Monday Manicure posts as much as the rest of us ;) Now you can read about something else.

Ever since I was little I have been talking in my sleep (or at least that's what I have been told ;)). It usually starts around 30 minutes after I have fallen asleep and can consist of just noices or full sentences. I can even keep a discussion with another person, while sleeping. Normally, I don't remember anything the next day, or just the moment when I wake up.

When I was little, when we were on a holiday, my brother and I often shared room (like in hotels). Through the years he has developed the ability to respond to my crazyness (?) with sentences like "go to bed Viktoria", "you are sleeping Viktoria" "no, there is nothing there" etc! I also think that my boyfriend is starting to gain that same ability!

Furthermore, I'm also sleepwalking! And this is the scary part, at least for me. I thought it had stoped, but I was so wrong.. The last week I think I have been sleepwalking every night!

But how do I then know that I'm sleepwalking??

Well normally I wake up while walking, but it can also show by me waking up the next morning with clothes on!

I think it's linked with Kasper not being here during the weekdays, because I didn't walk during the weekend. I also walk more frequently when I'm stressed, which I have been these first weeks in school.

I'm just thinking; how far will I go? Walking around in the bedroom or waking up the next day with clothes on is fairy harmless. But what if I walk out of the bedroom? Or even further?!

The longest I've come was when I still was living at home. I dreamed that there was a fire and we had to get out. I went out of my bedroom, out in the hallway, down the stairs, got my shoes and started to put them on. Then I realized that the rest of my family wasn't coming and I woke up, feeling silly sitting in my pajamas and with one shoe on..

Now, when alone (at least in the weekdays), there is no one to stop me. What if I let Charlie the dog out? Or start the oven?

Well, enough with the wining; Does anyone know what to do??

Here a song about sleeping all day (yes I admit, I first thought he sang "sleepwalking..")

Video from the intro week

Here is a link to a video from the intro week (not made by me). The first part with the slow song is from the first day, where everyone were nervous and quiet. The second song really is the lead song for this week!

Probably hard to understand anything from the pictures, but they are random of all groups from the week, but mostly from the boatride to Denmark where people are Avatars, Star Wars (look for the guys in white, they actually have cinnamon buns on their ears! You know, like it looks like Princess Leia in Star Wars have!) and the party at Club Retro.

The guys in bright blue t-shirts are Novicheriet, the ones planing and arranging the intro-week. All people in purple t-shirts are mentors and each group had around 3-5 mentors. To get extra points during the week, you could try to earn the Novicheriets idol cards that they had around their necks. We won 3 or 4 cards during the week, one by making a song to one of them, one from coming with breakfast in bed one morning etc.

Enjoy the movie!

Please guide me and my family through Stormy Weather

The last coulple of days we have had some strange weather. One minute it looks like it's going to start to rain:

The next we have sun and you think "oh, maybe I should sit some on the balcony"

And just when you have found a book and opened the balcony door, it looks like this again:

And so it continues..

But it's all becasue the winds are very strong at the moment. I think around 36km/h or 9m/s, so the weather changes all the time. That's why I haven't updated the "Helsingborg today"-picture lately.

I have sometimes written that I think Charlie the dog likes the Swedish climate and weather better than the Spanish, because it's cooler here and there are a lot of forests and parks with grass. But one thing, I know he misses, is the balcony in Barcelona. If you don't remember how it looked, read the post about Charlie's Day, or see below:

He just really enjoyed sitting or laying on the balcony and watching the people, cars and animals on the street below or at the plaza infront of our house.

Charlie could only just get his head out between the bars

The balcony we have now is no fun at all. He can sit on a chair and then barley see over the "walls" or he can stick his nose through the gap between the floor and the walls and look at the neighbors under us that has a cat

Oh, and when I'm already are talking about Barcelona, here are another thing that makes me think of our year in Barcelona:

There is an international food market right now at Stortorget here in Helsingborg, and look at this one :) Viva Catalunya! (And did you know that some week ago, Catalonia became the first province in Spain to forbid bullfighting? Way to go!!)

The name of this post is a line from Stormy Weather with Moneybrother, check it out here:

Food for Friends

I know it's only about a week since I made a food-post, but I think that this one can be good for the weekend brunch and the post ends with a cute video for a Friday smile :)

Banana pancakes! You guys over in the US probably know how to make them, but it's not something every European has tasted.

And what fits better than this song with Jack Johnson:

So, get in the kitchen, turn up the volume and start making some:

American banana pancakes

~ 8pc big using 1dl dough

2 tbsp melted butter

1 egg

2,5 dl flour

2,5 dl milk

1 tbs vanilla powder

2 tbs baking powder

2 ripe bananas

1 tbsp sugar

Whisk the egg into the melted butter to a smooth mixture.

Mix the dry ingridients in an other bowl.

Alternate between flour-mixture and milk into the egg-mixture.

Mash the bananas and fold into the dough.

Take 1dl dough and fry with some butter on middle temperature and flip when you see bubbles. (The smaller ones are cuter, but takes long time to make..)

We gave one to Charlie the dog but he didn't really get what to do with it... Strange texture! It ended with me, tearing small pieces of and feeding him, but then he couldn't get enough :)

Fiesta en la Barceloneta!

Yesterday there were fiesta all over our barri (neighborhood) Barceloneta. It actually started some days ago, with people putting up banners, festoons and flags over the streets, outside restaurants. Then this Friday, we saw some drummers at the streets and they continued through the night (or til I fell asleep). Yesterday morning they started again at 8 o'clock, and groups with people who played drums, trumpets, saxophones, trombones, dancers carrying big artificial axes etc. stoped at the restaurant next to our street and the restaurant on the other side of the house infront of ours.

I, who love this kind of music and events, got all lyrical and I think I got about 15 films on my digital camera! So, I thought I'd share some with you. The pic to the left is just around the corner from our street. Each group stopped outside the restaurants, playing and dancing some, and I think they got beer and food from the restaurants. They then continued to the next restaurant with banners and so it continued.

When we went to the beach at 2pm, they where still druming and dancing from one place to the other. There must have been around 40-50 different groups, all wearing different clothes/costumes. Some consisted of older men in sailor suites, other had guys in Scottish kilts, girls in pink pants, dancing children or old ladies in glitter-tops. They were all carrying something over their shoulders, mostly a big axe, but we also saw broomsticks, huge Chupa Chups, flowers, giutarrs and flags.

So what was the fiesta for? Actually, I don't know! From the banners in Catalá, I got something that they were whishing a good trip and to come home safe, and that the mermaids and waves should be on with them? So maybe, because Barceloneta is the old fishing-district, it was a fiesta for the sailors and fishermen? Anyway, it was fun to watch and the people were so happy (and after some rounds a bit drunk).

This is the first one, around 8 in the morning. The dancing where a bit slower than later that day. We got the music from the restaurant around the corner plus from the one on the other side of the building infront of ours = quite loud!

Most of the groups just passed by on our street without playing, on their way to the next stop. But this group just continued playing :) The ones in the front are the ladies with black and silver glitter tops!

And the last video you get is the one of the guys in some kind of kilt-costume giving it 100% in the start. At the same time, an other group where playing on the other side.

The songs that day varyed from Viva España and typical samba, carneval and football songs to Oh When the Saints and YMCA.

Anyone here in Spain knowing what the fiesta was for?

People watching

Two weeks ago, I did a People Watching post and now I have gathered some more people-watching-goodies for you!

First we have something I have seen before at this park. There are grown-up people, having bicycle lessons :) It looks kind of funny, at first they learn to lead the bike, then roll with it sitting on the bicycle with their legs hanging on each side. Then I guess they learn to pedal, but that lesson I haven't seen yet. It is actually a really good idea!

I didn't want them to see that I took pictures, so this is with the zoom on my digital camera, taken from the dog park (click to enlarge). I will try to take better pictures next time!

We then have a funny contrast between the fully dressed old ladies with pants and jackets, and the young boys almost wearing nothing (and what's up with the rolled up leg?)

An other one I have seen a few times before is the man with his bicycle and attached to the bicycle is a small sidecar with a small roof. Inside the sidecar sits his dog!

Last but not least: This week we have had sailors in town! Don't know where they come from or why, but it's always nice to look at :)

And when I was about to write this post, a big group (maybe a hundred) of people on cycles crusied the street, playing music and ringing their bells. I was super fast and got some of it on video (not really the music though.. the guy at the front had the speakers..) I think they are listening to "Give peace a chance - John Lennon", but at first I thought it sounded like they were listening/singing "...oh we are sailing.."? It would have been a nice ending for my post; combining bicycles and sailing :)

Tomorrow Kasper, Charlie and I are going on a small roadtrip, going back Wednesday. We are going to Andorra, Figueres and Cadaques. More of that when we come home.

Have a great weekend everyone, and here the song:

SPOOKY!!!

OK, ghost factor is high in this post!! For you who are easily scared, don't look at the movie. This happened yesterday morning. Kasper had been out with the dog and then returned to bed. He started seeing a blinking/pulsating light on the wall, but thought that he was dreaming. But the light kept on coming up on the wall, so he decided to video tape it, just to prove to himself that it wasn't real. Well as you can see the light was real.. He then fell asleep and some hours later we woke up and he showed me the movie. And as you also can see, the light stopped after he had filmed it. (Look over the shelf for a round pattern. It comes about 4 times, the third time really bright, and then ends).

We started coming up with natural explanations. The pulsating light could come from a laptop on standby (you know sometimes they have a small lamp blinking), but there were no laptops near.. It could also be the light reflecting from a watch (there of the round shape), but again, no watches near..

We decided that it must be a light coming from the livingroom because you can see that the pattern is shaded on the right side because of the wardrobe door. The scary thing is that we only have windows on the wall the pattern came on, and the sun in the livingroom (the room next to the bedroom) comes through the windows at 1-2 in the afternoon and this was in the morning.

The explanation we came up with is the following:

The sun must have shone on something in the harbour outside our livingroom window. That thing were probably moving (which of the pulsating) and giving a reflex on our electricity meter in the livingroom outside the bedroom. Lastly the meter must have passed the light on to the bedroom wall. Logic huh!? (please say it's logical!). We thought of trying it out by shining a flashlight on the meter, but decided not to. What if it didn't come any relfections?! We just accepted the electricity-meter-explanation:

Do you have any idea of what it could have been??

From one in 1500 to one of The F15!

That's my baby!! From 1500 applications he went on to the 200 that got a telephone interview. From there he continued to the 90 persons going to Copenhagen for a personal interview. And yesterday he went to Århus for the final step; about 35 people in the assessment center wanting one of the 15 spots for Arla Graduate Programme, also called F15 (Future 15).

5 hours after he had left the center, they called and said he was the first one they called and that he got the job!! I'm so happy for him; no more worries about what to do after the summer. And now we can start looking for apartments, and I don't mean rental but buying!! Wohoooo

Tonight we're going out to celebrate.

You rock baby!!

People watching

I'm just people watching, the other people watching me.

That's the first frase from Jack Johnson's song People Watching.

I just love sitting on our balcony, preferably in the sun, watching people going to/from the beach or just strolling along the harbour. People meeting on the street. Stopping by a bench. Watching people with funny clothes. People that can't controll their dogs (or children). Seeing the clear difference between Barcelonians and turists. Just love it.

Unfortunately I'm often too slow getting the camera. But at least now when Kasper has got a zoom-lence, I can capture some of the ones passing by! Here are a few favourites:

The colorful Desigual-bicycle-taxies

Poor turist group that had to have orange hats..

And my favourite, a bride and her groom on Segways!

If you click on the pic you get it bigger. She is wearing her wedding dress and he a tuxedo.

They are driving next to eachother with two friends in tuxedos behind them (outside the pic)

Cursa Bombers

As I wrote in the previous post, yesterday was Cursa Bombers, or the "firefighters run". 18.000 people had signed up for running 10km on the streets of Barcelona, starting outside Parc de la Ciutadella and the Estació de Franca. They then went along the harbour, running up on Parallel, Gran Vía, Vía Laietana and ending outside the train station again.

From the beginning the run was only for firefighters (hence the name) but now everyone can sign up. Still there are firefighters running, and each year some run with all the firefighter-clothes, boots, helmets and oxygen-tanks! See the pictures.

I was there, not to run (you know me...) but to look after Gabriel while his parents ran. Together with Dina (the 4 year old girl I also babysit sometimes) and her father, the four of us saw the start and then went for coffee. Gabriels father finished first of the three, and the mothers came about an hour after the start; good lap guys!

You can't really see how crowded it was..

Firefighters!

Firefighters. Gabriel half asleep

Dina checking the baby

"Cus tonight is gonna be a good night!"

And Dina pepping "Eva, Eva Eva" (her mother's name)

The last volcano-update:

Kasper took the train from Montpellier to Perpignan, but from there all the train were canceled into Spain. So now he is on his way to Barcelona in a taxi, together with 7 other Spainards, hopefully ariving in 20min or so. Now I am going to meet him :)

Charlie the wolf?

For those of you that claim that there is nothing left of the wolf in today's dog breeds, well maybe you should think again:

Volcano Update: Kasper is now going through Europe by train. Right now he is on the first one, Copenhagen - Hamburg. From there he will take a train to Köln where he will spend the night. Tomorrow he will try to take a train to Paris and from there to Barcelona. If anyone has a better idea, please tell me :)

My M's and J's

Music plays a big part of my life. I mostly listen to soft rock/pop/sing-song-writers, and now I have started to see a pattern. My big favorites are:

James Morrison

John Mayer

Jason Mraz

Jack Johnson

Jamie Cullum

Michel Jackson

Moby

We then have some missmatches, but I like them anyway;

Robbie Williams

David Gray

Daniel Lemma

Train

Coldplay

Veronica Maggio

and the list can go on and on..

Here are a great combo; JM that sings a MJ song:

And here a good memory from last summer when James Morrison played in Tivoli in Copenhagen. Lovely concert and night, although it rained quite a lot.

The backside of living on the top floor..

Today I went for a run. Yes, run. But it wasn't for me, but for Charlie. He has a lot of energy to use, so we went to the beach. After running to the W hotel, we went down to el mar so he could cool down. He didn't want to. So I took of my shoes, socks and rolled up my pants and went in to the water, as a good example, to show him that it is lovely. Well it was kinda cold, but not freezing. After chasing some waves we sundried and jogged back home.

After the run I somehow had some more energy to use, so I washed the windows. Puha, as we say in Denmark, they were dirty! But now it looks good :)

Okay, now to the backside of living on the top floor with a balcony. Some say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so just take a look:

And this is just after one day! I hate doves/pigeons; Stop using my balcony as a toilet!

Now I am wating for our friends from Denmark to arrive, Benjamin and Janni! It's gonna be so much fun having you here!

Here are the song of the week:

(Yep, the same Train that did "Drops of Jupiter" for like 10 years ago)

Have a super weekend!

Why Georgia?

Okay, that is a song with John Mayer, but Georgia as a country has started to interest me. (thanks to wiki I now also know where it is... :D) This because my webdesigner/programmer- boyfriend has put Google Analytics on my blog, so I can see where in the world my visitors come from! As expected, Spain with Barcelona is on first place with 94 visits, on second place is Sweden with Stockholm and its surroundings with 31visits and Denmark on third place. Then we have some countries with 4 or less visitors, like Italy, Germany and UK, but at least I know people in those countries.. But then we have Georgia! Who do I know in Georgia?? Show yourself! I'm curious!

Yesterday I made cupcakes, using my new latex-cupcake-cases. I really recommend them! Easy to use and wash, and the best of all; you always have cases at home = you can always bake :D I got mine at Habitat, my new favourite store.

We also took Charlie with us on the scooter, had some sushi in the sun outside Sushi10 (well Charlie got a bone) and we then went to Parc del Poble Nou.

Quite hard to take a pic against the sun,

with the phone, trying to include all 3

Diving with sharks and some other action

.. yeah but not me; Kasper did!

Today he used his christmas present he got from me and my family; a dive in the shark-tank in Barcelona Aquarium! We started out early with a tour of the aquarium, then breakfast, teoretical class about sharks and when Kasper prepared the dive, Louise and I went down to the aquariums to prepare the cameras ;) At first I think both we and Kasper were a bit nervous, but after some minutes it looked quite peaceful and relaxing. One time he almost swam into a shark, but it went fine ;) There were also different types of rays, big fishes, morains etc. in the tank.

After the close encounter with sharks, we had some lunch at McD in Maremagnum, and then Louise and I went for a last little shopping-round. But in the last store, before going home, Louise discovered that her purse was missing... including her passport, Visa, Mastercard etc...we went back to all the places we had been, but with no succes.. so after blocking the cards, we went to the police station filling reports. Bad way of ending a vacation and day! :( Tomorrow we are going to the consulate to get some ID so she can get home (because she got her car stolen last week including her drivers licence!!). Pobresito

Yesterday, after some beaching, Louise and I went to Plaza Catalunya to do some more shopping. I ended up with cupcake-cases in latex, a nametag for my suitcase, a notebook with birds on it (all from Habitat) and then a pair of shorts from Zara. We also went to La Bouqueria for a raspberry-juice.

As requested, here are a picture of the result of my shopping the last days:

In the evening we went to Plaza España to see the magic fountain and then Barcelona going dark because of Earth Hour, eventough the street lights were still on.. We then had some nice tapas at el Rovell in el Borne.

Pictures from the dive, magic fountain and yesterdays dinner are on their way!

Have patience my young padawans!

The spring has arrived to Bcn!

Yes, I think it is a fact now, the spring is here! 18-20C today and sun. The turists have startet to arrive during the weekdays, the bicycle-taxies are cruising around Barceloneta and the harbour, and I even saw the first Chiringuito being set up on the beach today! (Chiringuito is the small cafes/bars on the beach promonade).

Charlie and I went to the beach today and now we are chillin on the balcony (here I would have liked to put the swedish word "myser" or the danish "hygger", which isn't quite the same as chilling, but what to do). I'm having green tea with a straw.. I got a wound in my mouth which makes it hard to drink in a normal way. This got me thinking of a song my friend Beatrix and I used to listen to during the first year of highschool, Disco Fever with Paris where she sings Having cocktails with a straw, the best band I ever saw.. *happy memories*

I still havn't unpacked... why is it so hard to unpack? Is it the fact that when the suitcase is unpacked and put away, you are no longer on a vacation? That the fun is over and you are back to normal? Or is it that you know that the loundrybag will be filled up and that you probably have to start washing..??

Eather way, I have to do it soon, because on thursday our friend Louise is coming from Copenhagen to visit us over the weekend! Looking forward seeing you again!

Kisses on the balcony