Sälen skiing trip for New Years

Cross Country Skiing.  Where to begin.  The first evening we were in Sälen, my host family decides that they want to cross country ski and that I need to try it.  Before I even get both skis on, I fall. Great start.  All I could hear in my head was my host family saying, "I thought you said you had skied before?". Of course they were a little more supportive than that. But it's embarrassing when you are out-skiied by a 5 and 7 year old.  Gabriel and Ella kept looking at me like, who is this chick and what is she doing?  Everyone in the family is a pro at XC, then there's me, who can barely stay standing on my skis, let alone move.  Then they say, "We are just going to down this small hill".  Small hill, right... This "small hill" was Mt. Everest to me.  After about 20 minutes I made it down the hill.  Not without falling each time when I wanted to stop though.  Because my self esteem wasn't small enough, they had to take me on the children's rope tow (which I had never done), which I of course fell on. There are now new au pair requirements in regard to winter sports.  Later, when we get home, Andreas decides to tell me, "Well, actually you're supposed to XC ski in a track". Which we didn't.  He also said, "and you're not actually supposed to go down big hills".  Which we did.  So not a great first time XC skiing, but I did it!  The next day Johanna and I went out in an actual track and went about 3 km, and I only fell maybe 5 times total.  It is really fun after you get the hang of it though, and as long as there are no hills! 

Gabriel and I ready to hit to Swedish slopes. Downhill skiing this time, thank goodness! 

Ella and Gabriel flying down the mountain. They beat me down every time. Did these kids come out of the womb on skis or what?

Johanna and Ella outside the lodge.

Gabriel and I in Sälen.

Steak and lobster for dinner on NYE.  One of the best meals I have had in Sweden so far! 

 Taken from about halfway up the mountain (Swedish mountains are relatively flat compared to Oregon and Washington mountains).  That is Högfjällshotellet (our hotel) at the bottom of the mountain

The flats we stayed in.  It is called "ski in, ski out", meaning that you can just walk outside your door, put on your skis, and ski down a smaller mountain to get to the chair lift.  Do we have this in the US?

View from the deck at our flat- yep, that's the mountain!

On our last day in Sälen we rose early and skied with the beautiful sunrise. The weather was not ideal, but held up for the last day of skiing.

Sunset in Sälen from our flat.

What the kids and I like to do for fun:

Love at its best.

Sillyness speaks louder.

Too cool for you.

Simply smiles.

God Jul (Merry Christmas)

Johanna, Gabriel and Ella starting to decorate the julgran. Many families in Sweden don't actually get their tree until the day before Christmas Eve.

It is tradition in Sweden for the man of the house, or father to put the star on the Christmas tree.

Gabriel and Ella in front of the finished tree patiently waiting for tomten (Santa) to come.

The big meal, presents, family, santa, and everything takes place on Christmas Eve in Sweden. Then Christmas Day, people just relax and hang out with family.

One of the Swedish Christmas traditions is to watch Kalle Anka (Donald Duck).  Before TV was so prevalent, there was only one 30 minute period where Disney cartoons would be shown in the entire year, and this was on Christmas Eve.  So families would all gather around the television, and watch a series of short cartoon clips (in swedish of course).  These clips consisted of mickey mouse, donald duck, lady and the tramp, robin hood and more. 

Christmas Eve dinner table setting. On top of the plates are Christmas crackers (typically done in Britain from what I understand).  Everyone sits at the table and crosses their arms so they are holding onto one end of their cracker and one end of someone else's and everyone pulls at the same time and they explode with an assortment of gifts inside.

Johanna and Gabriel on Christmas Eve after pulling their Christmas crackers.

Julbord- cheese and bread

Julbord- meatballs, herring, cabbage, beet root salad, beans, ham, sausage, potatoes. 

Julbord dessert table

Right after we all sat down, everyone picked up the full schnapps glass in front of them and started singing/chanting in Swedish.  Before I knew what was going on, everyone threw back the shot.  Not really knowing what was going on, I did the same, and it was rough. Turns out, it is very typical to sing drinking songs and drink a lot of schnapps for Christmas Eve. But the schnapps did make the herring go down a little smoother.

The kids awaiting Tomten's arrival. In Sweden, Santa actually comes to the house.  Which at first I thought sounded strange, but is actually way more fun than not seeing him, like in the US.  Andreas bought a Santa costume, put it on, and went over to the neighbors to be Santa for the kids next door.  In turn, their dad put on a Santa costume and was Santa for us.  The kids had no idea who it was.

Tomten giving a gift to Ella. (He even had a gift in that bag for me!) Weirdly enough, the gift he had for me said to Emily from Ella.

Skål Tomten! (Cheers Santa!) If you were to give Santa milk and cookies in Sweden, he would be very disappointed.  Usually something a little stronger is given such as whiskey, schnapps, or champagne. 

Ella with her new Christmas present on- Juicy Couture sweatsuit.

Christmas Eve aftermath.

Nöttknäpparen och julbord

My host family and I went to see Nöttknäpparen (the Nutcracker) at the Kungliga Operan (Opera House) in Stockholm right before Christmas.  Nothing puts you in the Christmas spirit like the Nutcracker. The Swedish version of the Nutcracker had a slightly different twist (the story of the three women), but it was more or less exactly the same.  Ella and Gabriel, though tired, enjoyed it as well.

The inside of the opera house.  To the left is where the King and Queen sit when they attend a show.

Before Christmas my host family took me to a traditional julbord. Which is a Christmas smorgasbord, or buffet, with everything that Swedish families eat on Christmas.  The word "traditional" when said in Sweden, to me is starting to mean a lot of herring and a lot of schnapps. But that was not the only thing that was in store for me.

 We boarded a boat downtown Stockholm which took us out into the archipelago and to the restaurant.  

Fjäderholmarnas Krog- the restaurant where we are brunch.

The waiter came by and asked if we wanted anything to drink. Being polite, I said water was fine. But what a big mistake that was. A few bites in to the first course, herring, and I was basically waving my arms to try to get the waiters attention in an attempt to order something a little stronger to wash the herring down with. No wonder they drink schnapps with herring.

But herring was only the first course. The next course was cold cuts.  There was pork, lamb, duck, reindeer, pigs feet, bear, and moose. I tried everything but the pigs foot, and most of it wasn't too bad. Reindeer and moose were surprisingly good, but bear was horrible, right on the same level as herring. 

The kids and I after brunch.

Audrey's arrival and Saint Lucia Day

I was so lucky to have a wonderful visitor in December for Lucia Day.  My cousin Audrey made the short trip from Paris (where it was actually above freezing) to Stockholm (not only below freezing, but full blown blizzard).  It was not only great to be united with family, but extremely special because Audrey and I had never met before. Of course we fell in love at first sight (through a facebook friend request) and the rest was history. Can't wait to go visit her in Paris!

Audrey at Långängens Gård.

Audrey and I outside of Långängens Gård ready to go in and have fika.

Saint Lucia Day is celebrated on December 13th, which was said to be the shortest day of the year. It was a saint, Lucia, who brought the light on that day. She wears white with a headdress of candles. Today, they also celebrate by dressing up as star boys and gingerbread girls and boys. 

Ella did a performance at dagis (day care) where all the kids sang Lucia songs and Christmas songs, and then everyone ate pepparkakor (gingersnaps), lussebulle (saffron buns) and drank glögg. 

Ella, the gingerbread girl and Johanna after her Lucia Day performance.

Audrey, Ella and I made lussebulle on Saint Lucia Day.  Lussebulle or Lucia buns are saffron rolls with rasins that are typically eaten on Lucia Day in Sweden. They are always made into an S shape with two raisins, but we created our own shapes.

Christmas Market in Gamla Stan.

Audrey and I drinking glögg (hot spiced wine with almonds and raisins) at the Christmas markets in Gamla Stan. 

Audrey and I downtown.

Fika at chokladkoppen, one of my favorite spots in Gamla Stan with Audrey.

Audrey, myself and Kirsten all bundled up, making the trek into the city to go out to the clubs and show Audrey the Stockholm nightlife. And if you are wondering, yes, this is what we have to wear out, and then do a full wardrobe change once we get there. Thank goodness for coat check.