Winter running in Sweden

I went for a run this morning.  It was not too cold, no strong winds and only a bit overcast, a pretty good day for a run.  The only challenge (after getting me to go out and run in the first place) was the roads and paths. Very slippery!  Winter here is much like home with temperatures hovering just above or below zero.  This of course, bring snow, then rain to turn the snow into ice, then the sun comes out and melts the top layer to make the ice smoother. You see Sweden doesn't always clear their sidewalks, but rather throws coarse sand down to allow for traction.  This helps with the ice a bit but the freeze/thaw often is above the sand.  On the bare pavement, the sand make it slippery.  So it was a very slippery run this morning.

Sweden is a great place to run though.  They have trails all over the place.  I can leave the apartment and go in any direction and find trails to run on.  If I head in the right direction, I can stop at the outdoor fitness park and workout in the middle of my run.  

Today I went a new direction to discover there are paths that lead me to school.  Secondly, the school is only 2 km away.  And finally I could walk to school almost as fast as the bus gets me there, faster if I ran.  Not sure I will run to school, since it is dark and I am barely awake, and the hair would need to redone.  I can however, see me walking home a couple of times a week.  I think I will start walking home on my short day Thursday.  The other days it is dark by the time I leave the school.  Mind you the days are getting slightly longer.

Anyhow, I manage 5.5 km without falling or turning any thing.  It was a terrific run.

National Museum in Stockholm

I went to the National museum today.  It has free admission except for the featured exhibit.  Needless to say, i didn't see the featured exhibit.  There was a very long line to get into the museum. I almost didn't stay but decided to see how fast the line was moving.  It moved pretty quickly and I got in in got in in about 20 minutes.  I was glad I waited.

I enjoyed the exhibits.  Some were very old, 1400's old.  There were lots of paintings, which I really liked.  This one was my favourite.

There were also many statues and busts

Here are some other pictures I took.

This one was from the travelling exhibit which was very modern.  It wasn't much to my liking.  This is an example of the exhibits.

On the way home, I found some new subway art done in the tiles of the walls.  The last one is coloured glass mosaic. 

It was a great day.  The sun was actually shining for the second day in a row.  I went for a walk before the  museum, just to enjoy it.  The temperature here has been warmer than Windsor lately, just hovering around zero, plus or minus a degree or 2.  Really not that bad for a northern winter.  Mind you they tell me the cold is yet to come.

Have a great week.

Update on my arrival home

The flight home was uneventful and timely.  No kids kicking my seat or kids crying endlessly.  

It took me a few days to readjust to the time difference and jet lag this time.  

I have been back to school all week and it has been great.  The students are still tired from their vacations and behaving wonderfully.  It was a great first few days.  

I hope the start of 2019 has been equally great for you.

Going Home via Amsterdam

Hello All,

So I went home for Christmas which is why there have been no posts the last two weeks.  

I began my journey to the airport on a bus, then a tunnel bana and finished with the train ....Arlanda Express to the airport.  Pretty snazzy train, don't you think.

I flew Stockholm to Amsterdam and then Amsterdam to Detroit with a 15 hour layover in Amsterdam. Total trip time 40 h 46 m. I opted to get a hotel for the night. It was a blast.  

My Stockholm flight was an hour late leaving thus we arrived in Amsterdam late and then I had to wait for the free shuttle service to the hotel.

Once settled in the hotel about 9:45 pm I headed to downtown Amsterdam in the pouring rain to see the sights and get dinner.  I took a bus from the bus station that was conveniently located across from the hotel.

Here are the pictures I took while wandering downtown.  I really liked the Domino's delivery bikes.

The people of Amsterdam are really into riding bikes.  This is a bike parking area at 11:45 pm on a rainy Sunday night.  I can't imagine what it would be like on a good day.  There were also numerous people riding around.

I never did stop to eat, but opted for an apple and a protein bar once I was back at the hotel.

The hotel was clean and the bed, while unusual, was comfortable.  Bunk bed in a hotel room with sleeping for three.  Not something you would see at home.  Note the TV and desk, but no chair, just a stool.  No telephone either.

They also had a strange interpretation of a three piece bathroom with each piece separate.  The sink was in the main part of the room, the shower enclosed to the left of it and the toilet enclosed behind it.

 This is the closet area

The room came with breakfast served from 4:00 am to 10:00 am. This was great since I had to be at the airport for 7:00 am.  It was a simple, yet nice breakfast.  Overall a good experience.  

I got to the airport to discover that my fight was delayed for an hour.  The Amsterdam security was insane.  My coat and my backpack were sent to secondary screening and swabbed down and searched.  It would have been a stressful time if I hadn't noticed that every third or forth person was having the same experience. They were very thorough.  I was wishing I had spent the night at the airport, then I wouldn't have had to go through security.

I arrived in Detroit to be greeted by Ted, Kayley and her boyfriend Cody.  Happy to be home with my family for a few days.