Kyoto, Japan

Here are some more photos from our japan trip in May last year. The next stop on our itinerary was Kyoto. Our daughter was unwell by this time, so we tried to relax a fair bit and not run around too much.

We visited Kinkaku-ji, the pavilion for the Golden Temple and the gardens surrounding the temple. One thing that we enjoyed the most during our Japan visit was definitely all the greenery and the large parks.

We also visited the Imperial Palace in Kyoto and we had quite high expectations from this visit, seeing that the process of visiting was not a straightforward one as you had to sign up for the visit at least 24 hours in advance. But the guided visit only took us through the gardens and we did not enter any of the buildings so for me that was a bit of a let down.

Leaving on a jet plane

In transit at the moment, can't wait to reach our destination (as usual), but it's a 14 hour flight to get us there. Oh, and there's the fact that the flight is delayed... And not by a cute 10-15 minutes, rife flight is expected to leave an hour and a half late! So I am spending my time people watching and eating chocolate croissants...

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Here are some photos from our Jeddah visit in December. These are all taken with my iPhone so don't expect anything of awesome quality.

Some of the traditional buildings in the historical district of Jeddah, the oldest dating back to the seventh century. Many buildings have fallen into disrepair and is sad to see how little the Saudi government is doing to restore the area. To the right in this picture is a building that has gotten a facelift, at least on the outside.

Walking through the historical district I felt lucky that I was not hit by an air conditioning unit, sattelite dish or other random object falling down from one of the half rotten wooden balconies.

My brother insisted on me taking a photo showing the price of the fuel. Not sure if I have posted one of these before. A litre of fuel costs 45 halalas, that's less than half a riyal. One riyal equals approximately 20 euro cents! Cheap as chips, cheaper than chips actually.

Taif, Saudi Arabia

When my family visited in December we decided to do some traveling in Saudi, rather than traveling somewhere else in the Middle East. We chose to travel to Jeddah and nearby Taif, mainly because we wanted something that was easily accessible and not too far off the beaten track.

Here are some photos from the area around Taif, a city in the mountains 2 hours drive from Jeddah.

One of the biggest attractions were, quite surprisingly, baboons. Maybe because all the water parks were closed.

The last few kilometres the road was anything but straight.

Lots of hazy weather because of the changes in temperature. Our woollen sweaters did get a good exercise while in Taif.

See the building immediately to the left of the bridge, that was our hotel. Do. Not. Recommend. It. If you wake me twice during the night just to check what time I want my breakfast the next morning, I will not be a happy camper!!!

I have a feeling Taif becomes overloaded with Jeddawis during the hotter summer months, hence all the water parks. Good for a one night stay I'd say, but not longer.

Domo arigato gozaimasu

Our 11-day trip around Japan is soon coming to an end. We have seen a lot and covered a lot of ground, but there is still so much to see!

I have made an effort to eat as many green things as possible. And I do not mean vegetables, I am talking about things that contain green tea powder. There have been donuts, ice cream, cake  and today there were waffles! Calories don't count when you're holidays, right?!?!

Today we have also celebrated our little girl's first birthday! How time flies when you are having fun, I could but imagine life without her. During our trip we have heard the word kawaii a lot, the Japanese word for cute. And Imaan has given them all her biggest smile in return!

Thank you Japan for everything, domo arigato gozaimasu!

Big (and small) in Japan

We've been in Japan a few days now and I am loving it!!!

It's clean, green, efficient and things seem to work effortlessly! In other words - it's all that Saudi Arabia isn't!

Lists and lost

I am one of those people that loves writing lists! Shopping lists, to do lists, packing lists... Anything!

Especially when packing I find it extra helpful to have it all written down, I am notoriously unorganized when it comes to packing. Now that a baby is traveling with us, I'd hate to leave anything essential behind. We have another 2,5 days until we travel and I am proud to say that I am doing quite well with the packing.

I seem to have lost our digital fever thermometer though. I have looked everywhere, twice in most places. What with having been a bit sleep deprived last week, that thing could be anywhere. Luckily we have a spare so it's no biggie!

Anyone else out there who is as crazy as I am about writing lists?

Totally Tartan... and other themed hotel rooms

Just wanted to share a photo from I couple of the hotel rooms we've stayed in over the few days.

Just the other night we stayed in a small hotel in St Andrews. That hotel room was decorated in a golf theme, it was on pillows, walls and the curtains. Still quite tastefully done though.

Earlier in the week we spent the night in Sterling and our hotel room there was a an overload of tartan. The same dark blue and green fabric had been used to cover the floors, curtains, seats, armchair and the headboard. Now, I don't mind the tartan patterns, but that was just too much!

Has anyone come across seething similar, either a tastefully decorated hotel room or something that was completely off the charts in weirdness?

St Andrews

We spent the last day of our Scottish adventure in St Andrews, admiring the cathedral and castle ruins. We also took a very brief walk on The Old course, probably the closest to playing golf I'll ever come!

Edinburgh

Finally got to visit Edinburgh, a beautiful town and the castle - impressive.

Lots of hills as well which is always good for the glutes!

Moving on later today, before that we are going to squeeze ourselves and a scary amount of gear into one of the smallest rental cars ever! Wish us luck!

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Jag har velat besöka Edinburgh i flera år och nu e vi äntligen här. En verkligt mysig stad med ett mycket imponerande slott.

Snart åker vi vidare, men först ska vi klämma in oss i världens minsta hyrbil med en grym mängd väskor och saker.

Eid Mubarak!

Eid Mubarak to everyone! We spent the last week of Ramadan in Madina and got to attend Eid prayers at the Prophet's Mosque. Beautiful.

I'll tell you more about our holiday a bit later and try to share some decent photos as well!

Canada

It's nearly to the day a month since we got back from Canada, so it's 'bout time that I post some photos I think!

The weather was a bit of a mixed bag, rain, sunshine and to my husbands delight... snow. I will never forget the look on his face when he saw his first snow fall :) 

Got to love how the sign says just "The Falls"...

Niagara Falls was impressive, especially the Canadian side.

We went for the motor show. Now how many "good wife" points do I get for that?!

Introduced my hubby to some winter sports, this was his second attempt at ice skating. We went during lunch time and it was fun to see people from the nearby business district come for a quick run on the ice during their lunch breaks dressed in their corporate attire.

I call this "Human Hippo on Ice"!

Äntligen lite bilder från vår Kanadaresa. Vi tog det ganska lugnt cch turistade inte så mycket. En svängom till Niagara Falls måste man ju inkludera och så lite vintersport. Det blev både slalom och skrinning för min man! Och så var vi på bilmässa, det får man väl lite pluspoäng för, i synnerhet när man är gravid i sjunde månaden!

Bye bye Canada

We are now en route back to Saudi after an excellent stay in Canada. I even remembered to tip our "housekeeper", sort of!

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På väg tillbaka från Kanada, vi hade en jättebra resa. Jag kom tom ihåg att lämna dricks åt "städerskan"!

Friday experiences

Light at the end of the tunnel.
A whole lot of water, this is the less scenic angle.
Ufos, edible ones.
Slippery floors.

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Några upplevelser från gårdagen:
Ljuset i ändan av tunneln.
Massor av vatten, här från en lite annorlunda vinkel.
Ätbara ufon (men inte godiset).
Hala golv

Greetings from Toronto

Just a quick hello from Toronto. We've already been here for a few days and today we finally got some snow. Yay! The reason I'm excited is because my husband has never seen snow before. You should have seen his excitement yesterday when the first specks started falling!

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Hälsningar från Toronto! Vi har äntligen fått lite snö här, jippiii. Jag tycker det är roligt egentligen bara för att min man aldrig har sett snö förut. Ni sku ha sett hur glad han var när dom första flingorna började falla igår! Vips hade ytterkläderna tagits på för han ville gå ut genast. Tyvärr hann det sluta snöa förrän vi hann ut...