Our friends over at No Place to Be recently asked us what the least used item in our backpack was. I think I answered that it was my Blackberry (haven’t turned the thing on since May 2009), but that was before we picked up the gem above. Yep, it’s a plaster model of a section of [...]
Being ancient isn’t necessarily a sign of excellence. Some things that have been around since forever are kept alive for the sake of tradition and/or pity. So, when someone mentioned that England’s oldest pub was around the corner, I didn’t think it would be particularly nice. Perhaps one of those over-priced, touristy and gimmicky places [...]
This is London: the City on the river Thames. People have lived here for a long time, during times of strife and glory alike. It was sacked by Queen Boudicea in 61AD, it has survived invasions and changing eras, and it ended up ruling the largest empire the world has ever seen. Its history spans [...]
. . . we’re in England, in Buckinghamshire. We will be staying here for a few days, visiting friends and taking long walks around the countryside. London is about 30 minutes away, but you wouldn’t believe it when you look out the window. This stage of our journey is another one of [...]
Yes, dear readers, that is an actual phone booth with an actual coin operated pay-phone inside it. It brings tears to my eyes, seeing that old thing. Well, almost tears. Maybe not any tears at all, but still. A payphone! Sweet!
The last few days, we’ve been talking about what there’s to do in Stockholm. The usual things would came up: the old town, the hip and young Sodermalm, the museums and the seafront walks. All those things are great. The one stand-out I’d like to talk about here is one of my personal favorites: the [...]
The KFUK/KFUM? Say again?? Well this happens to be the way to spell YMCA/YWCA in Sweden. A handy thing to know if you’re trying to travel on the cheap in the not-so-cheap city of Stockholm.
Back in the olden days, when people worked the fields and forests, food in this cold part of the world was made to be rich, stodgy and VERY high in calories. Nowadays people probably don’t have to work that hard anymore, but it is still cold. Hence, it can be good to know how to [...]
This is the church in Sangis. It is the site of my first six end-of-school ceremonies; a place where we have married and buried many of our relatives. At age 14, I went through the confirmation procedure here. On one November day almost fifty years ago, my parents were married here. Over the years, [...]
Word from San Diego is that my Mother in law made it back to the States, safe and sound. Considering that she was on one of only two aircraft that flew that route during the week of the volcanic cloud, she was insanely lucky to make it. So here’s to hoping that the troublesome [...]
My mother in law is here. A dark, ominous cloud hang above us. No. It’s not like that. It’s just that we’re now affected by the same thing as millions of other people around the world: the volcanic ash cloud above. You know the one – it has caused most of Europe to close its [...]
We’ve visited many a church and religious wonder during this trip, and the other day the turn came to the picturesque church of Kalix. Thanks goes to my cousin Åsa, who made it possible and really quite entertaining. Cheers! The church sits next to the Kalix river – one of the last wild, unexploited [...]
No matter how well-traveled, cosmopolitan and multinational you become, there‘s always going to be one place that feels more like home than any other. In my case, that place is Sangis in Northern Sweden. Growing up, I was proud to know that Sangis was the site of the northernmost known Viking burial site in Sweden. [...]
While the bipedal members of the seatsofourpants.com team have been frolicking around in the snowy north, Bacon has been busy planning the next phase of our travels. Using his savings (and our credit cards), he has been one mean, lean travel booking machine. The way Bacon has figured it out so far is that we [...]
I guess it was bound to happen. Since I’m a Swede, there was always going to be one post about IKEA on this blog. The stars were aligned, and now they deliver. About 3 years ago, Haparanda (33km from my home town) was a depressed, run-down border town with very few incentives to entice a [...]
You know the saying, “to fly by the seat of your pants?” Well, that's been our philosophy for most of our adult lives – before and after meeting, falling in love and marrying. We're now taking that idea on an extended round-the-world trip. Follow us as we share the good, the bad and the downright nasty of life on the road.
