By Per SvangrenOn the Ferry to Gotland Four days break in Sweden as it is Kristi Himmelsfärd. Thursday was a red day, meaning people are off work and school, then Friday, klämdag, a day between a red day and weekend, so many people take a vacation day from work. And then it is Saturday and Sunday and most people are free from work. So most Swedes have four days for a vacation.For me it means Got
by Per SvangrenOnce a year nearly all the houses in Rute takes bring out all of their unwanted stuff and sell it. This flea market is called Rute Rear Ute. People from all over the island come to Rute and walk around the village to shop for things they didn´t know they needed. Then there are those of us who love selling the things we no longer need and bring in a little coffee money to boot. So e
by Per SvangrenIt has been so cold this spring. It started well, with some warm days. But then the cold came back and all the spring flowers which had start blooming..... stopped. All one could see were the blooms.    But now it is warm and all over Gotland you find, vitsippor and blåsippor and there are lot of them. You can see them together or apart. You can see them together with other flow
This past weekend we had the most incredible graduation party for our sweet daughter Mimi. Next Saturday, she'll be graduating from High School and heading off to University in the Fall. As with all family parties, the very special table linens are brought out. This one here was crocheted by my great-grandmother when my mother was pregnant with me. Each time one of the family was expecting a bab
   Julie from Swedish House has awarded the Learn Sweden blog a Kreativ Blogger award. Julie and I became fast blogging friends when we both discovered that we have a love for red houses in common, besides other things.Part of the Kreativ Blogger award says that you have to tell people 7 things they may or may not know about you. So here it goes:1. I have three children. Two girls aged 20 and 1
In year's past I've written alot about Valborg's Day or Sista April, the last day in April. It is a huge holiday in Sweden but I've never really shown you how we get ready for it or how the celebration changes once the family and their celebrations landed in the US.All through the winter and especially at the first signs of spring we start cleaning out our gardens and sheds. As we clean, we deci
A little travel to the island of Gotland Sweden today. It is fairly well known that I love coffee. There isn't a day without a cup or two of the liquid elixir. Gula Huset (The yellow house) is one of the nicest secret treasures of Visby. Open only on saturday and sunday 10 - 5. This is a lovely retreat to spend a time reading a book, conversating with friends, or just catching some rays. A walk b
Can you believe it's snowing again today in Sweden? It's the end of April and it's snowing. I've heard from a very reliable source that this is just the way the weather is in April. Totally unpredictable. So let's not think about this anymore. Let's think about a warmer day last fall, when the flowers were still in bloom, and the vintage/antiquing was fine. As we were meandering along country r
Ashes, Ashes, we all fall down. Or so the nursery rhyme says. It's more like "No Planes Fly !". We just couldn't get over the fact that a volcano on a small little country like Iceland could stop a large portion of the planet from traveling. As I write this, planes have been grounded for days. Many family and friends have been stuck in airports to and from Europe. We wish everyone a big dose of
After the surprise snow of Easter, the signs of winter are finally melting away. {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
For almost three years now, Per and I have been working hard to bring you great Swedish courses for a very low price. Now included in that low price are some added features. We've spent the hard Swedish winter adding MP3 downloads to each lesson inside each of our 4 main courses. Not only this but we've added videos to each course so that you can practice your Swedish and learn more about the cu
For years I had been inspired by the home of Carl and Karin Larsson. I had collected books and images about the house and I even had a friend who designed their home based on the Larsson home. One rainy autumn day about three years ago, I had the pleasure of spending a quiet day there. Their home is completely charming and even with the rain, nothing could mute the happy feelings the home evoked
 I had the pleasure a couple of weeks ago to not only make some original buttons of my own to share with my swap partner Märtha Stina but I was also the recipient of some lovely buttons,ribbon and thread. I had so much fun doing this and a huge thank you to bot Märthafor the lovely items and creativity, and to Elin of Mönsterarkivet for hostessing this great event. Please be sure to check out
By Per SvangrenVictoria Secret´s may be the worlds most famous underwear producer in the world, but there are many Swedes doing faboulus design of Lingerie.During the wedding exhibition there was a lingerie catwalk. Here are some examples of what the Swedish designers produced.
By Per Svangren How about a wedding on the beach at sunset? How about not spending too much money. Well we have a solution for those couples wanting such a wedding. Koh Lanta Thailand. We will arrange everything you need for your special day. Clothes, hair, make up, the ceremony, transportation, hotel, dinner/reception, and all of the needed papers to get married in Thailand. This past year we've
By Per Svangren Every year there is an exhibition in Stockholm called Bröllopsmässan at The Grand Hotel. Here you will find everything needed for a wedding, clothes, rings, food, drink, cars, photographers, cakes. We were there advertising weddings in Thailand. More of that in next blog but for today enjoy pictures from this weekend. Â
 Sunday morning, in a lovely, sunny and white Stockholm. We took a morning walk to the Grand Hotel, opposite the Castle. There, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast. This is our favourite breakfast place in town. You just relax in a sofa and get served coffee and freshly squeezed orange juice, and then it is time to decide what to eat. Choose between, bread basket, Danish basket, eggs, fruit salad, yo
Amazed and totally inspired I've been this past week seeing all of the creative solutions people have come up with to help Haiti. Earlier in the week I posted about crafting for Haiti. As the week continued I watched the very youngest of school children opening up their piggy banks. I've seen school cafeteria workers baking bread and bake goods and giving all of the proceeds to Haiti. One day th
by Valarie Budayr"We sometimes feel that what we do is just a drop in the ocean, but the ocean would be less of that drop." Mother Theresa  (Found here....thank you Lisa for such words of wisdom.)Hello friends. I haven't been able to blog for the last few days. I started watching the real live reports coming in from Haiti. As Anderson Cooper said,"My camera lens isn't big enough to photograph th
We took a little break over the holidays to reorganize things a bit. We listened to you! We heard that you wanted cheaper courses willing to work when you are and you know what? We're giving it to you. Now just as before LearnSweden has great Swedish Language content to help you learn our language fast and easy. It's now for the very low price of $9.99 a course.Swedish Start I Â This course has
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