Living La Vida Lunda: A blog abroad

The Minnesota Noices

  • From linseed to linen

    From linseed to linen

    Capellagården, a folk crafts/ art school on the island of Öland, arranged with Sarah from The Tour Studio for a special course to be taught in English. I know Sarah through the International Citizens Hub and so had the opportunity for a spot in her linen workshop. The other participants all came from the US,…

  • 48 hrs in Budapest

    48 hrs in Budapest

    We arrived in Budapest with just enough time to find our rented apartment across from the National Museum, get a traditional Hungarian meal and enjoy the walk through the city to the boat tour, booked in advance by my savvy friend, Andrea. The tour gave us a relaxing way to see both cities: “On the…

  • Transitions

    Transitions

    Our era as an ISLK family has come to an end as the youngest completed the International Baccalaureate Middle Years with excellent marks, ready to enter the world of the Diploma Programme. She has a preliminary acceptance at Katedralskolan in Lund and looks forward to a nice summer break! “Justice For Ukraine” was her art…

  • Canoe Camping in Åsnens

    Canoe Camping in Åsnens

    We went canoe camping. Yay! In the search for a Swedish BWCA rather than the average Swedish trail camping spots we found Åsnens National Park. While not quite the same as northern Minnesota, it came pretty dang close! The mosquitos were huge and extremely annoying, the water was calm and very rocky, and the trees…

  • Merry Month of May

    Merry Month of May

    Valborg and the First of May celebrations brought a distinct sense of Spring along with longer, warmer days. Our International Choir joined Gösta the director’s other, Swedish choir in Trelleborg to sing at the town’s Valborg bonfire ceremony at the Viking museum. It started with the “kulning” an ancient Swedish herding call by 3 women…

  • Sofia i Sogndal, Norge

    Sofia i Sogndal, Norge

    With Hil’s friend wrapping up her gap year folk school experience, our window to visit Sogndal with Sofia as our local guide was closing rapidly. On Sofia’s last free weekend at the folkehøgskule, Hil and I squeezed in a quick trip, traveling to Bergen by plane and then on to the village of Sogndal on…

  • Prague, Czechia

    Prague, Czechia

    Andrea and I have been teaming up lately for exercise, social events, Swedish practice, garden plans and now travel! We just returned from a short trip to Prague, where we managed a sampling of the city highlights. I learned a lot about Czechia, the Czech Republic in the process. The iconic Charles Bridge area of…

  • Puglia Part 3: Bari, Monopoli

    Puglia Part 3: Bari, Monopoli

    It’s coming up on a full year since our Apulian Adventure so I thought I’d better complete the record by posting the final installment. Last year I did two posts about the trip celebrating CJ and David’s 50th birthdays. Here’s a link to the second one… but left off just prior to our tour of…

  • Day trip to Hamlet’s Elsinore Castle

    Day trip to Hamlet’s Elsinore Castle

    One of my favorite family adventures so far! Seriously good tourism, right in our own backyard. On Saturday I was able to check an item off the bucket list. So simple and satisfying was it that I’m amazed it took this long. Three years ago my friend Lisa shared with me her brilliant twist to…

  • Pets and Pysanky

    Pets and Pysanky

    I’ve been walking a friend’s dog this week*. Lulu lives just a 5 minute walk over the bridge to the other side of the train tracks. Walking with her has been a nice way to explore a part of Lund I don’t see as often. She spends more time sniffing than walking, however, and quite…