Weekend in Köln

Had a great weekend with Caroline in Köln… every weekend with her is great. After a long flight from Hong Kong, I was so pleased to be in her arms again. The Saturday was spent with her girl friends as it was Katja’s Birthday. We had a really good brunch together and then went for a walk along the bank of the Rhine. I like them all very much and even though I know they are a little sad that I’m sort of taking their Caro away from them, they are very warm and caring girls. I’m looking forward to them all coming to visit us in Sweden in the summer. We had a pub evening with Katja and her friends.
I left on Monday morning to catch a train to Frankfurt and then my plane to Rome. I will be there until Thursday for another rail event. Hmmm… two weeks away from home, now my heavy case is getting boring to move around.

Hong Kong part2

It’s been an interesting and fun week in Hong Kong and a whole heap of late nights. In addition to attending the rail conference here in HK, I have a lot of work on in other parts of the world, which requires my attention despite the time difference. The conference ended at around 5 or 6 most days and after this, Olle and I generally returned to our hotel first to get some work done. I spent a few hours answering e-mails, calling the office and partners etc. Then we took a sauna up at the top of the hotel and had a few beers. There was also a small pool, but the water wasn’t warm, so we used this as a cooling down dip between the sauna and a beer. Then out to eat at restaurant and taste some more Chinese food. Back to the hotel and time for the last batch of e-mails as the rest of the world wakes up. I chat with Caroline is she’s in and a Hotmail message for her…then to bed… getting pretty tired after 4 days of this. I did manage to fit in a little additional shopping, getting some things for Caroline and a shirt, a pair of shoes and some DVD’s for me. Which trip to the East is complete without some low priced copies (sorry film industry, I just can’t resist it).
Finally its Friday and a few extra hours sleep. We catch the airport express from Central on Hong Kong Island, which goes direct to the airport. Now there’s only a 12 hour flight from HK to Frankfurt between me and my girl.

Hong Kong

This is the first of two weeks away from home. I’m in Hong Kong working all this week with some customer meetings, a rail conference and spending time with Olle, our guy based in Singapore who’s also with me here this week. Were staying on Hong Kong Island and the hotel has a good view out over the water and the Kowloon Peninsula. I like visiting Hong Kong… it has an interesting mixture of old and new and a crazy fast pace. I have just bought a small digital Camera. I’ve been meaning to do this for ages as I’ve been borrowing Emma’s for ages on trips like this… so I finally did some haggling here in HK and here are some of the results. Typical views of HK with its impressive skyline.

Sunny Weekend

Caroline’s plane landed on time on Friday evening and I was there to meet her… and waiting to see her, I was so much looking forward to seeing her smile and getting that “I need you” kiss. She had an enormous package with her… big surprise… she had the new painting with her, all wrapped in plastic.
At home we unpacked it and I’m proud to say she’s produced another great two piece painting, which is already on the wall in the living room.
We had a great weekend together and spent lots of time talking and catching up with each other after 3 weeks apart. The weather was also good, so on Saturday we went for a long walk around Djurgåden and ended with a “fika” in Rosendals Trädgård (garden).
Another first for Caroline… a Semla, which is a traditional Swedish cake with a cream and marzipan filling.
In the evening we went to cook and eat dinner together with friends Aaron and Ann. They are an American/Swedish couple I know and they have 2 very sweet children. Caro was enjoying this evening and seeing their wonderful little bilingual daughter, who’s mastered speaking English and Swedish at an early age, just like Hannah and Emma did.
Sunday was also a sunny day and we drove over to Drottningholm and walked in the gardens of the royal palace. In the afternoon we had an early dinner with Hannah and Emma, who had been away most of the weekend. As usual, we had our cosy sofa moment at the airport and we were both happy to know its only 2 weeks before we will see each other again.

Almost Friday

Now it’s almost Friday and only a short time before Caroline will be arriving. We haven’t seen each other for 3 weeks now and this is too long… I miss her loads and can’t wait to collect her from the Airport tomorrow evening. I spoke to her this evening and she’s longing too, so I’m looking forward to a cosy weekend together.

Hannah’s Birthday

Today was Hannah’s 18th Birthday. She’s already a very grownup and a very responsible girl already. Here in Sweden its very official and celebrated at 18, you can buy a drink and no doubt do all sorts of other things legally. She had a good selection of cards and e-mails and quite a sum of money, which she had been requesting to help finance her plans to take driving lesions this year. We’ve already been doing some driving in my car and she is progressing quite well. We went out to a really good Lebanese Restaurant in the evening in Stockholm, which was a big success as she’s vegetarian at the moment and we ate an enormous meza meal with 23 different small dishes.

Survived IKEA!

Hannah and I found what we wanted at IKEA, and managed to come away without spending much more than we needed. Our bag included candles, a must in Sweden; we burn them almost every evening in the winter, and a new ceiling lamp for my room. Hannah got a picture frame, candles and a wall clock. At last we seem to have found a system for going to IKEA which allows us to remain calm and collected and exit within an hour!

Saturday morning

Hannah and Emma came home from their skiing trip on Thursday and seemed to have had a really good time. Hannah’s knee (she had an operation on it last year) had held up and she was able to ski all week. Emma was very tired and slept all the following day. We had a good family dinner together on Friday evening and caught up on all that’s been happening with us all. It’s not so often we’re all in at the same time these days.
Caroline is away this weekend with her girlfriends. She just called to say hi, it’s good to hear her voice…this 3 week break from each other is defiantly too long… we’re both missing each other. They’re staying in a cottage in Niederbreitbach, which I just checked out on Google Earth, looks like a nice village in the countryside.
I’m planning to go to IKEA today with the girls… I must be mad... but we need some candles and other stuff…we shall see if I survive!