21 at last!

Thank you everyone who thought of me on my birthday! Thanks for all the flowers, presents, cards, calls, sms, messages, hugs and kisses! I had a great day, I really enjoyed being with you and hearing from those of you who couldn't be here with me!

How sweet it is...

...to go outside and enjoy spring on a sunny weekend in Stockholm and its archipelago! (It's like honey to the bee babe!;-)

Harriet runs London Marathon

A friend of mine I met at my English School St Mary's in Shaftesbury is running the London Marathon today at her birthday to raise money for the Anna Trust which supports research into the life threatening disease cystic fibrosis. She started training for the marathon on the 1st of September last year and I admire her strong mind and power which made her follow through the project until that very end today. Therefore I donated some pounds too and if you want to do the same, here's the link to her website!

St Petersburg & Moscow (2.-9.4.)

Every now and then we thought: Why for god's sake did we sign up voluntarily for that roadtrip to Russia? 50 (!) hours on the coach in a period of 7 days including two overnight drives (St Petersburg--> Moscow--> St Petersburg) where the coach's continous bumping up und down due to the amazingly poor quality of the "motorway" between the two main Russian cities didn't actually really rock us to sleep. But then again, what the cities had to offer compensated all the stresses and strains of the journeys and we learned to appreciate the advantages of travelling Russia in a large group and with professional organisation by experienced people. Because Russia IS different!
Here some photos and I'll write more about our impressions and experiences later. First evening in Russia - trying Russian food: Ucha and PelmeniBallroom at Catherine PalaceThe Hermitage Monument to Nicholas I on St Isaac's squareView from the top of St Isaac's cathedralThe impressive Church of the Saviour on BloodQuai of the kissing couplesSt Basil's cathedral in Moscow
Red Square (Krasnaya Ploshchad)
Maria, Matt, Emile, Renske, Michael, Pierre, Christine and IInside St Basil'sAt the Kremlin The Churches inside the Kremlin
Statue of Peter ICathedral of Christ the SaviourLocks to protect the love of freshly married couplesMoscow metro "underground palaces"Red Square at night before our departure

Russia, here we come!

Привет! Today is the day that Maria and I are taking the ferry to Finland from where a bus will take us on a one-week trip to the Russian towns St. Petersburg and Moscow! I'm getting more and more excited and even digged up my Russian text book and dictionary from one of my many boxes. In this spirit: До свидания и до скорого!