thoughts before packing up sweden

today i'm packing up our things and it seems we've only just arrived here in karlstad. summer is lovely here as the city comes alive after being in a winter sleep (with only a few hours of daylight half the year, this isn't simply metaphorical) and the parks and gardens and cafes open their doors just for these few months. we've been lucky to do so much travel and so little looking out the window in a hotel room in the rain (ah, norway). we could spend another week taking busses to gardens and parks we haven't yet explored (how could have missed a visit to mårbacka?).

it has been a relatively short trip--just a month rather three--and we were ablet o enjoy a week of it with my parents (owen asked when they left: "who is coming to visit next?" and points to the scandic "there's where my nana and papa stayed" every time we walk by). the packing is tricky though, as we have more things here than we carried over and we're committed to only travel with two suitcases and one carry on each among the three of us (mind you we have 2 additional suitcases and 2 duffel bags). the bittersweetness of that is it means michael will come home with us but then come back to karlastad to wrap up the project without us. so we just need to figure out the essentials we'll need at home. . .

(and the sweet part) . . . and what we'll need for sunning (shoo! shoo! rain clouds) in biarritz. michael is taking vacation time and we're cashing in a year of living at the radisson in norway for a week of resort living in biarritz, france. rooftop pool, sandy beach, and a short train ride to san sebastian. michael is looking forward to watching the tour, owen to his bucket and spade, and me to my satchel of books.

we'll spend a weekend in helsinki, finland en route and another day in stockholm on the layover back home. and then, well, we're just not really sure. i'm officially unemployed, by the way; i didn't "get the call" to renew my annual contract at UCR but i think very few people did. michael has already made me an official project plan for finishing the dissertation and who knows what else might happen if i have a husband at home (winkwink). ok, off to packing. i'll post our karlstad slideshow soon and we'll be updating en route. . .