A weekend with friends

A lovely weekend is coming to its end. Friday evening, we went out for dinner together with some friends. Bryan, Cham, Paz and Sebastien joined us at the tapas restaurant Sol in west Jerusalem. Afterwards, we had a drink at the arty record/book café-cum-bar Uganda, where Anna joined the ranks.

Saturday, Femke and me walked a bit in the Old City, then had a lunch at Amigo Emil, a restaurant in the Christian part we have not tried before. Their kebab Haleb (kebab from Aleppo) was spicy in a nice way. Afterwards, we spotted a beautiful wooden chest with intarsia that we might go and by on Monday. I think it will compliment our Syrian table, and it will definitely be a souvenir from our Jerusalem time that we will bring with us through life.
In the afternoon I met Fredrik, Michelle and Anna at the Cinemateque to see the very dark and violent (but still beautiful) film Pan’s labyrinth.

Today, we had a slow start, reading the newspaper in bed, then driving to Abu Gosh for brunch and milkshake at the Elvis restaurant together with Anna. They have lovely milkshake there, but the hamburger could be better. Afterwards, we took a refreshing walk in the lush green forest around the old road to Jerusalem, crossing the Jerusalem hills. Femke spotted some cute deers!

Femke and Anna in the forest

Cute flowers surrounded by lush grass in the forest

Glass blowing in Småland

Yesterday morning, we flew to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to have lunch with Femke’s mother. Femke also managed to do some shopping (surprise!), before it was time to fly North to Sweden. We slept in Tyringe (where my Mother lives) and this morning continued to Småland. Lot’s of forest, with trees covered in ice, frozen lakes and in general a beautiful winter landscape. What a contrast to Jericho the other day!

In Småland, we stopped for a fika in Växjö, then visited the famous glass factory in Kosta, where they hand blow the famous art glass of KostaBoda. Unfortunately, they stopped blowing glass just a few hours before we arrived, but we enjoyed the exhibition of beautiful art glass. To see the glass being produced, we drove 15 minutes further to Åfors Glasbruk, where the glass ovens where glowing hot and the blowers busy. It is such a treat to see craftsmen (and craftswomen) like this, creating masterpieces out of melted sand.

Outside, I couldn’t help but to try out my new camera (Nikon D300) on the stream passing the factory. I still have a lot of tweaking and practicing to do before being one with the D300, but it is a great piece of equipment.

Now, we drove back to Kosta to check out the Christmas market. We had nice sausages grilled over open fire and in general marveled at the beautiful light decorations that were set up everywhere, including the frosty trees.

In the evening, we drove to the little city of Nybro, checked in at a hotel and then went for “hyttsill” – a traditional meal inside a glass factory. Being Christmas time, they had a tasty Christmas buffet that we devoured together with snaps (traditionally spiced vodka called akvavit). There was a lot of people, and all joined in, singing the snaps-songs that goes with the tradition. Afterwards, they had a rather provincial (but still somewhat funny) Christmas show.

My Mother Christine and Femke, having a fika in Växjö

Frozen lake in Småland

The stream outside Åfors Glasbruk

The stream outside Åfors Glasbruk

Glass art from KostaBoda

Glass blowing at Åfors Glasbruk

Light decorations at the Christmas market in Kosta

Eid milad said!

Yesterday was a slow day, but still a nice day. In the end, we drove to the Israeli Arab village of Abu Gosh to have lunch at the Elvis Diner there. They make incredible milk shakes and good hamburgers, and the interior design is cool – an American 50’s diner full of Elvis memorabilia.

This morning, Anders left for Sweden. It was great to have him here, we both appreciated him coming to see us, and I hope he enjoyed himself too.



In the afternoon, Femke and me went Christmas shopping in the old city. The Arab boy scouts had a Christmas market with all the things you need to make your home Chistmassy. We also found the funny record with the Lebanese classical star Fairuz singing traditional Christmas songs. Think Tannenbaum and jingle bells in Arabic.
Eid milad Said! (Merry Chistmas in Arabic).