A freedom-oriented lifestyle blog

Category: Sverige (Page 1 of 3)

Slottsskogen with family

We planned our journey from Thailand to Prague via Sweden and family. We were only a few days in Sweden, but before we took the ferry to the rest of Europe, we visited Othilia’s cousin Filip. This was before the quarantine days due to the Corona virus, so we were out enjoying the Gothenburg weather in February. One of our favorite parks in Gothenburg is Slottsskogen and we went there with the kids before going to Prague.


Vi planerade vår resa från Thailand till Prag via Sverige och familjen. Vi var bara några dagar i Sverige, men innan vi tog färjan till resten av Europa så besökte vi Othilias kusin Filip. Detta var före karantändagarna på grund av Corona-viruset, så vi var ute och njöt av Göteborgsvädret i februari. En av våra favoritparker i Göteborg är Slottsskogen och vi åkte dit med barnen innan vi åkte till Prag.

These two! It is not easy to get both of them to stick in one picture.
Our Othilia look so big in this outfit, where has our baby gone?
We took our children to Slottskogen to look at the animals, but one had fallen asleep!
He soon woke up and joined the exploration.
Othilia was happy!
We soon came to the playground Plikta (what a name on a playground meaning somewhere close to oblige in English)
Our children were soon running different ways on the playground, while the mothers were occupied (notice Rebecca on the left)
Just happy memories!
So lovely to have these moments together with the cousins. Here Filip is showing his aunts the numbers 1-10. Soon we would say goodbye for this time.
The ferry between Gothenburg and Kiel would bring us closer to Prague and this boat had a play area that Othilia liked.
We fell asleep on a rocking boat not knowing that in a few weeks we would have keys to our own home, the first home for Othilia.

Christmas 2019 – Sweden

Our initial plan was to be elsewhere during Christmas, but several things made us rethink and spend this year’s Christmas with family, so Sweden it is for us this year.

It is Othilia’s second Christmas, but the first one she can walk around and touch things. We were excited for her to experience snow, but it looks like we have a daughter that prefers the summer months of Europe. Othilia is a bit reserved about snow, darkness and coldness. We put her down on the ground when we go out with her and she just looks sceptical at the snow and then reaches her arms toward us and wants to be carried most of the time we are out. We got snow for Christmas so at least us parents were happy. Pictures from our Christmas are coming below. Merry Yule and a happy new year!

Vår första plan var att vara någon annanstans under julen, men det var flera saker som fick oss att tänka om och tillbringa årets jul med våra familjer, så Sverige blev det för oss i år.

Det är Othilias andra jul, men det är den första som hon kan gå runt och röra saker själv. Vi var glada för att Othilia får uppleva snö, men det ser ut som om vi har en dotter som uppskattar Europas sommarmånader mer. Otilia är inte särskilt exalterad över snö, mörker och kyla. Vi sätter ned henne på marken när vi går ut med henne och hon ser bara skeptiskt på snön och sträcker sedan armarna mot oss och vill bäras mesta delen av tiden vi är ute. Vi fick snö till jul så åtminstone vi föräldrar var glada. Bilder från vår jul kommer nedan. God jul och gott nytt år!

Othilia trying to walk on ice.
Walking short distances was alright, but most often she wanted to be carried.
Balls are always fun according to Othilia.
We had a few christmas smorgasbord (julbord). The first one out was a vegetarian one. It was interesting to try, but let’s say that we prefer an original one with meat.
Othilia found stuffed animals here and she liked them a lot. Her hair is getting longer, we are letting it grow so up to this point no scissor has yet touched her hair.
We met with our friend Lynn (she met up with us both in Netherlands and in Czech Republic) and Othilia recognized her immediately.
The snow disappeared just before Christmas, but it would return on Christmas Eve, the day we are celebrating Yule.
Christmas smorgasbord number 2, with a lot more meat on it.
We had Christmas gifts opening several times during Christmas.
Othilia was happy to receive a flute.
We went to visit the Christmas house.
A lot of lamps and other things Othilia wasn’t allowed to touch. It was an interesting experience to walk around here with her. The Coca-cola truck was on display, a famous Coca-Cola Christmas commercial for no use, the Swedes mostly buy julmust during December.
Another Swedish tradition during Christmas is to watch old Disney clips on the TV every year at 3 pm on Christmas eve for one hour. This is the most famous clip shown during this hour of Disney.
Christmas smorgasbord number 3 on the actual day we celebrate, Christmas eve.
Ulrika and Othilia next to the Christmas tree.
The snow came back so we explored the winter landscape with Othilia.
We even created a snowman.
Our snowman standing in the dark.
Othilia would only stand on the ground next to lights. The darkness up here in the North require a few shining trees. This was not so late in the afternoon and complete darkness surrounds us.
Next Christmas tree and Othilia in our arms. At 15 months, Othilia’s word knowledge has increased and it is mostly Swedish word she knows and say right now. In Swedish she can say: mer, igen, lampa, mamma, pappa, titta, “vaärde?” (vad är det?), tack and hejdå, but a few English words are in her vocabulary (mummy, daddy and happy). She of course understands a lot more words than she can say at the moment.
And more Christmas presents to be opened. We want to thank our families for all the lovely gifts Othilia got this Christmas!

Merry Yule everyone and we are looking forward to what the year 2020 will bring. Happy new year!

Othilia one year and one month in Sweden

We had an intense one month in Sweden after departing from Netherlands. Othilia was about to turn one year and we wanted to celebrate this with our families. We also had other birthdays to celebrate, new babies to greet and a great-grand mother to visit, so August was a family-intense month for us and we wanted to enjoy that to the fullest.

Othilia has developed so fast and is now a little person. She is so determined and curious, so us parents we just follow her and see what she does. She is adventurous, but careful and she is talking a lot (by our standards), but she doesn’t yet speak our language. However, she does say a few words in Swedish and show us that she understands way more words than she can say right now. Ulrika also swears that she hears Othilia use a few English words (like daddy), but time will tell if she starts speaking English at a young age. The King children do shower her with English so we will see what happens to her language development.

We celebrated Othilia’s birthday during several days and we are so glad that she is so loved by our families and that we had the opportunity to celebrate her first birthday in Sweden. We will insert a lot of pictures from Othilia’s month in Sweden and her birthday below.


Vi hade en intensiv månad i Sverige efter avresan från Nederländerna. Othilia skulle fylla ett år och vi ville fira detta med våra familjer. Vi hade också andra födelsedagar att fira, nya barn att hälsa på och en gammelmormor att besöka så augusti var en familjeintensiv månad för oss och vi ville njuta av det till fullo.

Othilia har utvecklats så snabbt och är nu verkligen en liten person. Hon är så beslutsam och nyfiken, så vi föräldrar bara följer efter henne och ser vad hon gör. Hon är äventyrlig, men försiktig och hon pratar mycket (enligt vår familjs standard), men hon talar inte vårt språk än. Hon säger dock några ord på svenska och visar oss att hon förstår fler ord än hon kan uttala just nu. Ulrika svär också på att hon har hört Othilia använda sig av några engelska ord (såsom “daddy”), men tiden kommer att visa om hon börjar prata engelska i så här ung ålder. King-barnen överröser henne med engelska så vi får se vad som händer med hennes språkutveckling.

Vi firade Othilias födelsedag under flera dagar och vi är så glada över att hon är så älskad av våra familjer och att vi hade möjlighet att fira hennes första födelsedag i Sverige. Vi kommer att publicera en hel del bilder från Othilias månad i Sverige och hennes födelsedag nedan.

Gothenburg seen from Ramberget.
Here we have family so Gothenburg is a place that we visit when we come to Sweden.
Saying hello to Othilia’s great grandmother!
We soon went North meeting up with old friends in Linköping and celebrated Othilia’s cousin Noa’s second birthday in Stockholm.
We where soon with grandparents in Långshyttan and Stjärnsund trying out one of her birthday presents that Othilia got early.
Othilia was so fascinated by being on the lake.
Trying different vehicles, even a bicycle!
Inspecting grandmother’s garden!
Othilia got to her favorite thing at Stugan – playing with water and playing with grandmother (not in the picture)!
We investigated different places to have Othilia’s birthday party and we found the right spot at Svartviksstugan near Sandviken in Gästrikland.
In just a few weeks we would celebrate Othilia at this spot, but first we had a few days in Gävle and Norrsundet to spend.
We got to spend some time with aunt Jonna at Högbo before she left for her own adventures. We also gave Othilia a birthday present early – a stroller!
We visited Norrsundet a sleeping fishing village and a “bruksort”. Othilia is jumping on rocks now!
Spending time with a grandparent in Norrsundet, trying out the playground!
We even had our first date in a year while Othilia got to spend some time with a grandmother. Thank you mormor and Mats!
We met up with bubb.la people in Hedesunda and Ulrika showed where she has been playing in the water when she was young.
Be a tourist in your own home town. Ulrika has never gone out to Limön, an island in the Gävle bay area, so we decided to take the last boat on the summer schedule out to that island.
We were the only people on the boat which was strange, but we would find out later on why we probably were the only passengers that day.
Limön! An old fishing island which is know mainly occupied by summer houses and a café.
We had the island almost to ourselves, except for a few summer guests in their cabins. We tried the water, which was really cold, but that didn’t stop Othilia. You see the factory Korsnäs in the background.
We found swings so Othilia wanted fully enjoy them. She can now swing like the older kids do it.
Just an hour before our boat was departing we saw this and we realized that we had skipped to check the weather forecast for this day. No wonder we were the only people on board that day. But the intense rain passed quickly and we could safely go back to the mainland.
Then Otihlia’s days of celebration came and she was dressed for the occasion by a dress she got from Othilia’s cousins (and their parents).
We had a bit of bad weather, but that didn’t stop the celebration. We lit a fire in the fire place.
And Othilia was excited over the birthday cakes. One bought (but carefully selected by mom) and one home made (by dad, his favorite cake). The buns was also home made by grand mother!
We want to thank our families for all the great gifts Othilia got from you. We are so grateful that you were able to come and celebrate that Othilia now has been on the planet for a full year. Happy birthday our beloved and most precious daughter! We love you!
We had a second birthday celebration with Ulrika’s side of the family and we want to thank them for coming and celebrating our daughter as well. Thank you! Othilia’s birthday parties also were our good bye to our families for this time. A few days later we left Sweden from Trelleborg (picture from the coast of Trelleborg) and headed South.

Othilia ten months, Pontus talking Bitcoin and Swedish midsummer

Today Othilia turned ten months and we have had the joy of seeing her turning into a toddler. Her baby days are gone and she has passed some great milestones along the way. We jokingly said that we will see what will come first: she starts walking or get her first tooth. By the looks of it, we think she will start running before any fangs show up. She took her first steps when she was 9.5 months (three steps to be exact) and now it is more of a confidence thing before she will drop holding our fingers and walk by herself.


Idag blev Othilia tio månader och vi har haft glädjen att se henne bli ett småbarn. Hennes bebisdagar är förbi och hon har gått igenom flera  milstolpar längs vägen. Vi sa skämtsamt att vi ska se vad som kommer först: att hon börjar gå eller att hon får sin första tand. Nu tror vi att hon börjar springa innan några gaddar dyker upp. Hon tog sitt första steg när hon var 9,5 månader (tre steg för att vara exakt) och nu är det mer av en självförtroende-sak innan hon kommer att släppa hålla fingrarna och gå själv.

Othilia helping mom pick flowers for her midsummer wreath only supported by a finger.

We have been quite absent, but we have had our reasons. Othilia is taking up most of our time, but for the last half a year Pontus  has been working on a report about blockchain technology from a competition perspective commissioned by the Swedish Competition Authority . He was the sole author for the report and it was published in May this year followed by a conference in Stockholm about digitization, so Pontus having much to do was an understatement.
The report turned out well and his presentation can be viewed below. A presentation about the Swedish e-krona (digital currency issued by the Swedish Central bank) followed Pontus presentation and last part is questions from the audience to all the presenters that day. Worth watching if you can comprehend Swedish or are able to switch on Youtube’s auto-generated translated sub titles.


Vi har varit ganska frånvarande här, men vi har haft våra skäl. Othilia tar upp det mesta av vår tid, men under det senaste halvåret har Pontus arbetat med en rapport om blockkedjeteknik utifrån ett konkurrensperspektiv som beställts av Konkurrensverket. Pontus var den enda författaren till rapporten och den publicerades i maj i år följt av en konferens i Stockholm om digitalisering, så Pontus hade mycket att göra var en underdrift.
Rapporten visade sig bli väldigt bra och hans presentation kan ses nedan. En presentation om den svenska e-kronan (digital valuta utgiven av den svenska centralbanken) följde Pontus presentation och sista delen är frågor från publiken till alla presentatörer den dagen. Värt att titta på om du kan förstå svenska eller kunna sätta på Youtubes automatiskt genererade överssättning.

 

When everything with the report was finished we wanted to spend some time with our families and enjoy Swedish summer a little bit before it was time for us to travel south again.


När allting med rapporten var färdigt så ville vi spendera lite tid med våra familjer och njuta av svenska sommaren lite innan det var dags för oss att resa söderut igen.

Othilia loves the water so she got to try the Swedish lakes from Dalarna up to Umeå, temperatures ranging from 16-18.5 degrees Celsius.

She loves animals so we usually ask pet owners if it is alright for Othilia to engage with their animal.

Children who is a bit older than Othilia is her favorite as well. Here, she is holding hands with Alma – the daughter of Daniel (Pontus’s old classmate from childhood).

The flower Othilia picked in the first picture turned into a midsummer wreath and we were dressed for celebrating Swedish midsummer. The dress Othilia was wearing has been inherited down from mom Ulrika and aunt Rebecca.

Dad was wearing a lovely t-shirt instead.

Midsummer is best spent in Dalarna so that was where we were this year, watching traditional celebrations all weekend long.

And we were not alone 🙂 This is the midsummer maypole in Husby, Dalarna on midsummer day.

We started our travels south again after midsummer and we happened to make a short stop in Linköping for lunch. Linköping is the place in Sweden me and Pontus met almost ten years ago, so it was nostalgic to walk around in trädgårdsföreningen and the city centre with Othilia.

We ate lunch at “Gula huset” (the yellow house) and went back on the road. We will make a longer stop here next time so we can meet up with friends.

 

 

Hot summer, pregnancy and Säter’s mental healthcare museum

July was incredible hot in Sweden and for Ulrika this meant tiredness and just find ways to try to cool off. We had planned to spend some time with family before we had to leave Sweden, so we did just that. Ulrika’s birthday wish was to go to Säter’s mental healthcare museum so this trip was our only adventure during July. We also had to do a lot of preparations for the coming birth of our child, so July went by incredible fast for us.  Below is a summary of our July in pictures.


Juli var otroligt hett i Sverige och för Ulrika betydde det en otrolig trötthet och försöka hitta sätt att vara sval. Vi hade planerat att spendera denna tid med familjen innan vi var tvungna att lämna Sverige, så vi gjorde just det. Ulrikas födelsedagsönskning var att åka till Säters mentalvårdsmuseum, så denna utflykt var vårt enda äventyr under juli. Vi var också tvungna att göra flera förberedelser för vårt barns kommande födelse, så juli gick otroligt snabbt för oss. Nedan följer en sammanfattning av vårt juli i bilder.

Week 32 photo of Ulrika and little did she know that Sweden would experience the hottest summer since the Swedish Weather institute started their measurements 250 years ago. Here. she was just glad not to be nearer the equator

We were in Dalarna with Pontus family for the most part helping out with different things.

Helping Pontus mother start building a greenhouse.

We also got to hang out with Pontus nephew Noa (Grattis Noa på födelsedagen!)

Noa showing us and his mother Hanna that he was almost ready to start walking by himself. Soon he would let go of his parents hands and begin to explore the world.

We went to an outdoor auction in Dalarna.

It is interesting to see the psychology behind the bidding strategies.

Found a funny sign in one of the stores we visited: “Win a free ride in a police car. The only thing you need to do is to shoplift in this store. Say hello to the camera :)”

The temperature just rose and rose, and soon it was no longer pleasant to be in Sweden in the end of a pregnancy.

The only thing we could do was to cool ourselves in the lakes, here in Långviken.

And Harnäs.

Ulrika during week 35 before cooling off in lake Grycken after an incredible hot day (compared to other Swedish summers).

Ulrika also turned 35 during those hot summer days and Pontus baked a cake for her using his mother’s recipe.

Ulrika finally got to visit Säters mentalvårdsmuseum (Säter’s mental healthcare museum). The state institution for mentally ill persons and others opened 1912 and parts of the area is still operational – the forensic psychiatry clinic.

It is a small museum and you have to book the guided tour in advance, but it is so worth it to take the guided tour. You get to learn about the psychiatric care in the beginning of last century and what standard practices to help and “help” mentally ill persons have looked like during the last century.

Most interesting is the part where the patients crafts and artistry are displayed. This cardigan was created by a psychotic woman, where the front piece were worked on during her “chaotic” episodes and the back piece worked on during her calm episodes.

A wedding dress by a female patient who thought that she and the head doctor were to get married.

The doctor’s name was Theodore (Ted).

There were no lack of innovators in this place. This gun was designed to be able to shoot around corners.

Other made more or less correct predictions of the future. One patient were concerned about the future of electricity and he wrote a book about it “About the ravages of electricity” in 1920.

Others feared about overpopulation of Sweden already in 1939.

And a few patients really could envision what the world would look like in the future describing wireless telephones already in 1912, but the doctors at that time called it hallucinations.

Back in Stjärnsund we ate Ulrika’s birthday cake and had a quiet celebration. Ulrika thinks that Pontus did a very good job with creating this birthday cake!

We enjoyed our time with family in July, but we we’re also preparing for giving birth to our child – one of the tasks were to visit a Notarius Publicus to get an Apostille stamp on important documents. It was interesting to see that Gävle had a Finnish honorary consulate.

Ulrika has used home tests to monitor her iron levels and after taking iron supplements for a months she were finally back to normal levels. This is another thing to be aware of, taking control over your body, when you don’t have a specific doctor or midwife to go to. Fortunately, there are so much things that you can do nowadays to monitor yourself. We ordered several home tests from HH UK like protein in Urea, Vitamin D levels etc (link below).

Home Health UK

We got delayed, because of car trouble, so we couldn’t leave Sweden at our planned date. We got more time with family, but we wanted to leave Sweden before Ulrika entered week 36.

Just before Ulrika entered week 36 everything was fixed and we had packed our bags for the coming months.

We passed Göteborg to say good bye to this little muggler.

And Sweden said good bye to us with one final fire – now at an industrial site. The heat and dryness have really been extreme this summer in Sweden and a lot of forests have gone up in flames.

Ulrika’s brother has been one of the heroes fighting the fires in the extreme heat. They managed to get the fire outside Kårböle in control! (Picture taken by one of Niklas colleagues at R3 Uppsala)

Now it is August and technically “det lilla livet” can come any time from the middle of August to middle of September. It is going to be exciting couple of weeks we are facing!

Nu är det augusti och tekniskt sett så kan det lilla livet komma någon gång från mitten av augusti till mitten av september. Det kommer att bli spännande några veckor vi står inför!

In the Swedish “bubb.la”

We had to enter the Swedish bubbla, but fortunately for us we have our own “bubb.la” with family and friends that we like to be inside when we are in Sweden. The big day for us is coming closer so we want to spend this last time with family and friends before we will go and welcome our child. This time around it was going to be all about bubbles with a name giving ceremony, bubb.la meet up with Boris and a wonderful bubb.la wedding. 


Vi var tvungna att åka in i den svenska bubblan, men lyckligtvis har vi vår egen “bubb.la” med familj och vänner som vi tycker om att vara inne i när vi är i Sverige. Den stora dagen för oss kommer allt närmare så vi vill spendera denna sista tid tillsammans med familj och vänner innan vi ska åka och välkomna vårt barn. Den här gången skulle det handla om bubblor med en namngivningsceremoni, bubb.la-träff med Boris och ett underbart bubb.la bröllop.

Back on Swedish soil and we realized that we were close to the most Southern point in Sweden – Smygehuk. Also, Ulrika is showing off her week 29 belly.
We visited Smygehuk in the early morning before we headed North, it was going to be a long day on the road for us.

We had lunch in Kalmar and decided to tick another thing off the bucket list. Ulrika has never seen Ölandsbron, the 6 kilometer long bridge that connects the island Öland to the mainland.

We came back to Sweden for Ulrika’s nephew Filip’s name giving ceremony, the secular version of baptism, and to spend time with our families before we need to focus on welcoming our girl to this world.

We celebrated Midsummer, the Swedish feast that is the closest to a national day Sweden has. Here we danced to classical Swedish ballads around a leaf- and flower-covered Phallus.

We got the opportunity to meet and speak with Boris, one half of the podcast “radio bubb.la”. Here he is with Ulrika’s nephew Filip. We also bought a signed copy of his book ” Inte mitt krig” about the death of the Swedish leftist movement during the 70’s and how they instead infiltrated the institutions causing the Swedish state to swell into an enormous bureaucratic and socialist apparatus, which is the main reason why today’s Sweden is collapsing.

You can find the book here at Cultura Aetatis,  the publishing house under the bubb.la umbrella.

We also got the opportunity to dress up to celebrate the union of our friends Martin and Sofia, the founders of project bubb.la and radio bubb.la. Ulrika found a dress that she could wear at 30 weeks of pregnancy.

It was a lovely ceremony in Stockholm and Boris was the marriage officiant. Thank you Martin and Sofia for letting us be part of your special day.

the first dance as a married couple!

We headed back to Ulrika’s family to spend more time with them. Filip loves water so we took him to Högbosjön one day.

He didn’t hesitate to get in the water even though the water temperature was far from the indoor baby pool he is used to.

We also spent one day at Furuvik, an amusement park and zoo, near Gävle and we chose a nice day to be here, Sweden played against South Korea at the World Soccer Championship, so we were almost alone in the park.

We had a barbecue party with a few of Ulrika’s cousins.

and “det lilla livet” got her first pair of shoes from Linnéa, one of Ulrika’s cousins. Thank you Linnéa!

” Det lilla livet” has gotten a lot of things from both mormor (maternal grandmother), moster (maternal auntie) and friends, so it was time to organize our girl’s things.

It was time for our girl to get her own back pack and for us to gather all her things. It is only two month left before she will be here, so from now on her back pack will travel with us.

One day in Helsinki and Bitcoin-related things

We’ve been busy, but we now felt that it was time to update what we’ve been doing after our stay  in Tallinn and our week 20 ultrasound there. First we spent one day in Helsinki. It was the cheapest option for us when we wanted to travel from Tallinn to Sweden. Ulrika has never set her foot in this neighboring country, and Pontus has never been to Helsinki so we took the opportunity to see the Finnish capital on foot. We calculated that we walked about 15 km this day, so we managed to see a big part of Helsinki. Then there were Bitcoin and freedom-minded meetings on our Sweden agenda, and to meet family and friends. 


Vi har haft fullt upp, men vi känner nu att det var dags att göra en uppdatering om vad vi har sysslat med efter vår tripp till Tallinn och vårt vecka 20 ultraljud där.  Först spenderade vi en dag i Helsingfors. Det var det billigaste alternativet för oss när vi ville åka från Tallinn till Sverige. Ulrika har aldrig satt sin fot i detta grannland och Pontus har heller aldrig varit i just Helsingfors, så vi tog vara på möjligheten att få se den finländska huvudstaden till fots. Vi räknade ut att vi promenerade cirka 15 km denna dag, så vi hann se en hel del av Helsingfors. Därefter var det bitcoin och frihetliga möten på vår Sverigeagenda, samt att träffa familj och vänner.

A bitcoin ATM greeted us when we arrived to Helsinki, so it was easy for us to get the local currency (Euro) here in Finland.  0 confirmations, no need to sign in and give out personal information and we were ready to spend a day in Helsinki. The ATM can be found in the ferry terminal at Västra Hamnen and you can change the language so you don’t have to know Finnish to use it.

The second thing that greeted us in Helsinki was the Bad Bad Boy, the 8.5 meters tall urinating statue.

And a visualization of the mean depth of the Baltic Sea – only 55 meters.

We had taken the morning ferry from Tallinn so the sun was still rising when we came to Helsinki. Ulrika thinks that these sorts of cranes look like dinosaurs.

We found a beach, but it was to cold to jump in.

We took a walk through Kaivopuisto park and found a small hill from where we got a nice view over a few of the islands just outside of Helsinki.

There we also found a memorial for all seafarers and the deceased at sea.

One district in Helsinki is called Ulrikasborg, which translates to Ulrika’s castle in English, so we had to go there. Ullis is a nickname Ulrika and this district have in common.

It was funny that we found Pontus café in Ulrikasborg.

Finland was until 2009 the only country in the world that had Swedish as one of their official languages, since 2009 Swedish is also an official language in Sweden. Therefore, signs etc. in Helsinki have both Swedish and Finnish written on them, like the academic book store in the picture.

Finland has their moomins (by Tove Jansson) and we had to take a picture of one when we where here.

Atlas Obscura got us to see the Pohjola Insurance building – the company that wants to remind their customers that witches, bears, and gnomes are present so you better be insured. The building was built by architect Eliel Saarinen in 1901 and the name “Pohjola” is from the Finnish epic saga called the Kalevala. According to the legend, Pohjola was a Northern region ruled by an evil witch where you could find the roots of the World Tree.

We walked passed Helsinki train station, which has an interesting architecture.

Djurgårdsviken was still covered by ice, when we were here. It looked fragile so we strolled around the lake to get to Berghäll, another district of Helsinki. We used google maps and Atlas Obscura (link to the site can be found in the end) to get around here and we think that we were able to see quite a lot of Helsinki by foot before we had to board the next ferry.

Churches are interesting and we think that the architecture, both exterior and interior, often reflects the culture and the mindset of the people in that country. In Finland, the embellishments and colors are stripped of the church, whereas churches in Central America are much more colorful and full of decorations.

Hanasaari Power Plant is apparently a coal-consuming power plant.

We found a lot of beautiful wooden ships in the Northern harbor. More pictures from Helsinki can be found in the slideshow below.

 

Helsinki Cathedral was one of our last stops on our walk before we left Helsinki.

Skatudden seems like a nice place to chill out during the summer months in Helsinki. Our ferry departed from Skatudden so we had to go to the ferry terminal.

We went with Tallink to Tallinn, but we couldn’t book a ticket back to Sweden at the same time, because we didn’t know how long we needed to stay in Estonia. So when it was time for us to go to Sweden, it was cheaper to take the morning ferry to Helsinki and from there, take the night ferry with Viking Line to Stockholm. This was the reason we had an unexpected, but pleasant, day in Helsinki.

We came to Stockholm the morning after and Gröna Lund, the amusement park, greeted us. Unfortunately, no bitcoin ATM was present here when we came to Stockholm.

Back in Sweden and Pontus had a lecture about Bitcoin and the current economic system at the E-Commerce and Shop Tech fair.

Pontus has been voted in as a member of the board for the Swedish Bitcoin association so that was why he ended up on stage at this kind of fair. Link to the Swedish Bitcoin Association can be found in the end.

We also ended up meeting up with our old Bitcoin meet up group in Linköping.

We were able to attend this years Freedomfest in Stockholm arranged by the Swedish Mises Institute. We were able to meet a lot of like-minded people and the rumor is that the record of attendants was broken this year. One of our favorite lectures this year was the comparison of Sweden and Switzerland and why Sweden is much more vulnerable than Switzerland by Stellan Abrahamsson. All public lectures can be found in the link below (in Swedish).

Freedomfest Stockholm and everyday life in Asia

We have our everyday life in Asia and we are very pleased with it, but we think it’s a shame that we will miss this year’s edition of Freedomfest Stockholm, which will open its doors on Saturday 13th of May this year. Unfortunatley, the event will only be in Swedsih. We have attended several freedom fests over the years and Pontus was also one of the lecturers last year, and we really like that the conference attracts a lot of freedom-minded people in Sweden. Last year we were closer to 170 people attending and it was an incredibly inspiring day to meet with like-minded people around a small waterhole filled with freedom in socialist Sweden.
This year, lectures will be about everything from personal privacy online and how to be a Swedish prepper to the unfree world of Swedish schools, culture in the service of politics, and a speech workshop. However, we will miss Freedomfest this year because we chose to prioritize Asia and Bali instead.

However, we have had the opportunity to get to know one of this year’s speakers at Freedomfest, because he has chosen to settle down in Bali. Daniel, which is his name, is a co-founder to Mullvad, a company that offers VPN service so you can protect your online privacy. He lives here parts of the year together with his daughter T, and Rebecca, the mother to his child. Rebecca is also a very interesting person who is about to start up a transparent research institute named IGDORE based entirely on open-source, and which enables location-independent research without having to pay tremendous sums, known as overhead, to a university from one’s research grants. We have had the pleasure of spending time with all three before their time here in Bali was over for this time, but this is not the last time we will see each other. Our everyday life here will end soon, because Ulrika’s long-awaited family comes to Bali and we will hang out with them. Here are a bunch of pictures of our time living in Kelabang Moding during March and April.


Vi har vårt vardagsliv i Asien och trivs väldigt bra med det, men vi tycker att det är synd att vi kommer missa årets upplaga av Freedomfest Stockholm, som går av stapeln lördagen den 13:e maj. Vi har varit på flera freedomfester genom åren och Pontus var även en av föreläsarna förra året, och vi gillar verkligen att konferensen drar till sig en mängd frihetliga personer i Sverige. Förra året var vi närmare 170 personer och det var en otroligt inspirerande dag att få umgås med likasinnande runt ett litet frihetligt vattenhål i annars socialistiska Sverige.
I år kommer föreläsningar handla om allt från personlig integritet på nätet och hur man kan vara en svensk prepper till ofriheten i svensk skola, kultur i politikens tjänst och talarworkshop. Vi missar dock freedomfest i år då vi valt att prioritera Asien och Bali.

Vi har dock fått möjlighet att lära känna en av årets talare på Freedomfest, då han har valt att bosätta sig på Bali. Daniel är medgrundare till Mullvad, en VPN-tjänst för att skydda din personliga integritet på nätet. Han bor här på Bali delar av året tillsammans med sin dotter T, samt Rebecca som är mamman till dottern. Rebecca är också en väldigt intressant person som håller på att starta upp ett transparent forskningsinstitut vid namn IGDORE baserat helt på open-source och vilket ska möjliggöra platsoberoende forskning utan att behöva betala hiskeliga summor overhead till universitet från ens forskningsmedel. Vi har haft nöjet att umgås med alla tre innan deras tid här på Bali var över för denna gång, men det är inte sista gången vi kommer ses. Nu kommer dock vår vardag strax ta slut, då Ulrikas efterlängtade familj kommer hit och vi ska umgås med dem. Här kommer ett gäng bilder från vår tid boende i Kelabang Moding under Mars och April.

Daniel, T and Rebecca at our place in Kelabang Moding. We had so much to talk about, so we forgot to take photos when we we’re hanging out. Here is a rare photo that Pontus took when Ulrika was cutting fruits.

Ulrika and Rebecca talking over a fika, while T is playing in the play corner at the Down to earth cafe in Ubud.

Just after the Balinese new year celebration (Nyepi) was over, another religious holiday started: Galungan and Kuningan.

Galungan is a ten-day celebration of the victory of dharma over adharma and it is a time when their ancestral spirits come to visit earth. The final day of the celebration is called Kuningan.

Our host family’s Penjor, which is a tall bamboo pole which is decorated with coconut leaves and has an offering at the base. It is suppose to represent a mountain that provides safety and welfare for the family.

Ubud is all about Raw food and vegan-friendly foods.

However, you can find also find restaurants that offers meet. We are cooking our own meals most of the time, and we don’t eat so much meat here. This italian plate from Buonasera was really good.

We have also been to the movie theatre, Paradiso in Ubud. We’ve seen both the Disney movie Moana (with Rebecca and T) and a mystery, sci-fi movie called Coherence, a movie which we can highly recommend.

You can both eat and drink at the movies and the ticket serves as a discount in the restaurant for the full amount of the ticket. They are a vegan organic movie of course!

A cute cat trying to battle a Scooter at our local supermarket.

Ulrika is working on her yoga poses and finally manage to do the crow, a pose she has been thinking about for almost a year.

This is how Ulrika dress up for going to the immigration office to extend our visa. We stopped so Ulrika could take some pictures and Pontus snapped a photo of her and two girls walking home from school.

This is the view Ulrika took a picture of. It is a beautiful place we pass every time we’re going to and from Kelabang Moding. Ulrika loves our new camera.

Our new camera, Sony rx-100, is really useful when shooting in the dark and the only light comes from the moon.

A big moon over Ubud.

Pontus pratar Bitcoin / Pontus talks Bitcoin

(Please scroll down to the orange text for the English version)

Novembermörkret faller över Sverige och vi är fortfarande kvar här. Vi har valt att prioritera våra familjer och vänner, så bloggen har legat lite i träda de senaste två månaderna.  Förutom att vi umgås med familj och vänner, så har rapporten “Blockchain – Decentralized Trust” som Pontus författat publicerats och han har hållit två föreläsningar om Bitcoin och blockkedjeteknik de senaste månaderna, där den första videon finns att se längre ned i inlägget och videon från den andra föreläsningen hittar du här. Nu har det blivit klart att han ska hålla en tredje föreläsning på konferensen Internetdagarna. Så vill ni lyssna på när Pontus jämför Bitcoin med fiat-valutor så får ni gärna komma till Internetdagarna i Stockholm den 22:a november. Konferensen Internetdagarna pågår under 21-22 november i Stockholm Waterfront Congress Center (nära centralstationen) och här hittar ni programmet för Bitcoinspåret.

Vi har träffat Bitcoinentusiaster över hela världen, men det blir faktiskt första gången som vi ska få träffa Bitcoinentusiaster i Stockholm.  Vi hoppas att vi kan träffas där!


The November darkness falls over Sweden and we are still here. We have chosen to prioritize our families and friends, so the blog has been a bit on the side the last two months. In addition to spending time with family and friends, the report “Blockchain – Decentralized Trust” which Pontus has authored have been published, and he has held two lectures on Bitcoin and blockchain technology during the recent months, where you can find the video from first lecture further down and the video from the second lecture is available hereIt is now decided that he will hold a third lecture in Sweden on the conference The Internet Days. If you want to hear Pontus compare Bitcoin with fiat currencies you are welcome to come to the Internet days in Stockholm on November 22. The Internet Days conference will be taking place during the 21-22 of November in the Stockholm Waterfront Congress Center (near the central station) and you can find the program for the Bitcoin session here

We have met Bitcoin enthusiasts all over the world, but this will actually be the first time that we will meet Bitcoin enthusiasts in Stockholm. We hope we can meet you there!

Pontus höll den första föreläsningen under Freeedomfest Stockholm i Augusti i år. Den handlade om hur Bitcoin jämför sig mot andra valutor och potentialen för Bitcoin att decentralisera många fler områden än pengar. Pontus held his first lecture at Freeedomfest Stockholm in August this year. It was about how Bitcoin compares to other currencies and the potential for Bitcoin to decentralize many more areas than money.

Pontus höll den första föreläsningen under Freedomfest Stockholm 27 augusti, vilket anordnas av Ludwig von Mises institutet i Sverige. Den handlade om hur Bitcoin jämför sig mot andra valutor och potentialen för Bitcoin att decentralisera många fler områden än pengar. / Pontus held his first lecture at Freedomfest Stockholm, hosted by the Swedish Ludwig von Mises institute on August 27. It was about how Bitcoin compares to other currencies and the potential for Bitcoin to decentralize many more areas than money.

 

Pontus höll sin andra föreläsning när Pontus, Davids och Claudias rapport "Block chain - decentralized trust" skriven på uppdrag av Entrepenörskapsforum publicerades i oktober detta år. Den förelsningenhandlar om blockkedjeteknikens potential och innehåller även en paneldebatt där teknikens risker och möjligheter diskuterades. Föreläsningen kan du hitta här. Pontusheld his second lecture when Pontus, David's and Claudia's report "Block chain - decentralized trust", written for the Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum, was publiced in October this year. The lecture is about the potential of the block chain technology and also includes a panel discussion where the potential and risks of the technology was discussed. The lecture can be found here.

Pontus höll sin andra föreläsning när Pontus, Davids och Claudias rapport “Block chain – decentralized trust” skriven på uppdrag av Entrepenörskapsforum publicerades i oktober. Den föreläsningen handlar om blockkedjeteknikens potential och innehåller även en paneldebatt där teknikens risker och möjligheter diskuterades. / Pontus held his second lecture when Pontus, David’s and Claudia’s report “Block chain – decentralized trust”, written for the Swedish Entrepreneurship Forum, was published in October. The lecture is about the potential of the block chain technology and also includes a panel discussion where the potential and risks of the technology was discussed.

Rapporten kan även hittas som onlineversion här. The report can also be found as an online version here.

Här finns rapporten som pdf / Here is the report as pdf Blockchain – Decentralized Trust

internetdagarna

Den 22:a november står Pontus åter på scen och ska tala om hur Bitcoin jämför sig mot andra valutor. Denna gång på Internetdagarna i Stockholm. Klicka på bilden för att se hela programmet för konferensen. / Pontus will be back on stage on November 22 and talk about how Bitcoin compares with other currencies. This time the lecture will be held on the Internet Days in Stockholm. Click the image to see the whole program for the conference.

Freedomfest Stockholm 2016!

Ulrika kan stolt meddela att Pontus är en av årets talare på Freedomfest 2016 i Stockholm den 27:e augusti! Har ni tid och vill höra mer om frihetliga tankar och om Bitcoin så är ni varmt välkomma till en hel dag med frihetliga föreläsningar! Vår vän Caroline King, som driver bloggen den andra resan, ska prata om frihetligt föräldraskap och Martin Eriksson, grundaren av bubb.la, berättar hur frihetliga nyheter sprider sig över världen! Missa inte heller vår nya vän Martin Jacobsson, som är handen bakom i fablernas land. Flera andra personer står på talarlistan, bland annat personen bakom bloggen läkare utan vänster, samt flera andra intressanta talare! Det ska bli jättekul att ses i Stockholm i augusti!


Ulrika is proud to announce that Pontus is one of this year’s speaker at the Freedom Fest 2016 in Stockholm on the 27th of August! You’re welcome to a full day of freedom lectures, if you have time and want to hear more about libertarian ideas and Bitcoin! Our friend Caroline King, who runs the blog “den andra resan“, will talk about peaceful parenting, and Martin Eriksson, the founder of cor.ax, is going to tell us about how libertarian news are spreading across the world! Do not miss our new friend Martin Jacobson, who is the hand behind “I fablernas land“. Several other people are on this year’s speaker list, including the person behind the blog “Läkare utan vänster“, and several other interesting speakers! It will be great to see you in Stockholm in August!

Caroline och hennes familj träffade vi på Bali för ganska exakt ett år sedan! We met Caroline and her family in Bali exactly a year ago!

Caroline och hennes familj träffade vi på Bali för ganska exakt ett år sedan! We met Caroline and her family in Bali exactly a year ago!

Vi fick möjlighet att bistå Martin med arbetsyta och wifi för inspelning av radio bubb.la i Acapulco tidigare i år! We were able to help Martin with a workspace and wifi for recording of radio bubb.la in Acapulco earlier this year!

Vi fick möjlighet att bistå Martin med arbetsyta och wifi för inspelning av radio bubb.la i Acapulco tidigare i år! We were able to help Martin with a workspace and wifi for recording of radio bubb.la in Acapulco earlier this year!

Pontus och Ulrika på en jättetrevlig bitcointräff i Kuala Lumpur på deras resa med att söka upp Bitcoin-intresserade människor i världen! Pontus and Ulrika at an awesome Bitcoin meetup in Kuala Lumpur on their travel to meet Bitcoin-minded people in the world!

Pontus och Ulrika på en jättetrevlig Bitcointräff i Kuala Lumpur på deras resa med att söka upp Bitcoin-intresserade människor i världen! Pontus and Ulrika at an awesome Bitcoin meetup in Kuala Lumpur on their travel to meet Bitcoin-minded people in the world!

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