Tag: botanical garden

Othilia in pumpkin land

November 17, 2019 / Ulrika / 0 Comments

A pumpkin exhibition at the botanical garden in Prague made us happy when the temperature dropped again in October. Autumn was temporarily back with colored leafs and more puddles for Othilia to jump in. We went to the pumpkin exhibition with our friends in the Prague libertarian parents group and the kids had so much fun.

We are now reporting from the middle of October and the weather changed back and forth between late summer weather and autumn weather so we tried to take advantage of all the nice days here in Prague – we knew that winter was coming.
Now a few pictures comes from the pumpkin land and from the nice late summer days in mid-October.

En pumpautställning i den botaniska trädgården i Prag gjorde oss glada när temperaturen sjönk igen i oktober. Hösten var tillfälligt tillbaka med färgade löv och fler vattenpölar för Othilia att hoppa i. Vi åkte till pumpautställningen med våra vänner i Prags libertarianska föräldragrupp och barnen hade så kul.

Vi rapporterar nu från mitten av oktober och vädret ändrades fram och tillbaka mellan sensommarväder och höstväder så vi försökte dra nytta av alla de fina dagarna här i Prag – vi visste att vintern var på väg.
Nu kommer lite bilder från pumpalandet och fina sensommardagar i mitten av oktober.

Pumpkins in different colors matching the autumn.

We stopped at the pond where Othilia always tries to jump in.

Edward and Othilia plays in the South America garden at the botanical garden.

The botanical garden in Prague has also put up tipis near the South America garden.

The mothers inspecting the pumpkin garden.

The view over Prague from the botanical garden. Jana and O are enjoying the beautiful view.

The metal creatures are an art installation at the botanical garden.

Then we said good bye to the botanical garden for this time.

Othilia looks so “grown up” in this picture, not a baby anymore. The weather changed quite a lot in the middle of October. One day we had to dress Othilia in her overall (I don’t know how to best translate this word to English, winter suit?)

The other days we could put Othilia in summer clothes.

We took advantage of the lovely autumn days and she got to be outdoors and play with Edward.

Our friend Lynn decided to come visit us in the middle of October. We were so happy to have her here and Othilia loved playing with her. Lynn was a great guitar teacher for Othilia as well as stroller pusher. We hope to see you soon Lynn!

I have to end the blog with Pontus amazing morning photos of Prague. I can’t get enough of them.

Next up for us was a trip down South and visit another city we like – Budapest. More about that in our next blog.

Prague botanical gardens and Philosophy Europe Convention 2019

November 1, 2019 / Ulrika / 0 Comments

Prague has a botanical garden, and and we went there with our friends, the King family, and people from the worldschooling community. The botanical garden is up on a hill in Northern Prague, so when you reach the bottom half of the garden, the view is lovely – especially over Troja castle. Time-wise, we are still in September when we did all these things. I know I promised you October in our last post, but we’re not quite done with September yet 🙂

We also went to the Philosophy Europe Convention that focus on philosophy, Libertarianism and Austrian economics. It was the second time we attended this conference and we like how it is put together, both with workshops and lectures mixed with excursions in and around Prague with the group of participants that we now consider our friends.

Prag har en botanisk trädgård och vi åkte dit med våra vänner familjen King och människor från “Worldschooling”-gruppen. Den botaniska trädgården ligger uppe på en kulle i norra Prag, så utsikten är vacker när man når den nedre halvan av trädgården – särskilt den över slottet Troja. Tidsmässigt är vi fortfarande i september när vi gjorde det här. Jag vet att jag lovade er oktober i vårt förra inlägg, men vi är inte riktigt klara med september ännu 🙂

Vi deltog också i “Philosophy Europe Convention” som fokuserar på filosofi, Libertarianism och österrikisk ekonomi. Det var andra gången som vi deltog på denna konferens och vi gillar hur den är sammansatt, med både workshops och föreläsningar blandade med utflykter i och runt Prag med den grupp deltagare som vi nu betraktar som våra vänner.

Othilia in the botanical gardens! This is a good place to explore for small children.

The pond in the botanical garden with turtles and fishes swimming around.

They get along most of the time and she is following him around regardless if he wants it or not.

The botanical garden was ready for the autumn.

There are different areas in the botanical garden and a lot is created with the little people in mind.

The botanical garden ends with their own wine yard, where you can sit and have some wine and a lovely view.

Next door is the Troja castle and this is not a bad view to have while ending a day at the botanical garden.

Mornings in Prague, the sun goes up and Pontus is there to catch it.

Pontus always finds interesting things to take pictures of. This is a canoe slalom track in the river, this is not the only track in Prague we have seen so it seems that it is a more common sport to engage in here.

We had several meetings with friends from the Philosophy Europe Convention in the end of September and that brought us into the woods around the Karlstejn castle.

Othilia got to try riding daddy’s back when she wasn’t up for walking on her own.

We got to see the Karlstejn castle from the outside. The discussions we had in the forrest were so interesting and Othilia’s pace was not the fastest so we ended up getting to the castle outside of the regular visiting hours.

We also went exploring the city of Prague with our friends from the convention in between the workshops.

Part of the time were spent at playgrounds so Othilia would have something to do while the adults were talking.

We discovered a new part of Prague that we absolutely love – Vyšehrad.

Ulrika looks skeptical, but it was because her attention got caught by passing people. The sunset is beautiful and Othilia is always lovely!

Basilica Lawrence is standing on top of Vyšehrad and the cellar of the church is more than 1000 years old. You can feel the wings of history up on this hill!

Next we will enter the month of October in our blog updates.

Vår extrafamilj och blommor i överflöd! / Our extra family and flowers in abundance!

September 13, 2015 / Ulrika / 1 Comment

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

Vi tog lokalbuss nr 45 från Trincomalee till den centrala provinsen Kandy och 5.5 timme senare var vi där och med huvudvärk efter den konstant bastunga, höga ljudnivån från indisk popmusik under hela bussresan. Vi hade via airbnb bokat en natt i ett homestay cirka 10 km utanför staden Kandy i en liten by som heter Henawala, men det vi inte visste var att vi skulle stanna fem nätter där och att vi skulle få en bonusfamilj som bor i Sri Lanka! Nuwan mötte oss vid infarten till deras hus och vi blev inbjudna till deras hem och till deras hjärtan! Vi har fått umgås med denna fina och oerhört generösa familj och lärt oss mycket om det singalesiska vardagslivet och matkultur! Vi har lärt oss hur man gör kokosmjölk av Nuwans fru Harshani och mamma Agnas. Vi har umgåtts med Nuwans syster Santhoshini och hennes man Chandika. Vi har skojat med Nuwans syskonbarn Tarushi , Hirushi , Ayen och Pabasara. Vi har fått vara med på en av Santhoshinis engelskalektioner för elever i årskurs 9 (14 år) och 11 (16 år). Vi har ätit fantastisk god mat och haft fredagsmys framför en singalesisk sångtävling på tv. Vi har delat en flaska singalesisk arrak med Nuwan, Chandika och deras vänner och berättat om våra kulturer och familjesituationer, samt sjungit sånger för varandra. Det var sorgligt att säga hejdå när vi var tvungna att lämna Kandy, men detta avsked var med ett löfte om återseende i framtiden!

Vi har också besökt botaniska trädgården i Kandy och där fick vi se ett överflöd av orkideér och träd. Vi har börjat gilla orkideér och vår favorit är Vanda Tessellata, som ni kommer få se en bild på nedan. Vi fastnade dock under ett träd när ett regnmoln kom in över Kandy, vilket händer rätt ofta då Kandy är omgivet av berg och det är monsunperiod i denna delen av landet just nu. Vi gjorde massor med andra saker i Kandy, men beskrivning av det och bilder kommer i nästa inlägg 🙂

We took the local bus No. 45 from Trincomalee to the central province Kandy and 5,5 hours later we arrived with a headache after the constant bass-heavy, high-noise level from the Indian pop music that was playing during the bus trip. We had booked one night through airbnb in a homestay about 10 km outside the town of Kandy in a small village called Henawala, but we did not know that we would stay five nights and would be able to say with joy that we have a bonus family living in Sri Lanka! We had contacted Nuwan through Airbnb and he met us at the entrance to his house and we were invited both to their home and their hearts! We’ve been hanging out with his lovely and extremely generous family and learned a lot about the Sinhala daily life and food culture! We have learned how to make coconut milk with Nuwans wife Harshani and mother Agnas. We have spent time with Nuwans sister Santhoshini and her husband Chandika drinking coffee. We have joked with Nuwans nieces and nephew Tarushi, Hirushi, Ayen and Pabasara. We have attended one of Santhoshinis English lessons for pupils in grade 9 (age 14) and 11 (age 16). We have eaten fantastic home-cooked food and had the “fredagsmys” (cozy friday) in front of a Sinhala song contest on TV. We shared a bottle of Sinhalese arrak with Nuwan, Chandika and their friends, and talked about our cultures and family situations, and sung songs for each other. It was sad to say goodbye when we had to leave Kandy, but this goodbye was with a promise of reunion in the future!

We also visited the botanical gardens in Kandy, where we saw an abundance of orchids and trees. We have started to like orchids and our favorite is Vanda Tessellata, captured in a picture below. We got stuck under a tree when the rain clouds came in over Kandy, which happens quite often because Kandy is surrounded by mountains and it is monsoon season in this part of the country right now. We did lots of other things in Kandy, but more on what we did in Kandy will be in our next post 🙂

Ulrika jobbar med ett blogginlägg på bussen mellan Trincomalee och Kandy 🙂 Ulrika is working on a blog post on the bus between Trincomalee and Kandy 🙂

Vår första kontakt med en livslevande, frigående skorpion såg vi i vardagsrummet hemma hos Nuwan och Harshani. Det finns många giftiga djur (både landlevande och marina) här i Sri Lanka! Our first contact with a live, free-ranging scorpion was in the living room in Nuwan and Harshani’s home. There are many poisonous animals (both terrestrial and marine living) here in Sri Lanka!

Chandika, Nuwan, Pontus och Ulrika delar en flaska arrak och pratar om livet! Chandika, Nuwan, Pontus and Ulrika sharing a bottle of arrak and taking about life!

Harshani visar oss hur man gör egen kokosmjölk! Harshani is showing us how to do your own coconut milk!

Kokosmjölk tillreds! Coconut milk in the making!

Laga mat med en öppen vedeldad häll! Cook with an open wood-burning kitchen stove!

Matlagning med en öppen vedeldad häll! Cooking with an open wood-burning kitchen stove!

En av frukostarna som Harshani lagat till oss. Riskakor med chili dip! Supergott! One of the breakfasts that Harshani cooked for us. Rice cakes with chilli dip! So good!

En av frukostarna som Harshani lagat till oss. Mjölkriskakor med chili dipp! Supergott! One of the breakfasts that Harshani cooked for us. Milk rice with chilli dip! So good!

Santhoshini håller i sin engelskalektion. Hon driver det privat hemifrån och hon är riktigt duktig lärare! Santhoshini (Nuwan's sister) is holding her english class! She has private courses at her home and she is a really good teacher!

Santhoshini håller i sin engelskalektion som vi fick vara med på. Hon driver det privat hemifrån och hon är riktigt duktig lärare! Santhoshini (Nuwan’s sister) is holding her english class that we got invited to attend! She has private courses at her home and she is a really good teacher!

Chandika med hans yngsta barn Ayen! Chandika with his son Ayen!

Chadika och Santhoshini med deras barn Tarushi, Hirushi (de är identiska tvillingar) och deras lillebror Ayen! The Chandika and Santhoshini family with Tarushi, Hirushi (they are identical twins) and their younger brother Ayen!

Chadika och Santhoshini med deras barn Tarushi, Hirushi (de är enäggstvillingar) och deras lillebror Ayen! The Chandika and Santhoshini family with Tarushi, Hirushi (they are identical twins) and their younger brother Ayen!

Ulrika visar familjen bilder från Sverig, men Ayen är mer intresserad av kameran! Ulrika is showing them pictures from Sweden, but Ayen is more interested in the camera!