5 weeks with a car!!! (Lake Krankesjon, Helsinberg, Malmo, Skanor, and Kullenberg)

Our good friends Lars and Alexandra let us borrow their car for 5 weeks! It was very generous of them and Ray and I got to work planning the places in Skane (the region of southern Sweden in which we live) that we wanted to visit. Unfortunately we spent the first three weeks with the car sick, sick, sick.  Lucas got it and passed it to Annalise who passed it to me and Ray and then we gave it back to Lucas.  Too bad that families share germs like they share love! So the first few weeks we had the car the biggest trip we took was to the grocery store! 

Lucas' first time sitting in a grocery cart!

The next weekend we went to Lake Krankesjon (pronounced krank-ehs-whoon) It is a frozen lake that a lot of people go to ice skate, play hockey, and picnic (in the freezing temps this sounds crazy to me!). We got very lost on the way there and found hasten (pronounced hesten) plats #1 (translated horse place #1).We borrowed ice skates from friends but could not figure out how to rent kid skates for Annalise so she just pretended.

Lucas enjoyed just standing on the ice and he giggled when he fell down! There were a ton of people there and many of them were having picnics! Sorry, couldn't get a good picture of that.

Lake Krankesjon

The next weekend we went to Helsinborg.  It was so beautiful! It is close to the same size as Lund but right on the water and not as international.  We found a great cafe and ate a very yummy brunch and enjoyed walking around the city, taking pictures and ...

exploring our first medieval castle called Karnan Castle.  It was built around 1300. I guess technically this is the defense tower of a castle but it counts right?!

Here Annalise, Lucas and Ray are inside.

This is the view looking down from the tower.  It was breathtaking!

Annalise and I are taking a break walking up the seven story tower.  Annalise walked up all by herself!!

Annalise continues to be very in to Rapunzel so you can guess what she was playing at the top of the tower, right?

                                                        Can you see Ray in this picture?

Here Annalise is in front of the City Hall building in Helsingborg.

We found Zorbas! I wonder if they have a killer breakfast burrito, probably not since it is not a Greek, Mexican, and American restaurant like the one in Denver.

The next place we went was Malmo.  Malmo is the third largest city in Sweden and very close to where we live.  It is right on the water and it was very cold!!

Malmo, with the Turning Torso in the background!

Waling on the pier.

There was an awesome playground (Sweden is full of awesome playgrounds!) right on the beach.  Since our move to Sweden Annalise is obsessed with tire swings!

This picture is on the same pier as the sauna I went to with my neighbor.  The water has lower salinity and so there are swans everywhere!

The last weekend we had the car our good friend Olof gave us some suggestions and he even lent us his gps with these next two places programmed in.  He is so wonderful!  Skanor is a beach town right on the water on a peninsula south of where we live. We only have one picture because it was freezing and we were having one of those days.  It was pretty but everything was closed and there were no people.  We are excited to go back this summer when the place is hopping!

Skanor

The last place we went was the best! Kullaberg is a nature reserve that is north of where we live.  We started off the adventure looking for a cafe.  We found one right on this beautiful rocky beach.  It was not very busy. Before we sat down to order we asked if they accepted cards or just cash.  The man told us that his machine was broken so he was only accepting cash. But in the same breath he said something that I have never heard in the USA, he told us he would give us his bank account number and we could pay him online later! It is quite easy here to transfer money form bank account to bank account; that is how we pay all our bills. But this was shocking.  Only in Sweden!! We ended up eating the best skaldjursoppa (shellfish soup) I have ever eaten.

This was a cold day but we were dressed well for it and the kids were in a great mood all day!

The cafe is in the background.  We will definitely be going back!

                                             This is the first time Lucas went to the beach!

After we left the cafe we went further into the nature reserve and did a small hike with the kids. Here are Annalise, Ray, and Lucas at the beginning.

The Swedish search and rescue helicopters were performing training exercises this day. We watched for a while.

There is a small white lighthouse at the very tip of the peninsula in the middle of the picture. That is our goal.

            Annalise and I made it first.  I would brag but Ray was carrying a whole extra person!

          Dressed for the warm sunny day! A beard is an essential winter accessory for Sweden.

                          Here are Ray, Annalise and Lucas on the walkway of the lighthouse.

Snapped this photo from the search and rescue helicopter! They offered us a free ride just for the fun of it.  Who would have suspected that the entire peninsula was green and lush in the beginning of March?

                         A ittle costal town called Molle (pronounced Muer-leh) just south of Kullaberg.

We just love these quaint churches in the country side!

One of the big adjustments has been having no car so the chance to borrow a car for a few weeks was really nice.  These days riding in a car feels like a luxury. I wonder how long it will be before I lose that feeling when we go back to the states?  The good thing is the majority of places we went are very easily accessed by bus and/or train so the adventures can continue!