Last weekend I went to Umeå with my son – to visit the daughter/sister. We all love this city, and its famous white birches. We hoped to have some fun in each other’s company, and to finally get some winter. As you can understand we got more winter than down in Skåne – but not much snow. Usually they have 75 – 100 cm. Too much jumping temperatures this winter, rain and snow taking turns. We did some tough walking!
We were lucky with the weather though – sun and temperatures between – 14C and – 3C.
Naturally we had to go to the big game shop with every game you can think of – we bought some new ones with us home. The evenings were filled with laughter and fun while playing – or trying to understand the new rules…
And, we went to the movies to see Parasite. All of us agreed it was worthy of every Oscar it got. I do recommend watching it – clever and entertaining, thrilling and fun. Really Something Else! Be prepared – the ending is a Tarantino one.
As always we visited the famous book cafe’ from where our most prestigious TV program on cultural events is sent. As we all love this place – I could not resist getting the most out of the visit by merging two of the rooms into one…
…and the bicycle, standing in another window in another room!
I hope you had some fun too, reading about our adventures. Just being together is a great joy, and playing board games is a wonderful way of using your spare time!
Leya 
Wow! No COVID-19 restrictions?
That book shop cafe is something else! I’m definitely going to see Parasite now .. 🙂
You will not regret it! And that caf’e…was going to be the center of the festivities of Umeå Littfest this weekend. Everything closed down and cancelled due to Corona…
When I was young, it would have seemed strange to have a cafe in a bookstore. Now it’s commonplace. Times change.
Yes, times change. We had a café at the library.
Wonderful photos!
;-D Thanks!
So much fun! All photos are beautifully captured!!
Thank you, Amy! A lovely city.
What beautiful colorful photos! We just came through Tornadoes here in Tennessee. Nashville, TN and her surrounding areas were hit and a lot was destroyed, fatalities, and still missing people, many prayers are being sent out. I just looked at our town photos and a lot that was, is now gone, so seeing your photos bright and cheerful has truly lifted my spirits!!! I LOVE the Book Cafe, and wish I was walking among the books right now. You have snow and we have Spring growth. Blessings, :)Jen
Hope everything will get better for you soon – it sounds like a terrible disaster. Glad to have made you smile!
That book shop looks wonderful – a wonderful place to explore:)
Too bad it is some 2000 kilometers away!
Oh, that Book Cave looks like a wonderful place and love the bicycle reflection, Ann-Christine.
Steve, it is a must see/visit if you go to Umeå! Just walk in, and the calm descends on you. I guess it’s the closest feeling you can get to walking in nature, my forest. And it is a kind of late forest, isn’t it. Forest become books. A forest of books. You know, my dream has always been having a library room of my own. Never realized…
A library room would be awesome. I once did some work for the Treasurer of Amherst College who lived in one of the college’s houses. It had a wonderful two story round room filled with shelves of books. I don’t know it the books were his or the school’s but it was so nice to see such a space. My room where I have my computer has a wall of shelves filled with books, mostly photography and nature subjects, but that is just shelves, not an actual library. 🙂
A round room – what joy! Shelves in my room I have too – but as you say – that is not a complete library. My books are mostly encyclopedias, nature books and teaching literature. Some novels and short stories as well. Poetry a lot.
What fun all that sounds. All that and Parasite too. What a great film!
Yes, we had great fun – and Parasite – I agree with you: What a great film!
What a fabulous bookshop!
Isn’t it! And the people working there are just super nice. We had coffee and played board games there too.
Wonderful!
♥
Such a great post! Cool photos, and beautiful snow and ice photos! Love it all! 😊💙
Thank you, Lisa! I had a great time with my two darlings – even if I almost fell more than a dozen times. Incredibly icy. This week they have got a LOT of snow – should have been there now!!!
You are so clever, Ann-Christine. Clearly, it is a result of all those board games you play. 🙂 I loved all the photos and the merged photos look fab too.
Ha, my experimenting surely depends on the board games and the double exposure button on my camera! ;-D
What fun – I love board games and they are a wonderful inter-generational activity. Very cool images – especially the merged ones! 😎 I haven’t seen Parasite yet but it is on my list of Oscar winners I plan to see. I saw all but 2 nominees. I enjoyed your post!
So glad you like the double exposures, I love experimenting trying to find what works – or not. Thank you for the feedback. And yes – looking forward to reading your thoughts on Parasite when you have seen it! All but two nominees? I haven’t dared watching The Joker – think I will cry terribly. I saw Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and loved it.
Looks like you all had a great time together. Love your blended image too. Very clever. 😍
Thank you for the feedback on the image – experimenting! And yes, we had great fun. So grateful for my children.
Parasite was sooooo good. I honestly had no clue about it when we walked in. Omg. Did you find a great board game to share? We play cribbage, backgammon and Yahtzee a lot. And citizens of humanity (for the rude and crude side of us all)
Parasite – no clue on the ending! I love unpredictable endings. Yes, so many fun games – never heard of citizens of humanity though? We play the others too. New ones bought were Deep sea adventure – great fun, often played! Hanabi – so much fun, a game where you play to reach the goal together! Gemblo – great fun too, almost like Blokus. All of them rather fast and easy to learn.
Board games are having a revival with the younger crowd. In Toronto, my teenage son loved going to board game cafes. With old style games and newer Magic card games, he and his friends would spend hours there. Do you cafes like those too?
Yes, the cities have them – not out in the country. But my children both love it and organize big or small parties to play with every other week. So many fun games invented, but some are too elaborate for me. I want them to be rather fast and not too many or too strange rules…A game round should not take longer than one hour according to me. Do you play as well?
Yes Ann-Christine I had fun but it was a bit cold for me (30C+ here) Loved your image manipulations. When you know the games rules maybe we could play sometime 🙂
Yes – let’s play! At least virtually…
What a fascinating glimpse into your part of the world. I love the bookshop/cafe – your blended image works well.
Thank you for valuable feedback, Suzanne!