Over the past month, things have been progressing with Operation: GöteBowness. We have moved Linda's stuff into a storage facility (except for her clothes and essentials of course), and she and I are now in the flat.
Next Tuesday is the Big Day where the keys are signed over to us. We are going to the local bank, signing some papers and then the previous owners will take us over to the house to explain a couple of things to us; for instance, we have an online security system, so we need to know how to set the code so the security guys don't come in the middle of the night thinking there's a robber! All the little things as well, like the heating system, where the telephone / television points are, how the remote control on the shower works (no, really!) and all that malarkey.
Big Eddie, the father of one of my colleague's girlfriend, is also hopefully coming on that evening too, to check the place out and give us a quote on decorating the place. He will be decorating the bedrooms and living room. We are set to move in on Saturday May 10th, with a little help from friends and colleagues; so it should be relatively smooth. After that, there's the unfortunate nightmare of cleaning the old flat (including Polyfilling and repainting the living room), but we're going to get a professional company in to do the cleaning for us.
Spring has sprung here in Gothenburg as well. It's not too hot but nice and sunny at the moment. Pity we'll be busy most weekends and working in the daytime!
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
ARGH, Warehouse is Closing Down!!!11!ONE!
Pfft.
At the moment, because I'm living on my own for a short while longer, and because a number of my development buddies at work also do it, I go to Nordstan for lunch. There's a few places to choose from, but one frequent place is Warehouse. They do a good "Red Hot Chilli Burger" there. This is actually false advertising because this is Sweden and most Swedes don't "do hot", but it's tasty and, besides which, I'm digressing.
Four of us went in there this lunchtime and sat at a table. The waitress came up and asked if we were eating from the buffet (all you can eat for a fixed price, blah blah). "No," we said, "we're ordering off the menu".
"Ah," she said, "we don't have a menu any more, just the buffet for a while longer, because we're closing down."
We sat there in collective gobsmackisation (for wont of a word that actually exists). One of our frequent haunts - which is pretty packed just about every lunchtime - is closing down! The waitress explained that the landlords - Nordstan I guess - have increased the rent by 140%, so I guess they wanted to get shut of them.
A sad moment in my gastronomic life. Now we're going to have to find another place to keep the number of options at a decent level. Or start making my own food.... nah.
What else has happened since I made an entry? Well, we get the keys to our new house on April 30th, but we might not actually move in straight away. Instead we'll get some of the decorating done, seeing as I have this flat for one month's crossover. Then it will be nice and new when we move in. It could mean that Linda lives here at the flat for that month too, if all goes well and she has sold her apartment by then, but that's no biggie.
Linda had her birthday party too - not too many people because space was short, but it was great fun and lovely to see friends and family - on both sides - again.
At the moment, because I'm living on my own for a short while longer, and because a number of my development buddies at work also do it, I go to Nordstan for lunch. There's a few places to choose from, but one frequent place is Warehouse. They do a good "Red Hot Chilli Burger" there. This is actually false advertising because this is Sweden and most Swedes don't "do hot", but it's tasty and, besides which, I'm digressing.
Four of us went in there this lunchtime and sat at a table. The waitress came up and asked if we were eating from the buffet (all you can eat for a fixed price, blah blah). "No," we said, "we're ordering off the menu".
"Ah," she said, "we don't have a menu any more, just the buffet for a while longer, because we're closing down."
We sat there in collective gobsmackisation (for wont of a word that actually exists). One of our frequent haunts - which is pretty packed just about every lunchtime - is closing down! The waitress explained that the landlords - Nordstan I guess - have increased the rent by 140%, so I guess they wanted to get shut of them.
A sad moment in my gastronomic life. Now we're going to have to find another place to keep the number of options at a decent level. Or start making my own food.... nah.
What else has happened since I made an entry? Well, we get the keys to our new house on April 30th, but we might not actually move in straight away. Instead we'll get some of the decorating done, seeing as I have this flat for one month's crossover. Then it will be nice and new when we move in. It could mean that Linda lives here at the flat for that month too, if all goes well and she has sold her apartment by then, but that's no biggie.
Linda had her birthday party too - not too many people because space was short, but it was great fun and lovely to see friends and family - on both sides - again.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Operation: GöteBowness
Forgive the crappy title, but it was the only one I could come up with using my limited brain capacity. Anyhoo, the Bowness Train continues to chuffa-chuffa at full pelt - we have just signed a contract to buy a house! We will be moving to Tolered, a suburb in the Hisingen island in Gothenburg. Actually, it's not that far from where I live at the moment - about 5 minutes by bus in fact.
We were either going to go for something in Trollhättan or Göteborg, and we couldn't make our minds up (we've been thinking of moving for quite a few months now). Our minds were in Trollhättan (you get more house for your money, it's quieter but Göteborg is still accessible by train), but our hearts were in Göteborg (this is the city I moved to, and Linda has lived here for a lot of her life). In the end, Göteborg won our hearts. It does mean that Linda will have to commute for a while, but she's had to do it before so it's not too bad. It also means that I'll have to do a lot of housework and cooking because I'll get home first. Hopefully you'll have a mental image of me in a pinafore now, a la "I Want to Break Free" video by Queen. ;) We won't be moving in until the end of April, but that gives me time to pack my stuff up and throw out all the old crap!
So... engaged in December, married in January, bought a house in February... by July we'll have teenagers!
Also, we went on our honeymoon (in Swedish, smekmånad, a translation of which could be "fondle-month!") to Crete a couple weeks ago. It was a beautiful place, and spring-like for the first few days. It got a little overcast and rainy towards the end, but it didn't detract from the vacation at all. We stayed with Linda's mormor and morfar (maternal grandmother and grandfather) whose friends have a villa in Plaka, a small village near Chania on the North penninsula. Bliss! Pictures, for those interested, can be found here.
We were either going to go for something in Trollhättan or Göteborg, and we couldn't make our minds up (we've been thinking of moving for quite a few months now). Our minds were in Trollhättan (you get more house for your money, it's quieter but Göteborg is still accessible by train), but our hearts were in Göteborg (this is the city I moved to, and Linda has lived here for a lot of her life). In the end, Göteborg won our hearts. It does mean that Linda will have to commute for a while, but she's had to do it before so it's not too bad. It also means that I'll have to do a lot of housework and cooking because I'll get home first. Hopefully you'll have a mental image of me in a pinafore now, a la "I Want to Break Free" video by Queen. ;) We won't be moving in until the end of April, but that gives me time to pack my stuff up and throw out all the old crap!
So... engaged in December, married in January, bought a house in February... by July we'll have teenagers!
Also, we went on our honeymoon (in Swedish, smekmånad, a translation of which could be "fondle-month!") to Crete a couple weeks ago. It was a beautiful place, and spring-like for the first few days. It got a little overcast and rainy towards the end, but it didn't detract from the vacation at all. We stayed with Linda's mormor and morfar (maternal grandmother and grandfather) whose friends have a villa in Plaka, a small village near Chania on the North penninsula. Bliss! Pictures, for those interested, can be found here.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Mrs. Bowness!
Well, that's gone and done it hasn't it?!
"Sherman, set the Wayback Machine to December 23rd 2007...". This is when Linda and I had a little chat on the train from Gothenburg to Trollhättan, ready for our Christmas celebration. Our original plan was to get engaged before the year end (which we did on December 10), then get married on Linda's birthday in March. Our little chat, however, went along the lines of "can we wait that long," the answer being "naaaaah!"
We got to Trollhättan, and off to the local supermarket to buy the Christmas food. When we got to the shopping mall, we saw that the jeweller's shop was still open... so we popped in, found a pair of white-gold rings we liked and ordered them there and then! After Christmas, Linda subsequently sorted out the times for the ceremony itself.
We also decided that we did not want a big Event with pomp and circumstance; rather, it would be just us two with two witnesses - Slagge and Cicci in our case. I'm lucky in that Linda agrees that marriage is really down to the two people it's for.
Anyway, onto the event itself: Saturday January 19th 2008 at 15:15 was when we were ushered into the registry office in Gothenburg, in which we were read a very nicely worded set of vows (in English, by Linda's request I might add). We both said "I do" in the appropriate place and, less then ten minutes later, we were legally married.
Then, after checking in to the hotel (more on that later), we went to Heaven 23, a bar on the 23rd floor of Gothia towers, to drink champagne while looking out on the Gothenburg landscape. Very nice it was too!
Back to the hotel. We checked in just before going to Heaven 23, and we had ordered a room with the bröllopspacket (Wedding Package). The room had a chilled bottle of champagne waiting, with chocolate-covered strawberries and other fruits, rose petals on the bed and a "jacuzzi" style bubble-bath. We also had breakfast in bed the next morning. Bliss!
Anyway, back to the evening, as it was just before 6pm by this time. We had booked a table for four and we had a six-course meal, consisting of duck foie grois, veal, venison, creme caramel and sorbet (not in that order, and I'll have to come back and edit this when I have the proper names!). Beautifully done and very "posh" - lots of forks and knives and other weapons, washed down with copious amounts of alcohol.
All in all it was a beautiful - albeit seemingly quick - day; and thanks to the late check-out of 3pm (which was also part of the bröllopspacket) a restful Sunday too.
Here's a picture from the actual event (click on it for a larger version). You can also have a look at some more photos by clicking here.
So now we are Mr. and Mrs. Bowness. And if you read this Linda, jag älskar dig min ängel. Du är min fru och jag är mycket glad.
"Sherman, set the Wayback Machine to December 23rd 2007...". This is when Linda and I had a little chat on the train from Gothenburg to Trollhättan, ready for our Christmas celebration. Our original plan was to get engaged before the year end (which we did on December 10), then get married on Linda's birthday in March. Our little chat, however, went along the lines of "can we wait that long," the answer being "naaaaah!"
We got to Trollhättan, and off to the local supermarket to buy the Christmas food. When we got to the shopping mall, we saw that the jeweller's shop was still open... so we popped in, found a pair of white-gold rings we liked and ordered them there and then! After Christmas, Linda subsequently sorted out the times for the ceremony itself.
We also decided that we did not want a big Event with pomp and circumstance; rather, it would be just us two with two witnesses - Slagge and Cicci in our case. I'm lucky in that Linda agrees that marriage is really down to the two people it's for.
Anyway, onto the event itself: Saturday January 19th 2008 at 15:15 was when we were ushered into the registry office in Gothenburg, in which we were read a very nicely worded set of vows (in English, by Linda's request I might add). We both said "I do" in the appropriate place and, less then ten minutes later, we were legally married.
Then, after checking in to the hotel (more on that later), we went to Heaven 23, a bar on the 23rd floor of Gothia towers, to drink champagne while looking out on the Gothenburg landscape. Very nice it was too!
Back to the hotel. We checked in just before going to Heaven 23, and we had ordered a room with the bröllopspacket (Wedding Package). The room had a chilled bottle of champagne waiting, with chocolate-covered strawberries and other fruits, rose petals on the bed and a "jacuzzi" style bubble-bath. We also had breakfast in bed the next morning. Bliss!
Anyway, back to the evening, as it was just before 6pm by this time. We had booked a table for four and we had a six-course meal, consisting of duck foie grois, veal, venison, creme caramel and sorbet (not in that order, and I'll have to come back and edit this when I have the proper names!). Beautifully done and very "posh" - lots of forks and knives and other weapons, washed down with copious amounts of alcohol.
All in all it was a beautiful - albeit seemingly quick - day; and thanks to the late check-out of 3pm (which was also part of the bröllopspacket) a restful Sunday too.
Here's a picture from the actual event (click on it for a larger version). You can also have a look at some more photos by clicking here.So now we are Mr. and Mrs. Bowness. And if you read this Linda, jag älskar dig min ängel. Du är min fru och jag är mycket glad.
Monday, January 07, 2008
And so this is Two Thousand and Eight
The Christmas season has come and gone, so it's time to catch up with what has been going on.
First off, Linda and I went to England for a vaction early in December, to see family and friends. It was at my mum's house on December 10th that I decided to take the plunge: I got down on one knee and asked for Linda's hand in marriage. Thankfully she said yes ;)
It was great to see the folks and some of my closest UK friends again, as it had been a year since I had seen most of them. That's one of the bad points of living in a different country of course; but Sweden isn't that far away and, in an emergency, I could take a flight that would take less than two hours. Plus with all this internet and new technology, we all keep in touch in one way or another.
Christmas was spent in Trollhättan with Linda and a couple of friends, where we celebrated it in the Swedish style - a julbord on Christmas Eve (julafton) followed by opening the presents. Christmas Day in Sweden traditionally is when they meet up with friends and family, so all of the eating and presents are done the day before.
New Year was spent back in Gothenburg with a nice dinner party followed by watching the fireworks going of all over the skyline, which we could see from a hill we walked up. We took some champagne and toasted the new year in.
On the geeky front, I'm impatiently anticipating the release of Burnout Paradise which is released at the end of January on the PS3 and -- more importantly for me -- the XBox 360. A demo version of the game came out in the middle of December, and what a demo it was! They opened up part of the city (a small chunk but there's a lot to see!) and they even enabled some of the online functionality, so I've been playing the demo with friends and having a great time. The full game promises to be fantastic, judging by the demo. I've been a fan of the Burnout franchise only since Burnout 3, when I saw it on a friend's XBox, and Burnout Revenge was a principle reason for buying an XBox 360.
More news as and when!
First off, Linda and I went to England for a vaction early in December, to see family and friends. It was at my mum's house on December 10th that I decided to take the plunge: I got down on one knee and asked for Linda's hand in marriage. Thankfully she said yes ;)
It was great to see the folks and some of my closest UK friends again, as it had been a year since I had seen most of them. That's one of the bad points of living in a different country of course; but Sweden isn't that far away and, in an emergency, I could take a flight that would take less than two hours. Plus with all this internet and new technology, we all keep in touch in one way or another.
Christmas was spent in Trollhättan with Linda and a couple of friends, where we celebrated it in the Swedish style - a julbord on Christmas Eve (julafton) followed by opening the presents. Christmas Day in Sweden traditionally is when they meet up with friends and family, so all of the eating and presents are done the day before.
New Year was spent back in Gothenburg with a nice dinner party followed by watching the fireworks going of all over the skyline, which we could see from a hill we walked up. We took some champagne and toasted the new year in.
On the geeky front, I'm impatiently anticipating the release of Burnout Paradise which is released at the end of January on the PS3 and -- more importantly for me -- the XBox 360. A demo version of the game came out in the middle of December, and what a demo it was! They opened up part of the city (a small chunk but there's a lot to see!) and they even enabled some of the online functionality, so I've been playing the demo with friends and having a great time. The full game promises to be fantastic, judging by the demo. I've been a fan of the Burnout franchise only since Burnout 3, when I saw it on a friend's XBox, and Burnout Revenge was a principle reason for buying an XBox 360.
More news as and when!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
First Winter Snow and Topless Bathing
The first snow of the Gothenburg winter fell this morning. It started about half an hour before I was due to leave, fell softly when I started to walk to work and gradually got heavier. I left my hood down and just let the flakes fall on me. Call me weird if you must, but I really enjoyed it!
One of my work colleagues is Australian, only moved to Sweden about 6 months ago or so, and she's only ever seen snow once, which was already settled. So you can imagine her excitement as she came into the office this morning, jumping around and saying "I had to phone my mum and tell her". Bless her, I wish I could experience that again!
There was also this article in The Local this morning, about women wanting the right to bathe topless. Well, I'm not going to stop them. Unless they're elderly ladies' floppy breasts (as Marcel Donné once put it).
One of my work colleagues is Australian, only moved to Sweden about 6 months ago or so, and she's only ever seen snow once, which was already settled. So you can imagine her excitement as she came into the office this morning, jumping around and saying "I had to phone my mum and tell her". Bless her, I wish I could experience that again!
There was also this article in The Local this morning, about women wanting the right to bathe topless. Well, I'm not going to stop them. Unless they're elderly ladies' floppy breasts (as Marcel Donné once put it).
Friday, November 02, 2007
Anybody "wanna" learn english?
Good lord.
I was reading The Local (Sweden's news in English), and I decided to click on the Notice board, where people can leave all kinds of messages. As you can probably guess, they usually fall into two categories: "Need a place to live" and "need a job". I myself am guilty of the second category, after posting a message on there about six months ago.
But sometimes there is something different on there, as this post shows. I've copied it below as well (just in case the previous link expires). Suffice it to say that it's an absolute classic. Yes folks, if you "wanna" learn english (with a small E) contact this obviously reputable fellow.
I was reading The Local (Sweden's news in English), and I decided to click on the Notice board, where people can leave all kinds of messages. As you can probably guess, they usually fall into two categories: "Need a place to live" and "need a job". I myself am guilty of the second category, after posting a message on there about six months ago.
But sometimes there is something different on there, as this post shows. I've copied it below as well (just in case the previous link expires). Suffice it to say that it's an absolute classic. Yes folks, if you "wanna" learn english (with a small E) contact this obviously reputable fellow.
WANT TO LEARN ENGLISH?
| Ad type: | Announcement |
| Location: | Gothenburg/Västra Götaland |
| Date added: | 2nd November 2007 |
if you wanna learn english language please contact me: trickyire@yahoo.com we'll make arrangements
Contact details for this advertiser are in the description
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