NEVERLAND

I had a best friend in Japan who comes from Lausanne. When I left Japan she packed all my stuffs and sent it to my place in Sweden. Dad once asked me, you don't have any Japanese friend that you have to ask a Swiss send your stuffs?
Anyway, I always wanted to visit her sometime. And this summer, the chance finally came.

Zurich

We met under this blue angel around 18:00.









Having tea at my friend's lovely house



Cheese fondue......



Bern

Central Station





Zentrum Paul Klee, work of Renzo Piano







Zeitglockenturm



E=mc^2



Geneve



The UN (European arm)



International Red Cross



Lac Leman



Lausanne





  

In the middle of July, took a boat to bratislava.
Vienna and Bratislava are the nearest capitals in the world. Boating along the Danube, less than 2 hours, here it is, the little nice capital of Slovakia.

Personally I think it's better than Prague. Prague is commercial and crowed. Bratislava is much lower profiled, perfect for a summer afternoon.























  

Auschwitz, with respect to the dead







Birkenau, where the murder actually took place.





So much for the dark side, now it’s time for the lovely polish city – Krakow, founded by the defeat of a dragon.

Florian Gate



Street art



Rynek Glowny



The old town





Wawel Hill







Later a Chopin concert was hold at the Royal Private Apartment.



  

Pretty little Szentendre













Parlament, modeled on London’s Westminster.



The hostel I stayed, placed on the top floor of an old building. There are plenty of these medieval empty old buildings in Pest. People lived there are gone, only building remains.



Opera



Chain Bridge



Varhegy





Matthias Church













Train station Keleti-pu

  

This blog dedicate to my friend who abbesses with the Shota Complex…..

Musikverein





The last performance of Wiener Sängerknaben before summer break
(@ Brahmssaal)





  

So this is me, saying goodbye to you.

Nynäshamn





Visby



















Oskarshamn





Kalmar





  

  

Lund









Malmö



















Köpenhamn

















  

Late in April, went to Gavle and the lovely Falun.
That day I sat in the train, it started to snow outside. The flakes were unusually petty, flying in the wind.
Felt like they were saying goodbye.



























  

Keukenhof

This picture dedicate to my friend who wants to see people….

























Leiden











Den Hague





Eascher’s Museum





The international court of justice



Amsterdam, the canal city







Anne Frank’s house













Paris























Palace of Versailles



















  

Gothenburg on 1st April.

The train station



Art crafts made from flowers. I also bought a necklace.















Yes this is Easter…



















Oslo. Happy birthday.















  

Today is Sweden's national day.

Stopped updating this blog since Easter, because of the university, life, and lots of other things.
Now I have fared that country well. Pictures since April, with all my memories.  

Antwerp

The impressive train station





Although this is the second-biggest city in Belgium, start with the train station everything here is more like a capital than the boorish noisy Brussels.



Onze lieve Vrouwkathedraal



I got there late and past the opening time of Rubenshuis, which was my main intent for Antwerp. However I had the luck to visit the mode museum MoMu. The museum building itself is a fabulous piece of art, and this place turns out to be the highlight in my whole Easter journey.












Bruges

Lovely Bruges, overcrowded but really deserved the reputation.





The historic Markt





Belfort, although I didn’t have the courage to challenge the 366 steps…That blue sky looks like being edited but it is 100% real.



The Canal







Choco…Belgium…Choco…Belgium…endless……….







Lunch in a local restaurant, typical Flemish food.




Brussels

It was never my intention to visit this big capital of Europe. But anyway I have to take the flight here, so……



The Grand Place





Galeries St Hubert, or known as YOKO TSUNO STRAAT



Manneken Pis, was the first image of Belgium I had in the childhood, although much smaller than I thought……



Some pictures near the Gare Centrale







Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts







Musee des Instruments de Musique, housed in the Old England building, an Art Nouveau showpiece itself.











The last picture I took from the mainland Europe. Politics maybe deceivable sometime, but airport never lie.

  

Easter break, heading to the south.

I took the flight to Frankfurt, from where catched a bus and arrived at Luxemburg at a raining noon.

Cathedrale Notre Dame





A restaurant around the corner.





The Grund







Musee d’Histoire de la Ville de Luxembourg



街角のマカロンのお店。ふと自由ヶ丘を思い出した。



Palais Grand-Ducal



Left Luxembourg early in the morning, heading to Belgium.

  

Kiruna is a hot spot for northern lights during the winter. However, it’s not my intension to go there. I never had such luck. Probably I will just stand in the -50 degree for nothing.

Took the night train. Arrived there about 9 in the morning.
It’s a real snow land.



My foot prints.



Kiruna station and the hotel at the opposite of it.





Kiruna church, known as a famous sami church, pretty against a snowy backdrop.





Café Safari. Really cozy and sweet café. The food is good as well.





Ice hotel in Jukkasjarvi.

Check in & Dressing room, you need special equipments to stay in a -5 degree room in the hotel......



Chapel, popular for weddings.



Ice bar, you can drink from a glass made of ice.



Every year they have different single and double rooms.
The first double room was designed by a Japanese artist.















Sunset in Kiruna



Farewell, Hope I’d see you again.

  

With a fear of tourist crowd in spring, visited Praha at this very late winter.



This restaurant was recommended by the hostel we staied in.



Czech dumplings, very different from the Chinese one…..



Reputational glass articraft







A restaurant near Charles Bridge



Charles Bridge



An articraft shop



The square behind St. Nicolaus Church



Long time no see Starbucks!



St. Nicolaus Church



An alley on the way to Prague Castle



Prague Castle



Golden Line, famous for No.22, as the home of Kafka’s sister.



My favorite view of Prague



Sedlec Kostnice, famous for the chapel crypt made by human bones.







Kaufland...... When there is a supermt, there is a will.





Tyn hostel, where we stayed in Prague, is just next to Church Tyn.





Goodbye Prague!

  

Last week we finished a course. The whole class went a ferry trip to Riga.



The Dome Catherdal





I really wish I could remember anything about Riga but the snow storming was so strong that we spent the most of the time hiding in a café.

It’s a cozy café, has well designed menus.





Saturday, quite city.







The wide northern lands are still covered by thick snow, but we all know that spring is coming.
After spring it comes the farewell season. It's the first trip I went with the class. And probably the only one.  

This winter I almost stay at home all the time. Read books or play the harpa.

Europe had unusual snow storming. White snow covers everywhere. Some time I go for a walk. My boots make funny sounds when I’m walking on the snow.

View from my room



Domkyrkan in snow



Bridge Dombron



Birds on the frozen river



Most of the restaurants are closed during the winter





Visited Stockholm once. Wind was really strong in Gamla Stan, but less people. Nicer than summer.

Had lunch at a restaurant in southern Stockholm, called Blå Dörren. Serve nice Swedish food





Jitka brought Christmas cookies from home.





At the 20th night after Christmas, there was another fiddler gathering at Viksta.
Leif invited me to there.



Botaniska garden



2nd time visiting Sigtuna. The sea was totally frozen there. I saw dogs running above the ice surface. My knees were really hurts by the strong wind. But it’s worth to see the ancient town under snow.

And sweet Tant Bruns as usual. I went in when there was still a sunny weather, just hold a coffee cup for a while, watched the fireplace on the wall. Then I went out for bathroom, it’s already big snow storming out side. That moment, I felt like this old café has some kind of magic, one spends ten minutes in it, and it’s a life time for the world outside.





That day I visited Sigtuna, they were exhibiting Swedish wedding accessories in the old time.







  

My Nyckelharpa teacher Leif is a kind old gentleman, lives in north-east countryside of Uppsala.

The harpa I use to play



This Sunday Leif invited all his students to a fiddle party at his house. Some of them are very young. Some of them are very old.
Violin, Nyckelharpa, cake, coffee. A bunch of happy Swedes play their ancient music.

Party started around 13.00



The future generation



Futher future......



Leif and his students



A brand new Nyrkelharpa. It still needs some adjustment before delivering to the owner -- a spanish player.





Violins



We had a break around 15.00 for fika



The performanc started again after sun set, untill 17.00





I’m not familiar with those short, vivid folk music. I always play Bach.
But I like them very much. Just like the first time I heard Nyckelharpa –
懐かしいほど、優しかった

C-nese children play solo, born alone, die alone.
Swedish children make orchestra, live a happy long life.  

We had a break before the next course. A friend suggested that we go for a Viking Line cruise.



Swedes have a traditional Christmas drink with a strong cinnamon smell -- GLÖGG. It’s usually alcohol free or very weak. This special bottle we bought from the tax free shop in the ship has 15%vol



Helsinki -- A little bit Russian, a little bit Swedish.





The red-brick Orthodox Uspensky Cathedral.



Lutheran Cathedral in front of the Russian-inspired Senaatintori.





Santa’s display in the big department Stocmann.



Main Street.





Costs in Finland are much cheaper than Sweden. I haven’t been back for a while but I doubt it’s even cheaper than China.

Shopping accomplishment.