Today, our last day in the Tanum area, we woke up to snow! Well, the picture about is actually from the marine biology center, but it was still quite a beautiful sight (vacker utsikt) even if we weren’t quite expecting it. Apparently anxiously waiting for Spring is something we Minnesotans have in common with the Swedes!
I was fortunate to stay on a dairy farm for this part of the trip with a wonderful family, and it reminded me a lot of my grandparents’ farm in Illinois. In the evenings I took long walks on the farm and played with Elvira, the family dog. One night Britt took me to look at a very interesting and energy-efficient house that reminded me of a lighthouse. I especially enjoyed the breakfasts with the family in the morning (yummy porridge!) and the long conversations over dinner with Britt and Tomas (yummy glögg!). Britt even took me to do “Friskis & Svettis” (like Kara did in Trollhättan), which was really fun! You really haven’t exercised until you’ve done an aerobics class in Swedish. :)
Like all of our trips, this trip to Tanum has been great on so many levels – we had wonderful hosts, saw beautiful scenery, and were able to learn so many interesting things. I was really impressed with the use of renewable energy in many homes in this area – Strömstad was awarded the title of “the heat pump city” (over 50% of homes use some type of heat pump), and my host family used wood from their own forest to heat their home. I’m also impressed with how the community here is working together to preserve cultural heritage and also enhance local economic development at the same time. I excited by how much we’re learning and hope we can somehow apply it in Minnesota!
Today we presented at the Tanums Rotary Klubb, where we tried a traditional Swedish dish we hadn’t tried before - kåldolmar, which is minced meat and rice wrapped in cabbage – very interesting! After the meeting we went to Britt’s store, which sells arts and handmade crafts – none of us could resist buying at least something, no matter how ridiculously gigantic our luggage is growing! :) Thank you so much to everyone in Tanum; we hope to see you again soon! Here are some more pictures... Alison
Today, our last day in the Tanum area, we woke up to snow! Well, the picture about is actually from the marine biology center, but it was still quite a beautiful sight (vacker utsikt) even if we weren’t quite expecting it. Apparently anxiously waiting for Spring is something we Minnesotans have in common with the Swedes!
I was fortunate to stay on a dairy farm for this part of the trip with a wonderful family, and it reminded me a lot of my grandparents’ farm in Illinois. In the evenings I took long walks on the farm and played with Elvira, the family dog. One night Britt took me to look at a very interesting and energy-efficient house that reminded me of a lighthouse. I especially enjoyed the breakfasts with the family in the morning (yummy porridge!) and the long conversations over dinner with Britt and Tomas (yummy glögg!). Britt even took me to do “Friskis & Svettis” (like Kara did in Trollhättan), which was really fun! You really haven’t exercised until you’ve done an aerobics class in Swedish. :)
Like all of our trips, this trip to Tanum has been great on so many levels – we had wonderful hosts, saw beautiful scenery, and were able to learn so many interesting things. I was really impressed with the use of renewable energy in many homes in this area – Strömstad was awarded the title of “the heat pump city” (over 50% of homes use some type of heat pump), and my host family used wood from their own forest to heat their home. I’m also impressed with how the community here is working together to preserve cultural heritage and also enhance local economic development at the same time. I excited by how much we’re learning and hope we can somehow apply it in Minnesota!
Today we presented at the Tanums Rotary Klubb, where we tried a traditional Swedish dish we hadn’t tried before - kåldolmar, which is minced meat and rice wrapped in cabbage – very interesting! After the meeting we went to Britt’s store, which sells arts and handmade crafts – none of us could resist buying at least something, no matter how ridiculously gigantic our luggage is growing! :) Thank you so much to everyone in Tanum; we hope to see you again soon! Here are some more pictures... Alison
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