Trouble in the planning, greetings from Åland and meeting with the wind queen

What summer weather we have! Fantastic! We are home after a week in Glasriket and had planned to lift the houseboat, but so far it has not turned out as planned ... In addition: events, meetings with the wind queen, greetings from Åland and film from Uzbekistan!

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Back home after the Glass Kingdom - and trouble in the planning...

We are back home, in the houseboat, after a fantastic week in the Småland Glasriket. We have had time to tell you a lot - about Kosta, if Glass Kingdom Moose Park and about a lovely experience with sauna raft - and we will tell you more soon.

We rushed straight home from Småland because we had planned to lift the houseboat. We are obliged to do so, according to the contract, and it is quite a big process involving booking a boat lift, plumber and surveyor. Just before the whole thing was due to happen, we were told that the boat lift was broken ...

Now we are waiting to try to book it all again, but it may not be easy. When we know more, we will try to plan for a new motorhome trip, but we dare not decide anything yet. While waiting for a decision, we hang out at home, which is not so bad right now in the summer sun.

Summer in Sweden!

It's like Sweden transforms when summer comes. Suddenly there are lots of people outside, and everyone seems to be in a good mood. Here in Pampas marina there is a restaurant, K4, and they have added another floating dock this year, with even more seats. On sunny days it is full of people!

We often walk past Karlberg Castle, on the way into town, and although it is a 'military area' it is very relaxed, with lots of people lying on the grass enjoying the sun.

Everyday life with meetings and good food

We're enjoying the summer weather, but of course we're also working. There are reports to be written, collaborations to be sewn up and bookkeeping to be done. We have also had several important meetings.

In the evenings, I (Helena) am lucky enough to enjoy Peter's good food. This week it has been a picking table with prawns, asparagus, bread, cheese and some vegetables. Sometimes it can be very good even though it is simple!

Event: Spanish wines

Yesterday our friend Christian, from Food and travel blog, join us for an event with Spanish wines.

It was Johan Lidby Vin who invited their Spanish wine producers to showcase their wines in Stockholm. Many really flavoursome and good wines!

It all took place at the Spanish restaurant Borasco in the south, which also served really good small tapas and a large delicious paella.

From one event to another

After the wine tasting in Söder, it was time for us to head to Djurgården, for the next event. We decided that a good way to travel, in summer Sweden, was the Djurgården ferry. It's great that you can take a ferry in the middle of the city, with a bus ticket!

Event: Franconia wine region - meet the wine queen!

The next event, organised at Villa Godthem on Djurgården, also had a wine theme. But this time the focus was on the German wine region of Franconia, at an event organised by Franconia and the German Tourist Office.

Did you know that there are 13 wine regions in Germany? One of these is Franconia, in the north-west of Bavaria, where you will also find the beautiful towns of Bamberg, Bayreuth and Würzburg. We were now able to taste good white wines from the Horst Sauer vineyard, while learning more about this exciting area.

We also got to meet the 2024/2025 Wine Queen of Franconia: Lisa Lehritter. Because yes, every year the wine region of Franconia chooses a Queen of Wine, and Lisa is the 66th! To be chosen as Queen of Wine, you need to have a good knowledge of wine, among other things, and you represent the region throughout the year.

The mission now included travelling to Sweden to talk about the wines of France to the evening's guests: a group of journalists, bloggers and tour operators. We were lucky enough to be seated next to the Queen of Wine for the whole dinner. What an evening!

Greetings from Åland and our reporter Jonathan

We're busy and we don't have time for everything... Good thing we have guest writers! The writer Jonathan Gharbi de Maré, who has written many interesting reports for FREEDOMtravel, is currently acting as our Åland envoy.

Jonathan sends below pictures and says that he has been to Smakbyn at Åland where Robinson winner Michael Björklund runs a restaurant and sells everything from caramels and gin to underwear. Michael has also won Chef of the Year in both Sweden and Finland. Exciting! We're guessing we'll hear more from Jonathan in a while.

Films from Uzbekistan

During the week, Peter has edited a film from our amazing trip in Uzbekistan. The film shows in a more vivid way what it looks like in this exciting country. If you are curious, you can watch the film below.

Best this week

Best this week? We could of course complain about the cancelled houseboat lift, but we choose instead to be happy and grateful for the fantastic summer weather. It was also incredibly fun to come back to Glasriket!

Your turn ... What has been positive about your week?

The week ahead

We will continue to hang out in Stockholm, while we hopefully manage to plan a new boat lift. In the meantime, it's a mix of work, meetings and events.

Here at FREEDOMtravel, you can expect more reports from the Glass Kingdom and Uzbekistan. Now we wish you a great Friday and weekend!

Did you miss the last Happy Friday? Read the This year's first motorhome tour - on the road in Småland

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