Pandemic Home for Christmas - Porto

Because of the nature of travel restrictions for Christmas 2021 + New Years 2022, I opted to stay in Europe and not go home. That being said, it was way too depressing to endure 2 weeks of Swedish winter in solitude, so I ended up spending 2 work+holiday week in Porto. I didn't officially take any day off work, but since the 2 holidays all fell on Thursday and Friday that gave me enough time to explore the city and surroundings. 

I chose an apartment out of downtown core, but with parking space and a huge terrace. Granted it was not terrace weather so the airbnb host packed together all the outdoor furnitures to protect them from the rain, but whenever the sun came out, I was still able to drag a chair outside and sipped my tea under the winter sun. Despite the miserable weather forecast (basically all rain for 2 weeks), the rain actually never stayed for long and there were ample periods of sunny weather during each day. In total, a "rainy" day in Porto still had more sunlight than a "sunny" day in Stockholm.

This was also my first time renting a car in Europe. Since I had very limited experience driving another manual car that is not my own, I had some real difficulties even finding the biting point of the rental car's clutch. I looked so clueless the rental car lady thought I had no idea how to drive a manual car! Well, there is a first time for everything! (although after driving numerous rental cars in Europe now, I realized that my car was the outlier, not them...)

Ponte da Arrábida + Duoro River

Miradouro de Lomba (on Route N222) Overlooking Duoro River

View from Praias Fluoriais

(somewhere after crossing a bridge)

Along Av.Dom Afonso Henriques, Porto

along Douro River board walk

Luis I Bridge, Porto

From Porto Cathedral

Overlooking Jardim do Morro, sunet

 

13 years apart: in London

 It felt surreal to be in London again. The last I visited was in 2008 (confirmed after digging through my email correspondences) with mom. And because it was before the age of smartphones and googlemaps, I have almost no digital trace of that visit. No photos, no bookmarked locations. But again, everything seemed a little familiar, and deja vu's came back from time to time as I strolled around town. 

I do remember distinctively that we stayed in a hotel near St. James' Park, and that we ate fish and chips for dinner almost everyday. I honestly had no idea why we chose to stay there, the location this time in Piccadilly Circus was much more convenient. 

It was nearing Christmas, so the "christmas market" and the menorah was out in front of the National Gallery. And of course I had to include the lions! The winter morning light was spectacular.

Followed by a bit of a chaotic sketch of Piccadilly Circus itself. I think I was standing next to a Five Guys...

Golden Jubilee Bridge (view from South Bank). There was some space behind the elevator shaft that kept me out of pedestrian traffic.

I did the essential tourist stroll past London Eye and Westminster Bridge. The sunset was very intense and thankfully I was able to find myself a spot amongst the tourists jostling for photos

TfL Museum

Sunset at Tower Bridge

Stockholm after-work series: the Twilight Zone

 

Stockholm after-work series: still daylight

Because daylights hours were so long and my office was situated nicely in the city, I decided to use my time after work to paint around the city.

July

Molins fontän, Kungsträdgården

Gotlandsgatan

view from the ground of Sofia Kyrka

Strandvägen (a couple actually took picture of me sketching and airdropped them to me...that was a pleasant encounter)

Dramaten

August

Gustav Vasa Church, Odenplan

Östermalms Saluhall

Brunkekergstunneln

September

Stefanskyrkan

 

Swedish Midsummer...in the city!

Almost immediately after my arrival, the very special holiday of Swedish Midsummer was there! (also my only time, since I left Sweden before midsummer next year) To be honest, it felt super exotic, because I haven't really had a purely season based holiday before...and it felt like a Northern specialty!

Stockholm itself was very empty during the holiday because most city dwellers were out somewhere nicer. For me, Stockholm was plenty nice enough! (Although I do remember staying in doors during normal daylight hours because it was broiling hot outside, and watching Midsommar with a friend to catch up on some basic festival etiquette...)

Waldermarsudde (Midsummer Eve 2021)

Pålsundsparken

 

First Week in Stockholm!

Looking back, there was nothing that could quite describe my experiencing Stockholm for the first time. And as a first time resident, not a first time visitor. Especially as this was right after leaving Texas...the difference couldn't be greater. And also while most part of the world were still under some kind of covid restrictions and Sweden being the outlier. 

I landed on June 13, 2021, a Sunday. Throughout the trip I was holding my work permit paperwork. It was entirely in Swedish, so the United check-in agent at SFO couldn't read it and just took it at face value as legitimate reason of entering Sweden. The EU border agent at Frankfurt also couldn't read it because they were Germans. And finally the Swedish border agent also declined to read it because the visa is electronic so they can already see it from their system...so the paperwork kind of functioned like a good luck charm. I just waved it and people let me through.

Monday - moved into my apartment in Södermalm with the housing agent. I remember almost shedding some tears as the housing agent also took off his shoes when entering the apartment. Then he introduced me to the fascinating laundry reservation board, told me where the closest grocery store was, then left me to soak in the fact that I am actually going to live in Stockholm from now on. 

Tuesday - Jakobsgatan/St Jacobs Kyrka - I haven't seen so many interesting things to draw in a long time!

Wednesday - Stockholm Skyline (Gamla Stan + Södermalm)

Thursday - Drottningholms slott (finally got my bike and immediately took it out for a spin)

Friday - Slussen! Construction equipment + old buildings = my favourite combination

Saturday - not sure what I did that day oooops

Sunday - Ferry terminal + Gröna Lund (sunset at 9pm)

-my first official work week immediately followed

 

Missing a flight at SFO, definitely not intentionally, I swear

After running out of excuses of not going to Austin for work, I willed myself to prepare for a 2 week trip. At this point I haven't been on a plane for nearly 1.5 year (ever since coming back from NZ trip early 2020) So I thought I left adequate time to get to SFO, but a traffic accident on 101 added an extra 20 mins. I ended up deciding to bring my suitcase directly as carry-on. I looked calm, but I was definitely panicking. All these years in-and-out of SFO, I've never missed a flight! 

Anyway, as I arrived at the gate, there was noone, and I was definitely in a lot of trouble. Colleagues, hotel, rental car all need to be informed. The worst is being suspected that this is part of my tactics of not wanting to go to Austin. Thankfully the travel agent re-booked me onto an early morning Alaskan airline flight the next day without fuss (and I chose SJC to be safe) On hindsight I should have chosen SJC from the get go, but I was after United points...

To effectively spend my now wasted trip to SFO, I decided to take a day off in the post security area and leisurely paint some planes