Back in Rio

Back in Rio and life is pretty good here too! Have continued with a walk on the beach every morning. Nice way to start the day!
Have uploaded some images on:
http://picasaweb.google.se/Grahn.Jessica/ParatyBrazil#
Take care!

Paraty, Brazil

Have now spent a week in wonderful Paraty, Brazil. It is a little paradise!! Stayed in a very nice Pousada (Like a guest house) a bit outside the city center. I had the poolhouse with a little veranda and a hammock (hangmatta) that I used a lot!
Suffering from jetlag also this time around I woke up early every morning and started most of my days with an hour walk on the beach in the sun. Then had a home cooked breakfast on the veranda with a view over the bay and the city center. Then some activity during the day.
First afternoon I spent at a cafe looking at people and strolled around in the colonial city. Very pritty little town with narrow streets and small boutiques.
One day I went out with a scooner stopping at a couple of islands and beaches in the bay.
One day I went to Trindade and lay on the beach, had one of the best meals ever and went to the natural pool among the rocks.
One day I took a horse back ride through the rainforest and swam in the waterfalls.
I also had a couple of treatments at the Asian Spa close by my pousada. Very nice!
On Friday I went up to another Pousada in the rain forest. They have one of the best kitchens in Brazil as the owner is a former french chef. Stayed there for two days and spent most of the time walking in the rain forest, swim in the water fall and lay in the hammock on the veranda reading a book. (By chance also the second pousada had a hammock on the veranda... As I really liked them I had to buy one to my little house in Sweden. Just have to figure out how to attach it...)
I´ve now finished three books, so time to go back to Rio...
Waiting at the busstation for the bus to take me back. Will upload a few images when I get to Rio and my computer. Have another two weeks in Rio working and really looking forward to see more of the city! Brazil is beautiful and I hope that I can come back one day!
Hope all is well in Sweden! Take care!

Heading to Brazil

Time to go to Rio where the boats are estimated to arrive on Tuesday! It's been very nice to have some time at home and catch up on everything that has fallen behind the past months! I have had time to clear my computer to increase the memory and clear the Inbox of my mail, so now I feel well prepared for the upcoming months of travelling and for a week of vacation!
Tomorrow I'm heading to Rio. I land in the evening and Monday morning it's time to hit the road! I'm going out backpacking for a week! That was a long time ago! It's gonna be a lot of fun, even if it is only for a week and to one place, Paraty. It's about four hours bus drive south of Rio. It has all ingrediences for a good vacation, beutiful beaches, boat trips, hikes to waterfalls in the rainforests, horse back riding, nice old town with cobble stones and beutiful views. I found a couple of nice places to stay, which are small and cozy, so I'm really looking forward to it. And the best! I'm not bringing the computer! For a whole week! But I'm sure they have an Internet café where I can sneek in to add something to the blog....
To read more about the place visit:
http://www.paraty.com.br/iindex.asp
Until next time.. Take care!

Dont know how this happened...

Nice new decoration on my wodden table. If nothing else it makes it unique...

Boston

So we reached Boston! Boston is great! We're staying at Seaport Hotel, where we are staying during the stopover. Very good and conveniently close to the Race Village! Still suffering from jetlag so for the third day in a row I had some time on the "girly machine" (as Peter calls them) in the gym in the morning. It feels great afterwards, but not to fun when you go down there at 6.30.. They have a class similar to BodyBalance three times a week. For you that know how much I love Body Balance it's gonna be great during the stopover to be able to take up that class again!
We had a tour today of the venues we are using during the stopover for management hotel, environmental seminar, cocktail receptions and charter boats. Seems very good and everything is very close by! We have also managed to identify the closest Starbucks! Crucial information in a country where the regular coffee is undrinkable! As I said the other day it is though very expensive. About 45 Sek for a small latte... Hope the exchange rate is improving fast! Otherwise I'm going to be ruined on Caffe Lattes!
Hope everything is well in Sweden! Take care til next time!

Greensboro, NC

On tour in the US. Christina and I are currently in Greensboro, NC at the headquarters of Volvo Trucks. Last week they had snow here, but now it's full spring with 25 degrees and sun. Wonderful! I finally has gotten some time for myself and due to the jetlag, which I really suffer from this time around, I managed to get to the gym yesterday morning. Felt very good to do some exercise again! Gonna try to keep that up from now on! We had a good day at the office with good meeting. We went for a walk in the evening in the lovely weather and ended up having dinner at the hotel. With the current exchangerate everything is very expensive! Today we will spend the day at the office and then continue to Boston tonight for a site visit for three days. Boston is going to be a big stopover for us so it's gonna be good to meet with the key people and sort some of the activities out. The weather in Boston though is snowy and cold, so back to the winter clothes. Then back to Sweden again. Take care!

Stockholm

In Stockholm for a long weekend. Took the chance now when I'm home for a longer period to take some time in Stockholm. I've managed to see most of my friends and spend some longer time with them. I got to see Stefan and Magdalenas appartment that is finally coming together after all the work they put into it. Very nice! Stefan and I also got the chance to visit Båtmässan and talk to the Stockholm Stopover organisation. A nice setup with the old Ericsson VO 70 boat! Tonight it's back to Göteborg again for a week. I will probably not be able to come to Stockholm again until the boats arrive the 17th of June (16th of June they'll arrive to Sandhamn).
So the plans for the upcoming months looks like this:
2-7 mars Göteborg
8-14 mars Boston
15 - 26 mars Göteborg
27 mars - 13 april Rio
14 - 21 april Semester i Brasilien alt. Göteborg
22 april - 18 maj Boston
19 - 26 maj Göteborg
27 maj - 7 juni Galway
8 - 14 juni Marstrand
15 - 23 juni Stockholm
24 - 29 juni St Petersburg
I'll try to be better to upload images to the blog....
Take care for now!