MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

celebrating the holidays in spain is of course very different from what we are  used to. for starters is the climate much warmer than up north. and besides that the quiet time which means christmas in scandinavia doesn't really exist here, as the streets and plazas filles up with people chatting and kids playing ball when work and school is off. we love showing the kids how life can be in other places, but our main reason for bringing three suitcases stuffed with gifts and travel far away from our home is that we needed some time alone just the four of us. Mikkel, who is a teenager for real these days, doesn't often have time to spend with the rest of us in our everyday life, but being here brings us closer and so far we already had a couple of relaxed days together. besides a short trip to Puerto Portals we have been staying in our studio apartment, but tomorrow i think it's time for some exploring. we hope that all of you have a wonderful time and that santa has brought you what you wished for.

   VALLDEMOSSA

way back (1838) George Sand spent a winter in valldemossa together with her two children and her lover (Chopin). but this small village is also famous for it's pretty mountain location as well as being the birth place of santa catalina, mallorca's only catolic saint. the other day we took some much needed time off to drive along the coast from andratx where we are staying to the north where the monastery from back then now is a museum. the nature here on mallorca is wild and beautiful. we had to get out of the car again and again only to stare out on the horizon or up at the rocky hills. when we finally made it to our goal we rewarded ourselves with thick hot chocolate and coca de patatas. all of valldemossa's inhabitants had funny enough decided to do exactly the same, but the sweet taste of the baked goods was so worth waiting in line for. this might have been the loveliest drive i have ever experienced and when my better half and the boys get here i will show them everything that we saw. 

  MALLORCA

i have arrived at our residency, and me and heidi-anett has settled down in our studio space. during the daytime i forget it's december with christmas around the corner, but in the dark evenings i get reminded as all of the streets are decorated with the prettiest lights. we have a stray cat living with us, and now we are trying to figure out what to do with her when our month here is over. she will be taken care of, one way or another.

in the middle: on our first night here we took a walk on the property of CCA in which we are staying. we picked lemons, oranges and clementines. and as the sun settled and colored the sky and everything underneath it golden, we realised that this is paradise. as George Sand claims in her book, mallorca is one of the most beautiful places on earth. 

  CALENDAR

last year we gave the kids book calendars, with a new book or cartoon every day counting down to the 24th. this year we brought their old stockings up from the basement and every morning a small gift is waiting for them. we mix things they want with things they need, and some of the days the gifts are edible (cookies or raw chocolate). we also have calendar candles to help us keep track of the time and today there is 18 days left until christmas.

bottom pic: my friend sisse's mother made the melancholic little santa. 

  DECEMBER

the small projects we're together on through this extremly cozy month bring us closer as a family. our evenings are spent wrapping gifts at the moment, and there is no doubt that all of us enjoy every second. it's dark and cold outside, but inside candles and the sweet smell of cookies from the stove keeps us warm. i could only wish there was more weeks like this to look forward to. but unfortunately, for me the christmas preparations end tonight. i'm going to spain, you see. to make art and to wait. wait and wait and wait and wait. two whole weeks will pass before my boys get on that plane. we have never celebrated christmas outside scandinavia before, but there's a first for everything. and of all the places my art work has taken me, i didn't see this one coming. i love learning about new places though. and mallorca, it will be great getting to know you better. what i will be reading, and what we will be eating this holiday season.

top photo: i'm not sure if the advent orange is common in other contries as well, but i must say i adore this kind of modesty.

  BRUNCHING IN BRUXELLES
 

among bruxelles many art deco bistros the bright café Yeti stands out with it's organic menu and eco looks. we spent an afternoon there together with ingunn's brother plus family, who also had come for a weekend visit. we started out drinking coffee and munching on egg benedicts, and switched to mimosas and pancakes covered in chocolate sauce a couple of hours later. the staff was kind enough to keep smiling at our new requests and didn't even comment on our messy table which dominated the whole room. this afternoon actually became the highlight of our trip. it's not often we can spend a whole day lingering around a table just because we feel like it. well, we couldn't have found a better place for this purpose. and though we never really wanted to leave, eventually they had to close. by that time the kids had started playing a running game that might not have been as popular as all our orders was. so we continued out to the misty streets to buy truffles and souvenirs. 

if you need some more suggestions on where to go when in brussels the blog Brussel's Kitchen is a way better guide than any book on the subject i've seen. just a tip.

  NESTING

last summer knut's best friend and an artist i know from my days at the academy fell hard - in love with each other. we like to think that we're the ones responsible, as it was us who introduced them, and when they annonced a two month trip to bruxelles - we knew it was our duty as cupid's helpers to check in on them. so we spent the last christmas free weekend of this year in belgium's capital, strolling through the streets of saint catherine, eating tartar and chatting with our lovebirds. they have found themselves a beautiful temporary home trough airbnb, and took on the role as hosts like they had years of marrige on their backs. actually watching them, hand in hand, laughing and kissing took us straight down memorylane to the summer when knut and i first met. romance is important. even when the busy everyday life takes over. i'll keep this in mind during the next couple of hectic weeks preparing for the holiday season. thank you for a wonderful time vegard and ingunn.

mieke willems is blogging from antwerpen and next time we will make sure to visit her hometown as well.