This year’s summer holiday started with an unexpected short trip to Poland. But I’ll tell you all about that in another blog post.
Because of that trip, I started my sailing course one day later than planned, on Tuesday, June 23.
Every day I took the bus to the train station in Ängelholm, and from there I rode an electric scooter to the harbour. It wasn’t the most comfortable journey because I always had quite a lot of things with me. Sometimes I met a friend in the morning, and we travelled together.
During the first few days, there wasn’t much wind, so preparing the boats was quite easy. We didn’t even have to move them to the other side of the bridge.
We had five instructors: Vincent, Philip, Axel, Astrid and Harry. My favourite instructors were Vincent and Axel. They always played great music and were very relaxed. Hugo, who had been an instructor during previous courses, also came to help the crew. I was really happy to see him because he and Vincent are two of the nicest people I know—always helpful and smiling.
I usually sailed the small Optimist dinghies with Olivia. I’m not a big fan of those boats, but the company was fantastic! 😃 When we raced in the Optimists, each student sailed alone. I used to finish in second or third place.
I also enjoy riding in the motorboat. I know it’s not a sailboat, but it’s still a lot of fun. We were always excited when someone fell into the water. 💦😁 Of course, it was even better when it wasn’t me!
One hot summer day, while we were cooling off in the water, I didn’t manage to grab hold of the boat. Hugo came to the rescue and took me back to my boat. Another time, Vincent was taking me from one boat to another. Suddenly he accelerated, and I did a forward somersault and almost fell into the water. 😆
I learned a lot during the course. For example, I learned that it’s best not to run aground, that you have to take good care of the equipment, and, most importantly, look after your crew. There was plenty of time to learn, but also to have lots of fun. I was really happy when my parents signed me up for another week of the course.
This summer by the sea inspired me to become a sailing instructor myself. Hugo gave me some sailing books to study, and the plan is that before long I’ll be teaching children how to sail.
I have BIG dreams. Some of them might seem impossible to achieve. One of them is to have a garage full of Porsches and McLarens. That dream hasn’t come true yet, but…
On the last Saturday of April this year, I was woken up suspiciously early—at 6:40 a.m. To be more precise, my mum woke me up. And that was because a surprise had been planned for me.
When Mum said, “Ann, wake up,” it didn’t have much of an effect. But when I heard the word “SURPRISE,” I jumped straight out of bed. Even mum was really surprised!
I went through my usual morning routine—including dad’s wake-up routine: morning exercises like stretching, working on my posture, foot exercises, and a few push-ups and squats.
To my surprise, dad was up early, too. He told me to dress warmly and pack a hat and gloves. We were supposedly waiting for a small white van that would take us towards Gothenburg.
Oddly enough, I didn’t have to bring my book and notebook for my “Page About” work. That was strange because dad always reminds me to take them with me. Instead, I was given two bottles of juice and a thermos of hot tea—which, by the way, I ended up bringing back home untouched.
I started to suspect that we weren’t actually going anywhere in a van. I also had the feeling that dad wasn’t coming with us. I wondered if I was going with Konrad, but then I also thought it might be Dominika and Michał. One thing I knew for sure was that dad would never let me go with someone I didn’t know.
Then Konrad arrived.
I was so happy! I got into his car—a black BMW. Without dad.
Just as we were about to get onto the motorway, dad called to tell us that I had forgotten my tea. So we turned around to get it.
Once we were back on the motorway, Konrad put on some Polish rap from the ’80s and ’90s. I’d never listened to music like that before. The stories the rappers told were actually pretty interesting.
No matter how much I tried to get him to tell me where we were going, Konrad wouldn’t reveal anything. He didn’t want to spoil the surprise. So I had to wait until we arrived.
Finally, we reached our destination: Epicar in Malmö.
There were so many cars there—and not the kind you normally see on the streets. They were sports cars and ultra-exclusive cars like Porsches, McLarens, and Mercedes.
Even the Epicar showroom looked luxurious inside, with dark green walls and orange offices.
This is a place where you can buy amazing cars—some almost brand new and others with a bit more history. There were even a few cars from 1969, while the newest ones were from 2020.
Every single car was beautiful, but my favourites were a white McLaren and, of course, a purple Porsche.
Konrad had to move a dark blue Porsche to make room for the cars that we would be driving. In total, 11 cars left the garage for the demonstration drive.
The cars had already been assigned, so unfortunately I couldn’t choose the purple Porsche I had fallen in love with. Konrad is tall, so we drove a bright green Mercedes with a very long bonnet.
Luckily, Konrad actually fit inside the car! And because of that long car hood, it felt like you had to leave a much bigger gap between your car and the one in front.
It wasn’t the most comfortable car for me either because I couldn’t see very much. But that’s not surprising—sports cars sit very low to the ground. Even so, it was amazing: driving with Konrad in a bright green car that everyone noticed, as part of a convoy of sports cars.
After the demonstration (and promotional) drive, we headed to the Porsche dealership. There were already lots of luxury cars parked there, including other famous brands. There was even a red Lamborghini.
But honestly, the purple Porsche was still the most beautiful car there.
Inside the dealership, Konrad met some of his friends, while I used the time to look around. I browsed through brochures and admired the nearby cars. One that really caught my eye was a green Porsche GT4 RS—it was absolutely gorgeous. I even got to sit inside it.
On the way back to Epicar, I rode in a red Porsche Cayman 718 driven by Emely. It didn’t make as many exciting crackling and popping sounds as the purple Porsche GT3 RS, but we were still driving really fast. (To avoid making my parents’ blood pressure go up, I’d better not write exactly how fast!)
We were on the motorway, so there was plenty of room to pick up speed.
After returning the cars to Epicar, we got back into Konrad’s BMW (which is also a cool car) and headed home.
It was an absolutely fantastic day.
I really like Konrad, and we always have an amazing time together. It doesn’t matter whether we’re playing padel, windsurfing, playing Hister or Czacha Dymi, or just hanging out.
I’m so happy that he took me with him. And I’m really glad dad came up with the idea of letting me go on this trip alone with Konrad.
It was WOW.
Bye!
Anna
P.S. We call Konrad and his wife Paulina “The Colourful Ones.” It used to be because of their colourful hair, but nowadays it’s more because of their colourful personalities—since they don’t colour their hair anymore.
P.S. 2. I’ve already started saving up for a Porsche so I can have one as my EPA car one day.
Today I went with my mom to Nordic Wellness for a Vasaloppet workout. But instead of skiing, we rode stationary bikes.
The training was led by three instructors. Rickard was the main instructor and he talked a lot 😁. Sol had really loud music (to be honest, I didn’t like it that much). The third instructor was Christoffer. He isn’t from Nordic Wellness in Klippan, so he’s probably Rickard’s friend. Christoffer was very demanding, but also really nice. He helped me adjust my bike 😁.
Vasaloppet is a cross-country skiing race. The whole distance is 90 km (9 Swedish miles). In 1521, Gustav Vasa (who later became the king of Sweden) skied from Berga in Sälen (in Dalarna) to Mora. He was escaping from the Danes who wanted to kill him. Sweden was under Danish rule at that time.
Vasaloppet is the oldest and one of the most famous long-distance cross-country ski races in the world, in classic style. The first race was in 1922. This year was the 102nd edition.
This year, the first to reach the finish line was the Swede Oskar Kardin with a time of 4:14:45.5, even though he had to change one ski during the race. He skied on two different skis and still won! In the women’s race, Emilie Fleten from Norway won – for the third time.
Since there is no snow in Klippan, this year we chose bikes. Our group cycled for 4 hours, 14 minutes, and 45 seconds – until Oskar reached the finish line. We had it a bit easier because we took four breaks. But I still got a little tired. And I was better than my mom, whose bike was right behind mine. So I was first! 😁
I would rather have been skiing, because now my legs hurt. The bike had screws sticking out and I kept hitting them all the time. Also, my butt still hurts from sitting, because the seat felt like it was made of stone. And finally: the pedals had spikes that pressed into my shoes and hurt the bottom of my feet.
I’m not complaining. I’m very proud of myself and my mom!!! 4 hours on a bike!!!
My adventure with Zumba started when my mom signed up for group training in Klippan two months ago. Previously, mom has trained at home but since I have karate training on Mondays and Wednesdays, mom will use this time to train instead of sitting and waiting for me for an hour.
My mom’s beginning was very difficult because everyone danced badly 😉 because when mom went right, everyone went left and vice versa. And by the way, this is going better. She finally learned these steps.
One day I went to classes with my mom because I had nothing to do. So Carola invited me to have fun with her. She also said that the most important thing is to have fun. And just dance and have fun. Her attitude, energy and smile made me want to come again. And so it continues for another month.
I met people who also love Zumba and dance amazingly. I love Zumba and I go to the club every Sunday and sometimes on Tuesdays. I feel like this is my hobby.
Carola inspired me and when I get older I will become a Zumba instructor. This music, dance and movement is magical and automatically gives me a lot of energy.
Today I will tell you how our trip to Poland for Christmas in 2023 was!
We drove for about 26 hours (I also count breaks). First, we drove for about 2.5 hours to Ystad to catch the ferry to Świnoujście. We had booked a cabin with 4 beds. I usually sleep on the upper bed because I can fall out of bed 🙂 I asked in the reception for a special barrier. Before going to sleep, I went outside with my dad because I really like looking at the water and those colorful ships.
When I woke up, we were already in Poland. I took my dad out to the outside deck again because I wanted to see if there were orcas. In one of Nela’s books, a little reporter, I read that they can be found in the Baltic Sea. Unfortunately I didn’t see them. By the way, I remember that when I was little, I was very afraid to stand by the railing on the ferry, afraid that I would fall into the sea 🙂
We went with the whole family. Dad was driving the car, because mom is not a master of driving with a trailer, especially when she has to drive backwards.
First we went to Warsaw to take grandma Lena. We also had to pack the things that she had prepared into the car – and that was a challenge. Our car was already packed to the roof anyway. We arrived in Czartajew very late on Christmas Eve, so we actually started celebrating the next day.
This time we stayed in Siemiatycze with uncle Marcin and aunt Marta.
At the end of November 2023, I was at the shooting for the first time. My mom found out about the possibility of test shooting in Ösjös skyttesföredning. So we went there with the whole family.
At first I thought it was just boring, but when I got there I really liked it. The instructors are experienced people who are very helpful.
It’s not that easy to take a 4-kilogram air rifle in your hands, set it up and sit comfortably in a not-so-pleasant position. It is worth wearing protective headphones to mute the noise of the shots.
There are bullets on the table that right-handed people put into the rifle with their left hand. I filled them with my right hand anyway 🙂
We shoot at the targets hanging on the wall. Usually 20 shots are fired after a 20-shot test series. The test series is to calibrate the sight.
When you put the gun away, you need to put an orange cap in place of the cartridge. This means that the weapon is secured, i.e. there is no bullet in it. The orange color is visible from a distance against the black background of the weapon.
Everyone must put down their weapons and secure them for the duration of the technical break, e.g. replacing the shield.
This sport promotes concentration and calmness. The earmuffs do their job, but you also need time to concentrate and calm your mind.
It’s hard to imagine Christmas without a colorful Christmas tree at home.
It’s nice to look at the warm lights, especially in the evening when you can sit in a comfortable armchair, wrap yourself in a warm blanket and drink warm tea.
Christmas decorations are different and they are everywhere. Maja even hung lamps on her bed, and we hung a star in the window. We also have a candlestick.
Our Christmas tree stands in the living room. It’s standing in the corner because mom said that if it stands by the door, you’ll just have to avoid it. I wanted the Christmas tree to stand by the door.
Dad said that in the past, the Christmas tree was decorated only on Christmas Eve. This means we would have to wait a few more days for it.
It’s good that we convinced dad before his journey to Poland to bring a Christmas tree and we had time to decorate it. I started decorating the Christmas tree when dad went on his long journey.
I like Christmas. This year we will celebrate it in Poland. I’m looking forward to meeting the whole family.
Did you know that the custom of decorating Christmas trees comes from Germany?
I’m HAPPY that you still visit my blog. Today I will tell you about the harvest near Åstorp.
You may be wondering what I’ve been collecting. Yes, those are apples.
It started when my mum saw an ad on Facebook about fruit picking in Norra Vram. We went there. Or yes, we tried. We went wrong twice because our GPS didn’t work. The first time, my mum turned left too early. The second time, my mum also turned left, but a bit too far :-). We should have turned right. When we reached our destination, there were already a lot of people there.
We found out that we could collect apples Aroma and Discovery. We chose Discovery (it’s nice to discover a new English word – Discovery 🙂
As we were being taken to the orchard, we started picking. Filling the box takes only 5 minutes.
We came back to pay. It turned out that we loaded 15 kg apples. The owner of the orchard was very nice, as well as her dog. I petted it and the dog liked it and it was very happy.
Apples Discover have a secret: sometimes they can be red inside.
One thing is very delicious. We ate them for 4 days. We love apples and we also drink a lot of freshly squeezed juices.
Hi, Today I will once again spend the night at my best friend’s (BFF). I can’t write my name and surname because I’m not allowed. My friend is very nice. We go to the same class together and spend a lot of time together – also outside of school. I have another BFF friend. I won’t reveal her name or surname either, but both of their names start with E – although they are not the same.
I’ve stayed at my first BFF’s many times, but at my second BFF’s only 5 times. For the first time I stayed with a friend in Ängelholm. It was last year at graduation. You probably know that when you spend time with friends, it flies by very quickly. This happens every time I’m with my E 🙂 Then we come up with various things – games, movies, a lot of fun outside, we glue our nails, and we go to bed very late at night. But silence about it, because this is not information for my parents 😉
