The inevitable when holidaying with me (updated)

Ok, so here's a post in reply to Karin's comment inNature offers a Time-Out. Her comment:

"You just can't pass an animal without taking a picture of it, can you? I remember our cycling vacation in Skåne, lol!"

Skåne - summer 2003

Very true, I am guilty as charged. We went cycling in the south of Sweden; a fabulous week with great company great weather, and great scenery. Helsingborg by the sea was definitively my favorite town - but towns are rarely the highlights of any trip.


Helsingborg 2003

Now, our teamwork was quite interesting. Karin made sure we stopped regularly to eat properly (she's a dietitian today) while I made sure we stopped to enjoy all the animals!

I had actually forgotten how many pictures there was of me together with animals in some way, until I looked in the archives!


Ishtar: "Ah - a cow!" First thought? "Let's feed it!"


Ishtar: "Ah - a foal!" First thought? "Let's bond!"


We did have fun riding Island ponies on our way back (which was Karin's idea!). It was a great week, one of the best vacations I've ever had!

I think that everybody who's been on holiday with me knows that I always end up taking pictures of the beautiful creatures. Even better, right in their midst!!

In 1999, Hanna and I went to Paris together, and what do I find?


... a picture of her posing in front of yellow German flowers...


... Ishtar having a closer look at a German mare & foal...


... and then a goat!


We did end up seeing a lot of Paris though (maybe because they had so few animal distractions?)



We learned so much about French culture (and the fact that you can never walk safely on the Champs Elysées if the color of your hair is blond...). Good thing though that we were good at defending ourselves!

Ishtar

Nature offers a time-out

The greatest disadvantages with struggling with an essay (or anything that demands your full intellectual attention) is that, in order to keep my energy level up, I spend most of the time nibbling on sometime. Had I been in Niger, I would have been out riding in the mornings or in the afternoons, but in this tight-scheduled country, there's been no time for any kind of extra these past few weeks. But with the essay, finally done with, I decided it was time to celebrate and headed out into the forest for a good run.



Ah...! Swedish landscape in summertime is beautiful and refreshing! And believe it or not, the sun was actually shining for a few moments there!



The pigs were out; although the newborn piglets didn't come close enough for me to catch them with my mobile phone camera. Nonetheless, the two older pigs were happy to be of (photographic) service!


After 30 minutes of running, I was tired! But it felt really, really good and I was reminded, once again, of how much I miss the horses, who take me out on regular time-outs no matter how much work there is to do...

Oh well, better move on to the next task. Cheers!

Ishtar