We're Here

And so it begins. A new phase in life. New every-day life. New home. New neighbourhood and surroundings. New languages (or languages if we opt to learn Dutch as well; and Isolde will hear a lot of English too which is also new to her). New places to get used. Streets, playgrounds, supermarkets.

I thought for a while that we were going to miss our plane. We (my mum, me and the kids) got there in time, one hour early and we were already checked in, but the queue to bag drop was long and after that we were supposed to drop off Harald's car seat at special baggage and go through security and make our way all the way to a gate furthest down the terminal. The lady at bag-drop acknowledged that we may be short of time, so she offered to take our car seat (and she also gave us a bag for it for free; only 40 SEK but still) - so nice of her! But while queuing for security I realised we had less than 25 minutes to take-off, and the queue was pretty long, so I explained our predicament (including played the "I'm travelling with two small children-card") and asked if we could go through the fast track. There was a queue there too (and by Murphy's Law we chose the slow of the two lanes there) but we saved some time and then we jogged through the terminal to our gate. There were a few other passengers arriving at the same time and a few after us so in the end we were fine, but for a while there I was a bit worried. 

The children did really well on the flight and the plane landed almost 15 mins early. Peter picked us up - it was wonderful to see him after a few days apart and it felt very symbolic: now our new life begins. When we arrived at our new home Peter popped open the champagne and we toasted to new beginnings. The flat felt really homely already as Peter had already been to the supermarket for supplies - and our new neighbour Petra had lent us some crockery and cutlery for the weekend until our stuff arrives - and even bought a TV. For some reason we have already spread our stuff around the flat and I'm wondering where our 40 boxes of stuff will fit and wishing a little we were just starting afresh with what was in our suitcases and in the car with Peter haha :)

Here's the view from one of our two balconies of the street and the buildings opposite.  

After champagne and dinner - tomato and mozzarella followed by pasta - we went to the nearest playground 5 minutes away, and now both kids have been sleeping for a while (Isolde seems to like her new room and bed) and it's time for us adults to go to bed too.