NOW JESS

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Way Out West 2016

We ended our second summer in Europe the same way we finished our first. By going to the Way Out West music festival in Gothenburg (Göteborg), Sweden. We had such a great time last year that we thought it would be the perfect way to finish our amazing summer road trip. If you missed our visit to Gothenburg the first time around you can read all about the sunshine, music and coffee here.

Rain, Rain go away

Unfortunately though, we seemed to have left all the good weather outside of Sweden. The forecast for the next 3 days was for rain, rain and more rain! So before we headed to the first day of the festival we went shopping for gumboots and ponchos. And thank goodness we did. We had a few hours of sunshine on day one, but after that it was all rain. By the last day we were ankle deep in mud and soaked to the bones. I think I really pulled off the poncho look though :)[gallery type="circle" link="none" ids="2366,2365,2364"]The lineup this year was again amazing. Some of my favourites were Chvrches, Jack Garratt, Massive Attack, Zara Larsson and Sia. Unlike last year though we didn't see as many of the acts that we didn't already know. It was raining so much that in between performances we went to take cover under a tree or at a local cafe. Which meant that again we got to enjoy a lot of the fantastic coffee that Gothenburg has to offer.Gothenburg coffee

wrapping up the summer

Even though the weather was pretty terrible, it was nice to be back in Sweden after so long away. The relaxed atmosphere of the festival was also a really nice way to finish up our summer holidays. It was seriously an amazing trip and one that I will never forget. We saw so many different places, ate so much delicious food and smiled all the way. Living in Europe has certainly given us many more opportunities, like this holiday, than we had in Australia, and I'm grateful for every moment. With that thought, I'll leave you with a few things that a five week driving holiday around Europe with my two favourite people taught me :)

  1. I really, really love Italian Food!
  2. I also really love warm weather
  3. And swimming in warm water
  4. I love being near the water and don't enjoy inland cities as much
  5. The most touristy city we visited was Prague
  6. The most peaceful place was the B&B Mas de Longuefeuille
  7. Italian roads are terrifying!
  8. Coffee and driving in Italy gives me anxiety
  9. I need to learn more about European History
  10. My family are the best!! And I love going on adventures with them :)

I hope that you enjoyed reading all about my amazing summer, it was truly special. Now it was time for our next adventure. On our way back to Stockholm we stopped to pick up our new puppy! You can read all about my first few weeks with him here.Cheers, Jess :)