Here’s the second part of my favorite travel and life adventures of the year. And in case you missed it, here’s part one.

Hanging out in Stockholm's archipelago. And guess what, this photo was taken at midnight. Look at that light!

July: A summer house in the Swedish archipelago. We kicked off the month with an island getaway with friends. Not only did we have a great house, we had our own island. We even had to take a boat to get groceries. How cool is that? As our island was small, we spent a lot of time hanging out, eating good meals, drinking wine and just sitting in the sun. It was the most relaxing holiday I’ve ever taken. And the scenery was gorgeous too.

Stephansdom church in Vienna.

August: Mixing business with pleasure in Austria. We went to Innsbruck so I could attend the Travel Bloggers Unite conference for a little inspiration. We wandered around the old town, toured palaces and met a lot of talented travel writers.And of course, we ate a lot of delicious schnitzel and torte. We took the train to Vienna where the architecture and art are insanely beautiful and even the staircases were cool. Vienaa is one of the prettiest cities I’ve seen in a while and Innsbruck was charming too, what with the majestic alps surrounding it.

Hanging out on Kastellholmen in Stockholm.

September: Playing tour guide in Stockholm. My cousin Kara and her husband Jim came to visit, so I put on my cruise director hat and showed them around. I love doing that! On the itinerary was an adrenalin-filled fast tour of the archipelago, touring the old town, bicycling so as to easily island hop and share some of my favorite places in Stockholm. Of course, I had them try the local cuisine and beers too.

Looking across the rooftops of Dubrovnik.

October: Croatia – A summer paradise in the off season. Oh how we lucked out on this trip. Robert was speaking at a conference in Croatia, just outside of Split in Primošten and I, being a dutiful wife, tagged along. The weather was sunny and warm, our hotel was directly on the beach and our room overlooked the Adriatic Sea – this was off-season travel at its finest. We had some amazing local food and wine.  And just when I thought things couldn’t be better, we moved on to Dubrovnik. I absolutely was bowled over by the beauty of the old town and fell in love with a new part of the world.

In Cincinnati's Over-the Rhine, autumn color intersects with a holiday wreath.

November: An All-American Thanksgiving. For the first time in eight years, we had Thanksgiving in the US. I’d always felt like I was missing out on a major holiday while I lived in Sweden, even though we inevitably had a turkey dinner with friends, so it was good to be back in Cincinnati. For the record, we took part in sharing a 22-pound turkey with my parents, brothers and their families. On top of indulging in all that gluttony, I fell back in love with my hometown thanks in no small part to all the revitalization that has been going on over the last several years in the old neighborhoods.

Looking toward the holiday lights at Junibacken through the cafe windows of the Moderna Museum in Stockholm.

December: Spending the holidays at home. We were back in Stockholm by mid-December, just in time to decorate for and then celebrate our first-ever Christmas in Sweden after living here for seven years. As we look forward to where we will be in 2012 – and even whether we will still be in Stockholm at this time next year – it felt like the perfect place to be.

Gott slut as the Swedes would say, which means  ”good end” or have a good end of the year. In fact, there are a number of  rather perfect Swedish words for this time of year, also including god forsättning – or good continuation of the holidayys – either wishing you a continuing good continuation of Christmas from December 26th until December 30th or a good continuation of the new year from January 2-7.

The wide open space of the backroads Northern Ohio.

It’s that time once again when everyone feels compelled to look back on the year that is about to end. Far be it for me to be left out of a trend, so here’s a brief look back at my travels and other adventures. To not give you too much of an overload, I’ll cover January to June here and do a separate post on the rest of the year.

January: Back in Ohio.There’s something reassuring about going back to your roots, seeing family and friends, a  familiar landscape and shopping, happy in the knowledge that prices are so much lower than in Stockholm. Plus, the longer I am away, the more easily I can appreciate where I’m from. Robert and I spent Christmas in Cincinnati and new year’s in Port Clinton for the great walleye drop where yes, a giant fish is dropped at midnight to celebrate.

The view from our hotel room in Hobart, Tasmania.

February: Tasmania, Sydney, Canberra, Darwin and the Outback. What’s not to love about 1) Being in Australia in summer and 2) Leaving winter in Stockholm behind? After traveling for 37 hours, more than 10,000 miles through 9 time zones (I think) and five airports – including Stockholm, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Sydney and Hobart – we finally arrived in Tasmania. I loved seeing the brand-new MONA art museum there and this post continues to be one of my most read of the year. Sydney is always tops in my estimations, but in the Northern Territory, we encountered crocodiles, kangaroos, floods and cyclones, making this one of my most memorable trips of the year.

This is the first day of spring in Stockholm. The Baltic Sea is still frozen as you can see here and the snow keeps coming.

March: Living in the Arctic.  After already having had four solid months of continual snow, we got even more of the white stuff. After falling when I attempted to switch to regular boots outside, I wore snow boots every day. It seemed that I spent most of the month checking out new restaurants and bars and exploring the Soho-like neighborhood around me. Eating and drinking is really all you can do to cope with this relentless winter stuff. It’s a good thing I like snow.

Playing chess under the cherry blossoms at Kungsträgården in the center of Stockholm.

April: Transitions. At the beginning of the month, there was still snow and ice. Everywhere. By the end, the snow was finally gone and Stockholm was starting to bloom. I could be outside again without freezing or wearing snow boots. At last. I felt alive again, especially when the cherry blossoms came out at Kungsträdgården. And there were a lot of parties too, including one for Prince William’s royal wedding. I got a teenage thrill seeing Swedish band Peter, Bjorn and John in concert and getting to dance with lead singer Peter.

An escape to the middle of Sweden.

May: The Swedish countryside. Unbelievably, we got more snow at the beginning of the month. But it melted quickly and we moved on with spring. On a press trip into the middle of the country, I got back in touch with my Swedish side by staying in a manor house that was built in 1775, eating some fabulous husmanskost or home cooking – including reindeer, meatballs, salmon and cloudberries – sweating in the sauna and hiking in the forest with deer.

One of the many Amsterdam canals.

June: Amsterdam. I love this city more every time I visit it. Sure it’s got that rap for being seedy, what with its infamous red light district and coffee houses, but this place is so much more than that. Pretty canals, fantastic art museums, international cuisine, great live music, flower markets, tasty cheese and beer, charming architecture and alleyways – all of which can be easily explored by bike. It’s my kind of town. Back in Stockholm, we celebrated my favorite swedish holiday – midsommar – with snaps, herring, good friends and yes, we did do something called the frog dance.

Coming up in the next half of the year, the archipelago, Austria, Croatia and more.

A cheese coney and three way from Skyline Chili.

Remember a few weeks ago when Robert and I made our own version of Cincinnati chili? Well, here’s a photo of the real deal from Skyline Chili. Check out that mound of ORANGE cheddar cheese. And behind the three way on the left is a cheese coney – a hot dog on a bun with chili and cheese. On the right is a bowl of oyster crackers to eat with the chili. Calorie overload? You got that right. But it was worth it.

Christmas cookies from the BonBonerie.

On the way to the BonBonerie.

There are certain things I always feel like I have to do to get ready for the holidays: put up holiday lights and candles, decorate a tree, hang up stocking, get a red amaryllis. And I love to make cut out and iced Christmas cookies.

On Saturday, I made a batch of sugar cookies with my seven-year-old niece Katie. Actually, I cheated a bit and used a pre -made sugar cookie dough. But Katie and I rolled it and cut out snowflakes, Christmas trees, stars, stockings and gingerbread men. Then we decorated the cookies with icing and sprinkles and chocolate chips. Katie loved the whole process. And like me, she’s a big fan of eating cookie dough.  So we had fun a lot of fun.

As if that wasn’t enough sweet stuff for one day, I later took my mom and aunt for lunch at the BonBonerie. This charmingly cute bakery makes some of the best pastries you can find in Cincinnati. On a Saturday afternoon, the place was packed and I loved checking out all the holiday sweets. I hadn’t been there in years, so I couldn’t resist sampling and also buying some of my favorite treats, including their cut-out cookies, lemon squares and opera cream cake. It was way too much and I spent the rest of the day in sweet overload, but it was oh so good.

And somehow, it made me feel like Christmas is on the way.

Katie and her cookies.

Gingerbread cookies.

Bryn and Rob check out the wine and The Buzz at Dutch's.

On Friday, we met up with old friends to check out a few new-to-us places: Dutch’s Bar & Bottle Shop and Keystone Bar & Grill. Both are in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Cincinnati and not far from where Robert and I used to live, so it felt good to be back in familiar territory. First stop was Dutch’s for a drink. When we last lived in Hyde Park – seven years ago, gasp – this was a bottle shop. It was a good place to buy wine and beer, but not somewhere you could hang out and drink. Now it has a small bar, a patio with a fire pit and a bocce ball court. The atmosphere was casual – except for one couple making out in the corner – and there was a good selection of wines and beers. We loved it! (Well, maybe not the make-out couple.)

Next stop was Keystone for dinner. This place is known for it’s Quesadilla and Mac ‘N Cheese menus, so we sampled both. Yum. Good home cooking. We all left happy. Plus, there’s nothing quite so good as getting caught up with old friends.

A selection of beers at Dutch's bottle shop.

My quesadilla at Keytone.

The Norwegian beers on top at Dutch's.

It’s been fun to check out the holiday light displays on houses around Cincinnati. They tend to run the gamut from little white lights on bushes and trees to full-on displays of Santas and nativity scenes. The blow-up creations are still popular this year, as are the super-bright LED lights. And as always, the homes that combine such crazy combinations as Rudolph with a nativity scene and Frosty the snowman always make me laugh.

Even though it was a gray day, it was still light at 4.15, as you can see on the Gateway Tower clock.

The dark. It’s still light here in Cincinnati at 5.30 in the afternoon. There’s none of that dark at 2.30 stuff of Stockholm. Enough said?

"Mr.Tarbell tips his hat"is four-stories high. It's at 1109 Vine Street.

"Homage to Cincinnatus" mural at Central Parkway and Vine.

Walking around Over-the-Rhine in downtown Cincinnati on Saturday, we came across all sorts of outdoor artworks. Many of the murals were done by ArtWorks, a non-profit arts organization looking to inspire artists of all ages with opportunities to create public art. The Homage to Cincinnatus mural was painted in 1983 and has been around for a while, but the others are from the last few years.

Almost every time we turned a corner, we came across a new work. It was like walking around an urban gallery. Definitely cool. And worth checking out too. Better still –  there are many, many more murals to see than what I’ve included here.

"Ghettotopia Mural, Mural on the Wall" at Orchard and Main Streets.

ArtWorks mural at Main and 14th.

Another ArtWorks mural at Main and 13th.

"Higher Level Art mural at 33 East 12th. (That's Robert in front.)

"Ice Cream Daydream" is at 33 East 12th Street.

"Imagine Peace and Unity" arch at the 1300 block of Vine Street.

On Saturday night, we went to an old-fashioned holiday parade. Actually, it was equal parts old and new as there were antique horse-drawn carriages decorated with modern holiday lights. The 23rd annual parade was in Lebanon, Ohio – a small town just north of Cincinnati – and my brother and his family live there, so we joined them for the festival.

Over 100 carriages paraded around town pulled by teams of miniature ponies, huge Clydesdales and all sorts of other options. The carriages themselves ranged from Cinderella style to surreys and sulkies to wagons and sleighs with wheels added on. Perhaps not surprisingly for a small town parade, the display ranged from charming to tacky. Many carriages and horses had holiday lights and some played music. Some of the carriage drivers and riders wore period clothing – long velvet dresses with mufflers and capes – while others dressed as elves, Santa and even the grinch. And along the parade route, spectators sat on lounge chairs and cheered on the procession. Somehow, it all felt quintessentially American.

Holiday ornaments in the window of 4U Boutique.

From inside the 4 U Boutique in Over-the-Rhine on Tuesday, it looked like the ornaments were floating over Vine Street. Very cool.