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6.15.2008

Not Exactly A Vacation, But A Very Busy Week In Sweden

Where to continue?This week has been spent running back and forth between Stockholm and Skärplinge with the move and other details. On the drive I fell in love with the beautiful historic churches I would see peep up from the vast vistas. I did manage to see Uppsala and the historic Cathedral and Castle on a quick drive by. I vow to explore that town some more. Another town I fell in love with was the ancient Gävle that sits alongside a river. It was once a major trade hub centuries ago . In the rural countryside I saw old American cars with Confederate flags. I guess they like The Dukes Of Hazard. I wonder if they know what the symbolism of a Confederate flag really means? Certain Someone and I spent an isolated 2 days and night in our new home (I like saying that).I worked on the kitchen and he hooked up his old computer. We have no Digital Box so no TV. Just the quiet of nature and some old MP 3's. I was amazed at the china and crystal collection Certain Someone had in storage. I have a well stocked kitchen for sure with weights, bowls, blenders, etc. I see a lot of baking bread and such up there.I want to plan a huge Midsommar bash for next summer. In the eerie country silence I saw a real fox looking back at me from the back yard and he jumped into the woodpile. Two country neighborhood cats came a calling. I think they thought the old owner was there with his cat. Our friends almost ran over a Moose near the house when leaving one night after the move. All this common up here. I walked to the sea as Certain Someone napped.The beach is a stark rocky patch that looks so beautiful.Finland awaits on the other side of the sea.I finally got used to the whole Outhouse thing. It wasn't to bad and actually quite cute inside with its yellow interior, candles, etc. It never really got to dark to make me scared to walk to it. The whole Midnight Sun thing going on. I admit I jumped whenever I heard a car . It's that's isolated and who knows what or who is lurking around. One of those places you wonder if a tree fell, would you hear it?
Not much to report on the food front. A lot of quick MAX burger , pizzas and kebab consumed. Swedish pizza is odd yet very good. Mostly run by Iraqis immigrants, it has wild non traditional ingredients. My favorite are banana chicken, ham,curry types. Some have kebab on top. Kebab resembles gyro meat. Thinly shaved aromatic lamb served with peppers, sauces,etc. Delicious. Certain Someones favorite is Palmyra.I would fly over for it , it's that good!

The wedding was wonderful. Set in a beautiful old German Church in Gamla Stan(OLD TOWN). After the dual German and Swedish language ceremony we walked the cobbled streets in our finery to an old Shipping Club called Sjöfartshuset. One of those Old Boy Clubs lined with portraits of old titans of the sea and some royalty. Swedish weddings are very long and full of toasts and speeches between courses. Also rigid seating plans with lots of careful thought. Each guest is numbered in the program with a chart pointing to where they sit and a brief description of some obscure details of the person. I was listed as , the Sambo(remember it means legal partner) of Certain Someone ,a Food Blogger and jewelery designer. Its fun to learn other tidbits from people. The food was fabulous and topped of with a marzipan tiered cake. My feet were killing me by the nights end. The following day BH (my host) and I rose for ladies brunch with fellow food bloggers Anne and Dagmar . We went to Hasselbacken an old Swedish restaurant for brunch in Djurgarden. What a lovely time we had talking blogs, food, and Sweden. I know I will see them again in my returns. I gave them some cornmeal and Masa they requested and they gave me a lovely cookbook of Swedish pastry from Haga(in the west coast). We parted ways and ventured to NK where BH and I purchased fragrant teas and browsed the food halls. She surprised me with Cloudberry and Raspberry jam I had had my eye on. A true taste of Sweden.

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29 comments:

L Vanel said...

A delight to read, and the photos are wonderful. I am savoring every single word.

Megan said...

How fun that sounds. And such beautiful pictures. Looks ands sounds like heaven. I wish I were there too!

Anonymous said...

Thnaks for the holiday updates but you really could have waited, ya know!


Welcome back and settle back in, home is always so comforting.hds

Proud Italian Cook said...

Your new home sounds wonderful, sounds like you're havingf a great time, loved the pictures too!

Anne said...

Oh, I'm so happy I got to meet you!! Look forward to many more times! :) I hope you have a good - and fast! - trip home :)

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

A fantastic country! It's so great to meet other bloggers...

Cheers,

Rosa

The Caked Crusader said...

Sounds like you're having a great time!
The wedding cake looks fab

~~louise~~ said...

Wow! All that and a "certain someone" too! what else could a girl ask for?

Great pics. Thanks for sharing...

Swati said...

Loved reading everybit.. You seem to be having a grand time..Wish I could have a closer look at the wedding cake ..

Jen said...

Summer is such a lovely time in Scandinavia... I would so much rather be there then in the middle of DC with no escape from the heat.

P.S. I love Swedish marzipan cakes.

giz said...

Loving the pictures and sounds like although really crazy busy, it's still all memorable.

Luca and Sabrina said...

Yes, a true and lovely taste of Sweden.....
Maybe you'll come and see us in Italy one day...It will be wonderful!
Hugs
Sabrina&Luca

Emily said...

Mmm...pizza.

What a fun trip! The sea looks beautiful.
I bet you can't wait to start baking some bread.

The outhouse would have freaked me out.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you had a wonderful week in Sweden :)

Anonymous said...

What a fun time you had. Thanks for sharing the lovely photo with us.

Paz

Mary said...

It sounds like you are having an absolutely wonderful trip!

Núria said...

What a great trip! I know what you mean when you say that the sound of a car scares you... being so isolated has good and bad aspects too! However, I would love to be you for some days :D

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

You can walk to the sea? sigh. that is so nice!

Deborah said...

What a fun time! It makes me sad that I am just sitting here, staring at my computer, stuck in an office. Everything sounds like such an adventure! I especially curious about pizza with bananas...

Jen said...

It sounds absolutely lovely, but that you might need a vacation from your vacation!

Your house sounds wonderful. I think the outhouse thing is pretty normal for Swedish country homes.

What a fascinating week! It all seemed perfectly lovely.

Welcome back!

Nikki @ NikSnacks said...

I know that everyone appreciates the fact that you took the time out to blog from your busy, busy week in Sweden! Thanks so much for sharing your adventure with us!

I'm ready to see more food from you, missy!

Dagmar said...

It was great meeting you! I look forward to meet you again, which I hope will happen soon. Next time I would love to invite you for dinner at home. Thanks again for the cornmeal.

Take care!

SteamyKitchen said...

thank you for a little 5 min vacation! loved your photos

Anonymous said...

What a lovely "stroll" through your time there. I read a non-cooking blog written by a person in Sweden, and love everything about it. It's definitely one of the places on my travel list. Ummm? Bananas on pizza? Ew. ;)

Thistlemoon said...

Sounds like so much fun! I am having a great time on this virtual Swedish vacation! :)

Midsummer is a huge deal over there and I still celebrate!

Anonymous said...

did you eat enuf? and congrats on the house.. but wait, what kind of treats did you bring back? fashion wise? hee hee...

Hendersonville Epicurean said...

Hey Co-Co-Courtney,

I've been trying to comment on your blog through Foodbuzz for a couple of days now and there seems to be some problem. Might be a general Foodbuzz problem? Haven't checked out commenting on other blogs yet.

The house looks adorable and the location sounds so Sweed - no, I mean Sweet!

After not speaking English for weeks while traveling in Europe, it was so wonderful when we ran into another American - just a level of comfort thing.

Jeanne said...

Your trip sounds amazing - and how lovely that you met Anne - isn't she great?

Those pizzas sound... interesting. The kebab/gyro topping sounds quite yummy, but bananas on pizza? Blleeeuurgh! The Pizza Police would have a fit :o)

Astrid said...

I lived in Sweden for a year (Tranas, near Linkoping) and my very small town had at least 5 pizza places. I miss that pizza! My favorite was kebab meat (lamb), kebab sauce (Man, I want a recipe for that sauce) and pepperocini peppers. I'm salivating just thinking about it, and I haven't had it for 10 years.

Got any recipes for Swedish Pizza crust? Kebab sauce?

Love your blog, and jealous of your trip!