Stockholm, Pt. 2

Stockholm was a gift.

It's difficult to explain exactly why our weekend in Stockholm was so amazing. But I think the common factor is this: It was filled with blessings and surprises that far exceeded what we had asked or looked for.

Simply the fact that we had a friend in the area was wonderful. But then the same friend had the generosity to invite us into her home - which turned out to be a beautiful, peaceful home in the perfect location. Then we discover that her father works for the State Department - and suddenly a whole new door opens for Jacob and I to explore a career that was already attracting us.

I could go on - the happy surprises compounded daily. But instead, I will show you some pictures of this beautiful city.

Most of our days were spent exploring districts of the city. One of my favorite areas was Gamla Stan - the old town area of the city. The streets were narrow and cobblestone, filled with cool restaurants and underground, cave-like cafes.

On Saturday we had a very full day of wandering the city. In the early afternoon we found our way to Sodermalm, known as the "arsty boho" district of Stockholm. We walked through the streets for a while, found the one place in Stockholm that sells cupcakes, and stumbled onto a neighborhood "Bloc Party".

If you were wondering where all the late 20-somethings in Stockholm hang out, they were at the Bloc Party. Impeccably groomed and hair styled, congregating in the streets with cigarettes in hand and indie music booming in the background. It was paradise for The Sartorialist.

In the evening we had grand things planned - a reservation at the Stockholm IceBar - a subset of the legendary IceHotel. Sure it may be a bit touristy, but donning parkas and hanging out in a supremely cold ice-room drinking cocktails out of ice-cups was the closest we were going to come to the real dream: a night at the IceHotel in Lapland. So the IceBar in itself was a taste of success in accomplishing our goal. 

We got to the IceBar where we queued up, slipped on our poncho-parka-things and mittens, and marched on in. IceClub is more like it. Music was blaring, colored lights bounced off the ice, and soon the place was packed with people. But everything was made of ice. 

After the IceBar we walked through the city back towards our apartment, only to find that Stockholm was in the midst of a gigantic city-wide Culture Festival. Every square we turned into seemed to hold another free show or concert, with an audience of thousands. The first show we ran across was a modern theater/circus performance, created entirely by women. Scaffolding was raised in the middle of the square, where the female artists blended strange abstract theater with incredible acrobatic feats.

We stayed for a bit, then ventured on. Ten minutes later we were in the midst of a gigantic outdoor club. DJs played from a raised stage that looked down upon thousands of awkward 14 year olds, all of whom were too self-aware to dance.

We turned the corner a block away from the club, to see another massive crowd ahead of us watching a  symphony. This, apparently, is where all those kids' parents were. We debated continuing on but decided against it. We were tired and happy, and walked roughly 8 hours that day.

And to finish up the post, I will share a great line I just read on McSweeny's:

Places blondes don't have more fun: Sweden. (Where they have just as much fun as everybody else).

Stockholm

A couple of weeks ago, a friend from college sent us a message out of the blue. It went something like this: "Hey! It's been a while! I hear you are in Sweden - my family lives in Stockholm, you should come visit!".

Needless to say, we jumped on the opportunity, excited to see a friend as well as get an insider's tour of Stockholm.

So on Thursday morning we took the train to Stockholm and were met by our lovely friend Siobhan.

She took us back to her family's apartment, but the word "apartment" doesn't really do it justice. As it turns out her father is a foreign service Diplomat, working at the American Embassy in Sweden. (Actually, he has the exact same job title as my Grandfather - except my Grandfather worked in other countries and back in the 1950's-1970's. It's hugely exciting for Jacob and I, given our deep interest and fascination with the State Department and all things related to Embassies.)

One of the perks of the job is that the Embassy provides you with housing. Nice housing. Housing that is good for entertaining lots of important people (and housing the odd traveler or two).

I'm in heaven here.

Then we went on a walk around Stockholm. It rained.

Jacob and I love Stockholm. It's easy to get around by walking, public transportation, or biking. There is even a wide two-way bike lane on the side of every major road. There are lots of beautiful buildings, and little districts that we can wander in and explore.

By default of our hosts, Jacob and I were invited to a casual barbeque at the American Ambassador's residence.

The Ambassador's residence.

Jacob and I rubbed elbows with Diplomats and Embassy staff, wandered around the gorgeous (embassy provided) 1930's era mansion, and had a long conversation with the Ambassador. (He even commended Jacob and I for our travels, and we got to tell him about my Grandparent's Diplomatic work in the Cold War).

Shall I repeat myself? I'm in heaven. In a dream. And so grateful for this totally un-sought-after and  once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to glimpse into the life of the Foreign Service. It's been incredible so far.

The 9 P.M. Walks

9 P.M. has become a special hour for Jacob and I within the past few days.

It all started when, after an evening of lazing around, I bugged Jacob until he agreed to go on a walk with me. We left the house right before 9 p.m, just as it was beginning to get dark outside.

We turned the corner out of the tree coverage and onto the street, where the view opens up to fields on either side and the road leads up a hill. And then we flipped out.

The sky looked like it was swallowed in fire. We had never seen a sunset that saturated the sky so vibrantly with neon oranges and pinks. We kept walking up the road, getting more and more excited the more we saw of the sunset. Finally we took off running, trying to get to the top of the hill before the sunset was gone.

It was breathtaking. This is what we saw:

The picture is poor quality and taken on a cellphone - and of course you know pictures of sunsets never come close to their real-life splendor. But it still gives you some idea of how spectacular this sunset was: incredible enough to make us run.

The next evening we ventured out at 9 P.M. again, hoping we would find another sunset like the night before. Opting out of running, we took the bikes up the hill, and did not find a sunset.

We found this:

Evening fog was rolling in over the fields, making wispy designs and patterns in the air as it flowed between trees and settled over the grass. Jacob even saw three deer leaping through the fog. We stayed until it was almost completely dark, then rode our bikes back home.

And just for good measure, here is another picture from a recent trip to our favorite lake on a stormy hot day.

It seems like everywhere here is the "scenic route". We've just been rolling in the natural splendor, and it never gets old.

The Food Issue

This post is going to have a lot of pictures of food. If you are feeling a bit hungry, I suggest you go find a snack now.

Much of the past two days have been spent in the garden or the kitchen. On Wednesday Jacob and I switched jobs. I took on the manual labor, while he put on the apron and baked in the kitchen.

It was challenging, but digging flower beds in the garden and transplanting trees was fun and (sort of) empowering. Meanwhile, Jacob was in the kitchen, baking up a storm and having a blast. Jacob got the extra satisfaction of selling a number of his confections that day in the cafe (with compliments to the chef!).

First I will show you my favorite stool in the kitchen. It's my favorite because: 1. It's pretty, 2. It's handy, and 3. I stand on it or use it several times a day to take pictures of food that we made, foraged, or dug up in the garden. You will be seeing it a lot.

The Stool

This stool is a good example of our role in the kitchen: Apprentice. We are learning to run the cafe the way Amy does, which means we do a good amount of watching and listening before we can jump in. But when we do jump in, we get to make some pretty awesome stuff.

Key Lime Pie

Chocolate Cupcake

Homemade Bread

Once we were done with work, Jacob and I decided to bike into the closest town of Skinskatteberg - 10 km bike ride each way. It was a very pleasant bike ride - mostly flat, with beautiful views of fields and forest and storm clouds on the horizon. Once we arrived in town, we found a train station, a church, a grocery store and one town square. That's about it. Tiny.

Regardless, it was nice to be in a town for the first time in a week.

Today consisted of more baking and digging in the garden - but this time Jacob and I worked together. Since the summer season in Sweden is winding down, Amy has tasked us with working through her garden to harvest vegetables and find creative ways to preserve them for the winter. For obvious reasons, I'm thrilled with this job. The first thing we harvested were garlic and potatoes. For a mid-size garden, the variety and quantity of vegetables in those beds is constantly surprising.

The Daily Crop of Salads

Garlic, Beets, and Carrots from the Garden

In the afternoon Jacob and I went for a walk through the woods and found a treasure trove of mushrooms called Summer Chanterelles. We had heard from Amy that they could be found everywhere this time of year if you just knew the right type of forest to look in. Jacob and I had been searching for them on every walk we had taken, and now we have finally found the right forest. We stuffed the huge pockets of my coat with the mushrooms, and took them home with us.

Summer Chanterelles

Tonight we are going to participate in a traditional Swedish summer celebration - the Crayfish Feast. Jacob and I have been really looking forward to this. I'll tell you how it is in a couple days!