Swinging Up To Sweden

To my great pleasure, I was finally able to reschedule my original trip to Sweden (you know, that one disrupted by the epic visit to Brown). I flew up over the last weekend in April to begin what would be two weeks of visiting with very old, very dear friends, and arrived just across the border in Copenhagen after the world's most painless flight out of Stuttgart with nary a customs agent in sight. I love European travel!

After some easy negotiating of the train system (and assisting a fellow travel who read neither Danish or English very well), I met my au-pair, Maria, and her very handsome (very adorable, very pensive, very sleepy) three-month-old Nils at their closest train station in Malmo, a medium-sized (but man is it growing) city in the southern Swedish province of Scania, just across the narrow strip of sea from Denmark. This was my first trip to Sweden, and my first time seeing Maria in over two years, so I as absolutely thrilled! We hopped the bus back to their apartment and I spent some time catching up over what I still maintain is the most delicious salad I've ever had, and enjoying the stunning view out of the apartment windows.

Here is the view from the apartment--you can just make out Copenhagen in the evening light on the opposite side, and just to the left is a large bridge that connects the two, and a wind far

Their apartment is located on an "island" peninsula that was originally formed from the leftover earth removed from what seems to be a cement quarry ("Malmo's Grand Canyon"). It's now a lovely, new, developing part of the city with a number of apartment complexes, a harbor, etc. As you can see, the area is not too shabby! I mean, really tough having to settle for that view, am I right? At any rate, that evening I got my first taste of the rest of Malmo when Maria and I went out for some wine and unbelievable fish stew at a small restaurant in the old part of the city. 

 The deliciousness of this stew inspired me to buy a soup cookbook in Malmo...google translate, here I come!

 Walking through the city center

 the main square

The following day we took a napping Nils for an outing and went to see the museum in Malmo Castle, which  houses both some natural history exhibits, as well as a contemporary art installation that was really interesting. Unfortunately, most things were in Swedish, but I did pick up a few tidbits here and there, and it was just nice to get out for a walk and see the city. We also did some shopping and Maria took me to some of her favorite stores, where I had the timeless problem of wanting to buy everything in sight. Fortunately, we discovered there is a Marimekko (my favorite store by far) in Boston, and I am determined I will have at least a couple of their mugs in my kitchen, even if that's all I can afford in the way of interior decorating!

We then met Maria's fiancee Per for lunch at a local seafood spot/cafe, and stopped by to see his wooden boat that he's been doing some restoration work on. Need I say my fried herring sandwich was delicious? I hope not...

A fish market on the way to the museum

Per's boat, The Raya, under it's tent for restoration

Inside the boat!

Friday evenings are apparently seafood night for Maria and Per, and I was more than happy to partake in the tradition! Here is the dinner table in its preparatory stage...we had saltwater crayfish, shrimp, and absolutely delicious mussels (not yet on the table), along with bread, butter, and wine. I could not have been happier! They kept teasing me about how all I was getting to eat in Sweden was seafood, but I really miss the stuff in Tuebingen..

Check out those crayfish!

On Saturday, Maria and Per took me for a long drive around Scania to visit some lovely coastal spots. They had asked me if there was anything I was interested in seeing, and as it turned out, there were a couple of very cool archaeological sites near where they had planned to take me anyway! We set off in the morning for our first stop in a place called Kivik that is home to the "King's Grave". This is sort of reminiscent of a neolithic passage tomb (see earlier blog posts), except that it's mostly a pile of rocks, and the passageway is actually cut out of them, not into them (i.e. it's not covered). The grave has been reconstructed, and evidence suggests it may have been up to tree times higher than the reconstruction suggests...we'll never know. Inside, lining the grave, they found stones that had been carved with various designs; sounds super cool, right? Well, we discovered as we arrived that we were about four days early...the grave doesn't open until the first week in April. It was still nice to see, though, and I felt less guilty since this nice village had been on the visit list anyway. 

Here we are doing our best impression of Nils' pouty lip. We were not happy!

Here's the view from the nextdoor cafe. Also closed. Boo. 

On our way to our next stop, we paused for a small snack at a cafe in a national park that serves a cookie buffet! Per had been once before, several years ago, and remembered fondly all of the mismatched cups and saucers and the unlimited supply of cookies. We popped in to try a few, and though I somehow managed to spill my tea in my lap (I'm prone to such social faux pas, what can I say), I also managed to get a lot of cookies into my belly. My favorite were the little short breads!

You can see the tasty shortbread all the way to the left, but all of the varieties were pretty scrumptious!

Finally, we went to our last seaside town for a visit to what translate's into English as Ale's Stones. This is a large stone formation, likely Viking and intended to represent a ship, that stands on a bluff overlooking the sea. There are some interesting theories about it's connection to Stonehenge put forth by a retired geologist, but the archaeologists aren't big fans. There is some interesting alignment regarding the sun, though. It was SUPER windy up on the bluff, and here I am proving it...

Yes, that is me leaning into the wind. Also I think I'm about sail away via my jacket. 

Afterwards, we hiked back down the hill and stopped at a fish market/cafe for some more tasty seafood. This place had an unbelievable array of fish and various crustaceans available...

 The right side of the case, complete with smoked and raw delights

 The center of the case, mostly smoked and otherwise cured things

 The smoked eels. Don't they look appetizing? We got some to take home with us for dinner that evening

Here's my very traditional meal--fried herring with mashed potatoes and lingonberry jam. Nils tried his very first "grown-up" food--a small slurp of lingonberry jam, and was summarily not impressed. In true fashion, he dribbled most of it back out the way it had come!

That evening, I received a lesson in risotto preparation from Per, and we enjoyed yet another delicious meal, complete with smoked eel and the appropriate schnapps. Oddly enough, the last time I had Aquavit, our drink of choice to help digest the eel, was also the last time I saw Maria. This was at the wedding of another au-pair (more to come about her visit in the next post!), when, at the end of a very fancy--and utterly delectable--dinner, the waiter asked if we'd like any form of aperitif. I made a contemplative face, and Maria took charge and ordered us each a shot of Aquavit. I was rather interested to note that it went down a lot smoother this time. I can't tell if it's the particular bottle, or perhaps my own life experience...no way to know, I suppose. The eel was actually very good--like an extremely fatty fish, but much tastier than it looked. 

On my final day in Sweden, Maria and I took the train over to Copenhagen to spend some time in the city before I needed to head to the airport. We mostly walked around and took in the sights, plus a few fun stores. She showed me her favorite interior design store, which is absolutely enormous and brimming with Scandinavian and Finnish beauty. We also found ourselves in a second hand store, of which there seem to be a lot in Copenhagen, and made some excellent purchases! Most of the city was under construction it seemed, but we had a wonderful time nonetheless, and ended our day with ice cream, which is always a must!

On one of the very touristy canal areas

One of many, many outdoor cafes and restaurants

 Possibly the one place in the city not obscured by construction tarp

 The array of KitchenAid mixers in the interior design store. *swoon*

More beautiful waterways

My trip to Malmo was unfortunately short, but a wonderful time nonetheless. The great part was that I've now seen just a small part of Sweden and cannot wait to get back to see more!

Last but not least, here are a couple of photos of me with my new little buddy. I think he was pretty perplexed when a stranger showed up and started speaking in this weird language that didn't sound anything like the Swedish or Finnish he is used to. He would stare at me, as if he was concentrating VERY hard, and wrinkle his eyebrows in my general direction, which was pretty hilarious. We had a good time dancing around and singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" together, though, and he would usually let me hold him for a  little while before he decided Mom or Dad were much better suited to his needs. He's a pretty expressive little guy, though, and definitely knows what he wants. Try to put him down on his back when he isn't in the mood? Out comes the quivering, pouty lip!

 Here we are singing together. I am doing the singing, he is doing the conducting

He's a big fan of fingers!

Until next time!