Quenching our thirst on a summer night

Stockholm is shining brightly in all it's glory right now. If you're here, you know what I mean. Everything is glittering, sparkling, glowing. Everyone is smiling. Strangers are whistling on park benches. The sun is out and it's not been this hot in a year at least. That's a long wait for a day when it's warm even in the shade. Of course in Sweden, this means that an extreme heat warning is in full effect. I'm certainly not complaining.

Hallelujah!

And so I made summer smoothie. The ice cream place, Fryst, next-door to our apartment (which I know you'll be shocked to find out I haven't been to yet even though we've lived here for 3 months now!), was just closing it's doors for the day by the time we cycled up last night after an evening swim. And so, I decided to use all the fruit I could find in our kitchen and make my own creation thanks to our lovely landlord's juicer.

It consisted of exactly what you see here:

Plus some crushed flax seed and chia seeds. And a spoonful of vanilla kvarg (translates to quark in English - it's yogurt-esque with low fat and high protein).

It was quite tasty - refreshing, cool, and full of nutrients. Which our ice cream would not have been. Still, I'll admit I'd take the ice cream over smoothie any day. 

Shoes - 1, Me - 0

On Sunday morning, I took a lovely, rainy, 8-kilometer walk with my mother-in-law around Maren lake in Västervik. On Monday evening, I did an Interval Body Pump class at my gym. Same shoes. No problem, right? Big problem in Sweden.

Maren lake on a rainy day

Since the start of my gym-going days in Sweden, I've scoffed at the idea of having a separate pair of indoor training shoes. That's ridiculous, I always insisted. Such an expensive, unnecessary luxury. 

Instead of abiding by this nation-wide rule, I would sneak into the gym with my outdoor shoes only. It's all in one's self-assurance, right? No hesitation, no questions.

But today's gym experience was worse than questions. About 10 minutes into my 75-minute class, I looked down to see my entire area covered in pieces of dirt. Big and small, some with clumps of grass - it was not a pretty sight. And only got worse over the next 65 minutes. 

I was ashamed. The other 29 pairs of shoes in the room were flawless - not a spot of dirt to be found across the grey rubber floor (although plenty of drops of sweat). And so I hopped, I squatted, I lifted for the remaining 65 minutes surrounded by the stigma of my carelessness. 

At the end of the class, I tried to discreetly sweep all the dirt up with a wet paper towel. And another. And then another. So much for discretion. 

Will I change my habits? Probably not. I'm not exactly in the position to spend 2,000 sek on another pair of training shoes for the gym. But I will never forget to scrape off my shoes after a muddy walk. And neither will anyone in the class who stood behind me. 

Sunny dips in Hornsberg

Finally summer has come to Stockholm. It took awhile - a long, chilly June - but July has brought the heat so let's forget about whatever cold summer once was and focus on the now  because it's here and it won't be for long.

NS and I rode our bikes the 3 minutes from our apartment to Hornsberg after dinner tonight where there was a slow hustle in the air. People passing, boats passing, ducks passing by our perch on a grassy knoll - no one in a hurry, just enjoying the evening light and warmth. 

After awhile, we worked up the nerve to take a quick swim, sans wetsuit and sauna close by this time. It felt amazing. Exhilarating. And wasn't even that bad biking home either. 

Please, summer, stick around for awhile now if you don't mind. I think I speak for this city as a whole when I say that we'd be ever so thankful.

What happens in Bråvalla stays in Bråvalla

Not to say that anything bad would be happening there, of course. It's a festival, what do you expect? It was my first, though, so I wasn't really sure. But what a first festival it was.

Living in a tent in a massive field in the middle of nowhere with over 50,000 other music-lovers really brings some perspective to life. There were moments when I wondered why I was paying to be here at all, and others when I wanted to stay for another week instead of our Wednesday-to-Sunday stretch. 

And then there was the music, which made every discomfort worth it.

Imagine Dragons on our one sunny day

I saw a total of 22 bands over the course of 3 days - many more than the number of live shows I've seen in recent years. There truly is something incredible about seeing live music, whether the sun is shining brightly as it did on our first day, or torrential rainstorms are matched with hurricane-level gusts of wind, like they were on Friday. 

our post-storm, pre-dismantle party tent

Despite heroic efforts (and lightening shocks!), our party tent didn't really survive the storm. But we just piled on more layers (somewhat damp by then) and tramped through the debris-filled mud pits in our wellies.

I won't tell you all the bands I saw, but I will list my top three:

- Imagine Dragons - a surprise, as I thought I was sick of them
- The Kooks - what's not to love?
- and Veronica Maggio - featuring a surprise duet with the legendary Håkan Hellström (like Sweden's Bob Dylan (right, Swedes? or?)) - can't get enough of her (Veronica, that is), whether or not I understand all of her lyrics

Despite such an amazing festival, it was also wonderful coming home. And taking a shower. My first in 5 days. I went down to Bråvalla expecting to at least wash my face every day, but soon realized brushing my teeth was all I was likely to do in terms of hygiene. And that was okay. Everyone's in the same boat of uncleanliness at a festival, especially after making it through a storm like the one we experienced. There was a feeling of camaraderie afterwards; that we'd made it together.

Sometimes we all need to live a little - grab some beers, pitch a tent with good friends, and listen to some incredible tunes.

Celebrating the start of "summer"

This past weekend, we bundled up and celebrated what is meant to be the start of summer. In such high latitudes, the longest day of the year - June 21 - is a big deal. 18 hours and 37 minutes of daylight is certainly worthy of pomp. Bring out the trumpets, let loose all reason. Will there be games? Yes! Should I have a whiskey at noon? Absolutely! Indulge to your heart's content - it's Midsommar!

And so we did - although under the most un-summer-like conditions. Clouds covered the sky for most of the day and the gorgeous island we were welcomed to was a wind haven. But no matter - we (15 of us in all) hunkered down in whatever clothing we could get our hands on and made the best of it, with a roaring fire in one of the three tiny cabins to bring back the feeling to our toes and fingers when we could no longer deny our numb digits.

a roaring start to my lap around the island

That fire was especially critical for me after swimming around the island on Saturday morning. The water was just under 60 degrees F (about 15 degrees C) and the air was a bit cooler, made more so by the rain spattering throughout the day. But I'd lugged my wetsuit all the way from Stockholm - 5 hours by bus, 35 minutes by car, and 10 minutes by boat - and by God it wasn't going to be for nothing. It's only about 500m around the island, but in such temperatures (and with the fear of whatever creatures could be lurking in those treacherous waters), it was a feat.

the sky just a bit before midnight

Thankfully the spots of rain let up in the evenings so we could sit on the north-facing deck and enjoy long dinners with this view. It is truly an incredible place to be in any weather. Now for some summer temps please!

Travel woes in Sweden

Hello, Midsommar in Sweden! Or rather, the eve of Midsommar Eve. Undoubtedly one of Sweden’s biggest days for travel. Which means the usually speedy 2-lane (sometimes 4-lane) roads that cross the country are jam-packed with travelers, eager to celebrate the coming of “summer” (which means rain and 10 degrees C today) with snaps and pickled herring. Isn’t that what we all crave when we think of summer?

But before all that, we sit in a very long line of cars which, for NS and I, has made what is usually a 4-hour drive from Stockholm down to Västervik more like 6 hours. But that’s just speculation – we’re not there yet.  

It feels like half of our journey so far has been at a full stop. And when we’re not motionless, our bus driver is driving in circles trying to find the next pick-up spot. One disgruntled passenger went so far as to yell at our driver from the back of the bus (this never happens in Sweden).

Transportation in Sweden doesn’t get more exciting than this. And it’s not only the start of Midsommar weekend. 

Miss Voon swanky town

On Wednesday night, we celebrated NS' birthday. 32!! How did that happen?  I remember planning a big dinner with friends for his 24th in Australia! Where does the time go?

Anyway, I'm always one for surprises - both surprising and being surprised - so I planned an evening out for just the two of us, as has become our birthday tradition. 

We met at one of Stockholm's infamous landmarks, Svampen - the mushroom - in the middle of the main square of the city's posh-est neighborhood (only the best for my älskling). And led him to the Scandic Anglais hotel's roof-top terrace:

Photo from Scandic hotels

Nice, huh? 

We ordered G&T's and sat perched along a high bench overlooking lovely Humlegården - the Bumble Bee Gardens - and Kungliga Biblioteket - the King's Library. 

When we'd finished our drinks, we headed onward to our table at Miss Voon, a trendy new Asian fusion restaurant up the street. Michelin recommended, Miss Voon's food is incredible and is served beneath low-lights and soft electronic tunes. Our set 4-course menu consisted of

• lobster tacos

• salmon tartar sushi-type thing (hard to hear the very long description from our waitress)

• lamb rack with curry sauce

• rhubarb strawberry compote with almond cake and vanilla yoghurt 

Each course was so fresh and delicious! Although the portions were small, I thought at the time, I was perfectly satisfied by the end - a welcome experience compared with my typical over-eating-followed-by-never-wanting-to-eat-again status quo when eating out. 

As we paid the bill, we received a gift bag with an "inspiration book." I was excited about the possibility of getting a few new recipes to try out at home, but alas, it was just a fancy book of professional photographs of Miss Voon's food and the restaurant itself. Anyone interested in a new coffee table book?