Scandinavian Christmas

Liz was here the past week for the Christmas holiday.  In the beginning of December it started snowing and it seems to have continued ever since.  With a blanket of white covering the streets and trees and lights reflecting on the water once night falls, which nowadays happens at 3pm, Christmas is certainly in the air.  Liz and I spent the week strolling the streets of Gamla Stan, visiting the elk and reindeer at Skansen, feasting on julbord (traditional Christmas feast), and going out with friends.

 Gamla Stan on Christmas Eve

   Skansen on Christmas Day

Photos from the rent's visit

 The snowy streets of Gamla Stan

Ice bar at the Nordic Sea Hotel

Some Amsterdam photos

Magical Amsterdam

Last weekend a group of 8 of us flew to Amsterdam.  We flew in from Stockholm, Estonia, and Germany.  We all arrived on Friday night and set out to tour the lighted streets of the city.  And what a beautiful city it is.  Canals flow through the streets, making all of the thin and tall homes water front.  The streets are littered with coffee shops - Some offering lattes, pastries, and dutch chatter.  Others offering menus of marijuana, magical shrooms, and lots of laughter.  We strolled through the red light district, which I found to be especially disturbing.  Many aspects of this city are uncomfortable.  However, there is a true beauty in Amsterdam.  On Sunday night after the sun went down, groups of children, each with a handmade lantern, went from door to door singing Dutch songs.  The owner of the home would answer the door with a tray of chocolates - one for each child.  We felt as though we were in a movie set.  And just as we thought the children and lanterns couldn't make this night any more magical, we stumbled upon a cornerside restaurant covered in twinkling white lights.  Once inside we felt as though we were in a nice, cozy, living room.  The waitress brought us a bottle of wine and a wooden board portraying a spread of select cheeses.  We were wrapped up in the aura of the evening and lost all track of time, causing us to barely make our flight back to Stockholm.  But the memories remain of that mystical city.  

Fancy a ferry to Tallinn?

I have yet another visitor in Stockholm - Corinne.  I am so fortunate to have such wonderful family and friends that come to visit!  This weekend a large group of us (7) took a ferry to Tallinn.  We boarded the ferry on Saturday afternoon.  Everyone kept referring to the boat as a ferry, but it was actually a large cruise ship - filled with restaurants, cheesy night clubs, and discotheques.  After we set sail, we bought cheap alcohol (alcohol on the ship is much cheaper than in Stockholm, which isn't saying too much because alcohol is so expensive in Sweden!), cheeses, meats, and breads and had a dinner party in our room.  Afterwards we set out for a night of dancing, hopping from club to club.

The next morning at 10am we arrived in Tallinn.  The ground was covered with snow, but the sky was clear, and the sun was shining.  We spent our 7 hours at port walking the fairytale like streets - sipping hot wine, feasting on mushroom and brie filled pancakes, and dipping in and out of the many shops.  Before getting back on the ship we took an Estonian jellyfish shot, bought some black bread, and boarded yet again.  We were all very tired so we had a proper sit down dinner on the ship.  Then we retreated to our room and my Estonian and Lithuanian friends told stories of their childhood in the Soviet Union - 3 hour lines to buy food, goods such as bananas, sugar, and blue jeans were considered delicacies, communist parades, storing sacks of potatoes in the basement - Helen told a story of her dad going to Finland for business and he brought back a barbie for she and her sister.  They were the only girls in school to have barbies and they were so excited to have this rare toy!

We then retreated to our beds and had a peaceful, very long, night's sleep.

Copenhagen

Powers came to visit Scandinavia!  We took a weekend trip down to Copenhagen while he was here.  The train ride was about 5 1/2 hours and showed us southern Sweden's countryside.  It was a rainy weekend in Copenhagen.  We spent the weekend walking the historic streets along the canals, and learning about Denmark's history.  Whenever the cold and rain became too much to handle, we'd dip into a waterside pub and have a beer... soothes any chill.

Even the bugs and birds are different

There's something very interesting that I've noticed since being here.  There are no screens on any window.  The windows simply open to the outside and allow for the breeze and whatever else to drift in.  In the U.S., homes would quickly become infested with flies, mosquitoes, etc.  However, this situation does not pose a problem here.  The animals prefer to be outside, so while a small gnat may fly indoors, it simply pokes around for a minute or two and then exits back through the window.  Yesterday at work, a bird flew into the office.  No one seemed to mind.  So I watched.  The bird's friend soon followed inside.  They flew around the office, and then flew back outside once they were finished exploring.  Simply intriguing.