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Published: August 13th 2010
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Swedish Girls
I already had one... Archipelago, meaning a cluster of islands, is a great word. If it wasn't for "Ollie Gee and the Gentle Jivers", "The Archipelagos" would probably have a shot at being the name of my fictional band.
But in terms of real archipelagos, I first came upon Stockholm's as my Ryanair flight from London descended into a pink-tinged sunset, and I positively marvelled at all those thousands of islands stretching off into the horizon. 24 thousand according to some counts.
24, 000 - try and picture it. Some so big they have holiday houses on them. They were truly sprawled out all over the place, almost as if by some big uncontrollable force. While you're probably thinking this sounds like the result of tectonic shifts, erosion and subduction zones, I thought it looked more like the result of a violent sneeze. An enormous violent sneeze. Imagine a giant sitting on the coast somewhere, chewing down on the enormous contents of his Giant Lunch Box, then mid-chew losing control and splattering the clear waters of stockholm with mucosal debris (thereby forming such a magnificent coastline).
The Stockholm Sneeze. I thought this was a great little analogy, and started explaining it to
It just field right.
This is just out the back of Karina's house in Uppsala. the elderly couple sitting next to me. Unfortunately for them, they only spoke Swedish, and my attempt at a recreation through the medium of sign language, a half chewed sandwich and the little fold out table didn't go down well at all.
Anyway, I wasn't just in Sweden for the archipelagos, I was here to sample life in Uppsala at Karina's place and to catch the legendary Leonard Cohen concert in Stockholm. And while berry picking, cow feeding and mini-golf were highlights, one particular meal was very interesting indeed.
When Karina's step-dad, Hasse, invited me to join his family for their annual seafood get together, I had it in my head that it was his family's unique tradition - everyone together for some lobster, a nice white wine and the Best Of ABBA on the CD player (on repeat). When I stepped inside his parent's house to see two tables joined together almost overflowing with crayfish, prawns, pies and seafood quiches and my new favourite Jasonsfrestelse, I suspected this was something bigger. The cardboard hats with cartoon crayfish on them should have been the giveaway.
But it wasn't til I was glancing through the paper the next
day and I saw other families wearing the same hats, sitting at similarly laden tables with similarly good-looking blonde people around them that I realized it was something much bigger. Turns out in August it's a nationwide custom to have the whole family around for crayfish, a few drinks, and conversation (no ABBA though). It's called Kraftfest - (cray feast). It's the one time of the year the crayfish are overly abundant and the country embraces it in a big way. Very luckily for me most of Hasse's family (and apparently most of Sweden) can speak English, so I didn't even need the Russian vodka or the moosemeister to enjoy it. There was a lot of talk about mooses actually, I didn't even know this country had them, but I'm giddy with excitement at the prospect. But Kraftfest, what an event - the Swedish thanksgiving - a culinary delight, my palate was positively overwhelmed with such new and delicious flavours.
As for the Leonard Cohen concert: what a treat! Everybody knows he's getting old (almost 76 apparently) but he began the concert with a promise "We don't know when we'll be in Stockholm again, so tonight we're gonna give
Leonard Cohen
The Man, The Myth, The Legend. The Enigma. it everything we've got" - and hallelujah, he had a lot to give. He even came back onstage three times, once to perform my all time favourite Famous Blue Raincoat - I couldn't have been happier. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for his shows in the future, very highly recommended. (I have concealed 4 Cohen songs in this paragraph for the Cohen fans out there to enjoy).
The next day, we left Uppsala on the afternoon/overnight train bound for Germany and I spent the majority of the time looking out the window in the hope of seeing a moose. I have become a little bit obsessed with them, and almost saw one a few times but these were just moose-shaped rocks mostly. Usually, this kind of obsession has to be quenched, so I have a pretty good feeling the pages of this travelblog will eventually contain a photo of a Swedish moose.
As for Sweden on the whole, I did overhear one conversation about ABBA, I saw one IKEA centre, and almost got run over by a red volvo while riding on the wrong side of the road on a bike. It seems the stereotypes
speak the truth. And the people are very beautiful indeed. Worth checking out... (the people and the country).
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anonymous
non-member comment
Sounds like you are having a great time! Don't get to obsessed with seeing a moose, you might go cazy, but then again Karina is there so you should already be crazy. Hahaha, just kidding. Miss you! Talk soon!