Systembolaget vs. Midsummer

The Systembolaget has been mentioned before and so has Midsummer. Here is the queue when the two collide. They shut at 7pm on the day before Midsummer Eve - then they remain closed for 3 whole days and only reopen by the time you are back at work on Monday. Imagine if you had to do all your shopping by 23rd Dec to cover your consumption for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

By the time I left the store, the security guard at the door was treating it like a nightclub - one in, one out.

Midsummer 2012

We celebrated midsummer by going for a cycle - by the time we got to the lake we were heading for we decided it wasn't actually that warm and maybe we didn't need a swim. On the way home we saw this fantastic craft cruising across the water. Note the birch branches for decoration - very Swedish and also the flag just in case you are unsure where these people are from.
I like the fact they've got a table and chairs so are probably having their midsummer meal. The gentleman in white on the left also looks like he has made an effort on the costume - complete with natty little white hat.

It is possible that this is so they can open a tin of surströmming - fermented herring which smells so bad you cannot open a tin indoors. We have not tried it and I know plenty of swedes who feel a bit ill even if you mention it. That's one to leave for the locals.

A Weekend to Copenhagen Pt 2

Hurrah for Denmark - all state museums have to be free to enter. Thanks Danish tax payers. Suitably educated in Danish art (1750-1900) and lacking the energy (even after lovely lunch) to take in any more we headed to retrieve our luggage and check into the hotel. A detour to the Danish Cycling Federation shop sorted us out with a couple of maps for the journey back to the UK - nice saving on postal charges there.
Checking in to the hotel we discovered that if we chose not to have our room cleaned the next day, we could get £10 off in the hotel bar. Since we don't clean our own house everyday, it seemed a little silly for someone else to do this on holiday - voila one very nice and good value supper.
Saturday was time for Louisiana Art Gallery - it's a beatiful setting and a really nice small-scale gallery. Originally a posh suburban house, it has been extended but still feels like it has a domestic scale - with sculptures in lovely gardens and views back across to Sweden. Except for the crowds it's a kind of anti-Tate Modern.

Photos of sculpture to be added........

A Weekend in Copenhagen Pt 1

As we approach the end of our jaunt and prepare for the journey home, we are trying to do all the things we have on our list to do while here. So on Thursday night I found myself leaving an office social early and heading straight across to the station to get the sleeper train to Copenhagen. At 7am on Friday morning we stepped off the train slightly bleary-eyed and not very bushy-tailed to headed off to explore. First a authentically danish breakfast at the first establishment we could find; a 7-11 store. Then ditch the bags in a left luggage locker and start wandering around. We basically wandered along past lots of beautiful waterfront buildings before realising we were heading for the Little Mermaid. As all guide books point out, the Little Mermaid is stunningly underwhelming - I had seen it before on a previous visit but Charlotte was suitably unimpressed.

By then the National Art Gallery was open so we headed over there for some more food and our first dose of culture. 

There were lots of superb Danish paintings by a whole host of talented painters I'd never heard of (Eckersberg,Dahl, Koebke, Lundbye and Ring) but this classic was the only one we took a photo of.

Where is Spring?

We thought Spring was getting here - not actually many leaves out, but the grass is starting to look green again and you don't need gloves/hat when you go out. Then we woke up to this yesterday morning. I want spring please. I want this view to look like this http://bs3tosodermalm.blogspot.se/2011_07_01_archive.html

Long long long days

I mark the end of our silence. Today is the first time this year when our days here are longer than the days in London and Bristol 12h 8' 48" versus 12h 07' 41" and 12h 07' 43". Not far until it feels like the sun doesn't set.

(It snowed a bit today - maybe spring isn't quite here yet).

Swedish Childcare

One thing that is obvious about Sweden is that they have a very different attitude to childcare from the UK. Saturday lunchtime - probably a bit above freezing. A very well wrapped-up baby happily sleeps outside a cafe while mum and dad have their lunch. (Baby so well wrapped up you couldn't see them as you walked past).

It's not something you see every day but it also isn't unusual. I can't think if anything wrong about this - if your child is dressed for being outside then they'll be OK sleeping too, and it's not as though people go out looking for babies to steal.