Places
Valborg (short for Valborgsmässoafton) has been celebrated in Sweden since the Middle Ages. When the last day of April arrives, it's time to say goodbye to Winter darkness and welcome the light of Spring. In the Middle Ages, Valborg marked the day when farm animals were released back
Places
I spent most of my Visby trip walking along the coast. Wind and hot sun meant I ended both days with a red face. I was "tomato faced Marilyn" again — a nickname given to me by a restaurant owner in Switzerland a few years ago. It seems funny
Places
Visby is always calling me back. I love the Baltic air and Gotland's wild coastline; this island really has a hold over me. There's no real story behind this post, other than the fact I recently visited and saw lots of beautiful things! I'm
Places
March was a month of continued cold, creamy buns, colourful påskris (twigs with feathers on), grit dust, noticeably more light, daffodil bulbs on doorsteps, melting ice and a cocktail of ALL THE WEATHER. Fettisdagen (Fat Tuesday) is one of the best days of the Swedish year! A time to stuff
Sunlight was the main highlight of February. That and tulips. Cut flowers aren't something I buy very often (I prefer bulbs or actual plants) but tulips are the exception, especially at this time of year. The dining table was no longer a place to eat food; its primary
I sat down to write my monthly recap of city life but couldn't remember anything I wanted to say. My mind has been too preoccupied with world events lately. However, it's easy to remember that February gave us longer days and blue skies. Ice and snow
Life
Year two began with many of the basics in place, which really cemented the feeling that Sweden is home. We've been very happy here despite all the pandemic oddities and even after two years, I sometimes look around and still can't believe we live in Stockholm.
Places
Stenstrand means pebble beach in Swedish. We planned to visit this beach for my birthday but postponed the trip until we had the energy to go further afield. The journey time was about two and a half hours from central Stockholm; one train, one bus and a short walk to
Life
The year began with Scott looking at me and saying "oh my god, you are so pale". I started feeling iffy just before New Year's Eve and inevtiably, he fell ill a couple of days later. I felt too weak to do anything so I spent
January was full of eyes peeking through gaps between scarves and hats, piles of bare Christmas trees, prolific gritting by the municipality, Julstjärna clinging onto their remaining time in windows, large areas of frozen water, the "clack clack" of Nordic skaters weaving along the ice and best of
Places
I'm another year older and we celebrated with a trip to the beach. We planned to visit one further South, but ended up staying closer to home because neither of us had our pre-illness energy levels back. It was so good to get out after staying at home
Life
We visited a loppis back in the Summer and I bought what appeared to be a coupon collection. I'm a collector of interesting printed things, I liked the style and the seller only wanted 40SEK for it, so I couldn't leave it behind. The loppis was
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