Tobogganing fun

Not far from our apartment is a small hill that children go tobogganing on. Below is a sample of our second year of tobogganing.

R&C

p.s. for more videos on our adventures in Sweden click this link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/robroy865?feature=mhum

Food Filled Fridays: Christmas (Jul) essential snacks and drinks

Glögg, Julmust and Pepparkakor. Without these three things a Swedish Christmas would just not be  Swedish enough. They are absolutely essential, central requirements. Pepparkakor are the crispy brown ginger cookies that are enjoyed plain or decorated and are often hung on the Christmas tree. They are usually eaten with an accompanying drink of either Glögg or Julmust. Julmust taste akin to Coca-Cola just more malty and not as sweet. It is only available at Christmas time and for one month of the year Coca-Cola is not the top selling soft-drink in Sweden. Glögg is made from red wine and spices and is drunk throughout Christmas time. Nothing warms you up, when you come in from the cold, like a warm cup of glögg. You get different brands, the most popular is probably Blossa, and different varieties: Non-alcoholic, Lättglögg (Light Glögg, 2.2% alcohol), Vinglögg (10% alcohol) and Stärkvinglögg (15%). The non-alcoholic and light glögg can be bought at regular supermarkets but the higher alcohol varieties must be bought at the state-controlled alcohol retailer, Systembolaget. A special visit to the local Systembolaget is advisable because the higher the alcohol content, the better the heating potential of the glögg. Glögg is served warm with raisins and almonds. A mini crisis hit Sweden this Christmas since the glögg supply ran out in certain places. This mini-drama was published in the paper today, click the link to read the story (Glögg shortage threatens Swedish Christmas). The paper also generously supply a recipe as a backup if somebody - horrors of horrors - cannot find glögg for their Christmas.

C&R

A freezing solstice

Yesterday was the winter solstice. The "sun" rose at 8:51 yesterday morning and set at 14:45, making it the shortest day of the year. Last night was also the coldest night for the winter thus far with the temperature outside dropping to -21. The whole day today was quite nippy with temperatures staying around -20. Guess this will prepare us for our visit to the Ice hotel in northern Sweden in a few weeks time...

C&R

High probability for a white Christmas.

The average temperatures in Uppsala (and most of Europe) are below normal. This means we have loads of snow and all the standing water has been frozen for a while. Below are a few pictures of where we walked today (first time out after feeling a bit sick the past two weeks).

 Even if there is no more snowfall we will probably have a white Christmas. We will also go skating on lake Mälaren in the next few days. The one thing we will miss during Christmas (apart from our families of course), is the chance to have nice braai.

R&C

Interesting (weather) times...

We had quite eventful November weather. While, last year, the first snow (that stayed) was just before Christmas, this year it started early. We started to experience some very cold weather about two weeks ago. One day was especially beautiful with ice crystals forming on everything outside. This happens on cold nights when the mist / haze crystallize on objects outside. Below are a few of these beautiful sightings.

 

We also had a couple of days of heavy snow last week, which transformed our world to a black-and-white world again.
 

 

Therefore, the Christmas market, that marks the beginning of advent, was a beautiful white night. There were many interesting people selling all kinds of gifts for Christmas. A wonderful firework display ended the night. 

 C&R

Food Filled Fridays: Anniversary edition

For our fifth wedding anniversary we went to Stockholm to eat at the Gondolen restaurant. We left Uppsala in the early afternoon and arrived in Stockholm just before the sunset (at 15h00). It was a bit chilly and we spent most of the afternoon warming ourselves in curious and other shops between our excursions in the snow filled Gamla Stan. The snow however lends an extra charm to the city.

The restaurant itself has a beautiful view of the city. It is located in a skywalk overlooking the Stockholm harbour (see below). This was also one of the best meals we had while in Sweden. The highlight of the meal was probably the lobster soup starter that Carina had.

We enjoyed this Friday very much. We will end with the important saying for anyone who wants to go out during winter in Sweden:
"There are no bad weather, only bad clothing"
In other words - nice formal jackets bought in South Africa does not work in Swedish winters - even though you have many other layers of clothes underneath.

R&C

Ljus i Uppsala (Light in Uppsala)

To light up the November darkness, Uppsala municipality (Uppsala kommun) arranged a light festival in Uppsala. It consists of a 3 km walk with 16 sites (sights) to visit. These sites are creative showcases of new energy efficient lighting technologies. The light show is on the whole of November from 4 pm (yes it is pitch dark already at 4) until late night. We did the route this past weekend and it was especially beautiful with the snow that we got the previous week. Below are some of the pictures we took (Click on the images for a bigger picture).

C&R