Sport in Sweden...

Which sport in Sweden would South Africans be most likely to watch?

Rugby.


We went to the Swedish women's final between Uppsala and Gothenburg. Unfortunately the home advantage didn't help Uppsala to a win, but the match was exciting none-the-less. Here the rugby season is during summer with the finals in fall. This is very fortunate, especially for the two South African spectators, as the fall weather conditions is much colder than normal rugby weather in South Africa. (Conditions during match: 4.6°C, overcast with light drizzle, wind 14km/h North, windchill 0°C).


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p.s. stay tuned for the more "classical" Swedish sports in future blogs.

Snow - Day 2

A short video of the snow coming down and 'brave' Swedish children (note: 21Mb, 77 seconds and narrated in Afrikaans).



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First snow

Only a light dusting but very cool.


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Skansen

Skansen is the world´s first open air museum, located on the island, Djurgården (dier-tuin), in Stockholm. To celebrate our one month Swedenversary, we got up early in the freezing cold and took the train to the capital. Here are a few images of Stockholm (note the clothes).


As the name of the island states, Skansen also included a zoo. With domestic and wild animals from Scandinavia.

Farm animals with buildings from a typical summer pasture farm from the olden days.


A typical Swedish sign.


A short film of the brown bear (note: 11Mb, 42 seconds).



The infamous gray wolf.


"´n Bison-dere dier".


Reindeer with a bit of the city in the background.


At about 11:30 Carina complained about handling the equipment with all the layers of clothing.


Our lunch (waffle with cream and blueberry jam).


Ronnie in the woods.


Ronnie finally reaching a milestones (the king decreed that milestones should be erected and maintained by the farmers in the area, this one dates back to 1666).


At Skansen there are about 150 historical buildings brought from various parts of Sweden. In some of these buildings we found people in time-period costume. Have a look at the museum website here.

Examples of some houses are: The soldier´s cottage, dating from the 1800 and with a turf roof. It was law that each farm had to support one soldier (lodging and food) which would then fight during war (instead of the farmer). If you owned a manor, you were expected to support at least two knights.


This is the oldest building in Skansen dating back to the 1300´s. It is a common farm dwelling.


It was nice to stroll back to the train station during twilight in Stockholm (the picture is of Strand-vägen, one of the most expensive places to live in Sweden).


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Swedish food part II

Here are more stories of one thing in Sweden we really like to do: Eat.

Kanelbullar

This treat is so popular that they dedicated a whole day to it. Today therefore is kanelbullar (cinnamon-bun) day, and to join in the fun we also had some kanelbullar.


Blood-pudding

Since we heard we were coming to Sweden, Carina wanted to try blood-pudding. After a month of trying to convince her that there other traditional foods I gave in and we obtained some. When you buy it, it is wrapped in plastics and clearly labeled (the main ingredient of course pig blood).


The "pudding", once opened have a clay like feel and are very dark and very red. Surprisingly, it doesn´t smell like blood but more like ginger bread with a hint of coriander.


We decided to shallow fry the slices (as it is the most common recipe on the internet). As described, the dark maroon slices turned completely black when cooked.


To accompany the this meal we had some toast, eggs and cheese since it is often eaten as breakfast.


How does it taste??? It doesn´t taste like blood at all. It has the consistency of a fudge in the inside but crispy on the outside. The taste itself is much like the smell, not really meaty (or bloody), but more like dough with a hint of ginger and coriander. Carina is quite impressed with this and wants to eat it on a regular basis. I have not decided yet but its not bad at all.

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One month in Sweden

After one month in Sweden we´ve just experienced a taste of the coming winter as the mercury dropped 0.4 degrees below zero. This prompted us to spend a whopping 2000 kroner (= R 2200) on jackets, woolen hats, gloves, scarves, socks and of course long-johns. Stay tuned for pictures of us in action in these clothes.

Since the weather only started to change this week, we had some last, autumn adventures, some of which are:

Culture night

Once every year there is a culture night in Uppsala. This means that the whole town acquires a carnival atmosphere, with fire-eaters on the streets, musicians performing on every corner, all the museums open for free, organ and choir performances in all the churches, and a multitude of stalls selling every kind of Swedish treat.

Here are two pictures of the church where we listened to a midnight organ performance.


They even transport people with their vintage buses on culture night (can you spot the older one?).


Carina enjoying typical Swedish fast food (korv med bröd).


Weekend outing

As a farewell to summer we spent the last weekend in September walking to Uppsala´s ski slopes (still very green). Although it is not very high, it is quite steep and we may start with the training slope with the other children.


We also went to the lake, still in a liquid state.


...some of the wildlife...


...walking through the marshlands...


Daily route

Here are a few pictures of the route I walk to work. Stay tuned for the winter version.


I prefer this to traffic in Gauteng (maybe the winter will change my mind).

Falukorv UPDATE

As the Falukorv seemed to be quite popular with some of the readers we decided to post a picture of how oven baked Falukorv look. It is a pity that we cannot share the taste with you. But please let us know if you want the recipe.


R&C