jeudi, août 30, 2007
Les Vacances Sont Fini
Alas, it is true. The end of yet another all-too-short summer holiday, and back to reality. In this case, reality is a two day working week for me (three days for Alex) and then a long weekend in London, leaving this afternoon! So it is not all bad after all. Not that Paris is so very bad either for that matter, but it isn't quite lying on a beach all day and eating pasta twice a day!
For that is pretty much how the second half of the holiday went- lying on a beach, eating pasta twice a day- although occasionally we went crazy and had a pizza instead! Sometimes we went even crazier and had the pasta as an entrée as you're of course supposed to, and followed it with more food! Aside from the pasta though, Sardinia was gorgeous. We stayed in a town called Alghero, which was nice, but the really nice part is really the coastline, which we saw a bit of when we rented a car for a few days. The whole coast is gorgeous turqoise mediterranean water with white limestone cliffs descending into it. And of course, lots of little coves and beaches, sometimes sandy, sometimes cliffy, to have a swim. It's hard to describe, and the photos don't really do it justice either, but suffice to say- fabulous.
A final plate of pasta was obtained in Pisa, site of a three hour stop-over, not quite enough time to scale the tower unfortunately, since those tickets need to be bought almost exactly three hours before you get to go up! But enough time to laugh at the number of people taking photos of themselves holding up the tower. And to take some photos of our own!
Sweden was also very lovely, and brought it's share of swimming, albeit in somewhat colder temperatures! We stayed for a few days out on an island in the archipelago called Finnhamn where we got several swims in the Baltic, and where we had to fetch water from an old pump that you actually had to pump! We also had a grill-korv session one night and had the Lunch of the Day, just about every day we were there, including Strömming with Lingon (Baltic herring), warm-smoked salmon, and even some pyttipanna and falukorv (other yummy swedish stuff)! Other than Finnhamn, there was a lot of walking around and stopping for beers in Stockholm, since for once we have managed to visit when the temperatures were on the right side of zero! There was a visit to Skansen, the Zoo, to see some bears and elk, a trip to Gröna Lund, an amusement park, where we played Fem-Kamp, a pentathlon of various alley games, and went on a couple of great rollercoasters! Also some reluctant swimming in Camilla and Patrick's lake.
Our cabin on Finnhamn. No water or toilet but so cute!
The first swim on Finnhamn.
The view from the restaurant where we had our lunch and beers.
Me, Linda and Simone on Finnhamn, the restaurant just behind.
Us at our grill-korv party on Finnhamn.
Blueberries and lingon a-plenty. Yum!
Having a beer with Camilla and Patrick at Mossebacke in Stockholm.
The gang at Mormor's place.
The local fauna.
And then there was the Great Sur-Strömming Horror of 2007. Oh. My. God. The horror. The absolute horror. We have tried it now, and never again will I let anything so foul sully my mouth again. For those of you lucky enough to be innconet of the awfullness of Sur-Strömming, this is basically fish that is rotten. And stinks like rotten fish. And tastes like rotten fish. Apparently it started back in the day when the poeple had to pay their taxes to the king in food and produce, and some unhappy fishermen didn't like this arrangement, so they sent the king a barrel of rotting fish, telling hime it was a "delicacy". He apparently believed them. Apparently, some people still believe them. The fact that the minute Alex bravely opened the can, big black flies started circulating, is indication enough that this is not food fit for human consumption. Quite simply- the foulest thing I have ever tasted.
The horror begins...
Before the tasting...
...And after!
If anyone is intersted, I have also posted more photos on Facebook, follow this link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=18854&l=807e1&id=609916345
For that is pretty much how the second half of the holiday went- lying on a beach, eating pasta twice a day- although occasionally we went crazy and had a pizza instead! Sometimes we went even crazier and had the pasta as an entrée as you're of course supposed to, and followed it with more food! Aside from the pasta though, Sardinia was gorgeous. We stayed in a town called Alghero, which was nice, but the really nice part is really the coastline, which we saw a bit of when we rented a car for a few days. The whole coast is gorgeous turqoise mediterranean water with white limestone cliffs descending into it. And of course, lots of little coves and beaches, sometimes sandy, sometimes cliffy, to have a swim. It's hard to describe, and the photos don't really do it justice either, but suffice to say- fabulous.
A final plate of pasta was obtained in Pisa, site of a three hour stop-over, not quite enough time to scale the tower unfortunately, since those tickets need to be bought almost exactly three hours before you get to go up! But enough time to laugh at the number of people taking photos of themselves holding up the tower. And to take some photos of our own!
Sweden was also very lovely, and brought it's share of swimming, albeit in somewhat colder temperatures! We stayed for a few days out on an island in the archipelago called Finnhamn where we got several swims in the Baltic, and where we had to fetch water from an old pump that you actually had to pump! We also had a grill-korv session one night and had the Lunch of the Day, just about every day we were there, including Strömming with Lingon (Baltic herring), warm-smoked salmon, and even some pyttipanna and falukorv (other yummy swedish stuff)! Other than Finnhamn, there was a lot of walking around and stopping for beers in Stockholm, since for once we have managed to visit when the temperatures were on the right side of zero! There was a visit to Skansen, the Zoo, to see some bears and elk, a trip to Gröna Lund, an amusement park, where we played Fem-Kamp, a pentathlon of various alley games, and went on a couple of great rollercoasters! Also some reluctant swimming in Camilla and Patrick's lake.
Our cabin on Finnhamn. No water or toilet but so cute!
The first swim on Finnhamn.
The view from the restaurant where we had our lunch and beers.
Me, Linda and Simone on Finnhamn, the restaurant just behind.
Us at our grill-korv party on Finnhamn.
Blueberries and lingon a-plenty. Yum!
Having a beer with Camilla and Patrick at Mossebacke in Stockholm.
The gang at Mormor's place.
The local fauna.
And then there was the Great Sur-Strömming Horror of 2007. Oh. My. God. The horror. The absolute horror. We have tried it now, and never again will I let anything so foul sully my mouth again. For those of you lucky enough to be innconet of the awfullness of Sur-Strömming, this is basically fish that is rotten. And stinks like rotten fish. And tastes like rotten fish. Apparently it started back in the day when the poeple had to pay their taxes to the king in food and produce, and some unhappy fishermen didn't like this arrangement, so they sent the king a barrel of rotting fish, telling hime it was a "delicacy". He apparently believed them. Apparently, some people still believe them. The fact that the minute Alex bravely opened the can, big black flies started circulating, is indication enough that this is not food fit for human consumption. Quite simply- the foulest thing I have ever tasted.
The horror begins...
Before the tasting...
...And after!
If anyone is intersted, I have also posted more photos on Facebook, follow this link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=18854&l=807e1&id=609916345
# posted by Jenny @ 09:57 
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I am amazed that you found a form of herring not to your liking! I would, however, have been more amazed if you had liked it.
Looks like a lovely holiday! I get very jealous of your European jaunts, can't wait to do some of my own!
Looks like a lovely holiday! I get very jealous of your European jaunts, can't wait to do some of my own!
The most amazing thing is that Alex-I'll-eat-absolutely-anything-
that-may-once-have-moved-Yuen didn't even like it. That's when you know it is REALLY bad!
And your jaunting will copme pretty soon Margs, at least in a small dose in just a couple of months! Yay!
that-may-once-have-moved-Yuen didn't even like it. That's when you know it is REALLY bad!
And your jaunting will copme pretty soon Margs, at least in a small dose in just a couple of months! Yay!
So what the hell were those freakin animals? Were they gnus?
My god Swedish food is weird. I stop at the salty licorice, let alone the rancid fish!
My god Swedish food is weird. I stop at the salty licorice, let alone the rancid fish!
What is wrong with you Matt, can't you recognise an elk even when there are three of them lying in a pile??
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