The Significant Adventure

It is New Year's Day and one of the readings at St. Andrew's this morning was about a 'significant' new year rather than a 'happy' new year.  And, though I do not subscribe to official New Year's resolutions, this is the time of year when one considers the important aspects of life......which brings me to today's post. 

Tomorrow morning (very early), I am off to Roatan, Honduras with Joan.  It's a place I have never been before and therefore promises to be a new adventure.  But sitting here, I know that I am on a much more significant adventure without leaving the house. 

This week we had the delight and challenge of Joanna and family visiting for 5 days.  Kieran has a bad cold and so the hectic schedule of visits in Toronto, Hamilton, Stoney Creek and Niagara took their toll on the little guy.  He had difficulty settling downstairs for his night's sleep and one time, I was the one down there with him.  He didn't want me to leave -- "another story", "sing Twinkle two times here", and finally "hold your hand".  He wanted to fall asleep, under his binket, with one thumb in his mouth and the other chubby little hand holding my hand.  The trust and openness of child tugs at the hardest of hearts.  Is it not amazing that this is the analogy of God's relationship with us, his children?

This adventure, first with my own children, and now with Kieran and Clara (who is becoming an engaging young miss), is a most significant adventure. 

I wish you a significant New Year!

One more airport, one less suitcase

Icelandair lost the little suitcase which meant that US border officials had no agricultural products to scrutinize, and neither will the Canadians, but I will need to fill out a claim once I reach Toronto.  However, everything else went as planned all the way from Gavle to Boston where I am now.  It is quite remarkable how easily one flits across the globe these days, and with a minimum of paperwork.

I know about the pollution of the planes and the big gas usage and huge carbon footprint, but being with family is important.  Yesterday Richard and I spent most of the day making cookies, but that is the stuff of life and real relationships.  Bit funny to go to Sweden to do it, but very satisfying.

So, I don't plan to stop.

Gavle -- a LOVEly place

Richard said it:  "I love our little town", and he is certainly right that it is a lovely place to live.

I love the river running through it.  Boats don't come up very far from the sea any more, but the waterway, nicely banked with stones and concrete walls, lends a gentleness to the centre of town as it divides the two older commercial areas.  It means there are people fishing and open green spaces in the bustle.  And in three weeks, the famous goat will stand there, watched by online viewers all over the world.

I love the old and the new, side by side, and sometimes, one inside the other.  A very modern walking/cycling system (with appropriate visual and audio signals) leads the people-powered transit safely over old plazas, under railways, and into new developments along the waterfront.  The city workers in their high-vis green overalls blow the leaves in the park between the two upscale old merchant streets, and then the mighty leaf sweeper picks them up.

I love the bakeries, yes, I am coming to appreciate the cardamom in the cinnamon rolls.  It turns out it was the viking treasure brought back from India!  And there are so many other fine breads (love the Epi sourdough apricot rye) and swedish cakes -- even princess torte under the layer of lime green fondant is a culinary delight.

I love the shopping.  A friendly "hay, hay" will greet you in a grocery store, clothes shop, outdoor store, home decor spot, or whatever.  And there is no snickering when an old lady points to something because she can't express herself in swedish.  Or, there is a whole flood of swedish greeting and when you admit you don't understand anything, they switch effortlessly to english and carry on.

I love the subtle differences.  Cookie sheets are the rack in the oven and thanks to the special non-stick sheets, one set of cookies gets pulled off the sheet and another onto the sheet, making even a little apartment oven, an efficient baking experience.  Heated towel bars -- oh my!  Bicycles accepted by the motorists.  Serious recycling with different bins for weights of paper and types of plastic.  Very little Sunday shopping and reduced shopping hours to help out the little retailers.

I love the heather in the planters.  Fall and winter are still garden seasons, just with different species.

I love the lights everywhere.  We lost daylight savings time last weekend and so it starts to get dark about 3:30 pm -- and they lose about 5 minutes of daylight each day!  But already people and businesses are putting out lanterns or candles outside at their doors.  Most curtains don't get drawn so you can see lights on in apartments and houses and they are left on even if the people are out.  Last evening at the outdoor facility -- like a conservation area run by a company who has a lodge and cabins and maintains trails, there was a lovely lit walking path through the woods so that the area is used even in the dark times.

I love the cheese.  The same lodge that has the lit paths, has a restaurant which was fabulous.  Lobster pizza appetizer -- super, veal tenderloin with chanterelles -- amazing, dessert buffet of mini samplers -- innovative and delicious , but the highlight for me was the cheese buffet.  There were 6 very different local cheeses with accompaniments of fruit, nuts and crisp breads -- WOW, and even the presentation (you served yourself onto slate tiles) was fantastic.  Must remember to put the chunk of Vasterbottensost) into the suitcase.

I love the weather -- we had a great week, were not rained on.  It was warm and still enough that even with the 93% humidity, walking was a great way to get around and see all the details on buildings and bridges.

And most importantly, I love that Richard and Jennie are so happy here!

The Stuff of History

It was a dark and stormy night -- no, just an overcast morning, but that was just right for two tourists in the historic city of Uppsala.  This area has been a popular place for quite some time -- Vikings lived here in the 7th century and left boat graves for later generations to dig up and analyse.  Very decent of those old Norsemen to think of us struggling to learn about them, so they left dishes and jewelry and animals and dog collars and weapons all neatly arranged in a boat and then covered it up to preserve it.  How considerate!  And how wonderful that there is a group of people hanging around there who delight in digging up stuff--they even went to Egypt to do it.

As you can guess, Richard and I loved the Gustavianum Museum with many of the treasures collected by the oldest university in all Scandanavia -- 1477.  They seem to have had a serious group of chemists and physicists walk down those halls, including Linnae of the classification of life.  You know those old movies where all the med students are sitting in a steep-sloped room watching a dissection -- well, it happened here.  And a civilized place it is, influencing the whole of the city which is clean, dignified, traditional in restaurant and hotel styling, and filled with cyclists.  It has a lovely gothic church of protestant persuasion, so quite stark in its decor.  There are plenty of parks and gardens and paths which would be much more impressive in warm weather -- make a note to self!

But we were off to Gavle by late afternoon and sped through the countryside.  It is a short walk from the train station to Richard and Jennie's apartment, but you are put to the test carrying your suitcase up the 3 flights of circular stairs. Checked out one of Richard's favourite supermarkets for supper -- korv and a dish with an impossible-to-remember name but made of potatoes and sardines -yum!

Richard and Jennie have done some redecorating since I was here last year and the place looks lovely.  With some strategic placement of shelving, they have modified a large living room into a semi-divided space which can be used more efficiently.  They also have a fantastic piece of art in the front hall which inspires me.  Must see what can be done!

3 people, 22 square metres

Jennie's co-worker, Ewa, decided last summer that the stockmarket was not a wise investment at this point and so plunked down 1.8 million krowns for a 22 square metre apartment in Stockholm.  I don't know whether this was wise, but it certainly worked out for Richard, Jennie and me this weekend.  We dropped our stuff off on Saturday afternoon in a big brown brick building apartment on the ground floor.  I don't know how 4, soon to be 5, people will manage in there, but for the 3 of us, it was a great home base and dining experience -- thanks to local food stores and the abundance of lovely breads and cheeses, fish, moose salami, lingonberry icecream, etc.  Can't ask for better than that.

We also wandered many kilometers from this lovely location -- opposite a park which snuggles against one of the rivers.  We shopped as there were some things that Richard and Jennie could only find in the big city.  We looked at buildings and parks.  Rich and I visited Skansen, a swedish pioneer village complete with Viking storehouse, reindeer, and glassblowing.  We revelled in the lovely autumn weather.

So, while Jennie stays in the capital to do some work, Richard and I have moved north to Uppsala to take in some cultural and natural sights tomorrow and head to Gavle tomorrow evening.  Jenn comes home on Wednesday evening.

It has been a wonderful weekend, spent with 2 young people who love this country and see the good before any bad.  They are doing well and happy -- what more could a Mommy want?

Sitting at the gate

My leaving was certainly not as exciting as a mix-mix truck or even a mighty street sweeper, but the little boy endured the driver doing the payment thing and consulting his map for the next pickup and waved goodbye from the front window.  It's tradition, you know. I wonder how many more traditions we pass on -- some knowingly, others totally unwittingly.

And so I am off on another adventure -- Richard said "Mom, come for a visit" and that's more than enough invitation.  It will be a short trip, just a week, but there are some interesting plans which I hope work out, and the joy of visiting with family.  I am looking forward to this time in Sweden.

By the way, Pearson wants to be the #1 gateway to North America. It has quite a reputation to overcome.  Let's see if they make some fundamental changes to customer service.  If this evening was any indication, they are off to a good start.  The check-in people were friendly and the security staff smiled and even willingly explained what the hand swabs were looking for.  Hurray for people being nice!

the last hotel room

Well, tomorrow morning it's off to Newark and then Toronto.  I'm sitting in my compact little hotel room one train stop from the airport.  The flight is at 9 am so I will be leaving the hotel about 6 am and walking to the train station -- a few hundred meters and off I go.

Copenhagen was wonderful on some levels, the best of course being that I spent it with Richard and Jennie.  We had a triple (family) room at the Maritime hotel, just a half block from one of the major canals that are such an important part of the city's history.  There is a real mixture of working and pleasure boats and the wonderful weather brought out all the pleasure seekers.

On the suggestion of a friend, Jennie had made reservations at a restaurant for Friday evening.  I couldn't believe how busy the city was even at 9pm, but the wait was certainly worth it.  It was a different menu but featured some fabulous cuisine.  I would take that friend's suggestion again.

I don't know who put Jennie onto La Glace,  but it had some of the most remarkable cakes I have ever seen.  We each ordered a different slice and then tested around.  Wow -- so good that Richard had to go back today to sample another one.

One of the things I wanted to do on this trip was picnic by the water.  We managed that on Saturday as well with cheese and fabulous dark bread.  I need to find someone who bakes like that at home -- or yes, I know, learn to bake it myself.  We shall see.

Then as part of my birthday gift, Jenn and Rich took me to the ballet at the National Theatre.  The building was amazing, the orchestra very interesting and the ballet surprisingly much more enjoyable than I imagined, never having gone to a ballet performance before!  What a wonderful treat, -- thanks Rich and Jenn!

This morning we couldn't find any city bikes (the kind like our grocery carts where you shove in a coin and go and use it and get the coin back when you return it), so we wandered around.  There were many shops open today (first Sunday of the month!), so lots of people out enjoying the weather and the city center.  There was a lovely park to explore and some very exclusive shops for fashion, footwear and decorating.  OK, there was a cheapie store too and we found some cool little items, but some of those will show up at Christmas so no more clues.

In our last hour, we headed to the south side of the city where an unusual church spire had been beckoning and yes, we walked all the way up the spiral, right to where the steps became so small that only a child could stand on them.

Negotiating the train to the airport was no problem and I said to goodbye to Richard and Jennie, and hopped onto another train to go one more stop to this little hotel.  And so all that remains is to repack and try and sleep a little before the alarm goes off at 5:30.