Stockholm, Sweden

So, jump back a few weekends ago... and yes, we went to Stockholm. We headed out to Stockholm Saturday via train. We had a bit of a bus layover so we got to explore Malmo, a small city in Sweden. Very cute city.. and that is where I did it... Yes, folks, I ate at Burger King! But, let me explain! We were in a rush back to the train station and needed something fast.. Mike decided that he would eat his turkey sandwich that had been sitting in the food bacterial danger zone far too long for my liking (yes, I know, I am a dork). He went for the sandwich, I went for a grilled chicken sandwich with a diet coke (that set us back $10!). Ok, not important... anyways, we arrived at the hotel in Stockholm only to change and head back out. You see, I had made reservations at Marcus Sammuelson's restaurant, Aquavit. There is also one in NY, but I have not been to that one... and he is from Sweden, so why not eat there?! The food was phenomenal!

So, I must describe the highlights...
- Our drinks ..made from house-infused aquavit. Mike had a raspberry pepper drink that was just so different, it was sensational. Mine was good, but just traditional pink cosmo. This is an aquavit that was being infused by our table-- Mango Jalapeno

- Apps- I had caviar with creme fraiche. I am normally not a caviar person, but we are in Sweden and at Aquavit. So, I had to order it form their raw bar. It didn't disappoint with a delicate salty flavor and paired well with the creme fraiche & onions. Mike ordered a smoked salmon and avocado club, which was just awesome!

- Dinner- So, Mike wins this hands down! I will quickly tell you... mine was a seared Salmon (I know, cliche) with lemon compote. Good but.. Mike, he ordered a Veal Chop. It was the BEST veal chop I have ever put in my mouth. It was so tender, seared on the outside and literally.. fork tender. It was ridiculous. We cleaned every last scrap of that chop.

- Dessert was pretty uneventful. Not worth writing about.

After Aquavit, we went to the Ice Bar. This bar is cool (pun intended) that is kept at 5 degrees. The bar, the seats, the glasses, the tables are ALL made of ice. Pretty cool, what is not cool are these large jackets and gloves you have to wear. I felt like Missy Elliot in her video. But, whatever... it did keep us warm!

The rest of the time we did a lot of sight seeing. We got to see an old ship at the Vasa Museam that had sunk for 333 years and they brought it back up and restored it. We walked through various parts of Sweden and made sure that we hit the motherland H&M!

I do need to mention my one meal, courstesy of Anthony Bourdain's show- No Reservations. In Sweden, he gets this concoction wrapped in a wrap, of sorts. It is filled with two hot dogs, shrimp mayo, mashed potatoes, relish, lettuce, tomato and onion. Swedish street food... uh, I ate it. It was interesting and lets just put it this way, I am not running back to Sweden to get another. Here I am before I took the plunge, I wasn't so happy afterwards!

Mid Summer's Night- Burning of the Witches

So, last night, we went out to the coast to observe a most interesting "holiday" here in Denmark. It is called Mid-Summer Nights. It is the time of the year that is longest day of sunlight... so, just to let you know, the sun isn't down here until about 10:30pm and rises at about 4-4:30am. So, this is the time of the year that the sun is out the longest. It was out until about 11pm (ish). Bierger and his family were kind enough to have us over for a traditional Danish meal and wine. We all headed out to the beach, which was just a few kilometers away. Here is a witch, pre-burn, mind you it is about 10:30pm (and you can see Sweden off in the distance!).

This is for the summer, the winter tells a completely different story with about 4-6 hrs of sunlight. Dating back to the days of the witch hunt, they would burn the witches that they found on this day. They would burn them at the beach and out on the water. While the witches were burning (and, their souls going to some mountain in Germany), they would sing and make a lot of noise so as to scare off their souls. This tradition has turned into burning bonfires on the beach, have drinks & celebrating with friends and family.

It is said that Sweden & Finland also celebrate this holiday much differently. They start drinking, very heavily and basically don't stop all weekend. It has gotten quite dangerous, with many deaths to due alcohol poisoning and fights. So, I am kind of glad that we can just hang on the beach and chill.
Well, kids...more to come! ;)

Like Learning to Ride a Bike, Again.

So, things are definintely new for me. I mean, I am now a resident of Denmark. Well, not a resident, yet... I am in the process of getting my "number", so I can become a resident. The good thing is that since I will be a resident, I will be able to participate in the free health care that this country offers. Along with that, if I work, I too will be taxed 50% of my earnings. And, if we want a car, it will be taxed at 180% of its value. Not bad, huh?! Well, we so far have not gotten cars and are relying on public transportation. Which brings me to my next point of my "new car", also known as my bike. I have named her Mathilde (Danish spelling) because, it is such a cute name! I love that name!

Oh the stories of my bike... and I have only been here about a week and a half. Well, it is cute little bike... light blue with a silver basket. So far, I have run into 2 parked cars, run into a man on a bike with his kid and, oh... today, I had one hell of a time learning to balance my groceries (& a few things from H&M) on my bike along with myself. If I wasn't me, I would have been laughing. But, it how everyone gets around here, so I have to learn. I have just learned that trying to learn to ride a bike in the city is NOTHING like riding my road bike, nothing at all. That being said, the city is VERY good to bikers. We get our own roads and the right of way, even to pedestrians. That is encouraging, because I would hate to take out one of them... I guess I shouldn't talk too soon, I still have a lot of time left here. ;)

As for our apartment, I really like it. It is really cute and it looks like Ikea threw up all over it. But, that is not such a bad thing, I like Ikea. We have a LOT of really large windows, which over look a cute cobblestone street (which, by the way, doesn't feel good when you are riding your bike).

Here is our dining Room-- Cute, minus the Burnt Orange chairs, I would prefer they be Maroon!
And, here is our living room:

Oh and the bottom floor, there is a French wine bar called Figaro. We know Julien, the owner, by name and they have phenomenal foie gras and wine! Back to the apt, the kitchen is quite quaint with the regular amenitites. However, our fridge is pretty tiny.... which is fine because I am pretty much grocery shopping every day for our meals. Today, I found this amazing little butcher shop downtown. Lets just say another thing I have to learn is the kg=pound conversions, but that is another story....

So, as far as food goes around here... we eat a LOT of salmon. Whether gravlax, bake, roasted... lots of salmon. Also, strawberries are huge here. It is strawberry season in Denmark and let me just tell you, they are the best strawberries I have ever had. They are very little and grown here. They are so freaking sweet with so much flavor. I have eaten them everyday. We also eat a lot of the little potatoes, dill, creme fraiche, yogurt, cheese, etc.

The Danes LOVE their ice cream. They call this one American-sized. I have NEVER seen an ice cream cone this big in America. I need to learn the Danish way of eating it because I made a mess and only got to eat about 10% of it and lost my flodeboller!

Here are the Danish version of the dirty water hot dogs, but they are actually good here with may renditions, including a bacon-wrapped one! I just got the traditional toppings to include curry mayo, dried onion and pickles. It was gooood!

The beach, Hornbeck... what a great time. We went there the weekend I got in (2 weekends ago), it was a great way to help get over jet lag. It was just perfect with a slight breeze at about 70-75 degrees. The water was cold, though! But, in the distance, you could see Sweden. And, lets just say.. I.. uh, kinda forgot what a European beach was all about. Haha...

Another national past time here is picnicing and hanging out at the park! We went to a movie in the park with our good friends Alisha & Jannik! They were showing American Gangsters, of all things... Mike is lounging as we chilled and watched the movie in the park, beer in hand...

Here we are at the park by our apt, Faelledparken. This is at the Free Trade Music Festival that we attended!

More to come, kids... I have to go run over someone as I grab something for dinner... if you are in Osterboro in Kobenhavn, I urge you to stay off the streets!