sverige: day 2
i woke up early and snuck out of my room with my scripture journal and headed down to the kitchen and dining room in the basement. i was keeping it real with bare feet. i was the first one in there and couldn't figure out how to turn on the lights so just padded around in the grey shadows, pouring my yogurt, sprinkled with muesli and dotted with mandarin orange segments. i had the hardest time finding a spoon. all the cupboards are labeled with words in multiple languages and some have pictures too. they had really specific implements of cookery but no silverware?? then i saw a clean spoon in the dish rack and grabbed it. when i turned around i saw what i had missed before. the whole other side of the island had drawers and there it was--the cutlery drawer. i placed a circle of knäcke bread on the side of my bowl. so swedish, i thought proudly.
i sat at a little table facing the windows to the back yard and play ground. it was a drizzly grey morning. i ate my breakfast and had my study and people started to wander in. one man showed us how to turn on the lights which was a revelation.
after i was done i went back to my room and put on shoes and socks and grabbed my camera and went for an exploration adventure. the fist session at the temple wasn't until 10am so i had some time. there is a path..a dirt road running behind the temple. and i remember once me and syster lawrence walked to the temple from our apartment in jordbro and we took that path. and i remembered at the time that syster lawrence told me there was ancient graves along the way but when we took that walk everything was covered in snow. and i remember we passed a little red cottage and i took her picture in front of it with horses in the background and when we got the pictures developed she was quite annoyed that she was only half in the picture, and i was quite amused.... anyways i saw that that path was still there and that was my destination. it was a drizzly day but i gave the rain no mind. i passed a lady with an umbrella heading to the temple and she said something to me like wasn't i so healthy going for a walk. i was clad in t-shirt and bare arms. well for a minute or two i thought "i'm going to get totally soaked" then i shrugged, "so be it." and continued on my explorations. i just wandered down the road and enjoyed the fall colours, the rain the birches and alders lining the road and just got lost in the meditation of all that i saw. the rain on these leaves, the way the trees arched over the road and created a deliciously fall shadow under the brightness of golden leaves and white trunks.
then i came across the red cottages. there were 2 and they were still there. and there were horses. and it was right by the red cottages that i found the sign about the ancient graves. i learned that they were from 500 bc and it was the largest burial field of it's kind in the north. the graves were scattered throughout the prettiest forest and were marked by large stones and boulders, some round and mossy and others sharp and chiseled. some were in family groups and others were on their own. i barely started exploring this wonder when i ran out of time and had to hurry back so i could get ready and go the ten o'clock session at the temple.
as soon as i started trying to walk fast and hurry my bum foot reminded me, "hey bum foot here." "you're so annoying." i shot back. "twinge, ache, owch" it smiled smugly. always wanting the last word. i made it back in time because i hadn't actually walked that far because much of my time was in slow wanderings and photo meditations. and so i made it to the temple in lots of time to dress.
there was a lady there that reminded me of a lady we used to see at the guest home when we did service there as missionaries, folding laundry. i knew it wasn't her, but she seemed so familiar. her name was berit. anyway she scolded me for not having a name of my own and handed me one of her own secretly from her pocket with a wink and a mischievous smile. this session was in norwegian and because i know the words so well in english, it was easier to make out he norwegian and i learned some things, like ohhh that's how they say that in norwegian.
i emerged feeling peaceful, strong and grateful--happy. the beds in front of the temple were gorgeous to me. full of bright pink heather with white and pink flowers floating in the middle. heather grows naturally in scandinavia i guess. the pretty forest had beds of heather and moss too. and i saw planters of heather all over in oslo and drammen too.
next i was meeting kaetlyn downtown stockholm. i changed and went for the train. there was a machine to buy your ticket but after going all the way through the process i found you couldn't pay with cash. there were 3 guys lounging near at an info booth. "what if i want to pay with cash?" i ask in swedish. one of they guys told me i could pay with cash up on the track and pointed me in the direction. i went up the stairs and there was not a machine or worker or anything and then the train came and i got on thinking maybe there was someone on board i could pay. well no there wasn't. i jumped the train. i'm still bewildered about what that guy was talking about. i texted kaetlyn that i jumped the train by accident. she reassured me that there is hardly ever anyone checking tickets on the pendel train.
she was waiting for me at stockholm central right on my track. we hugged and as we rode up the looooong steep escalators x2 she told me that this was now 'stockholm city' because they updated it and put the tracks like 8 floors down etc etc. then we wandered around old city (gamla stan) and kaetlyn was infinately patient with my picture taking, aimless wanders, and rests of bum foot. it was just cool to be there and experience it visually. just everything. i bought a cinnamon bun (kanel bullor) from a weird shop that looked like it shouldn't be open. she showed me a shop and said i was going to want to go in there. it was a licorice shop with lots of gourmet licorice things. yes. yes i did want to go in there. and i bought like 5 things there. it was my one and only splurge. one was a little jar of licorice balls covered in blueberry white chocolate with mumin on the jar. another was a jar of salted licorice covered in milk chocolate with thai chilies and crispy cornflakes. hello. but the thing that brought my heart up to fluttering bliss beats was salted licorice caramel sauce. for ice cream. how did they know how to make my dreams come true when i didn't even know to dream that??? we continued on shambling down cobblestone streets, mustard buildings, black towered churches, statues of heros slaying dragons, ancient city squares, the nobel prize museum, and an interesting little shop that had old maps where i had a nice conversation with the owner who showed me some interesting things.
we saw the outside of a palace which was under construction. all the stone barriers were lions. we found ourselves talking and sitting in front of an old church. kaetlyn would once in a while ask me where i wanted to go or what i wanted to see. how could i explain that i wanted to see everything? that any direction was a good direction? we decided to head for the area where we would be meeting eddy for dinner. but first we took pics of stat huset (the state house) where nobel pizes are given, except the peace prize which is given in oslo. then up and over a bridge. stockholm, as you may or may not know is built on many islands and bridges to connect them all. kaetlyn suggested we stop for hot chocolate and coffee at a coffee shop. the coffee shop turned out to be the coffee shop that her roastery owns. we plugged in my phone and sat in a cozy back area and nursed our hot beverages. well i drank mine and she worried that hers didn't have oat milk but milk so didn't have much of it. kaetlyn and eddy are vegan. fyi. a guy named jack who turned out to be her assistant as well as manager of the cafe came and talked to her about a problem with scheduling and work.
after a while in the shop we decided to leave and walk to the restaurant. either before we passed a cool fountain in a leafy square that had a hero killing a worm and some mystery people had put soap suds in it. the restaurant was eddy's favourite. it was an all you can eat vegan buffet that sat on a cliff overlooking old town. there was a way to go in on the patio through a sliding glass door. "do we go in there?" i asked. "no." said kaetlyn decisively, "i despise people who go in that way." and not wanting to be on a list of people my niece despises, i followed her around to the front. we used the washroom first and then went down to the restaurant and there was eddy who had traveled long in traffic. kaetlyn and eddy treated me. we were seated at a table by the window by a single lady who we found out was from australia after talking quite a while about the kiwi accent. we got plates and hit the buffet which had homemade breads and vegan butters and spreads. i tried an olive spread. there were various warm dishes like a curry and a lasagna of some sort, a pizza, and many kinds of veggies and salads and hummus . i had 2 plates. i think kaetlyn had 2 salad plates and one warm plate. eddy had 5 plates and then bought me and him 2 desserts to share. we got deep into many kinds of conversations one of which was the consumption of horse in europe. like do they raise horses to eat? it just seems weird. we lingered long at our table and by the time we left it was around 10pm i think. eddy and kaetlyn drove me all the way back to the temple which was so nice seeing that they lived the exact opposite direction. the temple was south of stockholm and knivsta, where they live is north of the city.
when i came in edel was still up and we chatted a little bit and i showed her my licorice purchases. she said told me that licorice makes your teeth yellow then she popped a licorice of her own in her mouth and said "but i don't care." she told me that there is a sugar tax in norway and that all the sweets in sweden are 30% cheaper, so the norwegians come to sweden to buy their sweets among other things.
there was something weird with the church wifi so i couldn't connect the whole time i was there. we settled into our various beds after some chatting and edel turned off the lights and soon i was asleep.
i sat at a little table facing the windows to the back yard and play ground. it was a drizzly grey morning. i ate my breakfast and had my study and people started to wander in. one man showed us how to turn on the lights which was a revelation.
after i was done i went back to my room and put on shoes and socks and grabbed my camera and went for an exploration adventure. the fist session at the temple wasn't until 10am so i had some time. there is a path..a dirt road running behind the temple. and i remember once me and syster lawrence walked to the temple from our apartment in jordbro and we took that path. and i remembered at the time that syster lawrence told me there was ancient graves along the way but when we took that walk everything was covered in snow. and i remember we passed a little red cottage and i took her picture in front of it with horses in the background and when we got the pictures developed she was quite annoyed that she was only half in the picture, and i was quite amused.... anyways i saw that that path was still there and that was my destination. it was a drizzly day but i gave the rain no mind. i passed a lady with an umbrella heading to the temple and she said something to me like wasn't i so healthy going for a walk. i was clad in t-shirt and bare arms. well for a minute or two i thought "i'm going to get totally soaked" then i shrugged, "so be it." and continued on my explorations. i just wandered down the road and enjoyed the fall colours, the rain the birches and alders lining the road and just got lost in the meditation of all that i saw. the rain on these leaves, the way the trees arched over the road and created a deliciously fall shadow under the brightness of golden leaves and white trunks.
then i came across the red cottages. there were 2 and they were still there. and there were horses. and it was right by the red cottages that i found the sign about the ancient graves. i learned that they were from 500 bc and it was the largest burial field of it's kind in the north. the graves were scattered throughout the prettiest forest and were marked by large stones and boulders, some round and mossy and others sharp and chiseled. some were in family groups and others were on their own. i barely started exploring this wonder when i ran out of time and had to hurry back so i could get ready and go the ten o'clock session at the temple.
as soon as i started trying to walk fast and hurry my bum foot reminded me, "hey bum foot here." "you're so annoying." i shot back. "twinge, ache, owch" it smiled smugly. always wanting the last word. i made it back in time because i hadn't actually walked that far because much of my time was in slow wanderings and photo meditations. and so i made it to the temple in lots of time to dress.
there was a lady there that reminded me of a lady we used to see at the guest home when we did service there as missionaries, folding laundry. i knew it wasn't her, but she seemed so familiar. her name was berit. anyway she scolded me for not having a name of my own and handed me one of her own secretly from her pocket with a wink and a mischievous smile. this session was in norwegian and because i know the words so well in english, it was easier to make out he norwegian and i learned some things, like ohhh that's how they say that in norwegian.
i emerged feeling peaceful, strong and grateful--happy. the beds in front of the temple were gorgeous to me. full of bright pink heather with white and pink flowers floating in the middle. heather grows naturally in scandinavia i guess. the pretty forest had beds of heather and moss too. and i saw planters of heather all over in oslo and drammen too.
next i was meeting kaetlyn downtown stockholm. i changed and went for the train. there was a machine to buy your ticket but after going all the way through the process i found you couldn't pay with cash. there were 3 guys lounging near at an info booth. "what if i want to pay with cash?" i ask in swedish. one of they guys told me i could pay with cash up on the track and pointed me in the direction. i went up the stairs and there was not a machine or worker or anything and then the train came and i got on thinking maybe there was someone on board i could pay. well no there wasn't. i jumped the train. i'm still bewildered about what that guy was talking about. i texted kaetlyn that i jumped the train by accident. she reassured me that there is hardly ever anyone checking tickets on the pendel train.
she was waiting for me at stockholm central right on my track. we hugged and as we rode up the looooong steep escalators x2 she told me that this was now 'stockholm city' because they updated it and put the tracks like 8 floors down etc etc. then we wandered around old city (gamla stan) and kaetlyn was infinately patient with my picture taking, aimless wanders, and rests of bum foot. it was just cool to be there and experience it visually. just everything. i bought a cinnamon bun (kanel bullor) from a weird shop that looked like it shouldn't be open. she showed me a shop and said i was going to want to go in there. it was a licorice shop with lots of gourmet licorice things. yes. yes i did want to go in there. and i bought like 5 things there. it was my one and only splurge. one was a little jar of licorice balls covered in blueberry white chocolate with mumin on the jar. another was a jar of salted licorice covered in milk chocolate with thai chilies and crispy cornflakes. hello. but the thing that brought my heart up to fluttering bliss beats was salted licorice caramel sauce. for ice cream. how did they know how to make my dreams come true when i didn't even know to dream that??? we continued on shambling down cobblestone streets, mustard buildings, black towered churches, statues of heros slaying dragons, ancient city squares, the nobel prize museum, and an interesting little shop that had old maps where i had a nice conversation with the owner who showed me some interesting things.
we saw the outside of a palace which was under construction. all the stone barriers were lions. we found ourselves talking and sitting in front of an old church. kaetlyn would once in a while ask me where i wanted to go or what i wanted to see. how could i explain that i wanted to see everything? that any direction was a good direction? we decided to head for the area where we would be meeting eddy for dinner. but first we took pics of stat huset (the state house) where nobel pizes are given, except the peace prize which is given in oslo. then up and over a bridge. stockholm, as you may or may not know is built on many islands and bridges to connect them all. kaetlyn suggested we stop for hot chocolate and coffee at a coffee shop. the coffee shop turned out to be the coffee shop that her roastery owns. we plugged in my phone and sat in a cozy back area and nursed our hot beverages. well i drank mine and she worried that hers didn't have oat milk but milk so didn't have much of it. kaetlyn and eddy are vegan. fyi. a guy named jack who turned out to be her assistant as well as manager of the cafe came and talked to her about a problem with scheduling and work.
after a while in the shop we decided to leave and walk to the restaurant. either before we passed a cool fountain in a leafy square that had a hero killing a worm and some mystery people had put soap suds in it. the restaurant was eddy's favourite. it was an all you can eat vegan buffet that sat on a cliff overlooking old town. there was a way to go in on the patio through a sliding glass door. "do we go in there?" i asked. "no." said kaetlyn decisively, "i despise people who go in that way." and not wanting to be on a list of people my niece despises, i followed her around to the front. we used the washroom first and then went down to the restaurant and there was eddy who had traveled long in traffic. kaetlyn and eddy treated me. we were seated at a table by the window by a single lady who we found out was from australia after talking quite a while about the kiwi accent. we got plates and hit the buffet which had homemade breads and vegan butters and spreads. i tried an olive spread. there were various warm dishes like a curry and a lasagna of some sort, a pizza, and many kinds of veggies and salads and hummus . i had 2 plates. i think kaetlyn had 2 salad plates and one warm plate. eddy had 5 plates and then bought me and him 2 desserts to share. we got deep into many kinds of conversations one of which was the consumption of horse in europe. like do they raise horses to eat? it just seems weird. we lingered long at our table and by the time we left it was around 10pm i think. eddy and kaetlyn drove me all the way back to the temple which was so nice seeing that they lived the exact opposite direction. the temple was south of stockholm and knivsta, where they live is north of the city.
when i came in edel was still up and we chatted a little bit and i showed her my licorice purchases. she said told me that licorice makes your teeth yellow then she popped a licorice of her own in her mouth and said "but i don't care." she told me that there is a sugar tax in norway and that all the sweets in sweden are 30% cheaper, so the norwegians come to sweden to buy their sweets among other things.
there was something weird with the church wifi so i couldn't connect the whole time i was there. we settled into our various beds after some chatting and edel turned off the lights and soon i was asleep.
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