back in the rain

So, I've made it back to Oregon. I'm heading off to work shortly, hoping that I can make it through without falling asleep on my desk from jetlag. We'll see if I can maintain this early-bird schedule (waking up way before the alarm and proceeding to actually getting up out of bed). My posts may have more of an archives slant now that I'm back, but we'll see.

I'll leave you with an image from one of the many public art pieces in the metro in Stockholm.

v-day food

So, no food pictures from last night's dinner, but here comes a description for purposes of documentation. We went to this fish restaurant that also doubles as a upscale fish shop (you can buy oysters, crab, etc.). We got the prix fixe for the day and a bottle of viognier from Chile to go with. The first course was 1/2 a lobster served with chili aioli. This was the first time that I had eaten lobster out of its shell in public. I'd done it several times as a cook, behind closed doors as the other cooks made a mess out of the shell while we devoured the contents. It was nice. The main course was halibut cooked with vegetables with some salty component (poached or brined or something) with grated horseradish on top. This was served with a basic drawn butter sauce, steamed potatoes and a shrimp and egg timbale (they love shrimp salad with bits of hard boiled eggs here). The dessert was a chocolate fondant (aka, a molten chocolate cake) with stewed rhubarb and vanilla ice cream.

Food here has been interesting. It still has definite roots in continental or classical French cuisine, but they are also incorporating the Scandinavian repertoire, as well as nouvelle cuisine techniques and components. But overall, it is still more traditional here than the states (the presence of entrecote and other beef dishes with hollandaise and other heavy sauces is commonplace and the nicer restaurants and cafes).

I leave tomorrow, so it was good to have a meal towards the end of the trip that will linger as good food memory. Now I just need to figure out how to pack everything and then some back into my bag.

scandinavia, week 2

We're back from Stockholm (Friday to Monday). It was COLD, -10 to -15 centigrade to be exact. I took some scary self portraits to document the fact that this was the coldest northernmost place I had been in my life. Very fun. brl and I desperately wanted to by the fur hats that many folks were wearing, but knew they would have to be hidden or buried upon our return to Eugene.

I'm now in brl's apartment, where handymen/plumbers/who knows else have been next door since 8am putting in a new heat pump. Hearing the handymen's gestures and discussion in Swedish had been funny - I've been making up dialogue to go along with it.

I've had some wonderful visits with the University of Lund's Special Collections and University Archives. They are in separate departments and buildings. Both were such great hosts. I wasn't sure if we'd have time to visit the National Archives, but we made it on our last day in Stockholm. It was interesting, but unfortunately since I didn't contact anyone ahead of time (they only had one webpage in English with not even contact information on the Swedish pages), they were unable to give me a tour of the cavernness stacks that were built underground.

I brought three knitting projects and two books. I started one of the knitting projects and am halfway through both books. I've ended up being on my feet, walking around and going to museums so I've been neglecting that part of my holiday. I'm sure I'll have plenty of time to catch up on that stuff on the 9-hour plane ride.

Scandinavia, week 1

I've now been in Scandinavia (Sweden and Denmark, to be exact) for a week. I'm almost done with jetlag (I think the sleeping in problem that I'm having is called a vacation not something bad from jetlag). People are very nice, it's just hard to not know what's going on most of the time (the train, the grocery store, etc.). We hung out in Copenhagen at the six-day bike race on Sunday - very interesting cultural event. Who knew mopeds, cigarettes and elite track cyclists could co-exist indoors?

We went to Malmö earlier in the week to see an exhibit by Sarah Sze at the modern art museum there. Malmö is southwest of Lund, just over the bridge from Denmark. It's an interesting city, with lots of shopping and parks. At the cafe in the museum, Smak, we had some amazing food.

Pictures and more later...