18 November - Reindeer and ice

Astrid decided to wake up just after 6am and many hours before the Swedish sun.... in order to keep her quiet and not wake the other children in the house we implemented milk and playschool.  That seemed to keep her happy.  Once the other kids were up we had some Swedish pancakes with home made strawberry and rhubarb jam. Astrid was quite the fan and put the other kids to shame by scoffing three of them and then complaining when the dog got the last remaining pancake.

All three of us joined Bjorn and Dumle the dog for his morning walk so we could see some of the sights. We walked through the local heritage society's 'village' and saw some of the local buildings, farms, the lake, the local church and lots of Swedish forest.  Astrid decided to take a nap while rugged up in the pram.

It was nice to see some of the countryside. It's coldish at the moment but nowhere near as cold as it get here over Winter. It doesn't look like we will get snow while here which is a little sad, but given we have already had snow in Switzerland, it's not the end of the world!

After our walk it was time for lunch and then a drive to Klassbol where we attempted to see a linen factory that makes linen for the Nobel Prize dinner. Sadly it was closed on Sunday's during Winter so we missed out on seeing it. Instead we looked at a mill which was quite pretty with the water flowing down past it, although the water wheel currently wasn't working.  In the absence of looking at the linen factory we found a local silver and tin smith and looked at some locally made jewellery.


We then drove back through Edane where we had dinner the other night and took some photos at the railway station, which was very pretty with the sun about to set. Astrid did her best 'flashing' for everyone to see!


Back at Bjorn's we helped Linnea and the kids bake some Swedish gingerbread biscuits that are similar to gingerbread and speculaas combined. Prior to now Astrid hasn't been that helpful with baking but she is now quite keen on baking and enjoyed playing with the rolling pin and saying "roll, roll, roll" while flicking flour in her hair and eating all the biscuit dough.  Once baked the biscuits were delicious and we had some with coffee (or milk if you are Astrid).

After a play outside with the other kids it was time to head off for dinner. We went for a big drive, 70km North to Shalstromsgarden to a restaurant for dinner. On the way we stopped at Frykstalshojden or some sightseeing and looking out over the fryken lake(s). It was of course quite dark and 4.30pm!

We arrived at dinner at around 5.30pm and had the whole restaurant to ourselves, which was probably for the best with 3 small children. It turns out that they were all extremely well behaved kiddies though.  Dinner was a yabby soup starter for the meat eaters and a Jerusalem artichoke soup for Nic. It did take awhile for us to figure out the Swedish to English translation for some of meals but we got there in the end. They were both delicious.

The kids had meatballs, with some lovely dipping sauces and the adults stole what the kids didn't eat.  Mains were Hjort which is type of deer that appears to translate badly which was served with a rich red wine sauce for the meat eaters and crumbed parsnip with cauliflower puree and garlic sauce for the vegetarian.  Dessert was a rich chocolate cake with cream and kids had delicious vanilla icecream, that was divine and the adults stole the left overs of.
It was a delightful meal in a lovely setting of an old barn with an open fire and candlelight.

So we didn't get to see any reindeer today but Anto did try to eat some! After eating we looked around the shop where they had lots of cute things to buy. Astrid loved the rocking sheep and we had to prise her away from it for the long drive back.  Luckily most of the kids slept on the way back and were in bed without too much fuss. When we got back it was below zero and frosty, but it doesn't look like it will snow before we leave :( Anto confirmed that it was indeed very frosty when out walking the dog and the ground was already quite 'crunchy'.

17 November - Eating our way through a Saturday in Sweden

Despite being in with us Astrid slept not too badly and slept til just after 7am. Later would have been nice, given how long the previous day was and how tired she was, but sadly it was not to be. She was excited to be in a house with new people and new things to look at. She was also happy to play with the dog (who incidentally was very excited we were there and spent most of the night checking on us and all morning demanding pats).

We had some yummy breakfast of Swedish scones with cheese and honey and Astrid certainly enjoyed that. After breakfast she located many of Sebastian and Nelly's toys and had a good play with them. After several weeks with only minimal toys she was quite excited to have a whole array to play with.


Mid-morning we headed out for a drive into the town of Arvika near where Bjorn and Linnea live. We have been informed that the current weather pattern of 2-6 degrees is actually quite warm for this time of year, and it had been snowing a little further North the week before. It has been quite cold in Paris the last few days so it is only a little colder here. It was still cold enough though and we had a quick wander around including a visit to the toy store and a look at the bizarre lizard/bird man statue in the town square.


 After a quick trip to the supermarket for dinner supplies, and for us to enquire about any Swedish specialities we should be trying during our visit, we headed off to lunch at a nearby gallery, Rachstadmuseet. Lunch was very yummy. The adults had soup (Asian chicken or a mushroom) and bread and the kids had pancakes with cream and jam. Astrid is definitely a fan of pancakes and Swedish pancakes were no exception. She demolished the whole lot and caused her parents soup to get cold while she was demanding more pancake be shovelled into her. Soup was followed by
coffee and cake. We had an apple and caramel cake with custard and a choc/caramel cake with cream. Both were delicious although the chocolate one may have been the winner, just. Astrid washed down her pancakes with some of the apple cake and then proceeded to be extremely jovial after her oh-so-healthy lunch!


We had a quick look around the gallery, which did have some lovely snow paintings and a great view of the Swedish landscape out the windows.

We headed back to Bjorn's place and I managed to get the tired Astrid to have a bit of a sleep while Anto was forced to drink some whiskey with Bjorn and go for a walk in the woods to find some mushrooms. Apparently the woods were dark and cold.... of course it was 4pm and the sun had set.

while Astrid slept Linnea and Nelly made us some Swedish cinnamon scrolls which we all enjoyed with some Glogg (spiced wine). It was tasty and a nice way to spend the afternoon.  Dinner was a yummy stir fry and we tried Julemust which is their 'xmas' soft drink, only available at Christmas, except when it's available at Easter as Eastermust with a different label. I claim it tastes like creaming soda but this was disputed.  Once all the kids went to bed we did try some of the French chocolates we had bought for Bjorn and Linnea. All in all in a was a good day of eating.........