East End to Östermalm

Last night we went to dinner at Sillkafe  with my host, his friend who introduced him to this restaurant, and a visiting foodie colleague who was the opponent for the dissertation the day before and who makes Mark look like a food-obsessed lightweight (which is no mean task).  It was the most amazing meal.  Herring is an important food here, being served for holidays such as Christmas, Easter etc. We ordered EVERY herring dish (served tapas-like) on the menu - see sill on the chalkboard. The herring was basically pickled but the preparations varied from mustard, cream,  to tomato, ramps, etc.  Plus we ate sides of potatoes and bread.  And drank 3 different akvavits (from Norway, Denmark, Sweden) plus beer.  Our first snaps since arriving in Sweden. Then concluded with dessert.  Four hours later we were done and arrived home near midnight.  We are still recovering this morning.

Mark and I unfortunately have been sick since the dissertation party, me last week and then Mark this week.  Thankfully it wasn't Covid (at least according to each of our home tests), but with sneezing and low fevers we still stayed home for 3 days each.  Sadly in the small window when I had recovered and Mark hadn't yet gotten sick, I was able to book the only dinner reservation for weeks at a very nearby Michelin 1 star. Then I had to promptly cancel. By Thursday we were both okay so were able to take advantage of a tour of Stockholms Stadhus  (the City Hall) arranged by KTH Relocation.  It is quite a bizarre but amazing building from the inside, and a dominant feature of the skyline from the outside (see my photos from last week's expedition to Gamla Stan and Sodermalm).   Besides being a working building it is well known for hosting the Nobel Prize banquet.  After dinner in the Blue Hall (with the arcade) there is dancing in the Golden Hall with it...

Another beautiful day, so we walked through two areas that we hadn't been to yet.  Gamla Stan is Stockholm's Old Town while Sodermalm is bohemian (according to Lonely Planet) and has lovely views back over the water.  More ice even though it was close to 60 degrees.  And way more tourists than we see in our neighborhood. View from Evert Taubes Terrass, Riddarholmen Stortorget (Gamla Stan main square) House of Nobility Panorama from Sodermalm footpath Prastgatan in Gamla Stan

Because we are staying in Sweden longer than 90 days, I had to apply for Swedish residence permits after getting an official hosting agreement from KTH.  I applied for the permits in October, was approved back in December, but still needed to do the final step of fingerprinting at a migration agency office after arriving in Sweden.  I checked online back in December and there were tons of appointments, so I thought I'd just wait to book the appointment until after I got here and was a bit settled.  Big mistake.  When we left the US there was no war, but the day we arrived Putin invaded Ukraine.  So when I went online after arriving, all the appointments in Stockholm were now gone due to the offices being overwhelmed by Ukrainian refugees.  In fact there were no appointments in any nearby cities, so I ended up booking an appointment at a city 2 hours away for the end of March.  Without getting our residence cards, if we leave Sweden after 90 days we won...

Turns out that Mark is 1/4 Swedish (from his paternal grandmother).  Before we came, I remembered that his cousin had done family research and suggested that Mark contact her to see what she knew about any distant relatives still in Sweden.  She gave Mark a name and voila, we were invited to the home of Mark's 4th cousin for lunch yesterday.   They live out in the middle/upper-middle class suburbs of Stockholm (Sollentuna), in the Silicon Valley of Sweden (Kista).  It was only 3 stops on the commuter train from the transit center (itself a 30 minute walk from our apartment).  We were there in less than an hour including a stop to pick up flowers. Mark's cousin Anders/Andy and his wife Karin were delightful, and it was very interesting to see their house and neighborhood (photo of random house below).  It was a beautiful day (the warmest since our arrival, about 50 degrees) so after lunch they took us on a long walk to a still-frozen lake (Edsviken), co...

After 3 years with no one graduating, last Friday was the first of 3 consecutive Friday dissertation defenses at the department.  Like my arrival, the defenses were originally scheduled for January then delayed due to Omicron so they could be held in person. The process of defending a dissertation varies remarkably across countries, at least based on my personal experiences in the US, the Netherlands, and the UK where I've seen 3 very different models.  Sweden is now a 4th model. At Pitt, the committee consists of 3 departmental faculty and at least one outside member (often a faculty from another department at Pitt).  The candidate sends us a draft document at least two weeks in advance.  The student gives a public one hour presentation followed by an open question session, then there is a private QA with the committee.  After that the committee decides if the student passes, and usually the student is asked to make some writing and sometimes even new research ...

Yesterday was a milestone birthday, at least for those of us who are fans of the Beatles.  We started with caviar and blinis, along with a great Vouvray sparkling wine.  We'd never seen a sparkler like it before in the US and Mark was skeptical of my choice, but it was delicious.  The next course was rack of venison and potatoes, with a nebbiolo.  We ended with the chocolate dessert we had picked up from Mr. Cake (right now we can't bake as the apartment is not well-equipped), and finished up the bottle of the sparkler.   Caviar seems really popular here.  There is quite a selection at just our local ICA grocery store, both cheap (which is what we had last night, although it was plenty tasty) and expensive (in a locked case).    And one can buy blini packs easily, which we did from a fancy fish purveyor. The alcohol buying situation seems worse than in Pennsylvania, which we didn't think was possible.  There are state stores and they hav...

 We decided to take advantage of the on-campus accommodations.  They are very convenient: Only a 7 minute walk (or so) from the department.  And a reasonably short walk to the nearest grocery store (although, in full honesty one must climb a hill to get back).  The building is very new --- imagine living in an Ikea paradise (does that exist?).  Everything in the apartment with the exception of the appliances is made by Ikea.  The pots, the dishes, the utensils, the beds, the lights, it's all Ikea.  There are four rooms: A living/dining room and kitchen, a bathroom with shower and washer/dryer, a kids bedroom with a bunk-bed (put together with the infamous Ikea allen wrench) and finally a "master" bedroom. Here's a look at the largest room with a nerd on her computer: The kitchen is seriously under-equipped.  There is nothing to support baking of any kind.  And everything else is just the bare minimum.  I am reluctant to buy anything sin...

 Today we increased our exploration radius and walked almost 5 miles. Our first destination was a food hall.  We cut through a park and saw an interesting playground with a sleigh ride.  I thought my Duolingo vocabulary was not particularly useful because I was learning words like moose, but then I saw this moose product at the food hall!  We did not buy it, or the reindeer fillets (yet). Aw we continued our walk, we ran into a rally supporting Ukraine and a memorial  for Olof Palme. As noted before, Swedes appreciate the sun even when temps are only in the 30s. Outdoor cafe dining is already happening. The line to get into Mr. Cake at 3pm was also impressive.  We were doing takeout so could skip the line. As also noted before, bulbs are everywhere!  In cut bouquets, in forced pots, and in displays outside establishments. We desperately need to buy a vase.  There are even decorative tulips on a building. Here are some other interesting buildings s...