East End to Östermalm

Monday June 6 was Sweden's National Day so we decided to take advantage of some of the special activities throughout the city.  Although I read in the English language newspaper that despite all the flags we saw and making it a holiday, it  is a failed attempt at instilling more nationalistic fervor (Mark's paraphrase). First stop was the Royal Palace  to see  Logården, a garden normally not open to the public. While trying to figure out where to go we stumbled onto a courtyard where some sort of 'Defense Music and high guard relief' was going on. We watched that for a while then left to find the garden, which frankly was a bit disappointing. But while there we happened to accidentally have a great view of the 21 gun cannon salute at noon that was happening at Skeppsholmen across the water. Then we wandered around the palace antiquities a bit and were about to leave when a women told us the mounted high guard was about to pass. So we watched that too. We not...

Yesterday was our 35th wedding anniversary so today we celebrated with a 5 hour lunch at Frantzen , Sweden's Michelin ***.     Here are a Michelin and another article that nicely capture the "immersive" experience we had. After ringing the doorbell (we walked right by the place as it doesn't look like a restaurant), you go through an almost pitch black hallway lined with water and flowers into a pitch black elevator.  As you ascend, the rock music starts and the elevator brightens.  You emerge into the "living room" where you are seated and have a series of amuse bouche and drinks if desired.  Then one by one each party (who have staggered reservation times, ours was at noon)  are invited to the counter where a chef opens up a display of all the raw ingredients for today's menu and explains the dishes, followed by a tour of the facilities - the food supplies, the prep kitchen (complete with a live feed to their Singapore restaurant), the wine cellar,...

 Quite a May backlog to blog about! April 30 was Valborg , celebrating the end of winter and the arrival of spring with bonfires and traditional songs.  We went to the celebration in  Riddarholmen .  There was a beautiful sunset over the water by the Town Hall, and the next photo shows the unlit wood.  Then came the torch parade. I was disappointed we didn't buy a torch and participate in the procession as that looked fun.  The people with the torches then used them to light the fire. After the fire was lit, a politician spoke and a choir sang (neither of which we could hear), followed by a dance band. On May 1 we had planned to go to a museum, but as we were walking through Humlegarden to get there we realized there was some May Day event going on.  Lots of bands lined up, people with signs for causes ranging from labor to pension to antiNato to Indonesia to Ethiopia to the environment, protesters wearing red clothes and giving out red roses. It was a...

  So, time to up our game.  Diane was able to snag a reservation at a Gastrologik , a local Michelin ** restaurant.  She posted the menu, but I thought I would try and remember the various dishes. First off, they start you with "snacks".  These are one bite wonders.  And so, one by one...  Forest broth: This was prepared at the table.  Imagine a small glass tea pot filled with herbs and dried raindeer heart.  A deep prepared broth is poured into the pot and let to steep for 5 minutes and then decanted.  It was intense and filled with flavors.  The yolk was confit'ed (as is the trend) and serviced in a flatbread cup with a layer of cream on top and roe on top of that.  All in one bit, crunchy, eggs, creamy.  And, more texture: Imagine a mousse of liver with a meringue (more crunch!) and a tiny bit of apple.  The oyster (one) was served in the shell; I couldn't taste the "tripe", but the oyster flavor was delicious. Fo...

Last Saturday night was Kulturnatt , which is similar to Doors Open day in Pittsburgh.  Basically lots of places open themselves up for free and also have special events.  Pre-Kulturnatt and forcing ourselves to not wimp out due to drizzle, we detoured to see the  Cherry Blossoms in Kungstradgarden .   Cutting through a small street after the park, we were surprised to find the Great Synagogue of Stockholm .  Even more surprising was the lack of security, particularly compared to the community center where we got our matzoh. We first visited Dramaten , the Royal Dramatic Theatre.  The building has a spectacular exterior which we pass by often, but since the shows are in Swedish we didn't think we would get inside. This was our chance!  Our next stop was a small music museum which is rarely open.  On the way we passed right by the  Royal Stables  so we detoured there.  Both the horses and the carriages are actively in ...

 A bit more about the Bergius Treegarden (literally).  The garden was founded in the 18th century and then moved to the north end of Stockholm in 1885.  The garden itself is a scientific garden: It is designed and laid out according to zones and locations.  That being said, it is weeded aggressively and mulched and pruned.  It is very well kept. It is also a prime picnicing locale for the Stockholm residents.  There are picnic tables and benches throughout.  Many Stockholm residents choose to cycle here and then picnic. It has two glass houses: One, a modern one opened in 1995 and a classic one inaugurated in 1900.  The classic "Victoria House" contains the delightful and famous "Victoria Amazonica" -- the largest water lily in the world.  The house doesn't open until May Day, so it's not possible to see green upside-down trash can lids until later this summer.  The modern "Edvard Anderson" house has a number of climate zones: I didn't n...

Easter is a big deal here in Sweden.  Luckily Passover and Swedish holiday food traditions (e.g., pickled herring, salmon and lox, eggs, potatoes, lamb, Jansson's Temptation) work together well.  And sweets.  Our local bakery posted a facebook announcement of their chocolate Easter egg deluxe creation, so I of course had to buy it.  Although it looks beautiful and is fun to eat, it was not transformative enough to be worth the very high. price. The holiday seems more secular here than at home.  Although KTH closed Thursday afternoon and doesn't reopen until tomorrow/Tuesday, all the stores and sights are still open.  Which is good because we surprisingly learned that our KTH card keys do not get us into the building when the university is closed.  So we have had a long holiday weekend.  On Saturday we went to the Moderna Museet / ArkDes  museum complex on the little island of Skeppsholmen .  The island has a strategic Baltic sea locatio...

Kosherian appeared to be the only place to buy matzoh in Stockholm, so today we made an expedition there.  On the way we first visited  Hallwylska Museet  - a house/palace and its intact belongings formerly belonging to an aristocratic family. Finding Kosherian took quite a bit of effort.  After failing to find 19a on the target street, we asked in a restaurant located at 19 who told us we had to get entry behind a locked gate in a nearby courtyard.  Turns out it is located inside some sort of Jewish community center.  Sadly as with most Jewish places these days, there was very strict security and they asked for our IDs before letting us in.  But we did get matzoh and matzoh meal (new brands for us, from Israel). Meanwhile, Sweden is gearing up for Easter .  Lots of eggs and candy everywhere, and all the florists carry birch twigs with feathers which apparently is a traditional decoration.  The traditional foods appear to be very Passover fr...

Today we went to the Composer's Weekend at the Konserthuset   (home of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra), featuring the Swedish composer Benjamin Staern.  Just like with our choice of ballet last week, we are picking programs that we are unlikely to see in the US.  Even Noah hadn't heard of this composer.  The concert featured a Norwegian female conductor known for her interesting programming of people like Lili Boulanger. whose piece was also on the program as it inspired the featured commissioned symphony.  The composer loves percussion, there were 5 percussionists on stage!  In the lobby they had the scores of his pieces available for perusal (and a button for swag).  Like in the US, new music doesn't seem very popular as the hall was maybe half empty.  Also similarly to home, the audience for classical music seems to be senior citizens (although maybe the matinee was a factor). Benjamin   Staern   Jubilate Benjamin   S...