Author: JWF

Sweden: Dining Around

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EATING OUT IN UPPSALA AND STOCKHOLM

One does not expect a northern country like Sweden to offer outside dining, but it does. Here in Uppsala, there are many sidewalk cafes and glassed-in cafes, some overlooking the river and others just on ordinary streets. Most have heat lamps, extending both the dining hours and the days on which it is possible to eat outdoors.

Iberico, Uppsala

Entrance to Iberico

Set alongside the river, Iberico is a tapas restaurant that serves in a café space in pleasant weather and across the street indoors the rest of the time.  The Chief Penguin discovered this gem, and we were delighted with what we ordered. From a plate of three different hams to shrimps in chili ginger oil, to patatas bravas, and lovely patron peppers sprinkled with salt, to a bomba filled with minced lamb and in a Swedish twist, a bit of truffle, everything was delicious!  Add in some Spanish wine and you have a tasty light meal.

 We liked this restaurant so much, we returned for a light meal after lunch in Stockholm.  We enjoyed the three Iberico hams a second time, the padron peppers, and this time the cheese platter complete with Marcona almonds, small toasts, and mini wedges of cantaloupe. 

Our waiter, a young man who grew up in Moldova, was the youngest son in his family who got “blamed’ for everything. He lived for some years in Dubai, but tiring of the noise and bustle there, moved to Uppsala. He was charming and engaging, adding to our dining pleasure on both occasions.

Saluhallen, Uppsala

Fish counter, Saluhallen

Saluhallen is an elegant food hall.  Not overly large, it is divided into sections and counters devoted to one food group or another.  A lovely selection of cheeses in one case, fish and shrimp preparations at another counter, beef and other meats at another, and fancy pastries at yet another.  You can order items to take home or sit nearby or at tables in a separate attractive light-filled area with big windows.  We didn’t eat or buy here, just wandered through, salivating all the way, promising ourselves a return visit.

Operabaren, Stockholm

Housed in the Royal Swedish Opera House complex, Operabaren is the little sister to Operakallaren, a one Michelin star restaurant also here.  Coming by train from Uppsala (about 45 minutes), we met our friends from Los Angeles.  It’s a small comfortable space with lots of wood and both traditional and elegant in feel.  White tablecloths and white linen napkins, for sure, and all male servers.  The menu is mostly traditional Swedish cuisine, beautifully plated.

Swedish shrimp sandwich

I had the half open face shrimp sandwich as my starter, while the Chief Penguin indulged in herring with little round potatoes. 

Herring and potatoes

For mains, we both ordered Swedish meatballs.  They were little balls in a rich sauce accompanied by puréed potatoes, lingonberries, and pickled cucumber slices.  A perfect rendition of this classic dish! 

Swedish meatballs!

Our friends tucked into a beef and potato entrée and gravlax with potatoes on the side.  Dessert was a buttercream meringue confection for the CP, raspberry sorbet for me, and a cheese plate for the others. 

Meringue confection

It was leisurely meal where we caught up with each others’ lives over the past several decades.

OF NOTE

Street with Hanging lampshades

Smedsgrand Street

I fell in love with the hanging lamp shade lights on Smedsgrand Street in Uppsala.  The shades are large and colorfully patterned and almost all different.  I noted only one pattern that was repeated.  I was curious about them and Googled, but was unable to find any information about them or why and when they were installed. 

TRAIN STATION

Uppsala Train Station

The Uppsala train station is a striking long building.  It is modern, with good signage, and is meticulously clean! Finding where to buy a train ticket, however, is almost impossible.  No signs or obvious ticket machines or service counter.  Finally, the Chief Penguin entered a convenience store to ask.  The helpful man there told him he sells the tickets, and he provided useful details on the schedule and travel times. We later bought tickets from him. Friends told us you can buy tickets online, but we haven’t tried that.

This station also includes an upscale restaurant, a café and a grill.  The restaurant is a separate enterprise from the station management. 

Note: Header photo by the river and all other photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Sweden: Uppsala Botanical Garden & Food

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THE LINNAEUS GARDEN

Path in the Linnaeus Garden

This morning was cool with bright sun to start.  We headed for the garden with stops along the way to take photos of the cathedral and other sites under blue skies.  It was cloudy and very windy later on.

A professor of medicine and botany at Uppsala University, Carl Linnaeus (1707-1748) created a new system of classification for plants and then later animals.  His naming system is used all over the world, including at the California Academy of Sciences where I initially worked in its research library. 

The Linnaeus Garden, known as the Uppsala University Botanical Garden, was originally planned in 1655 by Olof Rudbeck and even in that day was a noted botanical garden in Europe.  A catastrophic fire in Uppsala in 1702 destroyed much of the garden, but when Linnaeus arrived as a young botanist,  he had free rein to rehabilitate it and created his sexual classification system for plants. 

Tall hollyhocks

The first garden became too small, and Linnaeus’ son and one of his fans convinced the king to donate the gardens of Uppsala Castle to the university.  These grounds soon became a park and it wasn’t until 1917 that the Swedish Linnaeus Society, using Carl Linnaeus’ descriptions and lists of plants, recreated the garden mostly as it had been in 1745.  Today it includes only the 1,000+ species cultivated in Linnaeus’ time and is once again part of the university.

Annuals in the garden

Annuals and biennials in the Annual Parterre are arranged in 44 beds in narrow rows.  They are not closely cropped or confined.   Rather, many are very tall or spread out often overlapping with the next variety. 

Monkey hut

In his day, Linnaeus included some exotic animals in the garden: parrots, goldfish, a tame raccoon, and several monkeys. To accommodate the latter, there are a series of monkey houses or huts atop poles. Attached to each pole is an iron rod and while the monkeys were chained to the pole, they could exit their huts and scamper up and down the rod.

Wire monkeys over the street

DINING IN UPPSALA—ETHNIC VARIETY

O’Neill’s Traditional Irish Pub

O’Neill’s is our friend’s favorite pub, and we enjoyed dinner here on our first night.  The Chief Penguin and I ordered lightly, chicken club sandwich for me and seared king prawns for him, while Josh, who hadn’t eaten much all day, had the braised lamb shank with root vegetables.  The guys enjoyed a local beer, while I sampled a local cider.  All perfect for this long first day!

Ristorante Villa Romana

Classic Swedish salmon & potatoes

Lunch today was at a small Italian restaurant, Villa Romana. The menu has pizzas and the expected pasta dishes such as bucatini carbonara and lasagna, but each with a Swedish twist.  This being Sweden, you can also order a classic dish of salmon with dill over white potatoes.  You order at the counter and it’s delivered to your table.  This menu item included bread, salad, and coffee.  Having just arrived, we ordered the salmon and potatoes which was a hearty portion meant to easily carry us through the rest of the day! 

Lindvall’s Kaffe

Elaborate cakes and cookies

Given the plethora of bakeries, I thought I should include this neighborhood konditori where we purchased some filled cookies (citron and chocolate) and two berry tarts to take away.  Lindvall’s cases were filled with lots of temptations for dessert or breakfast, and these were a tasty addition to our afternoon tea break. 

Note: All photos including header photo of a sunflower variety ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Return to Sweden: Uppsala

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THE PAST

In the 1980’s and 90’s, the Chief Penguin made many trips to Sweden and Denmark for conferences and collaborations with scientific colleagues.  Uppsala was one of the places visited most often and Josh, a professor at the university, became both a research partner and a personal friend.  In June 1984, we both visited when the university awarded CP an honorary doctorate.   It was almost summer solstice, it never seemed to get dark, and the degree ceremony was capped with a white tie gala that evening. 

Site of the 1984 ceremonies

In 1991, our son and I with CP began and ended a cruise to Helsinki and St. Petersburg with time in Uppsala. This year we are back again to join friends and his university colleagues in celebrating Josh’s 80th birthday.

Uppsala is an old city and its public research university dates to the 15th century. It’s the oldest university in Sweden and in Scandinavia.

Spires of Uppsala Cathedral

Dominating the city skyline is Uppsala Cathedral, the national church of Sweden in the Lutheran tradition.  And running through the center of the city is the Fyris River.

TODAY’S FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Bicycles, bridges, and bakeries.  These three things struck me as we took a long walk this afternoon to get acclimated. For its more than 40,000 students, bicycles are a primary means of getting around, along with the occasional battery-operated scooters.  Since the Fyris River runs through town, there are a number of historic and pretty bridges linking the two sides.

River view from one of the many bridges

 Swedes, like Danes, enjoy pastry, and cafes and bakeries can be found on almost every street.  The restaurant dining scene is also remarkably cosmopolitan with Thai, Japanese, Middle Eastern, and Indian fare on offer besides the local specialties.

I also like the historic architecture, facades in colors reminiscent of Rome: apricot, golden yellow, burnt sienna, and orange.  Attractive in summer, but especially welcome in the darker days of winter when sunlight is scarce. 

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Maine Musings: Reading & More

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Here are two books I read recently. One is literary fiction by an author I know from previous works. The other is a romance which is clever, humorous, and just fun. The Chief Penguin and I also made our second visit to the botanical garden this week, so I offer a few comments on it and their new sculptures.

WAR’S AFTERMATH: GRITTY, TRAUMATIC, ISOLATING

Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips (my summer list)

Author Phillips (nytimes.com)

Jayne Anne Phillips won the Pulitzer Prize for Night Watch, a post Civil War novel set in West Virginia.  The events take place in 1864 and 1874 as various chapters focus on different characters.  Principals are 12-year-old ConaLee who ministers to her catatonic mother, Eliza; Dearbhla, their older neighbor and sometime protector; and Night Watch, a partially sighted employee of an insane institution.  Earlier chapters depict The Sharpshooter midst the horror and gruesomeness of battle in 1864.  

Abused and controlled by Papa, a drifter who moved in them and took over, ConaLee and Eliza are deposited at an insane asylum where they beg shelter.  Here, Eliza masquerades as Miss Janet and ConaLee as her maid.  Gradually, they adapt and know and become known by Night Watch, Weed, a boy who hangs around, and Dr. Story, head of the asylum.

This graphic complex novel, based in part at a historical institution, deals with poverty, the trauma of war, and loss, the loss of tangible property, the loss of loved ones, and the loss of personal identity.  Who am I really?  Or if I know my name, what is my role or place in this now war-ravaged world?  

Initially, I found this novel challenging.  The battle in the wilderness section was especially hard reading and, for me, lacking in enough concrete details.  I set the book aside for a few days, and then, re-engaging, found it to be found it rewarding and hopeful.  Phillips also wrote Quiet Dell and Lark and Termite, novels I read for book group discussions. Recommended! (~JWFarrington) 

MEETING YOUR PERFECT MATCH

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

Romance novels are big sellers these days; it’s a hot genre.  Even the once staid New York Times Book Review now has a monthly romance column.  

While browsing fiction in one of my favorite independent bookstores, I kept encountering tags protruding from various shelves.  Each read something like, “Looking for Romance, try [name of an author.]” Being curious, I followed a few of the leads and ended up near Christina Lauren’s books, an author unknown to me.  It turns out Lauren is the pen name of two women, one named Christina and the other Lauren, and they have published several highly praised titles.  

The Soulmate Equation is funny and fun. On a whim, statistician Jessica Davis submits a DNA sample to a new firm, GeneticAlly. They claim to find and match you with the best person based on certain of your genetic characteristics.  A single parent of 7-year-old Juno, Jess is mainly focused on being a good mother and staying financially solvent.  When her test results show she has a 98 percent compatibility match with Dr. River Pena, the company founder, an aloof and arrogant man, she is decidedly not interested.  How their story unfolds despite their seemingly disparate personalities and lifestyles is witty, swoon worthy, and heartwarming.  This is one for the beach!

GORGEOUS BLOOMS

COASTAL MAINE BOTANICAL GARDENS

Pink dahlias

Our time in Maine would not be complete without several visits to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay.  Opened in 2007 and now in its 18th season, the gardens cover 300 acres with some shoreline along Back River.  It’s the largest garden complex in New England and a top attraction in Maine.  Each year, there are new flowers to see, new areas have been planted, and this year, new signs enhance wayfinding.  This week, the dahlias were especially lovely.

Fiddlehead fern metal sculpture

The gardens also feature works of sculpture, some on loan and others more permanent installations. Besides the giant wood trolls installed several years ago, two fiddlehead fern metal sculptures adorn one area.  These were created by Shane Perley-Dutcher. Perley-Dutcher is a mixed media artist from the First Tobique Nation in New Brunswick. Copper in color, with the metal partly woven like a basket (echoing the work of Wabanaki weavers), these pieces are a great addition. They stick up above the greenery to be viewed from a distance (see header photo) and can be seen up close.  You can also sit inside the fern! 

Note: All unattributed photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)