Sweden

A friend Ellen lives in Gothenburg with her family and invited us 'girls' to spend summer bank holiday weekend with them. They have a summer house by the lake Valbo Ryr about an hour away from Gothenburg which is really pretty. The view through the huge french windows were stunning- like one of those picture post cards - shimmering lake waters against the backdrop of ever green conifers and aspen trees with their trembling leaves. Most traditional houses in Sweden are made from wood, painted red and white. The air is fresh and it's very clean.

On Saturday Ellen's husband Claude took us out into the woods to pick berries and mushrooms. Most of the blueberries and lingon berries ended up in our mouths (specifically Yati's mouth!!) , but we managed to saved some for a tasty pie which Ellen made later on.
There were so many varieties of mushrooms. Claude tried to direct us on which ones to pick, but when he saw me heading for the lovely red and white capped one (you know the poisoned one that killed Babar the Elephant's grandfather?) , he thought better of it and we were relegated to just watching. The canterella mushrooms which look like yellow brown daffodils, tasted divine when cooked in a typical French dish mixed with scrambled eggs. Fresh food tastes sooooooo good!

When we got back to the house however, Claude warned us to check ourselves for ticks, he'd found a couple on Poppy the dog....

Sweden is to the north of Scotland and Orkney islands which are VERY cold so I was surprised at just how mild the weather was. Ellen explained this is because of the gulf stream. We were not far from the west coast of Sweden also called Bohuslan coast so on Sunday we visited the sea side town of Fjällbacka where Ingrid Bergman used to have a summer house. There is a statue of her in the town centre. The houses looked like cute little Lego (toy) houses - Claude pointed out the Widows walks - sea facing balconies where sailors wives would look out for their loved ones return (or not). Our lengthy climb up the cliff using the sturdy wooden staircase built into it's side was rewarded with a lovely view of archipelago (small islands ) sprinkled around the sea below us. SO beautiful. Unfortunately, the camera battery died so couldn't capture the moment on film. Not to worry. We'll be back.

Afterwards we visited an old Viking burial ground. There was something really peaceful about it. We climbed up another cliff to the side of it to a spot where Ellen said it was customary to call upon the Nordic Gods - Odin, his wife Freya and Thor. So we linked arms at the point, and THEY shouted . I just couldn't bring myself to do it - which proves to me that I am way too suspicious and do not want to invite unwanted spiritual elements into my life.

We drove back singing Abba songs - it seemed appropriate. On the last day we spotted a moose. It was right in the middle of a field just watching us and posing long enough for us to take photos. What a privilege. Apparently not many Swedes have ever seen a moose!

What I really loved was watching Ellen and her family. They are a solid unit, very affectionate and enjoy each other's company. I envy them. I was so challenged that when I got back to London I invited my brother over for dinner. The first thing he did was switch on the TV, talk to on his mobile, play around on my laptop and left straight after supper. Oh well!

It was a lovely introduction to Scandinavia, and I have an open invite to Gothenburg. I think next year when it's warmer and I've saved up I'll visit other countries like Norway and Denmark