a christmas night at rosendals trädgård

it's always a good idea to visit my favourite place in stockholm, rosendals trädgård, especially when they host a xmas night.

in the garden, lamb sausage topped with mined beets and a handful of parsley is served alongside pizza cooked in a wood-burning oven topped with creamed pumpkin, crispy kale and a drizzle of lemon.  i can't even tell you just how crazy good it all was.

lighthouses are bright with lights. the garden shop was filled with christmas-y items and i bought the most ridiculously cute ornament ever.  

fire pits, that would never be allowed in canada, glow and keep us warm.

oh, and we had our first glögg (mulled wine) and saffransbulle of the season (saffron is widely available during the holiday season and these buns are a favourite).  well, i had the saffranbulle, can you believe stefan doesn't like saffron?  he went for the chocolate cake. 

(sorry about the quality of the photos, all taken on my iphone)

wherever you are, i hope you too have wonderful places to bring in the holiday season.

mamma mia! the party

for my birthday, stefan surprised me with tickets to the mamma mia! the party show.  i've been wanting to go since arriving in stockholm and was over the moon that he would tolerate a musical/abba for 4 hours straight!  

the show, all in swedish, was easy enough to follow, we could deduce some of the jokes but not always.  basically, a swedish woman married a greek man and started an abba themed restaurant together. when her son comes to greece to work at the restaurant for the summer he ends up falling in love with his stepdad's daughter.  of course, the stepdad forbids the relationship.  in the end, the traditional greek grandmother makes it all ok.  it was great!

oh, we were surprised that the quality of the food was amazing!  yes, for real.  the greek appetizers, tzatziki, marinated olives, hummus, and octopus were eaten up with the gorgeous bread served.  the main dishes, fish and meat, were also really good.   some of the dishes were served family style, sharing them with our table mates, a lovely swedish couple; she was so fun to watch on the dance floor, she loved abba. 

(sorry for the quality of the photos, all taken on my iphone)

 

 

if you haven't been, you must.  go on, book tickets!

stockholm weekend pics, two weekends

our weekends of late have been quiet.  with the darkness falling upon us earlier and earlier each day, we adjust by taking it easy.  a quiet life that we care not to tamper with, unless...

i think it's time for a haircut!

... it's father's day as it was last weekend in sweden.  well, then we head out into the freezing cold for fika and a street art exhibition...

hope you are all having lovely cozy weekends.

travelogue: paris, france

stefan and i spent 3 days in paris to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary during a june weekend.  it was good times with tons of food, cocktails, pastries, and shopping. oh, and tons of walking too.

we stayed in the marais district with its many coffee shops (foundation and boot cafe to name a couple), place des vosges, charming streets like rue des rosiers and des francs-bourgeois, and the marais is home to merci.  

rue montorgueil, a foodie's avenue, is where i had my favourite meal, a simple and huge galette that was so delish i really wanted seconds.  

there was a stroll through the grounds of père lachaise cemetery, gorgeous, old and where jim morrison resides.  

near the seine, we were wowed by our visit to the teeny shakespeare and company with its stacked high books in every nook and crannie and then wowed again with the choux à la crème at odette's.  

on our final day, we picnic-ed in the tuileries garden with baguettes, champagne - drinking right out of the bottle - and pierre hermé macaroons.

i loved, loved, loved being away with stefan, take a peek into it all... 

 

  

thank you to our friends who took care of kai while we celebrated... kisses!