Day 191: Absolutely Heavenly

Have you ever seen a small child eat an ice cream cone? There is probably no greater example in the world of the experience of pure joy. Yesterday as I was walking through Mariatorget, the square near our apartment, I happened to look over to my left and saw a little boy, probably three years old, sitting on a bench with his mother eating an ice cream cone. His mouth was circled with melted ice cream, similar to a clown's painted mouth, and he was completely focused on and absorbed with his ice cream cone. Nothing else mattered. And why should it? No greater happiness existed anywhere else at that moment.

It made me want to sit down and have an ice cream myself. My favorite ice cream shop in Stockholm is luckily, or unluckily depending on how you see it, right across the street from our apartment. If you ask me on most days I'll say luckily it is across the street but when I am trying to find my girlish figure I'd say unluckily. 18 Smaker is the name of this special place and I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it before. All of their ice cream is freshly made with organic ingredients. Every single flavor I've tried is amazing. The other day I had what I consider my dream cone with a scoop of cardamom on the bottom topped with a scoop of rhubarb. There were fresh chunks of tangy rhubarb mixed in a regular intervals and when I succeeded in getting a little of both flavors at the same time? Well, it was absolutely heavenly and I am pretty sure I looked like that little boy as I was eating it.

Two ice cream cones at Sandhamn in the summer of 2010.