Day 343: Christmas Mys and a Long Winter Walk

After a lovely leisurely morning, my sister-in-law and I headed out on a bus adventure to pick up a few things for dinner and do a bit of neighborhood exploring. There are so many fun boutiques and shops to browse in and we managed to pick up a couple of treats for ourselves as well (one for you, one for me). But as the day was passing us by quickly and we still had high hopes and plans to venture out to Djurgården for a promenade in the snowy wonderland that would take us to Rosendal's Trädgården for a fika (coffee) and more Christmas shopping and browsing. We met up with my husband at home and then left for the subway, which would take us to central station where we would then change to the spårvagn (trolley) out to Djurgården. Well, we all forgot that Skansen, home of the biggest Christmas market in Stockholm, is also on Djurgården and the spårvagn, as well as all of the buses which we soon found out, was greatly delayed due to traffic in and out of Djurgården. So what did we do? We bravely (foolishly) decided to hoof it.

We set out in the direction of Djurgården and quickly began to feel the temperatures dropping as the sun started to makes its way down and finally ducking under the horizon. It was freezing cold! But we continued on, knowing what awaited us at Rosendal's cafe. At one point we thought maybe we would just continue walking a bit and then just turn around and head home, maybe have fika along the way. But I was determined and after deciding it wasn't quite as far away as we thought, we forged on, trudging up the snowy hill to the garden cafe. This time of year they open up their green house for seating as well since it is so cold outside. Believe it or not, however, there were plenty of people standing outdoors eating sandwiches and drinking coffees. Crazy people, if you ask me.

As we approached the cafe I noticed a room on the far side that had just a handful of people in it and, as we made our way with our coffees, warm apple ciders and treats into the busy inner room completely packed with people and humming with everyone's chatter, I remembered that room and ran off to check its status. It was still basically empty. It was wonderful. Warm, quiet and mysig (cozy). We settled in with our treats and warm beverages, attempting to warm our bones and refuel for our journey home. The route home was even colder than our route there. I just checked the temperature and it is currently -17 degrees Celsius. I don't know right off what that is in Fahrenheit degrees but keep in mind that 0 Celsius is freezing. Brrrrrrrrrr. No wonder it felt so cold.

Even with the cold weather we had a great time, took a very long walk and had a lovely fika in a beautiful atmosphere. Now we are at home for the night, where it's warm and cozy. And I am thinking a warm beverage may be in my near future....

Just arriving on Djurgården. The quiet, beautiful natural setting is quite different from the vibrant bustle of the city. 

A magnificent tree displaying it's branches decorated in fresh snow.

Ah.... cozy and Christmasy....

Too lazy to get a second plate, my brie with pickled green tomatoes and cucumber sandwich and my lingon and cardamom cake sit next to one another. Not for long though.

Day 278: [Three] Kanelbulle Day

Today is Kanelbullens Dag in Sweden, or Cinnamon Roll Day. This means that bakeries all over Sweden will be baking kanelbullar like crazy. I read online that one of the bakeries in a smaller towns outside of Stockholm will be baking around three thousand today. That means that the bakeries in the big cities, like Stockholm, will probably be baking easily triple that volume. Ah... If only I could eat that many! I would probably throw up if I ate more than, say five or six, but I would be willing to give it my all. Except that then my pants wouldn't fit and I would be in a bad mood. All things considered, one kanelbulle tonight will have to do. We'll just pretend I didn't eat that one yesterday,  okay? And then we can stay friends.

It's always nice to have an excuse to eat kanelbulle but I try to abstain on most days. Riding my bike to work these days helps too, as I am not enticed by the magic kanelbulle fumes that are piped out from the convenience stores onto unsuspecting saps like me, if you will recall my post from Day 133. Some days are two kanelbulle days. Some are probably even three kanelbulle days but we don't talk about those nor do we admit to them. Today will be a one kanelbulle day and I am happy with that. Really, I am. At lunch time today I headed out to buy some kanelbulle to enjoy tonight at home with my husband. I was on my way to a bakery called Vetekatten, which seriously has the best kanelbullar in the city. Last year I went after work and can you believe they were sold out of all kanelbullar? How is that even possible on Kanelbullens Dag?

Well, I was determined to have the best for tonight and so going after work and chancing that they would be sold out was not an option. Then I walked outside. It was raining and cold but I pressed on, armed with my umbrella. I got a couple of blocks away and suddenly it dawned on me that the fight to get to Vetekatten during my short lunch break was not worth it so I turned the corner and went to Rosendals Bageriet instead. It is a small bakery that is associated with Rosendals Trädgård, located on Djurgården where we like to go sometimes on weekends. They use all organic ingredients in their baked goods so I felt pretty good about forgoing Vetekatten today. We can always go there on another day. It's an excellent excuse to eat [more] kanelbulle. What can I say?