US Road Trip Part 2: Philadelphia, Dover & Annapolis

Time for part 2 of our road trip. On this stretch of the trip we covered Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Dover (Delaware) and Annapolis (Maryland).

Day 4 - Thursday 31 July

On our way to Dover, which was going to be our basecamp for the next few days, we stopped in Philadelphia. It takes 3-4 hours to drive from New York to Dover and Philly is about half-way there. I've been there before and we wanted to get to Dover by dinner time so we decided to just visit the historic district. One of the places we visited (well, the outside) was Independence Hall.

Another building we looked at was the Second Bank of the United States. Peter looks pretty small in between those pillars.

Our favourite street in Philadelphia is Elfreth's Alley, which happens to be the oldest continually inhabited street in the entire United States. The houses were built in the early 18th century, the oldest one in 1702.

Around 6 pm we arrived at the house of my aupair family, the wonderful family I spent over 8 months with back in 1996 and have visited almost every or every other year since then. Last time was October 2004 though so this visit was well overdue. I did see Kristin, one of the children (who's not a child anymore but almost 21) in Sweden at Easter when she visited from Denmark where she was spending a term abroad from her American university. She is the first one from the family to have visited Sweden (except for members of the extended family) so I'm still waiting for the others... It was a good thing that I did see Kristin back in March because she was away visiting her father in Texas during our stay and only got back around 8pm on the Sunday night (when she immediately asked if her new boyfriend could come over :)

Day 5 - Friday 1 August
We didn't take any pictures this day because basically we spent ALL day (well, we had a sleep-in too) at Dover Mall shopping. It wasn't even such a good mall but when the dollar is low...

Day 6 - Saturday 2 August
The original plan was to go with my host mother Karin and my aupair child Drew (who's no child anymore either but just turned 19) to the beach, however, we woke up to a thunderstorm and decided to go to the outlets by the beach instead and see if the weather cleared up later in the day.

We hadn't really bought enough at Dover Mall... And Delaware is the tax-free state and the outlets all had 20% back-to-school offers so we left the shops with as many bags as the day before.

The weather did get better towards the end of the day but we were just to busy spending money! We did take a walk along the boardwalk at Rehoboth Beach though.

Here's me with Karin and Drew in Rehoboth. Rehoboth (and the outlets!) is about an hour's drive from Dover so they have chosen a very good place to live in my view!

Day 7 - Sunday 3 August
Karin needed to do some chores at the house and Drew had to go work so Peter and I went by ourselves to the beach. I'm not too keen on Rehoboth so we went to Cape Henlopen State Park nearby instead, a place I have been to several times with Karin & co.

It didn't turn out to well in the photo - they were difficult to catch on camera! - but there were dolphins swimming around for hours! (The dolphins are behind the person swimming.)

In the evening we had a farewell dinner with my host family - Karin and her partner Steve and also Karin's mum and the kids' grandmother Barbara and her husband Vic. Drew was also there but arrived after the photo was taken.

Day 8 - Monday 4 August
Before leaving Dover and heading for our next stop, Washington D.C., we stopped by the Amish neighbourhood. The Amish really fascinates me and especially in Dover because the two communities - the Amish and "regular people" - live so side-by-side. I've spent so much time in Dover and I still want to go and "look at them" every time.

A horse & buggy next to cars in parking lots is a rather common sight in Dover, at regular supermarkets but especially at Buyler's, a shop run by Mennonites. By the way, if you're ever in the neighbourhood, Buyler's has delicious homemade ice cream.

Boy on an Amish style bike.
The Amish still farm their land the old way.

Amish laundry - these are pretty much the colours they use.

Washington D.C. is a two-hour drive from Dover. Half-way is one of my favourite American towns, Annapolis. And no, it's not the name, though I have to confess it appeals to me, but its colonial history and style and its waterfront location.

I especially like the cute little streets like this one.

Annapolis's main street goes down to the water although it's a bit difficult to see in this photo as the camera's focus is all on me! :)

And that's about it for this leg of the road trip! Next episode: Washington D.C.!

Wello

A lot of people (read Swedes) complain about the Swedish healthcare system even though we're quite high up on the international comparisons of "best healthcare". It's a bit like in "Sicko" - if you've seen it - where the American healthcare industry (politicians, pharmas, etc. in mascopy with each other, according to Michael Moore's argument) tries to portray, or at least in the past has portrayed, Canada or France as countries with long hospital queues and waiting lists for operations and the US system as one of efficiency and high quality care. Of course some of their arguments about Europe are true; the waiting time for a hip operation can be several months, maybe up to a year in certain cases (usually due to scheduled operations being cancelled), but emergency care, including surgery, is of course immediate.

I won't go into all aspects of different healthcare systems in this post, but I just wanted to tell you about my most recent experience with Swedish healthcare, one which was overwhelmingly positive. I started feeling my predicament (won't go into any details but I suspected urinary tract infection*) in the middle of the night and this morning it got worse. We were at a friend's house for a crayfish party last night and had spent the night** there, but on our way back I told Peter that I probably needed to see a doctor. He remembered where one of the city närakuter was, a sort of on-call health centre for emergency issues that are not proper emergencies (for those people are supposed to go to the E.R. (A & E for my British readers) ) and took me there.

We got there at 13.45. I went up to reception and said "I haven't made an appointment but I was hoping you could help me" (usually they prefer if you call first and tell them you are coming in). The receptionist nurse said "Okay, it depends what your problem is and where you live and where you're regular health centre is". So I gave him the answers and he told me that I was fine (there are several of this on-call närakuter and they prefer if you go to the one you belong to geographically so-to-speak). He told me to provide a urine sample, pay the patient fee (140 SEK ~$20) and then come back at 15.30. So I did and 2 minutes after I had entered the place I was out of there.

We went home, relaxed, had a cup of tea and went back there an hour later. We were a bit early but so were they so 15.25 the doctor called me in and told me me that yes, I had suspected right (he also asked me to describe my symptoms just to double-check I assume) and that he was prescribing antibiotics. He added that the nearest pharmacy was closing at 4pm so I still had time to get my medicine without going too far (as it was a e-prescription the pharmacy has the prescription as soon as he clicked on enter).

15.30 I was out of the health centre and at 15.45 I could take my first antibiotic pill. If that's not efficiency I'm not sure what is. Even if I had had to wait for 1½ at the place I wouldn't have been too upset. It's Sunday after all.

To go back to "Sicko", what's also so great about Swedish healthcare is that it is universal and available to all, not just to the insured, and there's no one who gets turned away at the door or don't apply for a certain treatment.

* Haven't had one before but have heard enough from friends to recognise the symptoms
** Together with another 9 adults and 6 children, with access to only one toilet...

Show & Tell: Flags

Petra's topic for today is flags. I'm working on my next roadtrip episode (yes, I promise!) so I will just do a short post today. I think one of the photos I (or it might have been Peter) took in Washington D.C. of the American flag turned out really well and wanted to share it with you.


The eagle is of course another well-known symbol for the United States.


As you might have already noticed I have now - finally - posted all photos in the first roadtrip post. See below!

Show & Tell: A Summer Memory & US Road Trip Part 1 New York

Thanks to Show & Tell returning after a summer break and Petra's Friday themes for September I'm able to present the perfect post: starting off my US roadtrip series under the heading "A Summer Memory".

Day 0 - Sunday 27 July
After a couple of setbacks - re-routing to Syracuse, NY, for refuelling due to bad weather where we ended up staying (on the plane as it's not an international airport and they are not allowed to let off passengers) for almost three hours and missing our connecting flight in Philadelphia and surviving a lifethreatening taxi ride from LaGuardia, we finally made it to New York and our hotel Helmsley Park Lane at midnight.

Day 1 - Monday 28 July
Despite the grand language on the hotel's site, the Helmsley probably had its heyday years ago. It is in a great location, just at the bottom of Central Park, and our room was big and nicely decorated, but it's a member of the luxury hotel group anymore. Hence we got a pretty good price.

Breakfast wasn't included though so we went to Sarabeth's for our first meal of the day. I had the Cheese omelette and Peter the Farmer's omelette together with the Pork & apricot sausage. If I had known the size of the omelette I probably would have ordered something smaller or split with Peter! We also went there for afternoon tea our last day in the city, but I think I prefer the breakfast.

After breakfast we took the subway down to the City Hall area. The plan was to walk down past Ground Zero and Wall Street down to Battery Park) and then take the ferry to Ellis Island.




We managed the first (and also stumble upon an electronics store Saltistjejen had recommended where we bought a GPS) but once we got to Battery Park the line for the ferry tickets was way, way too long. I wanted to stay for a while and see but Peter fortunately convinced me to return early the following day instead. So we walked north again along the waterfront up towards Tribeca and SoHo.

Then - after a few stops in the shops along lower Broadway - we hopped on the subway again and went to the rooftop bar of the Peninsula Hotel.

We were actually surprised that it's so difficult to find rooftop bars in New York, considering the city has so many tall buildings. But maybe views are so ordinary for New Yorkers that they don't need high sky experiences. The view - even if it wasn't very high up - was nice but the service was so-so.

After a drink we went to the Museum of Modern Art, MoMA. They have some fantastic and/or famous paintings there, for example a huge water lilly painting by Monet which spans a whole wall, and currently there is a Salvador Dalí exhibition there. We only spent one hour and half there so next time I'm in New York I'll have to go back. At the moment it feels like if I could just recommend one art museum I would have to say Guggenheim (which I visited on a previous occasion) but that might be because I didn't have enough time at MoMA. Next time I want to go to the Met as well but that's like a whole-day excursion like the National Gallery in London!

After MoMA we passed by some of the shops on Fifth Avenue but we were saving our money for tax-free shopping in Delaware! I liked the colours of the Louis Vuitton shop.

That evening we went to a bit of a touristy place, the Tavern on the Green in Central Park. The menu was a bit boring but the food was alright and the interior decor is kind of special.

Day 2 - Tuesday 29 July
Day 2 we rose early in order to get those ferry tickets before it would be too late. We were there around 8.30 or 9ish and was able to go right up to the ticket stand. Luckily we hadn't planned to climb the Statue of Liberty (we have both been there before although Peter's 14 year-old self got a bit claustrophobic and turned around halfway up) because those tickets were already gone - apparently you have to pre-order those online at least a day before. It's the same ferry for both Liberty Island and Ellis Island and I think we were almost the only ones - together with c. 10 other people - out of 300 boat passengers which didn't get off at the first stop.

New Jersey skyline

New York skyline

Ellis Island was so interesting! I've been to New York before but never had the chance or taken the time to go so this time I really wanted to tick this one off the list. For those of you who are not familiar with Ellis Island, the island was the first contact new arrivals, emigrants for all over the world, had with the United States.


From 1892 to 1954 Ellis Island was the portal that immigrants had to pass through in order to get entry to the country. 12 million immigrants arrived that way. Well, some people did not have to come via Ellis Island; first and second class passengers on the ships went through a smaller process on the ship and only had to go to the island if they got sick or had legal problems. In order to cater for all those arrivals, at the peak year of 1907, a total of 1.25 million, the island was enlarged from the original natural 3.3 acres to 27.5 acres by landfill from the city. Even if some arrivals had to stay for several weeks on Ellis Island - sometimes due to illness or because they were unaccompanied minors - eventually almost all were allowed entry and only 2% were turned away from the country. Reasons for denied entry was contagious disease or fear that the person would become a burden to the country. After 1924 the island was only used to immigrants that had problems with their paperwork or were refugees. In 1965 Ellis Island became part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. Between 1976 and 1984 it was open to the public but the buildings were now in a terrible state. After major restoration the island (or part of it) was opened to the public as the Ellis Island Immigration Museum.

If you think you may have relatives that arrived to the US this way you can search on their name in the Ellis Island records and learn more about their story.


After our Ellis Island visit we took the subway up to Grand Central Station and walked from there to Rockefeller Center and Top of the Rock. If you like us have already been to the Empire State Building (on a previous visit) but still want to enjoy New York views, take the lift up to the roof of the Rockefeller Center. The views were great! There are three different levels and the lift is also pretty cool (I won't reveal why!). Before they allow you to go up they lead you through a little exhibition about the history of the building and take your picture dangling your legs on a plank on a skyscraper building site (you know, the famous photographs you can buy). Fun idea but for some reasons they have decided to do it in colour and it didn't turn out well at all. They should have done it in black and white like the originals. Needless to say we didn't buy a copy.



After Top of the Rock, it was time for a very exciting item on our agenda, a visit with fellow blogger Saltistjejen, a Swede (she's even from my hometown Södertälje but we didn't know each other then) who lives in New York these days with her husband M and baby daughter Ella. They live on the Upper East side close to the bridge to Queens so we walked over from our hotel (it was a bit longer than I thought but not too long) and got there just after 4pm. We had such a nice time - chatting, drinking coffee and eating ice cream, holding little Ella and stroking Lipton the cat - that if we hadn't really wanted to try a restaurant that Saltis and M recommended we would have stayed longer than the three hours we were there. We didn't want to overstay our welcome either but it seemed like they enjoyed our company as much as we did theirs.


The restaurant they recommended was Spice Market in the Meatpacking District. We had tried to book a table in advance but it wasn't possible the same day so when we got there we had to wait in the bar for an hour. But we definitely didn't mind at all since the drinks and beers on offer were well worth the wait. The interior is just so cosy and cool at the same time - Saltis has some photos from when she was there. This summary from New York citysearch sums it up so well:

The Scene - With teak pagodas, low golden lighting and a dramatic staircase carved into the center of the room leading down to the equally stylish bar, Jean-Georges Vongerichten has redefined exotic dining. The crowd--a sexy, well-appointed mix of downtowners, moneyed execs and occasional celebrity--is worthy of a wandering eye. Expert servers pad through the various dining areas with ease and grace.

The Food - It's billed as "Asian street food," but since the menu is a creative collaboration between expert chefs Vongerichten and Gray Kunz, dishes show unmistakable finesse. Shaved tuna and small tapioca balls--a playful substitute for roe--float in an addictive, tart-smooth pool of coconut water and kaffir lime juice. Remarkably tender short ribs are served with a sweet-spicy topping of chilies and onion. Even the green curry is nicely balanced and lush. For dessert, choose the ephemeral-yet-potent Vietnamese coffee tart partnered with condensed milk ice cream.

I can't really remember exactly what we had, except that it was delicious. The concept is that you share dishes even if you order a starter and a main course per person, so we took in at least four dishes (I think we were too full for desert). Unfortunately we didn't take any photos in the restaurant.

Day 3 - Wednesday 30 July
After two full days in New York our feet were quite sore from all the walking at this stage but we still decide to walk Central Park. And I mean walk the full length of it, not walk in the park. We took the subway to the very top, in Harlem, and then started to make our way south. After a while when you get into the very centre of the park and can't see any tall buildings or hear any street noise anymore, you start feeling really disoriented. I have a good sense of direction but one we were on the Ramble we could have easily "rambled" around if we hadn't looked at one of the maps around the park. But before we got to the Ramble we walked around in the beautiful Conservatory Garden, down past the Lake, Belvedere Castle, Bethesda Terrace and all the other sights the park holds.




In the evening we had made reservations for the Rainbow Grill in Rockefeller Center (most people will have heard of the Rainbow Room, which is the restaurant and ballroom dancing combo opened at the weekend). We very much enjoyed the view but we weren't too impressed with the food. It was good but we had expected more (like the quality of Spice Market) especially considering the price. I guess they live on their reputation, and the view. We were also a bit unlucky because there was a big group next to us which increased the noise levels substantially. Anyway, we can tick of the famous Rainbow Room on what-to-do-in-New-York list.


We finished the evening with a walk to Times Square, followed by a cab ride back to the hotel because now my feet really couldn't take it anymore! By the way, I'm glad to announce that New York cabs, or most of them at least, take credit cards nowadays!


Day 4 - Thursday 31 July
Sadly it was time to leave New York! To be continued...

The Enlightenment Missed a Few People

The USA can be a pretty strange place sometimes. Here's an article that gives a very good picture of the evolution v. "intelligent design" debate and science teaching in the US and shows that there are some excellent teachers (at least one) out there who are trying the enlighten American children! It's a very long article but you just can't miss it - read it now!!

If you don't get access to the article right away, just sign up for access, it's free and easily done!

McOld

McCain might have chosen a running mate who's young and a woman*, but it doesn't change the fact that the McCain team is an old** ticket.

10 things younger than John McCain, according to GQ Magazine and thingsyoungerthanmccain.com:
1. ISRAEL: Born in 1936, McCain was 12 years old when the Jewish state as formed in 1948
2. McDONALD'S: Opened in California in 1948
3. ALASKA: Became the 49th state in 1959. McCain is older than Hawaii too.
4. NYLON: The synthetic material was first used in a toothbrush in 1938
5. THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE: Completed in 1937
6. THE DANDY: The comic premiered in the shelves in 1937
7. BALLPOINT PENS: The biro was patented in 1938
8. THE FIRST COMMERCIAL: The Bulova Watch Company aired the first ad in 1941
9. SCRABBLE: Patented by Alfred Butts in 1948
10. SPAM: Introduced in 1937

*If I were an American voter I would never vote for someone who's a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association (NRA) and opposes women's right to abortion; it doesn't matter that she's the first female vice president candidate.
** Old as in policy and age.

Soon, Soon

I'm back from Nice (as of Sunday) and back at work (as of today) and I'm slowly going through four weeks' worth of holiday photos (as of yesterday) and I'm drafting travel stories (as of tomorrow). In the meantime, a funny news item from this summer:

According to a Visit Sweden survey on what the first thing foreigners think about when they think about Sweden as a tourist destination, many answered cold things like winter and snow. Next on the list were nature, countryside and forests. And here's the funny part (at least to me): Frenchmen thought about beautiful women, while Germans thought about elks (moose) and the royal family. Isn't that so according to the stereotypes?!!

Speaking of tourists foreign tourists are apparently spending record amounts of money in Sweden. Last year tourist consumption totalled 88 billion SEK. Tourists on a cruise spend on average 3,000 SEK per person and for every 100 SEK a foreign tourist spends around 45 SEK goes to the state. The top spenders are from Russia and China although most overseas visitors come from Germany and the UK, the USA and Norway. The attractions that bring in most visitors are Kulturhuset, Globen and Skansen. Personally I would think Vasamuseet is pretty popular too.

I leave you with a little travel story preview!

Back Home

Just a short post to tell you that we're back home. It was quite the road trip - we travelled 2,971 miles or 4,754 kilometres (475 Swedish mil) in two weeks!! And tomorrow we're going back in the car, well not the old people's car, a Mercury Grand Marquis, that the rental car company dumped on us in the US*, but our own, much smaller albeit big for Swedish standards, BMW combi, to go to our friends Åsa and Rikard's wedding in Västergötland. Back on Sunday and hopefully some time to post reflections and photos from the US trip before we're off again to Nice for a last vacation for this summer.

* Sure, petrol is very cheap in the US, even after the recent price increases, but this beast was pretty thirsty

Road Trip

Off to the US for a little road trip along the East Coast. Stopping in New York City, Dover (Delaware, where I'm visiting my old aupair family), Washington DC and New England (Cape Cod, towns along the New Hampshire , Massachusetts and Maine coastline, and Boston). Probably won't blog while away but will hopefully have some good stories to tell and beautiful photos to share once back.

Fellow blogger Saltistjejen gets a special mention as she and I have scheduled a little blogmeet in NYC, which is very exciting indeed!

See you soon!

Wednesday Recipe: Sponge Cake... and Travel Preparations

I feel I have been neglecting the blog lately. To my defence I can say that I've been busy researching over one hundred B&Bs in Cape Cod (well, perhaps not that many but not far from it!) and recovering from a very bad cold I caught in Gotland (must have been all that shaking hands and kissing on the cheeks with the political elite at Almedalen). We're also having very nice weather at the moment so yesterday after work we went for a picnic in Tessinparken and today to the beach in Lidingö (though I thought the water was a little bit chilly so I didn't go for a swim).

Time for this week's recipe!

Fatfree Sponge Cake
4 eggs
3 dl sugar
1.5 dl flour
1.5 dl potato starch
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
1.5 dl water

Oven: 175'C

1. Grease a baking tin and bread it with coconut flakes
2. Mix the yokes and the sugar
3. Slowly add the water and stir carefully
4. Mix flour, potato starch, baking powder and vanilla in a separate bowl
5. Add the "dry mix" to the egg, sugar and water
6. Beat the egg whites until you have a foam-like mix (like you would when making meringues)
7. Carefully add the egg whites to the batter. Don't stir!
8. Bake for 35 mins

I haven't actually tried it yet but it sounds very delicious with the coconut! It apparently goes well with strawberries!

Wordle Fun

Want a summary of my latest posts? Inspired by Johanna, here's the result of my wordling:

Can't figure out how to make the picture bigger though...

Challenge

Another challenge is circling the blogosphere; this one reached me through Marit.

Rules
* Describe the rules
* Answer all questions
* Select 6 persons to challenge in turn
* Let the person who challenged you know that you have accepted the challenge

Five things on your "to do" list today
1. Go to work despite bad cold
2. Cancel dinner plans with friends (unfortunately, due to cold)
3. Calculate division of costs between Peter and myself for our summer travel
4. Book rental car for US trip
5. Blog and read the usual suspects (i.e. my favourite blogs)

I left work a bit early but managed most of the day with my little pile of tissues, cough drops, nasal spray and Savlon (to stop getting a dry and red nose) beside me. The rest is also accomplished except for the rental car but Peter is looking at that as we speak (or I write I should say).

What did you do ten years ago?
In 1998 I studied Political Science at the University of Uppsala for a term before moving to London to continue my studies (ended up staying for four years). I spent the summer in Darien, Connecticut (US) with the extended family of my 1995-96 aupair family and helped out hauling the kids around to different sports and other activities. I met a number of people who are still very good friends even if I don't see that very often these days.

Places where you have lived
--> 1995: Södertälje
1995: New Jersey
1996: Pittsburgh
1996: Södertälje
1997-98: Uppsala
1998-2000: London
2000-2002: Oxford
2002-03: Brussels
2003 -->: Stockholm (Hallunda, Hammarbyhöjden, Årsta and Gärdet/Östermalm)

Five things you would do if you became a billionaire
1. Pay off my student debts
2. Help my family with anything monetary they might need
3. Travel the world
4. Buy my dream house in Stockholm and a flat/house in London, New York and somewhere sunny and hot
5. Donate to charity

A lot of people have done this challenge already but I take my chances and pass it on to Fröken Johanna, Anne, Anna, Johanna, Petra and Nonna.

Wednesday Recipe: Strawberry Salad

Since I'm busy mingling with the political elite in Almedalen I won't do a proper Wednesday recipe today, but I will tell you about an interesting fruit salad that was served at one of the events I attended yesterday.

Strawberries, melon and cucumber.

Sounds a bit weird but it was pretty refreshing actually. I guess the cucumber made it a bit more food-like instead of desserty (is that a word?).

Give it a try!

Report from Almedalen

I'm spending a few days - for work purposes (though I'm quite happy I get the chance to go for personal reasons too) - at Almedalen, the political week taking place in Visby, Gotland, the second week of July every year.

This year is a bit special as it is 40 years ago Olof Palme started the tradition of political speeches, seminars and networking in Almedalen. This year is also special because all party leaders are here, which according to the official statistics has only ever happened before during an election year. The experts say that this is partly due to the fact that the alliance government (coalition of four parties) is faring very badly in the polls and partly because Sweden has entered a sort of permanent election campaign even though this year is right between two elections (last one 2006, next one 2010). They also say that it is because of some current high profile issues (e.g. the newly passed highly controversial wire tapping legislation) and that politicians have become more professional and more PR conscious (there are quite a few lobbyists here!).

My idea was to blog a little bit about the seminars I attend every day (this year is a record year with 660 seminars organised), about the political speeches (one political party per day) and about all the networking and mingling going on, but turns out that all of that takes so much of my time so that it is now 01.36 and I need to get some sleep (though the music from the nearby marina is pretty loud so we'll see how that goes). But I promise a longer report and perhaps some photos once I'm back home. I'm staying over the weekend to explore the rest of Gotland - Peter comes down on Thursday - but I will be back on Sunday.

Wednesday Recipe: Mozzarella Filled Quorn Fillets with Basil and Thyme

Petra started a new theme day lately - recipe sharing on Wednesdays - and since I never got around to doing last week's Show & Tell theme - cooking - I figured today was a good time to start.

I have discovered a new dish - thanks to my cousin Patrik and his wife Johanna - and want to spread the word! I'm not a vegetarian and neither is Peter but we both try to eat less meat (do you know that one piece of meat provides protein to last you four days?) and eat quorn and other substitutes instead. My cousins are vegetarians though and are a good source of new, delicious recipes.

Mozzarella filled quorn fillets with basil and thyme
4 servings

6-8 quorn fillets
2 packs of mozzarella cheese
fresh basil and thyme
olive oil
1-2 cloves of garlic
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 200'C

Use a blender to mix basil, thyme, olive oil, garlic and salt and peppar to a marinade. Slice a deep gash along the side of the fillets and paint the fillets with the marinade. Save some for greasing the oven tray or pan. Fill with thin slices of mozzarella.

Shove into the oven for 10 minutes or until done.
Serve with grilled potatoes or bulgur or whatever carb you fancy and a salad.

This dish can of course be made with chicken as well. Just remember that while the quorn fillets just need to be heated and get a bit of colour (and you want the mozzarella to melt a little of course), chicken needs more time. You may want to pre-cook the chicken fillets in a frying pan.

Smaklig måltid!

Haven't taken a picture of my new favourite dish yet so you'll have to make do with a similar chicken dish (however with spinach and tomatoes as well)

The Big Book List

In 2003, The Big Read (a BBC programme) compiled a list of Britain’s 100 favorite books. The program reckoned that the average adult has read only 6 of the books on this list.

1) Bold those you have read.
2) Italicise those you intend to read.

(Having seen the movie does not count, of course!)

1 Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien (started it once but really not my thing, though I’ve seen the movies)
3 Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë
4 Harry Potter series – JK Rowling (I’m probably the only one who haven’t read them yet!)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
6 The Bible (well, parts of it)
7 Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë
8 Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
11 Little Women – Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit – JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye – JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch – George Elliot (Marian Evans)
21 Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House – Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy (started it, will finish some day)
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll (although I was a bit scared of it as a child)
30 The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia – CS Lewis (also scared me as a child)
34 Emma – Jane Austen
35 Persuasion – Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe – CS Lewis (see comment on Cronicles of Narnia above)
37 The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne
41 Animal Farm – George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code – Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel García Marquèz
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney – John Irving
45 The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables – LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies – William Golding
50 Atonement – Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi – Yann Martel
52 Dune – Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon
60 Love in The Time of Cholera – Gabriel García Marquèz
61 Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
62 Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History – Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
66 On the Road – Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary – Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick – Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
72 Dracula – Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden – Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From a Small Island – Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses – James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons – Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal – Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession – AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
83 The Colour Purple – Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance – Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web – EB White
88 The Five People You Meet in Heaven – Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Magic Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince – Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
94 Watership Down – Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet – William Shakespeare (well, parts of it)
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables – Victor Hugo

I think that makes 25 read books! Pretty good I think considering the average is 6!

Young Shoe Lover

Peter took this picture when we were in Siena, Italy, a couple of weekends ago. The little girl didn't want to leave her seat* and she was pointing to a specific pair of shoes that she wanted. Her mum tried to lure her away but she had her eyes set on those shoes! Not even two years old and already a shoe fan! Or perhaps it's just two-year-old stubborness but I like to think the former! :)

* Eventually they left without buying any shoes .

Show & Tell: 5 O'Clock

This week's Friday theme is 5 o'clock. When I read Victoria's choice of topic for 20 June I immediately thought of: leaving work at 5 pm. I'm one of the lucky ones working 9-5; actually only 7 hours a day as my working day includes a one hour lunch break (usually that's not the case in Sweden). And due to some access restrictions in my particular part of the building I have to keep these hours. I can come in at 8 or 8.30 but I rarely work beyond 6 pm because if I do I need to find a colleague with higher security clearance who can stay with me.

I'm actually most productive in the afternoon but at 4pm I start looking at my watch, or the work desktop clock. At 4.30 pm I start "closing up the shop", clearing my desk a little bit and making neat piles of paper instead of the regular 9-5 chaos, checking if I have done what really needs to be out of the way that particular day. Then I go to the kitchen and put all the glasses and cups that have some way accumulated on my desk during the day in the dishwasher. Peter usually calls and we talk about what we're having for dinner and who will stop by the food store on the way home, or where we're meeting if we're doing something else after work. I only have a 15-minute walk from work to home, so most days if I'm not doing anything particular after work I will go home and have a snack and watch some sitcoms and surf the Internet until Peter comes back around 6 pm. I like this time of the day, winding down after work, having some me- time before it's time to cook dinner and do whatever needs to be done that day in terms of chores - laundry, ironing, hoovering or what have you .

Since I don't start work until 9 and I live only 15 minutes from work I don't need to get up until 7.15 or 7.30, which means that I'm very rarely up at 5 am. Sometimes I wake up around 5, especially this time a year when it hardly ever gets dark in Sweden, but I go back to sleep with a smile - another two hours of sleep, yes!

This feels like a very boring post but maybe 5 o'clock isn't very exciting! :)

List Fun

I always enjoy a good list and I haven't done one for a while so...

When did you get up today? The alarm went off at 07.25 and I usually don't linger for more than a few minutes

Diamonds or pearls? Both (conflict-free of course), but have neither if we talk about the real stuff

Last film you saw at the cinema? "Indiana Jones"

Favourite TV show? Used to be "Friends" but now it is "How I Met Your Mother" if we stick with the same category

What did you have for breakfast? Two pieces of bread with messmör, a cup of tea and some fruit juice

What is your middle name? Elisabet

Your favourite food? Pecorino cheese if that counts as food (I mean, it's not a meal)

What food don't you like? I like most things but I'm not too fond of cream based sauces

What is your favourite CD at the moment? Hardly listen to albums these days; I like to shuffle my iPod

What car do you drive? A Golf that we share with Peter's sister and her boyfriend although over the summer we have his parents old BMW. We were going to keep it but now we're thinking of selling both and buying a new less thirsty car

What is your favourite sandwich? Anything with pecorino cheese

What human characteristic do you simply not stand? Cynicism

What are your favourite clothes? I guess I have to say shoes considering my recent post

If you could go anywhere you wanted, where would you go? China (Beijing and the Great Wall) and New Zealand (and lots of other places!)

Favorite clothing brand? None in particular

Where do you want to retire? In a cosy house in the Swedish archipelago but not too far from the city. And apartments in New York and London and perhaps another little place somewhere hot and beautiful, in Africa perhaps. Gosh, I wish I will be that rich when I retire that I can actually live in all these places. Okay, I'm going out to buy a lottery ticket! ;)

Favourite time of the day? Either the morning when I can get ready for work in my own time or just after having got back from work and relaxing in front of the TV (or on the balcony this time of the year) before starting dinner

Where are you born? Södertälje, Sweden

What is your favourite sport to watch? Football (watching France-Italy in the Euro Cup as we speak)

Coca Cola eller Pepsi? Coke Zero, but I drink very little soda

Football or ice hockey? Football

Are you a morning person or a night owl? I'm both as long as I go to bed at a rather decent hour. Or not in the same 24 hours, as Skolfröken said

Pedicure or manicure? Pedicure. I like to get a foot massage and have my feet taken care of!

Any exciting news you can tell us? Nope, I'm afraid not, except that my work beat the Swedish Foreign Ministry at football today with the rocking results 14-4 (or maybe it was 12-4?). Photo evidence below

What did you want to be when you were little? Lawyer

Best childhood memory? Oh, there are so many! Skolfröken wrote something about recording tapes and that made me think of a tape I made when I was around 7 years old. I sing songs and talk about my doll and how I had had a fight with my then best friend Elisabeth. I still have the tape somewhere (maybe I should digitalise it actually)

Been to Africa? Yes, South Africa last December

Ever been in a car accident? Just a very small incident in the US when someone ran into the side of us. A girl ran into the back of us in Italy last weekend as well actually but the car didn't get a scratch and no body got hurt

Favourite day of the week? Friday

Favourite flowers? Red roses or lavender

Favourite fastfood restaurant? One of the thai places nearby

Do you own a bike? Yes, my grandmother's old one from the early 1980s. The tyres need air and it needs a good cleaning though

Who was your latest e-mail from? A good friend, Frida, asking when we should get all the girls together this summer

Bedtime? Usually around 22.30-23.00 but sometimes after 23.00 which makes me cranky

Last person you shared a dinner with? Peter

What are you doing right now? Blogging and watching football. Wondering if this list ever ends...

Favourite colour? Yellow and pink this summer

How many tatoos? None, and that will remain the case

Our team that beat the crap out of the Swedish MFA today! Granted we lost the last two years but now the trophy is back with us! I should have taken some photos during the match but first it rained and later I was too busy playing and this is even after most people had already taken off their shirts. We went to the pub afterwards so I forgot to stretch which doesn't bode well for tomorrow. In addition I have a very swollen bruise on my leg (didn't wear any shinguards), but it was fun!!!

Sad Day for the Jazz World

Very sad news today. Esbjörn Svensson, the lead in the Swedish jazz band EST (Esbjörn Svensson Trio) died yesterday in diving accident, age 44. I went to see them in concert five-six years ago and have enjoyed their music since. It's so sad that their won't be anymore of Esbjörn's excellent piano playing, and obviously, my thoughts are with his family a day like this.

Show & Tell: View

Thought I'd show you some views from Peter and my trip to Italy with my parents last weekend.

View from Il Duomo di Firenze (Florence Cathedral).

View from inside the dome.

Trying to get a glimpse of the oak trees on top of the Guinigi Tower, Lucca's most famous landmark.

View from the Leaning Tower of Pisa - people were really obeying the "keep off the grass" signs!

My parents, sitting by the fountain and trying to take a picture of Peter and me up in the tower.

The Lisbon Treaty and the Irish

Please Ireland, vote yes today! Since you're the only ones having a referendum on ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, you're holding its future in your hands! The EU cannot spend another four years on a new treaty (we all remember what happened with the Nice Treaty)!

I have written about the benefits of the EU several times before, for example here, here, here, here, here and here.

Updated: an older post specifically on the EU constitution (that has now been renegotiated into the Lisbon Treaty).

Best Right Now!

Fantastic Swedish commercial running right now! It's in Swedish but with English subtitles.

Show & Tell: Light

This month's Show & Tell themes come from Sunny Swede. Her choice of topics are:

6 June: Light (from ljus, as in illumination, daylight, bright, lightly coloured, etc.)
13 June: View (the Swedish word utsikt could also mean forecast or prospect/chance)
20 June: 5 o'clock
27 June: Cooking

Anyone is welcome to join the gang!

My take on this week's theme, light, is to show you the beautiful sunset I documented while in the Swedish eastcoast town Oskarshamn at the end of March. It was just before 6 am in the morning and so beautiful to watch it from my hotel room overlooking the Baltic Sea.

The Books Post

This evening I attended a book reading event at Kulturhuset in Stockholm (it was actually in the evening sun on the roof terrace - well done organisers!) and came back with a few reading tips for the summer. The theme of this week (I think it will be a weekly or monthly thing over the summer) was Swedish debut authors. Those that particularly struck my interest were:

• "Hej Dolly" by Amanda Svensson
• "Paris-Dakar", a series of novels by Jens Liljestrand
• "Picasso valde också Kristinehamn" (Picasso also chose Kristinehamn) by Marcus Grahn

I have written about books several times before. Previous posts labelled "books" (there might be more since I blogged before labelling was introduced and I haven't had the time to go through all old posts for labelling purposes yet):

• (unrelated to my reading but) about some new book about Ikea
• a book list from spring 2007
• five weird books I've read
• my "book nerd" level
• my book list from a few weeks ago

Those of you who use Facebook may be familiar with iRead and book recommendations. It lets you click either "I like it" or "I don't like it" and whether you have read it or not. They give you 25 recommendations at a time but I will just treat you to the 10 first ones. Today they are recommending me the following books:

• "The History of Love" by Nicole Krauss - Haven't read it but think I would like it
• "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson - Yes! A favourite! Read it and loves it"
• Joke" by Milan Kundera - Haven't read it but I have read his classic book and would probably like this one too
• "The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxfod Dictionary" by Simon Winchester - Read it! Excellent!
• "Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed" by Jared Diamond - Another favourite!
• "Death in Venice" by Michael Henry Heim - Haven't read it and not that interested
• "Ett öga rött" by Jonas Hassen Khemiri - Haven't read it yet but want to (have read his second book "Montecore")
• "The Number Devil: A Mathematical Adventure" by Hans Magnus Enzensberger - Sounds interesting, want to read it
• "Turbulent Souls: A Catholic Son's Return to His Jewish Family" - No, doesn't strike my interest
• "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides - Haven't read it and don't feel like it

Show & Tell: Shoes & Books

FINALLY! Time for my shoes blog. I LOVE shoes and I have a LOT of them so I had to post about them at some point!


I have purchased these really useful transparent shoe boxes from Inreda.com for my dressier shoes that I keep in my bedroom closet. Earlier they were just all over the place with some bags and purses thrown into the mix. The flip flops on the left are a new purchase - I always get blistards between my toes from flip flops but I'm hoping these softer ones will be different. The stripey Muji slippers on the right are a favourite.

This is my less organised shoes drawer in our hallway. I should say that these are my spring and summer shoes; my winter shoes are already tucked away in the basement.

Some more from the shoe shelf by the door. The shoes still on the shelf are Peter's - he doesn't have as many shoes as I do but probably 1/3 or even half of my collection and thus way more than the average man.

A recent purpose, well, actually a year ago in Hong Kong but I didn't get around to wearing them last summer. They are a bit hard and as I always get blistards I need to prepare my feet with plasters and Compeed before I'm ready to break them in.

Another recent purchase, this time from South Africa. It was summer when we were there in December but once back home in Sweden I had to put them away for a few months.

This is turning into an international shoe shopping post! I bought these slipper like shoes (with hard soles) in Hong Kong as well, but wore them quite a lot last summer. Especially since last summer wasn't that great and I often needed warmer shoes than sandals.

BOOKS - coming soon! :)

Foul Taste

Looking for a house in Sweden? Look no further.

A little taster...



But seriously, what were they thinking??!! And now all of Sweden (and the world) will know about their complete lack of taste.