En Mycket Svenskt Dag

Or in plain English...A Very Swedish Day!
We've had a wonderfully Swedish day!  I realized that I had a present card for a brunch at a restaurant near our house.  (Another 50th bday present.  I really am going to celebrate this for an entire year!)  The expiration date was approaching and as we could only use it on a Saturday I thought that today would be a good day to give it a go.  So Doug and I walked to Bankomat on Odengatan.  Bankomat is a cute play on words in Swedish.  A bankomat is a cash machine here.  Mat also means food in Swedish so it's like going to the food bank for a meal!  Cute.  The place looked like a bank from the outside.  In fact, we almost walked past it!  Once inside we were delighted by the cozy atmosphere.  We got there right at 11.00, when they opened.  I know Americans...can you imagine an eating establishment not opening until 11.00 on a Saturday?!  Normal for here.  Apparently, Swedes do not eat out before 11.00 a.m.  But I digress.  Now, brunch in Sweden is different than Brunch in America but to our great delight we were pleasantly pleased with what was on offer.  Coffee and various kinds of juices were on offer along with a great spread of typical European breakfast items: breads, cheeses, deli meats, scrambled eggs, and bacon.  What made this brunch typically Swedish were also the various salads on offer, many that included shrimp.  One of my favorites was a delicious bowl full of olives, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts and feta.  Of course, there was also herring which I gladly let the other guests partake of and naturally, meatballs and prinskorv, the traditional mini-hot dog that shows up on most Swedish buffets.  After awhile, delicious Swedish pancakes arrived with strawberries and whipped cream for toppers and also short little spare ribs that were delicious. I had eaten too much of the deli meat and cheese to really enjoy the ribs so we made a mental note for the next time we eat brunch here!  Come at 11.30 when all the food on the buffet will be out.  Skip the stuff you get all the time like the deli meats and gorge on spare ribs, cheese, bread and pancakes!  All in all it was a tasty brunch and we would definitely go here again.  On our walk home, we stopped by a florist to buy tulips and ducked into a bakery to get a strawberry/raspberry torte for a newcomer gathering we're hosting after church tomorrow.  This was all done on foot in our neighborhood and it was great fun to be out.
The last obligation on this beautiful day was to take Tanner for a walk so we ventured down to the park where we all like to swim in the summer.  The ice is receding but still frozen enough to walk on so we had a beautiful walk on a dazzling day filled with sunshine.  Even though it was beautiful, I must admit that my thoughts were wandering to the day when we could be in the very same spot, in our boat, actually getting tan from the sunshine!  The thickness of the ice made me realize why the water is so darn cold even in the middle of the summer!
It's been a wonderful Saturday in Stockholm.  I hope you can say the same!