Hope your Christmases were full of holiday festive fun (i.e. eating too much until your stomach can't handle it, filling your cavities with endless amounts of hot chocolate and sugar-filled cookies and receiving lots of gifts and love.)
My Swedish Christmas, I did eat until I couldn't handle it, my sugar intake was way high that if my dentist saw he would cringe and I did receive lots of gifts and love.
Let's begin with the 5 day Swedish-Christmas festivities.
Day #1- December 21st, 2013
MY MOM CAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(I used 51 exclamation points because that is my mother's age....Mom I apologize for publicizing your age on the Internet, but like it's ok cuz 50 is like the cool age yeah? I don't know I'll let her think that....)
Anyway, seeing that my mom would arrive in Stockholm at 7:30AM and arrive in Uppsala, by bus, at around 9:00, I left my Flogsta apartment at 8:30, had little to no bus traffic and leaving me enough time to buy two coffees for us, so that when she stepped off the bus she would have a nice hot cup of Swedish coffee.
Nope.
1. None of the Swedish cafes were open so coffee was out.
2. My mother's flight landed an hour early meaning that she landed in Uppsala at 7:30AM. (Thank you United Airlines for ruining my plan....)
My mother had been waiting in Uppsala CentralStation for about an hour and had already gotten her first Swedish coffee without me, ugh really universe?
After hugging my mom and apologizing for being late, I took her luggage (because I'm that great of a daughter) and took her to her hotel room, helped her get settled and begin the tour of Uppsala!
Since her hotel was located in the center of downtown Uppsala it was easy to start and walk around showing her all the places that I shopped, where I walk around and some of the cafes that I go to.
This is the local supermarket that I shop at. It's not the EXACT one that I shop at but it's pretty much the same.
Pronoucned Ee-ka it is the equivalent to Safeway.
My mom and I in downtown Uppsala
Selfie #1 out of 51
Everyone say hi to my mom!
"Hi Estibaliz's mom!!!"
Fun Fact: I took my mom to a store called Systembolaget which is a store in Sweden and some parts of Denmark. It is a government owned store that sells alcohol 5% and higher as supermarkets in Sweden, like ICA only sell alcohol that is 4% and lower.
The store is open Monday-Friday 10AM-7PM and Saturdays and Sundays 10AM-3PM.
The store sells all types of alcohol and alcohol free drinks from all over the world, but obviously we ventured to the Spanish wines and American beer section.
Typical.
The Romeo wine that was previously mentioned in a previous post. As you can see it was sold out and while taking this picture a old Swedish women was asking a worker if they had any more of this wine, because it was her favorite.
We are quite popular and loved in Sweden.
Newcastle Brown Ale which is actually from England not from the States but eez okay.
And of course Lagunitas.
The bottom shelf of the Lagunitas Pale Ale is what is usually sold and this time, now, they are selling the Maximus which was to my surprise and excitement when I went there.
Introducing my mom to Swedish meatballs with lingonberry sauce and strolling around the Swedish IKEA, we hoped on a bus that took us to half of Uppsala and then walked 30 minutes from downtown to show her the university building and where I live.
At around 4:30pm I took my mom out to Fika- swedish coffee and food- despite the deep darkness where we enjoyed a wonderful cup of hot Swedish coffee and Swedish chocolate cakes and apple pie.
Chocolate Chip cake with whipped cream and fruit.
After a good fika and more walking around, we went out to dinner, returned to the hotel and got ready for the next day.
A successful first day in Uppsala, Sweden if I must say.
Day #2- December 22nd, 2013
Day 2 was spent in a small town called Sigtuna. A surprise day for my Mom from me (again, best daughter ever ;)
The original plan for this day was to go to Stockholm or explore more of Uppsala but then a couple of friends of mine went to Sigtuna 3 Sundays ago and came back absolutely loving it.
Their description of it- a small town where old people go to retire- plus their Christmas markets, I knew I had to take my mother here (and who knows, maybe some day she will come to Sweden and retire here ::ahem ahem:: ::cough cough::)
To get to Sigtuna we had to take the train from Uppsala to a small town called Märsta (pronounced: Marsh-ta) and then take a 25 minute bus ride from Märsta to Sigtuna.
Märsta Station, my mother was fascinated by how old looking it looked.
Sigtuna
Sigtuna is located near the water and it being December in Sweden, it was colder than my mother was used to. Strong cold piercing winds were not in our favor, but the smell of roasted almonds, glögg and meat kept us warm.
Me double fisting glögg.
Glögg is a Swedish drink that is only drank during Christmastime. It is a spiced mulled wine that comes in many flavors and with or without alcohol. It is served warm (the alcohol free one not the alcohol one) and in small mugs.
It's delicious.
The Swedes go crazy for this stuff. Every year they bring out a new flavor that is THE flavor of the year and it is a total mystery.
Glögg is a hard flavor to describe but imagine an array of cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom mixed with hot non-alcoholic wine.
It's like Christmas in your mouth, no joke.
Just ask my mom when you see her.
These are candied almonds. They fill the whole Christmas market with their wonderful smell.
Nestled in between the booths of chocolates, two people stand over a big steel pot mixing and mixing with their hands making sure every almond is coated to perfection.
For 30 SEK ($6) you get a small bag with what seems like never ending candied almonds (and when I mean never ending, I mean my mom and I were still eating them until Christmas day).
After stuffing our faces with almonds and savoring the delicious, warm glögg, my mom and I ventured out to the outskirts of Sigtuna.
Surrounding Sigtuna are churches from the 11th century, still intact. Some are ruins and some are still restored. Reminding us both of the churches in Spain, we explored.
The sun peeking through the cloudy day.
This picture was taken at around 11:30ish
Cemetery
Church of St. Mary
Ruins of the St. Olof's Church
Selfie #2 in St. Olof's Church
After exploring, we walked more in the markets of Sigtuna to look for lunch and right as we found a place, the strong winds and light rain hit us.
We had to eat lunch standing under a small cover of a building eating our delicious lunch.
Parmagiano Sausage with paprika sauce, coleslaw and toast. Perfect warm fulfilling lunch.
Finally, after looping around the markets twice and taste tasting any free samples we saw, we explored more of the small town and ended up near the water. What we realized was that it is extremely cold to be near the water during the winter time.
Despite the freezing ice cold winds, it was beautiful to look at.
Selfie #3 of 51.
At around 2:30PM we happily left Sigtuna, hopped on a bus to Märsta station then hopped on the train back to Uppsala where we returned to our warm hotel and rested for the early (and for me rough) next day.
Thus concludes the first 2 days of Swedish adventures of my mom and I!
Next post, --pray with me--Stockholm/ABBA museum
--Keep praying for me--
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