"There's no cow on the ice" - fun times in Stockholm and Oslo

There was swimming in a lake, there was delicious wild elk, there was Swedish black pudding, there was a Norwegian sauna followed by a paddle in the Oslo fjord, but most of all there were people. I'm often told that old friends are good for the soul, and my week in Scandinavia could not be more indicative of this. The ladies who were a huge part of the birth of this blog are back centre stage as I sense a continuing transformation within my soul.
This entry then is less of a touristic overview of my days in Stockholm and Oslo and more a reflection on the whole sense of community, connections and overwhelming calm. But I will humour you all with some must-dos if you visit either of the cities. You may not get the wonderfully welcome I received from Ellis and Nikolas who picked me up Saturday evening at Stockholm Central Station accompanied by a beautifully handmade Swedish-Irish flag - one stops to ponder if politicians could only learn from the innocence of children's ability to see togetherness in a simple item such as a flag.
Saturday evening was spent catching up with Anna and Nikolas sitting in their kitchen where I last sat in December 2012 when the outside temperature was -12 degrees Celsius - now it read 21 degrees. Sunday was time to meet Linda and little Mauritz most importantly but also to visit the wonderful house and sculpture garden Millesgården of the Swedish artist Carl Milles and Olga Milles. Despite my three previous visits to Stockholm I had not been there. The location is part of the charm, with lemon trees growing across the complex and wonderful views over the water and across to the city.

Meeting little Mauritz

It was a glorious day with temperatures in the mid-20s and after spending a wonderful few hours with Linda and Mauritiz we went back to go swimming in the fresh water lake close to Anna and Nikolas' apartment. I swam through the chilled water ruminating on the fact that just over a year ago I would have found any excuse not to jump into the lake, now I embraced it and loved it.

Swimming in the lake

Monday was a very wet day but that did not stop Anna and I from heading out into the city to see Linda and Mauritz, and to finally meet the famous chef Ola who has rocked Linda's world. To see a close friend of yours who has had a really difficult time and made it through is wonderful, but to see her thriving under the attentive loving gaze of the father of her child is truly heartwarming. We escaped the rain to enjoy a Swedish lunch, where I discovered much to my extreme delight that Swedes eat black pudding! Well they call it blood pudding and they don't eat it for breakfast, but I was delighted at the cultural food shared with one of my absolute favourite foods, Irish black pudding. Linda and Ola promised to help me find some in the supermarket to try when I stayed with them for my last two nights in Stockholm. Monday afternoon involved me getting lost on the metro (I got lost deep in thought and kept getting on the wrong trains taking me further away from my destination!), spending a wonderful hour enjoying a large Stockholm supermarket (to me visiting a local supermarket and observing what the 'locals' eat is a very important aspect of being a tourist in a city), and cooking my famous eggplant and yogurt dish for Anna, Linda and Nikolas. Sitting around Monday night chit chatting with Anna and Linda over a bottle of wine felt heavenly - it was not what we talked about it was just being there feeling so comfortable and relaxed.
Tuesday I moved house over to Linda, Mauritz and Ola, and then Anna, Linda and I hit the town - well not like we used to, there was no dancing on tables or late night rickshaw rides but for two ladies with children of 9 months and 5 months, I was impressed by there energy and dedication to the evening.

Out on the town in Stockholm

The National Museum of Sweden is housed in a wonderful old building down on the water in central Stockholm, and this is where we spent most of Wednesday late morning and early afternoon. There was an incredible tour for children which Ellis thoroughly enjoyed, and I really appreciated the more 'modern' display of Swedish cultural artifacts where Anna and Linda kept exclaiming, "oh my grandmother had that" and "we had one of those growing up". That evening there was Ola's homemade Elk dinner - to have a professional chef cook you dinner is a treat but to have it be hunted Swedish elk is just heavenly. Then it was Thursday morning and time to pack up for the next leg of the trip and my train across central Sweden to Oslo. Anna, Linda and I shared a plate of Bangladeshi phujka for old time's sake, but of course nothing compared to the street food we got at Dhaba in Bangladesh all those years ago. I sat for the first couple of hours of my 6 hour trip to Oslo just staring out the window with a big smile on my face - I had spent 5 glorious days with two of my very special chicas and it had been glorious. Fourteen years since we first met in the humid air of the old Bagha club in Gulshan 2 in Dhaka, our connection was still as strong as ever.

Little Helle loves necklaces as much as her mum Anna!

Hanne Cecile and I sat on her patio Thursday evening enjoying the cool evening air, but seeing no sunset - it is such a fascinating aspect of being in Scandinavia in the summer, the almost non-existent night. Friday morning and HC and I sat at her kitchen table for hours chatting about everything from how our works interests have continued to converge over the years, to memories of Dhaka to how we have each struggled with addressing challenges in our own lives. I introduced her to toasted oats and she shared incredible Norwegian spelt bread made in her local bakery (the theme of food is strong you will all appreciate). It was then off to a sauna situated on the Oslo fjord just across from the famous Parliament building. We made it to the sauna just before the full weight of a thunderstorm hit the city making it an ideal time to be horizontal in a warm dry room. We cooled off in the huge barrels of cold water outside the sauna and then jumped into the fjord itself. When in Norway eat reindeer and so we did devour delicious reindeer kebabs before heading out to Emma and Tor's for the afternoon and evening. I first met Emma playing netball in Dublin through Dara fifteen years ago, and like my Dhaka peeps we have kept in contact over the years. Emma and Tor's meeting on a flight from New Zealand is the stuff of romance novels, and seeing them thriving in their beautiful Oslo home with two adorable children is truly wonderful. You watch friends struggle through many life journeys over the years, but I think that it is only now that I have sat and truly dealt with my 'narratives' that I feel true empathy for other people in my life. Emma, Tor, HC and I shared a bottle of wine and I was introduced to the Norwegian Krema (a yogurt type food), which Swedes I must say beats fil :-) My 36 hours in Oslo were over far too quickly as I made my way in a daze to the bus stop outside HC's at 5.30am on Friday.

Enjoying Krema and strawberries

I have said throughout the post, but I say it again Stockholm and Oslo on this trip were nourishment for my soul. I reconnected with people who have shared many important moments with me as I have with them. To be told I looked great, that I seemed in a good place, that I was 'me', felt absolutely wonderful. For me to be with people whom I care aboput deeply and to see how they are living their lives and embracing its bumps and turns was food for my soul. The title of this post is a Swedish proverb which literally means there is no point in worrying, because who would put cows on an icy lake! Onward to London....