Butler 4

My Last day in Sweden Lena and some of her friends and I went to this lovely park and greenhouses. It use to be where the King would come and hunt... I believe, could be wrong. The trees were in bloom and it was wonderful.
They were so pretty in fact that Lena suggested that we take pictures in the tree.
there happened to be a professional photographer there... Okay maybe just Lena's friend with a really nice camera.
It was so hard for me to keep from smiling. But I managed.
In the end we just looked off into the distance and headed home. So that is the end of my Sweden coverage. Next time we'll move onto Berlin.

First... The House Of The Lord. The first day I got to Stockholm I dropped off my bag and went straight to the temple. It's a train ride just outside the city and is located right next to a train stop. It's really peaceful out there. It was fun to use the translator head set during the service. I met an old man from Idaho who became my friend. After the session he showed me around the temple grounds and buildings. He invited me to his apartment and showed me his family picture album. He had served a mission in Sweden in 1950. One day Lena took me to a park that on the hill side they have these cute tiny homes. From what I understand the government gave poor people some land to build a homes on. These little houses are what they made.
The day we walk through was a yard clean up day for this little community. Everyone was out tending to the gravel walkway and shrubs that snakes through the neighborhood. We stopped to ask about if it was required to help out and they told Lena that they have to help or they have to pay a fine. They used a large variety of manual yard tools. I love yard work and thought this quaint little community was heaven.
But I did have a few concerns. A: I don't know if I could ether stand-up straight or fully extend myself while lying down in any of these homes. Even my apartment in Manhattan is bigger then these houses.
B: Are there showers in there? It just doesn't seem like there is enough room.

All-in-all it felt like a little paradise. Oh Sweden you welfare state you.
I couldn't help thinking that my grandma would really like this place. It feels like it's part of a theme park called "Grandmaville".
As attested by my bow tie (which I wore to speak at the deaf branch on Sunday), the vintage shops in Stockholm are amazing. I will only post one picture about it though, as it is conclusive evidence.

I'm a bit nervous to say this... but... yes I've seen every episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I really wouldn't call myself a trekker though. I just enjoy it. Anyway... A few friends and myself went to see Macbeth last night. The lead of Macbeth was played by... Captain Picard himself (aka Patrick Stewart). Needless to say it was amazing. And it was fun to hear Patrick's voice and to see him with a mustache. The production was really great. They did a lot with digital projection and they updated it to a kind of WWII military look. Lots of fun and blood.
Oh --- Patrick Steward was also Professor X in the X-Men movies.

I forgot to report on the amazing breakfast buffet Lena took me too. It had various meat and cheeses, Swedish pancakes topped with ice cream and fruit, hard boiled eggs, and multiple types of juices. It was amazing! I don't know why but I can't get this picture to rotate... so you'll have have to enjoy it sideways. Right before we ate I said to Lena, "you guys eat like kings". See quickly replied, "we eat like vikings". I like eating like a viking. It's very satisfying.

Some of you might have read Lena's comments regarding her photo on my previous post. (I will probably get in trouble for the above picture too). To make up for any stress I might have caused her below I've posted a Lena approved picture. Here Lena is demonstrating the proper use of a diving bell used to savage cannons off the Swedish Ship Vasa. Please read this link to learn more about that Vasa.

The Vasa is a giant ship that sank in the mid-1600's. It was found in 1959 and raised and restored and placed in a museum. It' pretty amazing to see. It was really dark in there so pictures do not turn out that well.
This is how all the statues were originally painted... very colorful.


It was very Goonies.

I saw Alphaville by Jean-Luc Goddard last night at the Film Forum on a double date with Brigham and I really liked it. It made no sense but was beautiful. I might even purchase.

Before we start our tour of food, I just wanted to call everyone's attention to the elevators in Sweden. They do not have doors so there is a risk of death when riding them as illustrated below: After a long day of adventure, my Swedish friend Lena asked me, "what do you want to eat for diner?" The answer was quick and simple, "mashed potatoes." Then she told me of a Swedish dish called plank steak. Lena might have to correct me on the name... but that's the general idea. She told me that this dish consisted of beef on a board surrounded with mashed potatoes and vegetables. "Does that sound good?", she asked. "Is that a real dish... take me to this place that makes such amazing things." Please notice that the green beans are rapped in bacon. Anything rapped in bacon automatically becomes exceedingly better. If we could take the problems of the world and rap them with bacon it would be a much better place. For example: rap Iraq in bacon... problem solved. What would the have to fight about then?
Here's Lena and I before our well deserved plank steak feast. After the food came out there wasn't much talking... just chewing and noises of culinary pleasure. It was the right dish at the right time.
It is a requirement when visiting Sweden to enjoy Swedish Meatballs. Sunday afternoon Lean and I meet up with some of her friends in this nice park (I'll post pictures of the park at a later date). It was an amazing beautiful day... perfect for outdoor lunches with friends and meatballs. Here again I got mashed potatoes. I also delighted in a cucumber salad and cranberries. It was Delicious. Being skinny as I am... sometimes it hard for me to eat at a normal pace. Especially when hungry. I tried to slow down and enjoy my dish... but it was in vain and before I knew it I was completely satisfied with my lunch safely in my belly.

Simon who was hosting me on his couch for my Swedish leg of my trip, had been talking about feeding me pickled herring since I had arrived. My last night in Stockholm was the appointed time. I shall review the items in the below picture. Starting at the top, the tub with a wooden knife is butter. Below that in the toothpaste tube is caviar. Isn't that great caviar in a tube! On the plate below that is the pickled herring, which is raw fish pickled. To the left is Swiss cheese with cheese cutter and lettuce. Then there is a plate of diced tomatoes and onions. Finishing off the items is a Swedish bread. There is suppose to be one other item... I can't remember what it was... perhaps Simon can remind me.
Well you butter the bread, cut the cheese, place the herring, top with tomato, lettuce, onion. Then you pray.
Here is Simon and his roommate waiting to see me freak out when I eat this Swedish dish.
Here I take my first bite...
It wasn't that bad... I even added more herring to my plate. This was to Simon's much surprise who said that he's never seen any Non-Swede like it. What can I say, I'm so international.

Look how amazing this is! Earlier I wrote about how much I liked the colors from the Stockholm subway system... well I stopped by Mood Fabric on my lunch break to search for some bow tie fabric and look what I found. It's the exact colors from the subway! This scan makes the colors look lighter then they really are. Under the same light the colors look eerily similar. It blows me away! See compare the colors to this photo. It even looks like little bricks. Only down side I had to get a half a yard of fabric which is in extreme excess of what I need to make a bow tie. Perhaps I'll make a cummerbund to match. (not really)

Stockholm has great colors. Just look at this purple. In elementary school purple was my favorite color. Then it switched to sky blue / baby blue. Then for awhile I didn't really have a favorite color. But now I'm back. Purple once again is my favorite color. It's the color of royalty. So I was very pleased to find this purple wall surrounding a construction site. Luckily I had even opted to wear my light purple shirt that day. The purple of the wall puts to shame the purple of my shirt, but the tonal effect it makes is great.

I knew that Stockholm and I were going to get along just fine when I saw the color scheme of the subway walls. I don't know who decided to use light mint, light purple and light pink together... but I salute that person. I often use colors like this at work and I always hear... it's too pastel. (I try not to take those comments personally).
The buildings where painted in rich earthy tones. Dark mustard yellows, rich brick reds and muted peaches. I use the word 'rich' because the colors are bright and bold but not bubble gummy (if that makes any sense). Below you can see the mix of reds and yellows.

Here is some Stockholm graffiti. Black and White stencil, but then a stroke of genius displayed by the artist (or hoodlum) who added a little of color with the red type strip tape. It says "last lovers standing". Which I think is cute.

Along with always wanting to learn French for as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to wear bow ties. I feel that I have the bow tie disposition. Of course, the clip-on variety would not do. In addition, it has to have the perfect shape along with the perfect pattern or stripe. Using the secret, I have long envisioned finding this tie. I spotted one at the Brooks Brother's store. I admired it from afar... It being part of their Black Fleece collection I knew it was most likely out of my budgetary means.

Stockholm has come through for me though. That city has great vintage stores. The first vintage store that I stepped into I spotted a basket of bow ties and this one was on top. It was calling me like that crystal buried in the barn called to Clark Kent. Kind of glowing and humming a little bit.

This bow tie has the exact proportions that I have been looking for. Skinny and straight with out a lot of curves and fuss. The colors are just to the side of standard making it walk that line between "check it" and "HEY CHECK ME OUT!". The line widths is also pleasing to me.

With my jet lag I've been waking up at 5:30am. Which has been great because it gives me enough time before work to take a bath, read a book, cook breakfast, listen to my podcasts and to practice tying my bow tie.

First, I looked at the Brooks Brother's website. They have instructions for tying all types of ties and bow ties. Those instructions didn't really help me (I'm a bit disappointed in B.B. for not making it happen for me). Next, I turned to a trusted source of knowledge... youtube. A nice gentleman from South Carolina had an excellent video on how to tie a bow tie and as you can see it's just this side of perfect.

... Just as a side note, I realized that this shirt and bow tie combo is not the greatest. But you must admit it's hard to look away... kind of like a car crash.