This week’s small pleasures 492

The week has flown by, filled with work, domestic tasks, meeting new people and of course, the biggest small pleasure of the week, a day trip to Uppsala that I wrote about here. We were invited to a house warming ‘do’ by a friend of Karl’s from his hometown he hadn’t seen for 30 years. It was a lovely gathering, with food and wine, and so nice for Karl to reconnect with his old friend. Saturday was of course the Eurovision Song Contest, and for the first time in 13 years, we were in the right time zone to watch it. I will keep all my thoughts to myself on the songs and presenters, but did not predict that Bulgaria would win.

Moving on, and the weather has been a bit mixed this week. The top two pictures were taken while I waited for the bus home on Wednesday.

These two were taken on a walk in Vasastan on Friday. The forecast for the coming week though looks good.

A return visit

On Wednesday, with it being a bit of a rainy day, I headed back to the National Museum to see bits I hadn’t seen and have lunch. The pictures below show the top floor of the museum, which is home to works and artifacts from the 1500s onwards as well as special exhibitions. I tried to find out more about the artist behind the murals but couldn’t find anything obvious about them on the website. The placing of the statues is just perfect.

At the moment there two special exhibition, one of works by 18th century sculptor Johan Tobias Sergel, a major figure in the history of art in Sweden, and a small one about Gustav Badin, described as a courtier and diarist in Wikipedia. It is thought he was born in 1747 as a slave on the island of Saint Croix, a Danish colony in the Caribbean. He was later taken to Europe, where he was eventually presented as a “gift” to Sweden’s Queen Lovisa Ulrika. As the museum website states “the exhibition seeks to create a nuanced and multifaceted understanding of how a person of African descent rose to become a significant figure in Swedish society of the time.” Below is a portrait of Badin.

Lunches

On Wednesday, I had the lunch dish of the day at the museum cafe, a lovely pork dish with roasted root vegetables (which you can’t see in the bad photo) and a spicy coleslaw. With the lunch deal, you also get bread and salad, and you can just see my bit of crispbread in the background. On Thursday in Uppsala we ended up going to the Swedish burger chain Max. I have to say I do enjoy their burgers, especially the Frisco. One has to have at least one when in Sweden….and they do vegetarian and vegan ones too.

Anyway, Friday was a bit more ‘upmarket’ with this hot smoked salmon served with potato salad at Systrarna Andersson which was very good. On Saturday, after some gift shopping, we returned to Cafe Pascal and enjoyed first class cheese and ham toasties with a good salad. Sunday saw another toastie during our post-Eurovision recovery walk. Mine was filled with falafel (and yes it did work) and Karl had chicken and bacon.

A Sunday walk

On Sunday morning, to clear our heads after the Eurovision Song Contest, we walked into town. We passed by Schefflerska palatset (the Scheffler Palace) or rather Spökslottet or haunted mansion on Drottninggatan, built in 1702 and donated to Stockholm University in 1924. Apparently there have been a lot of unexplained phenomenon here over the years, from strange music to breaking mirrors, hence the name. Interesting!

We continued down the pedestrianised Drottninggatan (the other end of full of shops), noting the Strindberg Museum as we passed. Karl, who had to study his work at school, declined a proposed visit, but could recognise the quotes inlaid into the pavement as we walked down the street. The featured image at the top of the post was also taken on Sunday and you can just see the observatory peeping through the trees.

Simple things

• Hearing that a friend completed the Hawke’s Bay marathon in a much quicker time than her last one. Congratulations!
• Seeing a man sitting next to me sketching a scene in the cafe where I was having lunch.
• Watching dogs playing in the dog park. Or just sitting enjoying the sun when it shines.
• Loving the contrast of the bright blue sky and that special terracotta colour of the buildings.
• Enjoying daily life.
• Finding the plaque outside where the author Astrid Lindgren lived.

What were your small pleasures this week? Here are some other blog posts from a few fellow bloggers looking at the good things in life.

• Carol Ann shares some more wonderful delights that always bring a smile to my face.
• Meanwhile Travels Through My Lens finally gets to Helsinki.
• Natalie has a marvellous day in Menton.
• And The Travel Sketcher has a difficult journey to Helsinki, but finds time to do a little sketch.
• Mr Tootlepedal spots a chair on a bench…
• While Melissa of Under the Elderberry Tree spots busy bees and other good things.
• And Maria offer us coffee and conversation at her allotment.
• Jo goes in search of bluebells and takes a walk along a canal.
• And Laurie has a good week.
• Ju-Lyn reminds us that overcast days can be good.
• And Jo of Story Crumbs shares her recent reading, as does Deb’s World.
• The Eternal Traveller takes us to Split.
• Finally….Mr Platypus takes a trip down memory lane.
• ..…and all the other lovely bloggers out there. Sorry if I have missed anyone…..

Thistles and Kiwis is a Wellington, New Zealand based blog written by Barbara, who likes cats, summer and good food. Thistles and Kiwis can be found on Facebook and Instagram @thistlesandkiwis