Sweden 2023 - 1

View across Sergels Torg, also known as Plattan on a rainy day.

Architecture and statues in Stockholm that caught my attention which resulted in a photo.

I spent a couple of afternoons in the company of friends talking on a bench in Kungsträdgården overlooking this.

And two green doors.

Some pictures from beautiful Stockholm. This is the famous Mårten Trotzigs Gränd, find it in Gamla Stan (Old Town). Why is this alley famous you might wonder? It is narrow, it is in fact the narrowest street in Stockholm.

You can find ice cream and licorice here. At Lakritsroten, also in Gamla Stan. SO yummy!

My favorite cake on the top shelf, Prinsesstårta. I will miss it.

Dalahästar. A favorite souvenir.

Who is in the mood for some bastu (sauna)?

Some history, an old runestone.

A beautiful entry to a subway station, this one is Kungsträdgården.

And this is Solna. I love how much colder it is is some of the subway stations. Plus there is a certain scent that I associate with subways (of course) and childhood.

When I still lived in Sweden I lived in Handen which is a suburb of Stockholm. It takes about 20 minutes on the commuter rail (pendeltåg) to get into the city. This is what the station looks like......is that a lake in the background?

Yes it is.....right there a lake and forest. It is called Rudan. I spent many nature days during school there. Doing orienteering, which I was really good at actually. Now when I visit I go to Rudan to just be there. There is Upper Rudan and Lower Rudan and many trails in the forest, all of that in "my" backyard (when I am in Sweden that is) basically.

Maxingeslingan takes you around Lower Rudan.

One of the many docks.

I love this place. I did not appreciate it enough when I was growing up but now I do. Priorities and interests change, I am all about nature and peace and quiet now. 

I had the most wonderful afternoon with my friend Marie yesterday at Klockgårdens Våffleri in Grödinge. Come along, let's take a tour of the place together.
An inviting lush green path lined with lanters with live candles and a gate that reminded me of the torii gates I saw in Japan led up to the café.

Let's walk inside!

The building is from 1864. The waffle batter, fruit jams and ice cream are home made.

You see all this interesting stuff when you first enter.

So pretty!

The menu. So many delicious choices.....

We both ordered waffles with homemade raspberry jam and whipped cream. Absolutely scrumptious!
Nice decorations and flowers everywhere, this place is amazing. A real gem.

An old wooden rocking horse.

My good friend Marie.

Another way in or out. This area, Grödinge is a fairy tale land.

There is plenty of seating in the beautiful garden.

This was my first visit to Klockgårdens Våffleri but not my last. This place is too good so I must return.

Look at this amazing fika with a view! What is fika you might wonder? Look it up, it is basically a Swedish ritual that (usually) involves coffee or tea and something to eat. This fika I had at Fjällgatans Kaffestuga. If you want an amazing view of Stockholm and some fika go there or to Hermans.

Afterwards me and Carmen took a long walk.....we walked and walked and talked. I have known her since I was seven.

We hopped on a ferry from one end of town to the other, a free ferry. Kind of a fun thing to do. There are plenty of options to go out on ferrys around Stockholm or further out in the archipelago and explore the many islands......or get on a larger boat and go to Gotland where Pippi's house is amongst other things. That is something I need to do more of, explore the amazing archipelago. Perhaps next time I come here.

The other day I visisted Skogskyrkogården (Woodland Cemetery), a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a beautiful place to visit and relax the pace for a while.
I walked around and looked at tombstones, statues of angels, admired an interesting gate, saw Greta Garbo's grave and there is a visitor center with a giftshop, café and an exhibition (not open year round though). You can't help but reflect on life, death and the afterlife or lack of thereof when spending hours at a cemetery. 
Resurrection Statue.

Angel of Death by sculptor Carl Milles.

An interesting keyhole.

This gate is intriguing to me, it's located inside the Woodland Chapel which was locked so I took the picture through a small window in the door. The giftshop at the visitor center sells a poster of the gate. There is something about the skulls with the snakes underneath them.

My personal thoughts on death.....Death scares me because it is the unknown. I dread the day somebody I am close to passes away. I do not want to go through that, again. I experienced one huge loss once and I think about that daily and it hurts.
I do not want to be here on Earth again, one life is enough for me. Just like the Buddhist believe, existence is a cycle of life, death, rebirth and suffering and to me being alive is to suffer so I do not want to suffer another lifetime, or even worse over and over again in samsara.
How do I suffer you might ask? I am extremely grateful that I have food, water, shelter, clothes, health, everything that I have but I get sad everyday when I see and read about human behavior. I get sad if I see any kind of bad, from too much litter laying around to a human or an animal that can't defend themselves get mistreated. I do not like feeling that deeply because it affects me. I can feel it in my heart area and stomach. There is too much bad in the world. So if I can just die one day and maybe if I am lucky/blessed get to spend forever together with all the pets I have known and will know and all the other beautiful animals in a nature setting in some sort of a nirvana afterlife then that is a perfect forever ending to me.