from brygga to botanik

It was quite a cultural weekend for us Smålanders. It started on Thursday night, when Lewis' uncle Dick and aunt Kristin arrived from Geneva. We left Älmhult right after taking the pets to the vet for their shots (the vet didn't speak much English... we're still trying to figure out what the extra "mystery shot" was that Harley got) and met D&K in Malmö. We took them to an ecological "slow food" restaurant on the harbor that we've always wanted to try – Salt & Brygga. After ordering sparkling water and being brought a bottle of organic champagne, and ordering gazpacho and getting carpaccio, the rest of the dinner was fabulous. Although the waiter was probably relieved we didn't stay for dessert...

The "västra hamnen" of Malmö was quite the place to be Thursday night. The harbor was lined with wall-to-wall picnickers enjoying the sunset. We stopped for some delicious gelato and watched the sun fade into the Oresund Sound before heading back to Älmhult.

Friday we took the ferry from Helsingborg to Helsingør, Denmark – it really is one of our favorite places to take guests. The town is adorable and the Louisiana Museum is close by. It was Sophie's first museum experience, but she slept through most of it (except when she was flying around under the Calder sculpture). The gift shop had some cool kids stuff, and I had to really control myself not to buy one of these Idealist B-Real dolls. Sophie scored a stylie bib instead.

Then on Saturday we visited Carl von Linné's gardens just up the road – he's the guy who invented the botanical naming system. They have a little outdoor cafe, and sipping elderflower juice there is becoming a favorite pastime this summer. Do they have elderflower in the States? It's tasty! My mommy friend Anna made homemade elderflower juice for me a few weeks ago, and I've been hooked ever since. 

Comments

[Hillary]

They are "elderberries" and they do exist in North American. Used to make "elderberry wine." The flowers and berries are used for wine. In Sweden they use the flowers to make tea or juice. The green of the plant is poisonous, though. And the seeds from the red berries are toxic. We had some of the juice at the in-laws a few weekends ago. Delicious! (You can also make soup out of it.)

[ginny]

OK, so I think I saw some fläder vin at the system today! I was tempted to buy some but I was skeptical that it would actually be good as a wine. :)