I decided to take the wifeoid-type-unit out for a date last weekend. Yep, just because we're married doesn't mean I can't take her out for a date y'know! One of our favorite restaurants happens to be Kraków, but we haven't been there for a while so I thought I'd book a table.
As an aside, Swedish people can be polite to the point of being annoying (in a nice way, mind you). I thought I'd show off my One-Three-Three-Seven Swedish skills by booking in Swedish. "Hej," I began (which is a surefire way of beginning on the right track), "jag skulle vilja boka ett bord till lördag klockan sju."
The question that I received also answered the question "was my Swedish alright," because she asked, in English, "What name, please?" Ho hum.
Anyway, the missus and I go there for one particular dish - grilled cheese. It's pretty much that, with breadcrumbs on the outside. One's heart palpitates at the mere thought of eating soft melting cheese, and man is it good! It comes with fried potatoes, tartare sauce and salad.
But we thought we'd make a whole night of it. So we share a starter of a mixed sausage dish (Polska charkuteridelikatesser in Swedish, Talerz zimnych wedlin in its native language). Then we decided to order a separate main course and take half of each, seeing as we'd never had anything but the grilled cheese; so, the other dish was Pierogi. You could call them "Polish Pasties" in English, that would suffice; but they're unleavened dough stuffed with meat and various ingredients. Very nice indeed.
Top that off with a few glasses of 1795 Polish beer (or a carafe of white wine) and it makes a long enjoyable evening. On "lönhelg" (the first weekend when just about everyone gets paid in Sweden), as it was when we were there, it's a very busy place, so if you don't like noisy atmospheres, don't go then. The decor in the restaurant hasn't changed since the 80s either. But none of those reasons are why people go. It's the food - simple, unassuming, but oh-so-tasty. I'd recommend you give it a try if you want a straightforward unpretentious menu with a wide-ranging selection of food and a hint of Eastern Europe. The menu is available on the website in Swedish, English and Polish - but don't expect it to win any Website of the Year awards anytime soon.
Kraków Restaurant can be found on Karl Gustavsgatan in Göteborg; more details here.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Friday, January 01, 2010
Our Little Car Incident
For Christmas, we went up to Alta in Norway to visit Linda's grandparents. It's a lovely place, away from the hussle and bussle of modern life and it really calmed us down at the end of the year.
There's an airplane service that runs between Oslo Airport and Alta Airport, so that's what we used. This meant that we drove from Oslo back to our place - a three-and-a-half hour drive. We came back on the 28th, later than planned because Oslo had had "snow chaos" - it's been snowing a lot here in Scandinavia. We had to shovel our car out of its car park place too. Here's a picture of it:
So, as you can see, it took us a little while to dig it out!
Anyway, driving conditions on the way back weren't particularly good - fog meant poor visibility for some patches - and Linda decided to drive, taking it nice and easy.
We had just got to Uddevalla when all of a sudden, the back of the car skidded sideways a little - we had obviously hit a patch of black ice because there was no indication of ice on the road - snow, yes; but there were tracks made by the volume of vehicles that we were following. Linda tried to counter the skid - not TOO much because that wouldn't have helped - and the car almost got back to where it should have been. However, it decided to "overskid" and started sliding the other way, with the car dangerously pointing towards the central crash barriers. So, Linda steered the other way. This time, the car just skidded to point towards the outer edge, but too much.
Before we knew exactly what was going on, we were skidding down the road sideways, with no grip on the road. Linda and I briefly looked at each other with that "Uh-Oh" look on our faces. Then the front of the car hit a clump of snow that was piled up on the side of the road.
We didn't so much "roll" as "bounce" onto the roof. Both Linda and I had our eyes closed at this point, thinking that we were going to be terribly injured or worse. I recall also shouting out some sort of gutteral moan as well; a noise my distant Neanderthal cousin would have made when being attacked by a woolly mammoth, let's say.
The car skidded on the roof for what felt like 10 meters, although I can't be sure, as time seems to expand in this sort of situation. Then we hit another big clump of snow and we slowly rolled again, this time righting ourselves onto the wheels. The car skidded for another 10 meters or so, dug itself into the snow and stopped.
There was a couple seconds of silence, then we both opened our eyes. We were alive! For some reason we had survived an 80km/h skid-and-roll. The car was in the ditch at the side of the road, facing the opposite way. Linda and I asked each other if we were OK, which we seemed to be. Then, because we had seen too many car crashes in Hollywood movies, we needed to get out of the car because petrol might be leaking and the car might blow up - even in temperatures of -8C (which it was).
At this point a trio of lads showed up. They had seen the incident while driving on the other side of the road, and stopped and ran over to see if we were OK. One of the lads phoned the emergency services, while I was comforting Linda who was obviously distraught at this point. The ambulances turned up within 15 minutes and they immediately put neck braces on us, just in case. We went in separate ambulances and turned up at Uddevalla hospital a little later.
Everyone there was so kind, calm and professional and we were feeling quite calm. We both had X-Rays taken and, after a couple of hours, the doctor said that, apart from a couple of bumps and bruises, we were miraculously fine and he discharged us. Linda's sister and her boyfriend picked us up and took us home. The accident happened at 21:00 and we were home for 01:30.
For what happened - or what could have happened - we were both incredibly lucky and we've been filled with a sense of euphoria for the past few days. Linda "confronted her demons" a couple days back too - we hired a car and she got straight back into the driver's seat and she was fine. I was fine as a passenger too, and I drove just to make sure I was OK with that.
So, that's what we've been up to! Below is a YouTube video of the car after the crash, and where it happened.
There's an airplane service that runs between Oslo Airport and Alta Airport, so that's what we used. This meant that we drove from Oslo back to our place - a three-and-a-half hour drive. We came back on the 28th, later than planned because Oslo had had "snow chaos" - it's been snowing a lot here in Scandinavia. We had to shovel our car out of its car park place too. Here's a picture of it:
So, as you can see, it took us a little while to dig it out!
Anyway, driving conditions on the way back weren't particularly good - fog meant poor visibility for some patches - and Linda decided to drive, taking it nice and easy.
We had just got to Uddevalla when all of a sudden, the back of the car skidded sideways a little - we had obviously hit a patch of black ice because there was no indication of ice on the road - snow, yes; but there were tracks made by the volume of vehicles that we were following. Linda tried to counter the skid - not TOO much because that wouldn't have helped - and the car almost got back to where it should have been. However, it decided to "overskid" and started sliding the other way, with the car dangerously pointing towards the central crash barriers. So, Linda steered the other way. This time, the car just skidded to point towards the outer edge, but too much.
Before we knew exactly what was going on, we were skidding down the road sideways, with no grip on the road. Linda and I briefly looked at each other with that "Uh-Oh" look on our faces. Then the front of the car hit a clump of snow that was piled up on the side of the road.
We didn't so much "roll" as "bounce" onto the roof. Both Linda and I had our eyes closed at this point, thinking that we were going to be terribly injured or worse. I recall also shouting out some sort of gutteral moan as well; a noise my distant Neanderthal cousin would have made when being attacked by a woolly mammoth, let's say.
The car skidded on the roof for what felt like 10 meters, although I can't be sure, as time seems to expand in this sort of situation. Then we hit another big clump of snow and we slowly rolled again, this time righting ourselves onto the wheels. The car skidded for another 10 meters or so, dug itself into the snow and stopped.
There was a couple seconds of silence, then we both opened our eyes. We were alive! For some reason we had survived an 80km/h skid-and-roll. The car was in the ditch at the side of the road, facing the opposite way. Linda and I asked each other if we were OK, which we seemed to be. Then, because we had seen too many car crashes in Hollywood movies, we needed to get out of the car because petrol might be leaking and the car might blow up - even in temperatures of -8C (which it was).
At this point a trio of lads showed up. They had seen the incident while driving on the other side of the road, and stopped and ran over to see if we were OK. One of the lads phoned the emergency services, while I was comforting Linda who was obviously distraught at this point. The ambulances turned up within 15 minutes and they immediately put neck braces on us, just in case. We went in separate ambulances and turned up at Uddevalla hospital a little later.
Everyone there was so kind, calm and professional and we were feeling quite calm. We both had X-Rays taken and, after a couple of hours, the doctor said that, apart from a couple of bumps and bruises, we were miraculously fine and he discharged us. Linda's sister and her boyfriend picked us up and took us home. The accident happened at 21:00 and we were home for 01:30.
For what happened - or what could have happened - we were both incredibly lucky and we've been filled with a sense of euphoria for the past few days. Linda "confronted her demons" a couple days back too - we hired a car and she got straight back into the driver's seat and she was fine. I was fine as a passenger too, and I drove just to make sure I was OK with that.
So, that's what we've been up to! Below is a YouTube video of the car after the crash, and where it happened.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Christmas display at NK
This is the annual Christmas display at NK, which is kind of Gothenburg 's Harrods. Pretty...
Monday, November 16, 2009
The Ongoing Adventures of Fanny
Finally, here's a picture of Fanny relaxing a little, so you can see her properly without any action blur:
Awww, isn't she a cutey... mooshy mooshy mooshy OY! GERROFF ME SHOES!
Awww, isn't she a cutey... mooshy mooshy mooshy OY! GERROFF ME SHOES!
Sunday, November 01, 2009
New family member
On Saturday, we got a new family member, in the form of a kitten. Linda's sister and her boyfriend had a new litter recently (well, their cats did obviously) and asked us if we wanted one of them. Initially I said no, because I'm a grumpy old man and was happy just having Åke around. But having met the little bundle of energy my heart melted and gave in (much to Linda's delight).
As a "reward" for this, Linda decided that I can name the little kitty. So, she's called Fanny. Yes, exactly.
She's just getting acquainted with us all right now, and she doesn't like Åke very much (hissing at him), but that's what cats are like sometimes and so, with a little time and patience, she'll come round to him. And she's a little Daddy's Girl too, sleeping with me last night until quite a decent hour actually. It was only around 9am that she realised how much fun it was to hunt down and chew on my toes.
Being so young she hardly sits still, so this is the best photo I've managed to take of her so far:
As a "reward" for this, Linda decided that I can name the little kitty. So, she's called Fanny. Yes, exactly.
She's just getting acquainted with us all right now, and she doesn't like Åke very much (hissing at him), but that's what cats are like sometimes and so, with a little time and patience, she'll come round to him. And she's a little Daddy's Girl too, sleeping with me last night until quite a decent hour actually. It was only around 9am that she realised how much fun it was to hunt down and chew on my toes.
Being so young she hardly sits still, so this is the best photo I've managed to take of her so far:
I'll try and post another one when I get a better quality shot!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Winter's here, suddenly
The overall weather here in Gothenburg can change in a matter of days. Last Thursday I was wearing my denim Spring/Autumn jacket. However, the following Monday - the space of just over three days - I had to start wearing my winter coat. It's definitely winter here now in Gothenburg.
Since Monday it has been beautiful weather actually, if you can stand the cold. The sun has been out and there's that crisp air that freshens everything up. Unfortunately, today has messed everything back up - we're back to dull and wet - Gothenburg's default weather. Actually, Gothenburg's default weather is horizontal rain with plenty of wind, so it's not that bad yet (the rain is actually falling vertically right now).
We've recently moved around in the office and now I have a view out to the track leading up to the train station, 200 meters up the road. It can be quite busy with 32 trains coming and going per hour. Thankfully the double glazing - and the fact that the trains are electric - means that we don't get too much noise; just the low rumble of wheel-on-steel.
We also now have Fredags Frukost (Friday Breakfast) at work, instead of the old Fika on Friday afternoons. Much better! Makkor (sandwiches), yoghurt, cereal, eggs and juice for the taking, and a chance to meet up with the other colleagues. Speaking of which, it's almost time. I'll sign off now in the hope that this random blog entry will stop me from forgetting to visit every now and then!
Since Monday it has been beautiful weather actually, if you can stand the cold. The sun has been out and there's that crisp air that freshens everything up. Unfortunately, today has messed everything back up - we're back to dull and wet - Gothenburg's default weather. Actually, Gothenburg's default weather is horizontal rain with plenty of wind, so it's not that bad yet (the rain is actually falling vertically right now).
We've recently moved around in the office and now I have a view out to the track leading up to the train station, 200 meters up the road. It can be quite busy with 32 trains coming and going per hour. Thankfully the double glazing - and the fact that the trains are electric - means that we don't get too much noise; just the low rumble of wheel-on-steel.
We also now have Fredags Frukost (Friday Breakfast) at work, instead of the old Fika on Friday afternoons. Much better! Makkor (sandwiches), yoghurt, cereal, eggs and juice for the taking, and a chance to meet up with the other colleagues. Speaking of which, it's almost time. I'll sign off now in the hope that this random blog entry will stop me from forgetting to visit every now and then!
Monday, October 05, 2009
My new workplace
We just moved around a bit, to accomodate the new employees, so this is where I sit now. It's also the cleanest it's been for a long time!
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