Skiing, skating, sauna and snow...so Swedish

Gott nytt år! (A bit late sorry). Since my last post Christmas has come and gone and I've been getting to grips with proper Swedish winter. I've tried out a whole host of new activities including cross country skiing, winter BBQing and a rather chilly dip in an ice hole followed by a much needed sauna session.

Before heading home for the holidays we had a somewhat magical day here in Stockholm. Finally we awoke to a proper coating of snow, clinging to the trees to create a winter wonderland. I couldn't miss the opportunity to go for a snowy walk so as soon as the sun came up (about 9.30am) I left my desk to go for a quick stroll. Soon after I was back it was time to gather with the rest of the department to head over to Riksarkivet (the Old Archives in town) for our Julbord lunch. This is a Swedish Christmas tradition; instead of our turkey and stuffing they go for a table laden with a variety of smoked, pickled and fresh fish (including a lot of salmon and herring), various cold cuts and hot dishes of meats, cheeses, salads and potatoes and an assortment of breads. 


Our version began with a glass of mulled applemust while hearing about the history of the archives and ended with a visit to the sweet room. This was a child's paradise. The shelved walls were heaving with all different types of sweets and desserts, stands were filled with crème caramel and saffron pancakes. My favourite part was the giant reels of liquorice with huge scissors to snip off as much as you desire. It's safe to say little work was done that afternoon!

Over Christmas and new year I had a lovely couple of weeks back home, catching up with friends, seeing most of the family and making the most of all the home comforts. We spent Christmas up at Grandma's in Lancashire where we were able to bob along to the Aubrey's (just down the road) for dinner one night and to find oven space for the turkey! I had a really great time chilling out, making our way through copious amounts of sprouts and playing many games. On Christmas eve the boys and I tried out curling, another new icy experience, I can thoroughly recommend as it was great fun. Us Watts' need a bit more practice though as the Aubrey's beat us hands down. 
Back down south we had a Watts gathering at Simon and Lisa's place where they had done out the barn to make it wonderfully cosy, so good to see all the gang again!

GGI walk at Hellasgården

I arrived back in Stockholm on 4th January and my weekends have been quite action packed since. On my first day back I met Felicity at Hellasgården, just outside the city, to go for a rather chilly swim. They cut a hole in the ice here so we followed the Swede's lead and plunged into the freezing water then scurried back on rubber legs to the packed sauna. I must admit I weirdly enjoyed the tingly, numb feeling as we knew there was warmth waiting for us. After this we went for a well deserved hot chocolate before heading along to a free yoga session in a hotel in town.

The next weekend was another ice filled one with ice skating over at Vasaparken; this involved a lot of dodging small children with hockey sticks, and another trip to Hellasgården for a lakeside walk with a group from 'Girl Gone International'. I met a lovely group of about 15 girls from all over the world and we went for a couple of hours walk over some quite treacherous ice before heading into the café for whipped cream topped hot chocolate (perfect!). 

Yesterday I joined some others from 'Girl Gone International' for a BBQ in another national park about 30 minutes south of Stockholm by a different frozen lake. Kathrin (from Germany) had kindly lit the fire by the time we got there, then the 7 of us got to work cooking sausages (very Swedish), haloumi, aubergine and corn over the open fire. We stayed huddled around the flames as the temperature had dropped to about -6C. I would never usually consider a BBQ post September but it's definitely something I'd try again. Today was a different extreme, I joined another group (Hej Framling) who were offering a free try out of cross country skiing on a track 20 minutes from the city. There was about 40 of us flailing about with poles and cluttering up the track but by the end of the 1.5 hours most of us had got the hang of it and cold whizz our way around the track. The Swedes were still far speedier, I think a lot of practise is needed!

In between all of these wintery activities I have been doing some work on my PhD, preparing for a busy few months, studying in Svalbard, collecting data in Northern Sweden and Southern Norway and teaching in Tovetorp, about an hour from Stockholm. Despite the dark and cold I must say the Swedes do winter well. Now to try add extra dark and extra cold with a month in Svalbard, just two weeks to go, hopefully I'll be used to the cold by then!