Feeling French | Stockholm

Fyra Knop (translation = four knots) is a crêperie that lies on Svartensgatan and is only one side street way from the other restaurants and cafes on Götgatan Street. I chose this place because it felt both cozy and romantic, and open starting at 17 right when I happened to walk by! I imagine coming here again when I want to eat galettes/crêpes and drink a bottle of wine with a loved one or out on a date.

Here I am trying to choose between several savory crêpes or a dessert crepe. They all sound equally good; why does it have to be so hard to choose! I decided to try a "stripped" variety with just a little sugar. I also ordered, and it came perfectly made, a cappuccino. There was also cidre brut and champagne available to order.

The atmosphere is very cozy and relaxed with old rustic furniture and lots of young people rolling in right around 17 filling the place up very quickly (the locals know). However, this brings up a downside that it is rather small : I noticed the waitress/hostess had a book of bookings where people had called in ahead for a table.

Wishing you all a most wonderful start to your week... Love, Sharon

This week

My life abroad is pretty relaxed right now, and the fun has been gaining a nice momentum with the new friends I recently made. However, sometimes I slip back to my life in Arizona and just inquired about renting a cottage at my friend's ranch when I return home in November. This may seem a little exaggerated, but my stomach is literally aching from enthusiasm. As you have already know, I dream and write about horses like a young girl and I'm a huge natural horsemanship fan, and so this is an opportunity to grow myself further in a free-spirited lifestyle. Keep your fingers crossed for me that her and I can work something out...

Back to Stockholm: I had fika with Anna. Fika is both a Swedish verb and noun that basically implies "drinking coffee" usually accompanied by something sweet. Walking down the middle of Drottninggatan on a slope we decided to try Kafé Esaisa (would have been easy to miss). And it was one of those hallelujah moments! The guy making the coffee put so much effort and love into our cups. My latté looked fantastic, it tasted fantastic and I fell in love with the place. They also had a nice selection of sweets, which I tried a cannelet, a very tiny French pastry with a tender sponge-like dough center and a dark, thick caramelized crust! and a soft boiled egg. Patrons at the outside tables had light lunches that looked like they are made with the same love.

Anna went on an errand and I continued to walk around window shopping, then finally stopping in at a Myrorna, a chain of second hand stores with clothes, dishes, housewares, you name it. Down the street, I met another gal in a design shop that her and her husband owned, and we chatted for about an hour (Swedes are so friendly) before having lunch at The Grand India, which is a great place for vegetarians, vegans and even meat eaters. The place smelled unbelievably good and that sold me. I had a simple, economic Cesar salad which had large pieces of curry chicken and the best dressing. Before getting back on the metro for home, I went to an up-scale gourmet market, Cajsa Warg, where I bought some carefully selected groceries, which included tonkabönor,(a forbidden vanilla bean) and muskotblomma (orange dried flower blooms from nutmeg), both are for the raw spa treats I'm been making in my kitchen.

Backing up a little bit: This past weekend I went to an event called, Konst Ringen, which consisted of artists and craftsmen on exhibition around the Mälaren Islands, an area which stretches to the west and slightly south of Bromma. I picked up a brochure that had a little map in it showing 21 different artist locations, all with ties to the islands. I only made it by bike to two of the stops which had cermanics (Raku), silver smithing & beaded jewelry and at the last one more Raku along with gorgeous knitted accessories. Then on Tuesday I went back by bike to the "royal" island Lovö to visit Drottningholms Palace and Kina Palace with more of a focus on the building details and wonderful box ivy gardens and took a good handful of pictures.

Sweet dreams, everyone, as the time follows I hope a beam of sun in the right location relaxes you too.

Love, Sharon

Café Gråmunken | Stockholm

One of my favorite cafés in Stockholm is called Café Gråmunken. It is a traditional coffee shop, occupying two small floors in a building from medieval times. It is located on Gamla Stan (Old Town), Stockholms län, one of my favorite places.

What makes this place special is the old, dark stone vault on the lower floor. Gråmunken, which means "the Grey Monk," was what the Cistercian and Franciscan monks were commonly known as. I wish I was able to get a few pictures of this vault, but it was closed off at the time.

This café would be especially nice on a chilly fall/winter day or evening, when all you want to do is cozy up indoors and enjoy a hot coffee drink, take a break and write postcards or poetry. It has also has a special ambiance that is a darkness of lightness, if that makes sense.

I almost refused to write a post about something as typical as coffee today, but I wanted an excuse to share some more artsy photos around Stockholm. Oh, and to tell you the lattés here are good and strong, just like the Swedes and I like them.

Have a beautiful Thursday! Love, Sharon

Best Travel Advice Received | 30 Days of Indie Travel, Day 30

In responding to the best advice received while traveling, my mind went immediately to Elizabeth Gilbert's world-famous book, Eat, Pray, Love. Although I was not traveling at the time I read it, it satisfied my wanderlust and was a good long, juicy story. Through the art of story-telling from the female perspective, she explored basic, life-changing lessons, ones that I could apply to myself even when my marriage was at a high point, I still wanted to eat, pray and love a lot more. What I love most about Elizabeth's "advice" was that it inspired me to get up and do my best with who I am and with what I have each day. To be a pioneer of continuing on.

My second best travel advice comes from another author, Tim Ferriss, and he says: “Do what excites you.” Sometimes it is helpful to write things down that make me happy and that are good life policies. After a while I have a pretty clear picture of who I am, flaws and all, and what fulfills me. Having a travel wish list is helpful as well.

I'll end this post with these "pieces" of my travels to date (in and around the Stockholm area). This also wraps up the Indie 30 Days of Travel project. But it is never goodbye ;-)

Happy trails xoxo, Sharon

Centralbadet | Stockholm

Something to know about me is that I am a big fan of bathhouses (and therefore bathing socially), the study of therapeutic bathing and medicinal hot springs. After doing little research online to find an affordable place in Stockholm that was not a spa (too expensive and beauty-treatment focused) and also not a Thai massage parlor, I found Centralbadet.

What speaks for Centralbadet is that it is steeped in tradition with grand buildings (dating back to 1904), a romantic garden-like courtyard, and that it is so spacious inside. I, personally, can relax better in an "open window to nature."

The swimming pool is the high point of this bathhouse, composed in Art Nouveau undulating shapes and designed by the now blissfully asleep architect, Wilhelm Klemming. There are plenty of relaxation/silence areas, 2 large hot tubs, an icy cold water pool, 3 sauna rooms, a steam bath room, cool air bath, showers everywhere, and other areas to lounge around in, such as a rooftop terrace (unfortunately that was closed during my visit).

There was also a little café inside, serving coffee, raw food, organic "spa" food and other light snacks. I didn't try anything, but what I saw looked great. On the upper level was a bar and hair salon, as well as more treatment rooms.

Despite reading online that to some it is "a very pale imitation of the originals on the continent," I enjoyed it very much, and for me, this is the bathhouse of all bathhouses! I am planning to go back again especially on a weekday evening instead of an afternoon, and relax there up until bedtime. Come bathe away...Love, Sharon

Stadsodlarfestivalen | Stockholm

Please allow me to spam you with some colorful photos from today's Urban Gardening Festival held at Fatbursparken, Södermalm, Stockholm.







The emphasis was organic farming and permaculture. It was a 50/50 split between those vendors selling their bounty of baked goods, seeds, jams, organic beauty products, eccetera and those with displays only, as their land rights where governed by the state and municipality, therefore they could not commercially sell anything (but give it away if they chose to). I came home with black cabbage (similar to kale), multi-colored cherry tomatoes, geranium shortbread cookies, aronia relish, bread with dashes of beet root, a handful of portlak, not to mention all the samples I tried!

There was also a unique method to get people in touch with their roots: gardening roots that is, by way of a Planting  Performance where a person, as if they were a flower, is planted in a pot to grow. I really enjoyed this 4-minute experience and the little story that came with it. It touched my heart, my feet loved it, and I think I grew a couple centimeters! I also learned to make small containers for seeds (see packets) with colorful paper, recycling catalogs. Love, Sharon