Is this the elusive Lisbeth Salander's new apartment? Photo by Robert Corkery.

About a week before we left our old apartment, we saw someone new moving into the lower level. When a name tag was posted to the door, we could not help but notice it. “How cool is that,” I said to Robert. “Lisbeth Salander has moved to our building just as we have to move out.”

Of course, I was referring to the fictional character of Lisbeth Salander from Stieg Larson’s Millenium series, first made famous as the girl in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. As we were living on Södermalm and just around the corner from where Lisbeth’s old apartment on Lundagatan was, the fiction seemed like it could be true. Or maybe we just wanted it to be.

Boats sailing in front of Stadshuset or city hall, as seen from Söder Malarstrand in Södermalm. Photos by Robert Corkery.

As we headed out on our bicycles on Sunday afternoon, sailboats of all shapes and sizes were on Lake Mälaren. It was a beautiful autumn day, alternating between sunshine and clouds, and most of the boats were under full sail and tacking along quite nicely with spinnakers out, making for a picturesque scene.

Though the boating season is short, both the lake and archipelago offer such fantastic places to sail and I wanted nothing more than to be on a boat too. The first few years we were here, we sailed with friends quite a bit in the archipelago. Thanks to allemansrätten, everyone has the right to access and enjoy the land. What this means in terms of sailing is that you can pull your boat up to an island in the archipelago, tie it up and camp overnight as long as you are not in view of someone’s home. Allemansrätten also gives you the right to hike, cycle, ski and in other ways access the land as long as you do not disturb or destroy. This right is even in the constitution and that is somehow so very Swedish to me.

A higher up view of all the sailboats.

Homemade pizza as inspired by Bryn.

Though we are almost 7,000 kilometers apart, I cooked with my friend Bryn Friday night. Rather, I cooked with her in spirit. After a great phone conversation Friday afternoon, I took inspiration from the pizza dinner she had just made and created my own version of it.

Bryn and her husband Rob are both talented cooks and we’ve spent countless evenings in their Cincinnati kitchen. They are the kinds of cooks who have a fantastic garden, go to the farmer’s market on Saturday morning to stock up for the week and include you in on the final preparation work when you get to their house. Dinners with them are always inspiring, often elegant but never fussy and always good. We love going to Bryn and Rob’s. That’s why it was so good to read about what she was cooking on her new blog: writes 4 food.

Bryn made a  pizza with prosciutto and arugula that sounded good to me. My take on it was to top a crust with a light coat of tomato sauce and lemon olive oil and then add whole slices of tomato, basil, chili and garlic. This was all topped with prosciutto, freshly grated parmesan and some feta cheese. And then I served arugula and olives on the side and we drank an Australian shiraz with it. It was good.

Cooking the pizza almost made me feel like I was back in Bryn’s kitchen. It was such a great way to  reconnect with her.

The vänsterpartiet or left party campaigning on Sunday in Kungsholmen. Photo by Robert Corkery.

The other day, I got my Swedish röstkort or voting card. It’s the first election that I have been able to vote in here and I have to say, I am kind of excited. I feel so official, so Swedish… well, as Swedish as this American can feel. What it all means is that on September 19th, the elections for the riksdag or parliament will be held and I will be able to cast my vote as although I am a US citizen, I am a Swedish resident of more than three years.

Campaign signs for the different parties are plastered all over town, we’ve been receiving fliers in the mail and the candidates are out shaking hands at every opportunity. So that makes things extra interesting. On the election web site, there is information about how to vote in 26 different languages, which is also kind of cool. (See the voting site here.) From what I gather, the actual voting process is done pretty much the same as what we do it in the US. Now I just have to do some more reading up on the election and figure out how I am going to cast my vote…

Last night, I was at a grocery store with an American friend. It was the Dags Livs on Kungsholmen and the place is big, so big that it feels a bit overwhelming, so big, in fact, that it feels like home. This grocery is the closest thing that I’ve found yet to an American store.  We both were in awe.

On the upper level, there’s an international food section that features American products like chocolate chips, marshmallow fluff, pumpkin pie filling, pop tarts and all sorts of American junk. I didn’t get anything, but it was nice to know it was there and good to look at it. Jodi was over the moon as there was French’s mustard and she promptly put two big bottles in her basket. And I’m thinking that I may need to make some chocolate chip cookies soon.

The produce section is huge and stocked with all kinds of stuff from all over the world, things like pomegranates and habaneros that you can’t usually find. There’s an olive oil section where the shelves are backlit and stocked with options. And there’s even a nut counter that functions like a deli where a clerk can set you up with different kinds of nuts.

Jodi and I got to talking about the things we import from the US. For me, it’s Listerine breath strips and Thermacare heat packs, for her it’s Jif peanut butter and brownie mixes. Another friend brings back Murphy’s Oil Soap and Pepperidge Farm cookies. And we all bring back Zip lock bags. Ah, the comforts of home!

The Cape Malay curry at Chakula. Photos by Annelie.

With maybe a bit more wine, I could have almost convinced myself I was in South Africa. The food, wines and  decor  were all authentic. And the place was a bit rowdy as there were several big groups eating together. But instead we were at Chakula, an African restaurant in Kungsholmen. Adding to the atmosphere was a group of Swedish women who were there for a möhippa or bridal shower – all 10 were wearing African-style print dresses and headscarves in honor of the bride, who had recently been married in Cape Town.

We were there with our friends Annelie and Jaakko who had been there before. Since Annelie is South African, I figured there was a good chance the food would be good and it was. Chakula serves traditional home cooking from South Africa and Tanzania. We all had the tapas platter to start with and it had a tasty combination of flavors, including samosas, dates wrapped in bacon, sosatie and a shrimp and mango salad.

Bobotie or meat loaf at Chakula.

Thanks to all the big groups, we then had to wait quite a while for our main meals. I had the Mboga ya Africa Kusini or Cape Malay curry with red lentils, tomatoes and pumpkin with rice. It was also quite good. Both Annelie and Robert had the bobotie – South African style meatloaf – and we decided that Annelie’s version was better. Jaakko had the braai or grilled steak.

All in all, I would say that Chakula is definitely worth another visit. Read more about them at African in Kungsholmen.

The only thing I can figure is that I’ve had a bad cold and had had too many cold medications. On a whim, I went to a casting call yesterday. The directors were looking for an American woman between 30 and 60 to play the role of a spaceship captain for a Norwegian television commercial. Although I was not so sure that I had the look of a spaceship captain, I did have the sex, age and nationality down. And it was just a bit too funny to pass up. So I gathered up some like-minded friends and we went to the audition.

On camera, I had to say who I was, where I was from and what I do and then I had to deliver a few lines while pretending I was at the helm of a space ship, acting as if I was calm and authoritative under pressure. I think I was just a bit too amused by the whole scenario to deliver the authority that the spaceship captain needed to have, but it was pretty fun to do anyway. I’m betting my friend Jodi got the part…

As I was working this afternoon just after lunch, I heard sirens. I ignored them for a while, then finally looked out the window from my desk and saw smoke. That got me out of my chair pretty quickly.

My window faces an interior courtyard together with two other buildings, with one directly across from me and one adjacent. The fire was one floor up in the building adjacent to me and I could see the firefighters at work with their hoses on the flames and using a huge crowbar to rip open the gutter and roof where the smoke and most of the flames seemed to be pouring out of.

I could see people in the building across from me on their balconies, so my first thought was OK, I must not need to evacuate. Then I called Robert and we decided what I should take in the event of an evacuation, figuring I should grab our passports, my work laptop and Robert’s camera, but leaving behind all our files as they were too heavy. Most everything else is in storage, so I left the packing at that.

As I left the building for an appointment, my street was blocked off with crime tape, so I had to detour around all the fire trucks. When I came back, the fire was out and the firemen were surveying the building from the roof while dirty black water dripped from the balcony onto the balconies below.

I can’t imagine how devastating this loss is for the apartment owners. My thoughts are with them and the other tenants too.

Our first Christmas here, we saw it at the Östermalms salu or food hall. A special table was set up with a big steaming copper pot of blodpudding or blood pudding. I had no idea what it was and upon closer inspection, I could see that I wanted no part of sampling the thick and dark brown concoction with the odd meaty/herby aroma. Robert, of course, was all up for trying it.

This blodpudding was made from goose blood and was a traditional specialty from southern Sweden. I gagged even watching Robert taste the stuff and perhaps not so politely turned down an offer to try it. And for his efforts, the food hall people gave him a nice shot of snaps to wash the disgusting mess down with. (I would say that it was necessary.)

For those of you like me who don’t know what blood pudding is, it’s a type of sausage made by cooking blood from pig or cattle until it has congealed into a thick mass. I could not get around the look, texture or smell of it. I was reminded of our experience in reading an article in The Local about the Swedish foods most foreigners hate. Apparently, we immigrants love lax or salmon, meatballs, crayfish and cinnamon rolls.  We are not so happy about the blodpudding or surströmming. I think I pretty much agree with the list.

Thanks to moving apartments, I’ve been without internet at home. So not only have I been feeling like I am in unfamiliar territory, I’ve been unable to keep in touch with the world via my computer. It’s been frustrating. (My phone is a dinosaur and without surfing ability.) Plus, my digital camera broke, so I have not been able to take photos. Ugh!

As I was finishing up my work yesterday I noticed that it was raining but that the sun was shining brightly. So I went out on the balcony to look and there was a perfect rainbow. It seemed like a good omen to share, so I called my cousin in New York City. Funnily enough, we both had the same cough and sinus problems, a few thousand miles away. It was great to get caught up. And I should have home internet again on Friday. I hope.