Living on Djurgården

Thursday, May 14, 2009
torsdag 14 maj 2009

Hej!

So, it's decided. I will, in the future, own a summer estate on an otherwise unprocurable parcel of land in some big European city, complete with lilacs and copper copies of famous sculptures and hiking trails...Prins Eugen did it, why can't I?

Today, after a full day of linking personal containers (such as barrels, etc) to personal possessions (i.e. buttons), I decided to take a delightful walk around Djurgården, where I am lucky enough to live. It is not a place where many people live, and I'm only so fortunate because the museum exists on those hallowed grounds that the King is still allowed to rule legitimately. Apparently some other luckies are allowed as well, and as I was walking along the sidewalk next to the houses that line the harbor, I thought of how lucky those who live on the Neck in Marblehead are; but after I had walked far enough I realized that there are about 1/5 of the number of houses that there are on the Neck on Djurgården, and no matter how much I would love for one of the homeowners there to will me their house (and surrounding yards, gardens, waterfront access and summer estates), I would take any of the darling, huge houses in Djurgården. Some of them tend towards what we would call Gingerbread, if they were on Martha's Vineyard, but...plainer. And not as...Vineyardy. No offense to any of them...they're just as welcome to will me their Gingerbread House and any connected wintering spots.
But these are just...perfect.

PLUS, they have a huge national landmark and protected tract of land behind their houses...or...in front of their houses, to the North. Most of Djurgården (your goorden) is museum or national landmark. I believe I mentioned before how it used to be the King's official protected hunting grounds...and although I imagine not much hunting goes on anymore, excepting for the atrocity that is Gröna Lund, the Swedish equivalent of a theme park, it's still lush and overtaken by nature, hurrah!

The fates aligned, and as I walked along, I came to the entrance of Waldemarsudde, which I had seen many ads for and had seen as a bus destination, but wasn't entirely aware of its scope. It turns out to be a summer "cottage" willed to the country in 1945 by Prins Eugen (doesn't it feel like they left out an e or two?), now converted into an art museum. And, luck of lucks, it's open until 2000 on only Tuesdays and Thursdays...and THIS IS A THURSDAY! But as I walked around, fooling myself into maybe thinking this was the REAL Thinker by Rodin, noting that I would look it up on the internet when I got home, and finally, after long searching, found the entrance....there was a notice on the door saying that they were only open until 1700 that day. So much for that damned fate.

BUT on the way I was walking along some beautiful coastline, and decided to stop powerwalking and take better note of the scenery...and when I looked down, I saw a darling little duck....and four ducklings! One was flitting about in the water, nibbling on something or other, and the others were sleeping...until they decided to explore, and stretched their little duckling legs, which I would say counts as the cutest thing I have EVER SEEN. I stood there with two Swedish Ladies, whom I'm sure thought I was ignoring them, and once the baby darlings started to amble up toward the path with Momma behind them, we three left in a hurry to not catch Momma's wrath! But the moral of the story is, I got a really delightful walk in, plus who can resist the incredible charm of ducklings, especially when they're feeling like a stretch!

I came back and roasted a chicken, which was way more delicious than they are here, which might be attributed to the lack of poultry farming here. I'm not sure that that's true, but the chicken here is so expensive, and there are relatively few choices of cuts, so I imagine that they're not living by the millions up to their chests in their own you-know-what. Plus, they don't have the great Middle of America like we do, so where would they put all those dirty chickens? Anyways, sorry to ruin all of your dinners. I had a great one, and then I sat outside in the waning sun and read the end of my Maughm book, as I do every night (well, I read, I don't read the end of a Maughm book every night, for sure....I only have one, anyways.) I wish I could make some stock, like at home, but I'm nervous about the galley here, and I don't want to sit inside for three hours while the stock boils. Plus I haven't seen any celery here, so it's not really worth it.

Tomorrow another day of work, another night of reading, probably, and then off to Uppsala this weekend, and/or maybe I'll catch the boatbuilding students launching their boats on Skeppsholmen, if I can find out from Johan when that is! Or maybe both.
Then, on Monday, I have guests on the boat, lots of Danish and British Ph.D. students or whatnot, come for a conference!

Right now, however, it's REALLY just me here...my friends from Vega have gone home (what, do they have families they care about, or something?), and it looks like my friends who work on the St. Erik have really closed up for the weekend...but we'll see.

Thanks for your continued interest, Dear Reader, and I hope all of you visit next weekend--it's a five day weekend (thanks, Sweden!), and I don't actually have anything planned yet!!

God natt,

A