Exploring Day

Just down the hill from our apartment at the Sven Lovén Center, the Atlantic awaits. We threw stones into it, only to have them bounce and skid on the ice. Something about the stones bouncing was hilarious to me, no matter how many times we did it. A heavy rock, hurled up in a high arc finally broke through the ice, into the sea.

We walked to the Saltö Nature Reserve through a forest that reminded us of visits to Mount Shasta, pine trees all around. We listened to unfamiliar bird calls and pondered over mysterious signs in Swedish. We came out onto a sandy beach layered with clam, mussel, and oyster shells. Jeremy remarked on the temperature change from the forest to the beach; the windy shore was noticeably colder than the path through the woods. We saw only two other people crazy enough to be out hiking around on such a chilly day.

Moss-covered rocks that reminded Chelsea of the trolls in Frozen.

Next, we drove into Strömstad and found Mellow Café for a delicious lunch. Jeremy's Hungarian heritage required that he order the Paprika Soup. When we got the Chocolate Balls for dessert, the cashier informed us that they are a Swedish delicacy that children Savannah's age learn to make. We loved the place. Great food, hip atmosphere. We started looking around and noticed a surfboard hanging on the patio, an enlarged cover of the Los Angeles yellow pages hung as artwork, and wondered if we loved it so much because it's meant to feel like California. Savannah already has plans to try the fluffig pannkaka next time we eat there.

Finally, we made it to the grocery store. Not the crummy small one we found on our first, desperate night here, but a beautiful, large grocery store that I have fantasies of returning to without my children, roaming slowly down each aisle, trying to figure out what everything is. You get your plastic bags at the beginning (2 krona each, about 25 cents) and you have to check out some sort of scanner thing to plug into the cart in order to unlock one to take into the store. We did not even attempt to figure that out. Grabbed a little hand cart and got dinner supplies. Two days in Sweden, and we've had pizza and ramen for dinner. We're easing into it.

When we came out of the store, it had started to snow. The girls were stunned and overjoyed. Snow! Falling from the sky! They couldn't get enough. Although they were both born in winter in Massachusetts, they have no memory of living in a place where snow is normal for many months of the year. They have skied in California, but only been snowed on once, and it was a wet, windy, blow-you-off-the-side-of-the-mountain kind of snow, so this was a revelation for them. When we got home, they immediately went out to play in it, although it was a light snow that didn't accumulate.

First day of exploring Tjärnö and Strömstad in the books. Next stop: Gothenburg.