James O'Brien

“You really must come back to Sweden in the spring or summer”, I wrote to my friend Sue yesterday, attaching a bunch of photographs from my morning walk around Djurgården. Sue came with me to Sweden four years ago, in March, when there was still a lot of snow and ice around. In contrast, the weather is now warm and summer-like.

It was walking around Rosendals Trädgård that I thought of Sue, knowing how much she would really like it. Even though I’ve known about the restaurant/garden/farm for a number of years, I’ve never been here before. But on hearing a podcast last week, I was inspired to make a visit.

http://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-menu/291/sweet-swedish-summer/

It’s not far from one of my favourite places in Stockholm, Waldemarsudde, a beautiful house, turned art gallery/museum which overlooks the water. It was reasonably busy when I visited, with groups of older women, and school-children dominating. With all the school groups around the city, you can tell it’s approaching end of term, with lots of school excursions underway. With the warm weather finally arriving in Stockholm, the gardens at Waldemarsudde are starting to look really beautiful.

I said daffodils, but I meant tulips.

Nearby at Rosendals, there are still lots of empty paddocks, though the compost heaps are tall, and the plants inside the greenhouses look healthy. The food in the cafe/restaurant is also very, very good. Visiting these two wonderful places was a terrific start to the day. And in keeping with the whole theme of the morning around food, I actually saw someone foraging in the nearby forest. It was fascinating to watch her, as she wandered, taking some leaves from a plant, pulling a root vegetable from the ground etc.

Later in the afternoon, I took a walk around Årsta. Though it was my intention to go for an afternoon swim at Erikdalsbadet, I couldn’t be arsed, preferring instead to walk around, enjoy the views and enjoy the sunshine. With the warmer weather, I swear almost everyone in Stockholm must have taken a “sickie” yesterday, as there were people absolutely everywhere.

Finally, at about 4.00pm, I called in to Loopen, a waterfront bar I’ve been to on several occasions, and like very much. Half-way through a glass of rosé, I received a call from Sandra, saying that she and Robert had found a lovely spot in a nearby park, and asked if I wanted to join them. “See you in five”, I told her.

In the evening, we also caught up to see a musician friend of hers perform some fairly avante garde electronica which I enjoyed very much.

Late sping, early summer, whatever you want to call it, it feels good.