so i mentioned that as far as christmas markets go, once you seen one, you seen them all. well, i was wrong.
went to the Royal Mews on Sunday and besides visiting the mews (a derivative of meow...hhahahah, yup, royal cats...), there was a christmas market in the compound. Hence the 60sek fee you had to pay for entry. anyway, i think it was quite worth it.
these are a selection of pictures fromt he stalls. there were many many stalls all over the place in the compound, so they are not in any particular order. basically the foods are one section, the handicraft in two or three others. there were also some non christmasy stuff like paintings and knives.
sami stuff, no idea what.
this is interesting. candles shaped like snow balls. its really deceptive. it looks soft liek snow but actuallly is quite hard.
a superstructure of ball candles
one lonely one. wanted to buy but quite ex, one candle 30sek, i.e. sgd6.60
glass stuff.
oh, this is the tastiest part of it. a herring sandwich. 30sek.
the lady at the herring stall. the whole courtyard smelt of fish.
some bread thing. no idea what, the lady didnt look kind so didnt ask.
different kinds of honey infused with herbs and liquor.
bottles of glögg. i bought one bottle, coz it tasted better than the one i had in the previous market.
christmas bread. tastes the same liek normal bread, skip.
the ubiquitous candy stall. this time i fell into temptation (Lord forgive me), and bought a candy stick. not that great. so i wont be tempted the next time.
super fat sausages and ham. couldnt get a nice pic of the ham. you could see layers of fat like bricks in a wall.
this is supposedly a famous thing. the stall owner put up newspaper cuttings on it, the first one was made in 1919.
the round things are for legs and hands
lamm
wood carvings. very nice. alot of them got worms and holes, liek real fruit. very expensive, a mushroom costs 680sek.
candles bent in obscene ways. what happens when the wick goes right down? will it burn the table cloth?
straw stuff.
cats on bowls.
so, this market was far better than the previous one i went to, probably because you had to pay money to get in so they could afford to get better stalls? or maybe because the royal family actually does visit this market on one of the days that the stalls are handpicked? i dont know, but i think i'm gonna try a few more markets to just look see what they have. alot of interesting weird things to see. and i'm starting to like glögg. but thats of course, not the main reason. of course...
was at saluhall the other day, just passing and decided to go in to take a look. its a very old market, selling fresh produce like fruit, veg, and meats. also, there are lots of cafes inside. the thing about this place is that it used to be like the cheap and good food place where locals go, but now its the expensive but supposedly still good place that richer people go. one day if my pay goes up i will try something here.
there is no orchard road in stockholm that gets decorated lots during christmas but each individual shop does make pretty windows and signs. the only significant feel you have that its Christmas around the corner (besides the cold) is the street deco, probably put up by the municipality council. still, its quite nice to see a change in the cobblestone streets.
one interesting department store drew many window shoppers, so i took a look:
went to kungstragatan, which is somwhere in the city and there was a small christmas market there.
skating rink next to it. to skate is free, but you need to rent skates, which cost like 5€ . must learn. swedes are good at this, especially the older folk, coz it used to be much colder last time (global warming) so the older generation know how to skate better.
the best decorated christmas tree so far i've seen. normally swedes, like ikea, go for functionality and simplicity. just a tree and lights, thats it.
i dont know if its charcoal or coal, but its sure warm
the stalls in the market. some people say that when you go to a christmas market, you go to one, and you seen them all. coz they sell almost all the same things.
roasted almonds, i like his hat.
elk, moose, wild boar sausage. i bought this! but they all taste the same to me, salty.
this is glögg, which is mulled red wine. they heat up old red wine and add spice, so lots of the alcohol escapes. add in some rasins and almonds, and you have glögg! its a european thing. and you got to eat it with pepperkaka, i.e pepper cookies. but doesnt taste much of pepper.
the man sieving out my glögg
candy. the streets of stockholm is overflowing with it.
there's this troll/elf like thing that people buy to put in their houses during christmas, no idea whats it all about. will find out soon.
fingers getting cold? worry not!
dentists just love these stalls, not that they patron it much.
dont remember the name for this. pigmy horse? one ride costs 30sek. but for kids only.
¤pouts¤
fur
the christmas market activity in stockholm is getting hotter as the mercury plunges closer to naught. so the natural thing to do is dress really up, and head out into the chill to see what the locals do.
first stop, buy a christmas wreath. tons of it everywhere.
supposed to last past christmas as the guy said. if it doesnt last till christmas, well i will....
throw it away?
17€ for some lousy leaves. but its the season!
I'm gonna settle down. too much hopping makes the spirit stirred but not shaken. erm, that last sentence sounds stupid. nevermind, what i have written, i have written.
http://www.sodermalmskyrkan.org/
today was advent sunday. they had the choir, some kids, and some teenagers go up to the stage to sing.
they had baptism. there were like 20 people getting baptised. for a church this size, i cant say i was not impressed. its growing, and growth is always a good sign, unless of course you have a tumor. i digress.
they had communion. yes, i can critique that they used leavened bread, that the ushers were slow, that the way they serve left much to be improved, that security was lax. i could complain that traffic flow was horrible after and before service. i could point out the poor translation, that there was too much stage movement, that the cameraman wasnt working hard enough. the pastor should have been more lively, that the songs should have english translations at the bottom. the sax was too soft, the bass too boomy and the drums was missing somethign in the 1k- 5k range. mics were slow to be turned on, and lights were uneven. babies in the hall were crying and no one kept them out, disturbing the whole congregation.
but i cant say that i didnt felt the holy spirit when i was singing the worship song. i cant say i didnt feel the love of God in my hearts when the pastor was preaching. i cant say that Jesus didnt meet us there today.
