Back in Stockholm

Per Fabio Chiarini novembre 9, 2012 avocado salad baltic sea beneficial effects boat bruschette chocolate boat coop curise dried tomatoes fruit salad grilled salmon hippopotamus italian dinner japanese girl mummis ove Jansson.moomitroll sedish ship simbol of finnish childen's literature some rolls of cheese wrapped in a vine leaf and then something healthy like an avocado salad or a cesaer Salad with feta cheese and dried tomatoes swedish buffet vine leaf vitamine C It was so quiet (probably because many people were tired) and I felt like we were the only ones inside the ship. Instead, we found out the ship is almost full. Many are among the cafes, others are already eating in the restaurants, and some are eagerly awaiting the start from the top floor. Instead, we took refuge in the cabin, where we could have a shower after getting some rest. We expect to eat at the second round of the buffet. At about 8pm we head over to the restaurant. This time they give us a table in front of the window where you can see the sun falling down in the Baltic Sea. The sea is a really calm right now and I must be lucky, because usually the Baltic Sea is not so magnanimous! As I sit down I do not know what comes over me because my stomach aches. I eat like I did yesterday: everything and more! After five plates full, each filled with different Swedish specialties like grilled salmon and potatoes, I head on to the international foods table. I take sushi, some rolls of cheese wrapped in a vine leaf and then something healthy like an avocado salad or a cesaer Salad with feta cheese and dried tomatoes. I avoid taking the same desserts I did yesterday, which were similar to panna cotta and which I was not impressed with. I continue with my healthy meal adding a fruit salad, hoping the vitamin C will make me feel better. I have heard that chocolate has many beneficial effects too, so then if I take a couple of chocolates boats I’m still being consistent, right? A boat is equivalent to a bite … so plan to eat more than one boat and more IS healthier. But the result is that as all the chocolate boats sail towards my dish I have gotten sick in my mouth even before they arrive on the table! The neighbors weren’t nice as the last time either, they were probably Russians, having eaten just one plate and they are gone! That’s terrible! We decide to go back in the cabin for a moment, just to have a beer and enjoy the scenery in the top of the ship and enjoy the sun for a while. The sun is still in the middle of the sky and it’s already eleven. I warm up to those last beams of sunlight as the wind slaps my face. Back in the cabin we watch the second film of Charlie’s Angels, but Fredrick was so tired that he fell asleep after half film. We wake up a few minutes before the ship docks, so we can shower and settle our baggage. Fredrick has two bags, one of which is the beer trolley. Before leaving the ship (and despite my still sleepy status), I take pictures with the mascots. One is a strange girl dressed as a Japanese girl with an onion like head and a white hippopotamus. I only discovered later that the white hippopotamus is actually a little troll and is the symbol of Finnish children’s literature: it is called Moomintroll, created by the pen of the writer and illustrator Tove Jansson. I allow myself to wake up to the aroma of the coffee that we got from the kiosk in front of the rail station. Now that we are on our way, my brain wakes up and begins to make a list of the ingredients I’ll need for tonight. In fact, tonight I decided to make an Italian dinner and invite Robin and Markus. Here is the menu in preview: - Starter: Supplì and bruschetta with tomato sauce and fresh basil. - Homemade gnocchi with meat sauce - Penne with pesto family (not basil pine nuts etc … but it is a family secret) - And finally my best ”workhorse”: TIRAMISU ‘! We arrive back home just to make sure of the right measurements of the ingredients and make the list so can we go to COOP. http://fabiogallery.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/back-in-stockholm/