Surströmming, here we go

After having pasta the other night, live music started playing very near in the surrounding. There were two options I saw myself confronted with: Either, it was not sleeping and sitting at my campfire, imagining what could have been, or to just go and check out the musics location.

The second option felt like it would end in a way better story, so I put out the campfire and soon was in the middle of a Swedish garden party!

Emma and her husband had invited friends to have a whole day of celebrating, and now I was welcomed, too. At the party I met Linda and her husband Magnus, who all of a sudden started talking German with me. They’ve lived near Heidelberg a long time ago, but still were pretty much fluently talking to me in my mother tongue, which had me excited even more. The two of them invited me to have surströmming in the evening of the following day. Breakfast the next day was provided at Emma’s after helping to clean the whole mess that is the inevitable consequence of such a party.

After making my way to Alnön, the island next to Sundsvall where Magnus and Linda live, I was greeted with a fabulous meal of sour herring and an even better company! John and Helena, who I’ve met at the party as well, where also part of the traditional Swedish feast. As I learned, you cannot have surströmming without singing and usually having schnaps. But we skipped the alcohol and had a great evening sharing stories, comparing German and Swedish cuisine and just enjoying ourselves.

John invited me to have breakfast on Monday at his place, so I made my way a couple hundred meters down the road. So much hospitality in only a couple of days had me euphoric and very glad to have not taken the ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki!