Happy Friday! After years of waiting and many attempts, we finally managed to see a beaver. And where? In the centre of Stockholm! I (Helena) have also got a new passport, so I'm ready to travel abroad whenever possible. And we have continued to experiment with food ...
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New passport
This week I (Helena) got a new passport as my old one expired. The passport office in Solna is within walking distance of us, so it was a good place to go on our daily walks. Where are we travelling to? No idea yet, but at least we're prepared. Happy Friday! (By the way, my super cosy crawl-in winter jacket comes from Equestrian centre.)
A beaver at last
Do you know how long I've wanted to see a beaver? It started when we were on Beaver safari in Lake Grövelsjön 2010. Very interesting, but no beaver in sight. In 2017, I wrote a bucket list of animals I want to see, and of course beavers were part of this. Our friends Lennart and Beata have often seen beavers on the outskirts of Stockholm and took us on their own little tour. Beaver safari in Stockholm. Very nice, but did we see beavers? No, unfortunately. This year we have also seen many beaver-nailed trees in various nature reserves, but still no beaver.
But this week it was at last Time! We passed over St Eriksbron, which runs between Vasastan and Kungsholmen in the centre of Stockholm. And what do we see below the bridge? A beaver! So imagine that we would finally see it in such a central place in the city! I apologise for the bad mobile phone photos, but the happiness was total!
Encouraging comments
Another thing that makes us happy is all the encouraging comments. Things are dark and dreary now, and running a travel blog in these times is difficult in every way. The positive comments mean a lot and give us the strength to keep going. Here are some from the week:
Hi Helena, as usual, you are a brilliant writer.
This will be our guide for the summer as we are looking to drive along the Göta Canal. Thank you for your great site.
Thank you for always having something interesting, educational and inspiring to read here on your blog!!!
Further experiments in the kitchen
We cooked a lot of luxurious food during the weekends and we have continued with some food experiments, although not everything is as luxurious. What else is there to do these days? One day we tried cooking artichokes, which we had never done before. We served them with butter, mixed with lemon juice. It was good and nice, but we weren't super sold so we feel like we have to do this again and again. Do you usually cook artichokes?
Another experiment this week was when we bought a fish that we had never bought before. We were going to write about it soon, but we're a bit worried that you're getting tired of our "food blog", haha. Anyway, in the parcel there is ONE fish. Can you guess which one?
Our social media
I would also like to mention that Peter is now posting new films at Vimeo (we are called Freedomtravel there), instead of on Youtube. Otherwise, it is as usual @freedomtravelnews on both Instagram and Facebook.
Best this week
Best this week? What do you think? The beaver of course!!! What has been positive during your week? We want to know!
The week ahead
It's a bit tricky to plan ahead right now (and yes, it feels dark sometimes!!) but we also have fun plans in the works. Here on the blog there will be reports from our everyday life and inspiring articles about travel destinations in Europe.
Did you miss the last Happy Friday? Read the Rice & Praise, Top 9 and Cooking Marathon
You might also like:
Some reflections from the motorhome trip in north-west Skåne.
Greetings from lovely Istanbul
Bike theft, summer heat and great travel destinations
We have left the boat Dotche - new adventures await!
Finally time for a motorhome trip - we're heading north!
Hälsingland and Dalarna - the motorhome journey continues!
English (UK) 
Svenska 
Deutsch 
Suomi 
Polski
4000mil says:
We paid 2000 SEK for all four for a beaver safari this summer. Did not see a beaver of course. Also had some opinions about how the safari was conducted and named the experience the worst of the summer in our summer summary:
https://4000mil.se/index.php/sommarlista-2020/
When we got home, Christofer was out practicing driving for the c-card and had to stop with a truck and all because there was a beaver on the road!
I myself encountered beavers as a teenager while canoeing in the Ångerman River.
08 January 2021 - 7:20
Helena says:
Beavers on the road, fascinating! But your beaver safari sounded like a real low point! The beaver safari we did at Grövelsjön 2010 was still quite ok we thought. We paddled a canoe while scouting. Then we stopped at some place and had coffee while they told us a lot of things about beavers.
08 January 2021 - 8:08
solan says:
A beaver in the middle of the day in the big city! Then the corners of your mouth go way up...😊.
08 January 2021 - 9:19
Helena says:
Right!!!? 🙂 Wishing you a nice weekend!
08 January 2021 - 20:37
Nils-Åke+Hansson says:
artichokes then I have to tell you that I bought them from the pickers in the field. When we went to the market I was offered raw artichokes, the very heart, it was good. There was a group of gypsy who offered and told me that it is good for the stomach.
08 January 2021 - 9:24
Helena says:
Good for the stomach? Well, who knows? It's nice anyway! I didn't realise you could eat them raw. Interesting!
08 January 2021 - 20:41
Ama de casa says:
How nice that you have seen a beaver out in the open now! I've never managed to do that even though I've tried.
The jacket looked really nice 😀 .
Have a happy Friday!
08 January 2021 - 10:21
Helena says:
Thank you!!! Yes, I have really tried to see beavers so this was fun 🙂 .
08 January 2021 - 20:43
Lena - good for the soul says:
Great that you finally saw a beaver at last! Shame on the one who gives up. 🙂
Understand that it is a challenge for you to run this blog, to say the least. I think you succeed incredibly well in filling it with useful (hehe) content without it feeling like artificial breathing.
Hug Lena
08 January 2021 - 11:40
Helena says:
Thank you so much Lena! a bit challenging sometimes, but at the same time the blog is our great joy 🙂 .
08 January 2021 - 20:44
BP says:
Congratulations to the beaver! At last! Now I can't really "identify" the beaver in the picture, but the photo is really exciting, even if I don't really see the beaver;-)
Your jacket is really tough and has a very nice colour:-) Not black and grey then;-)
I love your food blog, as I have written a few times. So as far as I'm concerned, you are welcome to continue with different ideas and exciting recipes.
I have not eaten artichokes very often. The heart as a snack with a beer only. I didn't realise that you can also eat the "leaves".
Since the package on the bike is relatively large "in all directions" and contains only one lizard, my guess is turbot.
08 January 2021 - 19:13
Helena says:
Thank you very much! Yes, finally!!! 🙂 yes, you have been positive to our "food blog" 🙂 Thank you for that, but do not know what everyone thinks. On the artichoke, you can gnaw off the soft part of each leaf, but it is quite small. so most of the leaves are thrown away. Like your guess on the fish. return! 🙂
08 January 2021 - 20:52
Ruth in Virginia says:
Artichoke is called ARTICHOKE in English.
"Artichoke Capital of the World - Castroville, California,
which is a bit south of San Francisco. We often drove
that way and saw the long fields near the sea.
We used to stop on the way home and buy things to take home with us.
It's hard to eat, but it's worth picking off the leaves.
and get to the heart. 🙂 -
Like your food posts
It has been a remarkable week here in Washington,
as you probably know. 12 days left ..... Let's see what happens.
08 January 2021 - 22:16
Lena+in+Wales+and+Spain says:
I am so happy that my passport will last a few more years. Wouldn't be the best time to go to London and get a new one in these times.
I love artichokes and often buy them in Spain, although theirs are normally much smaller than the ones I was used to in Sweden. My parents liked artichokes, so I often ate it as a child, though I didn't think it was the delicacy I think it is today. I also buy artichoke hearts in glass jars, okay, but not fresh.
Positive comments are so important.
Have a nice weekend!
09 January 2021 - 11:23