Simrishamn, Sweden Part 2

Hello everyone!

The twins are going to bed after a cranky day, so here I am blogging. I'm happy to report that I proudly took them on a walk this afternoon and got them sleeping at nap time. I'm off duty now!

It's still overcast in Sweden, but that hasn't stopped us. Yesterday, we drove north to the Kivik Art Center where Antony Gormley (sculptor) and David Chipperfield (architect) have a few instillations. The adults walked up this tower one at a time to experience the dark, windy staircase, just enough out of one's comfort zone. I saw Gormley's instillation along the beach just north of Liverpool in 2006 (thanks to Claire), so it was a fun surprise to see his work again here in the east of Sweden. We then drove around and through some fishing villages where Martina and Jouni looked for some lamps for their house. This is the Catch-22 of living in a cute, over 100 year old house--you choose things with care to fit into the aesthetic.

Today I woke up to voices outside my door, so I got a little dose of cute baby first thing this morning. When they were cranky for their nap, I walked them in the buggy, and brought them back asleep (much to everyone's relief and surprise!). Then, we made our way into Simrishamn where Martina and Jouni ordered some frames for our late night decorating brainstorm. As I was walking the kids outside, a man with his walker said something to me in Swedish. I of course said that I didn't speak Swedish, and we started talking in English. He knew of Chicago's slaughterhouses and iron works, and we walked up the street--his walker and my double stroller taking up the whole sidewalk. When we got to the frame store, he started talking to Jouni as if he was from Chicago, and Jouni had to tell him that in fact, he was from Simrishamn. He asked me my name (can you really not give it to a man with a walker?), and his first response was, "Oh, the Ewing oil family." Ah, Dallas still follows me around!

Simrishamn is quite a busy town with tourists walking up and down looking at maps and getting some history on this fishing village. The church has models of large ships hanging from the ceilings, right alongside the chandeliers and religious icons. There's no doubt that you are in a fishing village here. The houses come in all colors, side by side, all leading down to the waterfront.

While the twins and parents were napping and catching up on house stuff, I took a meander down into the fields to photograph the wheat, the tall modern windmills, the horses, and the sea. There's something about the color of wheat that appeals to me for some reason--the history of it, the human reliance on it, the graceful folds of the stalks in the wind? Anyway, I took a lot of photographs of the wheat fields.

Martina and Jouni have monster size zucchini from their garden, and we've just dined on wonderful roasted zucchini with pine nuts. Makes me wish I had a garden (and a gardener).

Hope you are all well and happy.

Maureen
Moe