Sweden, Buns and Endless Light

The Sweden trip just after Athens was fun, even if it didn't quite go to plan. I was meant to be visiting my good friend Jacomo but he went and got himself a job in another country before I even landed. He did offer to pay my ticket to Denmark to come and see him there but as I had never been to Sweden I decided to just go ahead solo and explore. No regrets.

I spent a few days in Stockholm and then Gothenburg, moving between water, clean architecture and that distinctly Scandinavian stillness. Sweden is beautiful but also slightly odd in a way that is hard to articulate. Maybe it is the drinking culture, or the fact that Swedes really do not talk to strangers. But overall I found the place calm, minimal, almost too orderly at times. Stockholm felt polished and precise, islands connected by bridges and soft Baltic light. I really enjoyed taking the boat between the different islands in the network. I also discovered fika and specifically the cardamom buns. Sooo good.

Gothenburg had more grit to it. The docks, the trams, industrial edges softened by sea air. As a photographer it was a gift. Strong lines, muted colours, interesting shadows everywhere. I took a lot of photos. The art galleries there were brilliant too and the food was seriously good. Swedish meatballs obviously, great fish dishes and some really excellent steak tartare.

The daylight hours though completely threw me. It only really got dark for a few hours each night and even then not properly dark, more like a prolonged dusk. My body had absolutely no idea what was going on. Curtains fully shut just to trick myself into sleeping. There is something disorientating about light lingering that long. Beautiful yes, but slightly surreal. It messes with your sense of time in a way that feels both magical and mildly unsettling.