A Tog's Trek

One of the amazing things about living in Gothenburg is the closeness to nature. A few of us left from work on a Friday and took the train up to Surtesjön, a lake north of Gothenburg. A quick hike from the station and we found a spot for camping, cooking and swimming by the edge of the lake.

Reached easily from Central Gothenburg via Angered Centrum, Vättlefjälls Naturreservat is one of the largest nature reserves in the area and a lovely place to spend a weekend camping and hiking.

Brunnsparken often has Palestinian protestors bringing attention to the ongoing situation between Israel and Palestine. Today, the protestors are bringing the protest to the city, driving in a convoy of cars, flags waving despite the heavy rain as more and more international attention focuses on what is happening.

It has been a very long time since I've eaten Jollof Rice. About twenty years ago I lived in Lagos and Jollof Rice was a staple of my meals. I followed Chef Lola's Kitchen's recipe to make this, though I was not able to find the authentic Scotch Bonnet peppers and so substituted Habenero, which gave it a smokier flavour than the almost fruity (and very spicy) West African traditional choice.

A nation as huge and varied as the USA offers a wide array of cuisine, but if you're looking for the quintessential main meal, to eat with an Apple Pie chaser, you can look no further than the Hamburger.

A traditional Latvian side dish for Christmas, it also formed a key part of my Christmas meal this year. Eating alone due to the ongoing Covid pandemic, I went all out creating a traditional Christmas meal.

Much like my wander on Christmas Eve, I took an hours break from obsessively scheduled cooking to get some air and sunlight in the nearby Slottskogen Park. Winter sun is a tricky thing, it can be very bright, but its so low in the sky that you get long shadows or it is easily hidden behind low hills or high buildings, plunging your photos into the gloom.

Not one for staying indoors all day, I headed out to the nearby Göteborgs Botaniska Trädgård, walking through Slottskogen park to get there. Even at 1 pm, the sun was low in the sky as we are only two days past the Solstice, when the night is longest and daylight a brief golden splash of a few hours.

Still waiting for my replacement tripod to arrive, I once again decided to do some hand held shots of the moon. Getting the crystal clear sharpness is incredibly tough hand held, and I'm still not that happy with the results.

Today I discovered that my new apartment's lounge windows offer a great viewing spot for the moon on those rare days when it is not covered by Gothenburg's near-permanent grey clouds. Having missed the once-in-four-hundred-years alignment of Jupiter and Saturn yesterday due to cloud cover, I thought I would at least shoot the moon when she' broke through the clouds.

Every year, the Oscar Fredriks Kammarkör, the church choir for Oscar Fredrik's Church in Linne sings at my new building.

Sometimes you just chance on strange things. Outside my window, a stream of motorcycles, all dressed as Santa passed along Linnégatan. Beeping their horns and revving their engines they gathered a surprised audience.