MONDAY, 7/16 Stureby, Stockholm, Sweden
We are now in Stockholm staying in our friend’s parent’s house. Their family is vacationing on Menorca (Spanish island) and celebrating the father’s 70th birthday. The house is in a very nice suburb of Stockholm, houses around here have quite large yards. Driving in we saw many, many high-rise apartment blocks. Stockholm is very urban, and with the long winters being outside is not fun, so buildings are big and boxy with lots of interior, climate-controlled space. Today, we will start exploring this northern urban oasis.
On the weekend we tried some fishing for torsk (cod) and abborre (sea bass). The cod fishing was done half-heartedly at best. When I was here in 1979 they were plentiful. You jig for them – not kilts and bagpipes – just bounce a shiny piece of metal with a hook on gone by the 90’s, it is a wonder the Swedes did not starve to death. Man cannot live by potato and dill weed alone). Per says they have not caught a cod in 15 years, but the news says the cod are coming back and every year they give it a try. Conditions were not good to start with as it was windy, we did not set anchor and the boat was drifting. This meant we were jigging sideways instead of up and down. No fish. I think Per just wanted to give my boys the experience without really thinking we would catch anything.
Fishing for abborre 
was much more rewarding. Fishing for abborra was very much the same as fishing for bluegills at Gigi’s parent’s lake house outside of Auburn. Hook, worm, bobber, short fishing line. BAM! The fish dart out from under the boat dock and hit the worms. POP! On the dock, flapping around. Dad
gets to get smelly hands removing fish and putting a new worm on. Repeat 5 – 7 times. Justin caught 4 eating sized fish 8 to 10 inches. Abborra can get much bigger, but do so out in deeper water.
Per said we had to smoke these fish for a real treat. We salted them and let them sit overnight, then set up a little smoker that the 4 headless, whole fish fit perfectly into. Sawdust and camping alcohol fire and 15 minutes they were done. They were TASTY! Salty and smoky and warm. Of course, we
only had appetizer amounts to try, but everyone was attacking their thimbleful of smoked fish.
Our time out at the country house finished with real rain, not the off/on sprinkles we have had our first week. Per’s family was wrapping up their 3 weeks at the summer house and had to clean up everything so it would be in shape for Johan’s family (Per’s younger brother and co-owner of the property) to come out for their 3-4 week stay.
Today is blue skies and windy, time to experience the Stockholm subway system and the 1000 year-old ‘Venice of the North.’ After a breakfast of hard bread, butter spread and thin sliced Swedish cheese, of course.
