I’ve been so busy all this past week out and about, and right now, Saturday afternoon, I’m only busy with my own home-chore-based to-do list, and one of the items on it is write a blog post! I wanted to write about some of the things I did this week so I have them down for remembering and posterity, as my brain can’t be trusted to come up with details about things in the past once we get to the future. Not because I’m experiencing any sort of memory loss, just that in general, I find it’s better to write things down because no can remember everything!
On Tuesday, I went to see a production of The Marriage of Figaro by Skånska Opera. It’s the first time I’ve been to one of their productions and the first time I’ve ever seen The Marriage of Figaro, which is strange because I love Mozart. Though I waffle on opera, admittedly. I’m not REALLY an opera fan, but I’ve enjoyed the ones I’ve seen that have clear stories and tuneful songs. The production was in Swedish, of course, and all the songs in Swedish, too. But let me back up a bit.
Debbie and I had gotten tickets to Figaro separately and Camilla had gotten them with her 3 “opera friends” (they go frequently to opera and other shows together), and we planned to have dinner beforehand and then meet up at the venue as seats were unnumbered, so you could sit where you liked. But Debbie ended up having to fly unexpectedly to Canada the week before. I couldn’t find anyone on such short notice to take her ticket, so Camilla asked another acquaintance. But Camilla was also iffy because she was having heart issues the weekend before so she didn’t know if SHE was going to be able to go.
The venue was Jordberga Gods (or Jordberga castle) which is literally out in the middle of nowhere Skåne, outside Anderslöv. It took an hour for me to get there from Lund (I left a little early from work after Camilla confirmed an hour before that she would be there), and most of the drive was on tiny country roads through fields and tiny farming communities. I was running early and at one point ended up behind a giant double tractor-trailer going 30, who I couldn’t pass. I wasn’t in a hurry though, so I just putted along behind him (in the Tesla, haha) until we reached a place where he turned off and I could continue. It was a lovely day as well, so driving through the beautiful landscape was very relaxing.
We met at a roadside restaurant called Hedmans Krog which was super nice. I wouldn’t have gone at all if Camilla hadn’t ended up going because it was so far and I didn’t know the other women at all. I had met one of them ONCE years ago, and I know that is super cowardly of me, but it was just too much. Everything turned out fine though and the dinner was delicious and everyone was friendly and talkative. The restaurant was about 15 minutes drive from Jordberga, and we got there just as they were letting people in. The production actually took place inside a huge barn and the spectators were seated all along both sides and at the front end. The music and the singing were top-notch and the actors were brilliant and very funny.
I don’t know if you’ve ever seen Figaro, but it’s a fun farce and very engaging. The story centers around how the servants Figaro and Susanna succeed in getting married, foiling the efforts of their philandering employer Count Almaviva to seduce Susanna and teaching him a lesson in fidelity along the way. The production we saw had the action taking place on a BOAT, where Figaro is a sailor and Susanna is a general servant. Almaviva owns the boat and his wife Rosina is in cahoots with Susanna to get him to change his ways. The stage setting was simple and I read the synopsis of the story in the program beforehand so I was able to follow what was going on despite all the identity swaps and plots and plot twists between the characters. When I read more about the opera later, I found out it was considered scandalous in its time because it satirized the aristocracy and played up the class differences with servants outwitting their masters. I also had no idea that The Marriage of Figaro is a sequel to The Barber of Seville (which I haven’t seen), and that Figaro, the character, IS the barber! Interesting. If one of the opera companies here puts on The Barber of Seville in the future, I’ll be sure to get tickets!
On Wednesday, I went to Eslöv after work and picked up ferns from Helen. I spent about an hour there just chatting, and enjoying petting their new Siberian kitten who was absolutely adorable, soft and happy to be picked up and loved on by a total stranger. And her granddaughter as well, who she was babysitting: a delightful little doll of a child, 17 months old with a head full of blond curls and huge blue eyes. Helen gave me 7 ferns and Anders and I planted them at the end of the vegetable garden for now. They’re destined for behind the swing if they survive.
Thursday, I went to Malmö after work and met Martin and Theo for pottery painting at Ceramics and Me. It was an AIC event but the only other member who had signed up was Lisel who came with her two daughters. So it was a small but fun group. We spent two hours there and I painted another bird bowl, my third, this time with a peacock on one side. I’m excited to see how it turns out! I plan to paint one more so that I have a set of 4. The boys and I went to Aiko afterwards for sushi, which I was craving after not having had it since July 24!!
Showing off our painted pottery except my camera was accidentally on “portrait” mode so Martin and Theo are blurry!
And finally, the end of the week, TGIF! I worked in the office in the morning and got to see Anette who was back from vacation and illness, and went home after lunch to continue working and be able to get ready to leave on time with Anders for Copenhagen. We left right on time at 4 pm, and picked up Martin and Theo in Malmö and then continued on to Copenhagen, ending up at ÅBEN, which is where Karin works. She was working and hadn’t been able to get someone to take her shift so that she could eat with us, except after we got there, she changed into her regular clothes and surprise! She HAD gotten someone an HOUR before we got there and was able to eat with us after all! YAY! It was my pre-birthday dinner and it was amazing! Essie, Karin’s girlfriend, who also works there was our server, and she had decorated the table with Danish flags for my birthday (it’s a thing, both in Denmark and Sweden), and she brought all kinds of fun tasting drinks for us during the evening, even for me: I got a non-alcoholic raspberry vanilla sour beer which wasn’t really sour and actually didn’t taste of beer, which surprised me, and later she brought me a little glass of sparkling green tea which I also actually thought was okay. Everyone else went to town with all the different kinds of beers that ÅBEN brews.
The restaurant is right in the middle of the brewery and their chef is excellent. We ended up deciding to get the 5-course sharing menu, but we had two additional dishes: crispy langoustine and scallops. Everything was delicious!! My favorites were the “Steak Bernaise” (no actual steak) and the langoustine appetizers, the Iberico Secreto main dish, and, weirdly, the peas that were included with the scallops. I could eat an entire plate full of just the langoustine. YUM. We were there for 4 hours and it was really fun. The place was packed, full of young people at the bar and filling the beach chairs outside and older, more sophisticated clientele in the restaurant (I don’t think we counted as sophisticated, though, hahaha!). Danes are all tall, blond, and gorgeous. I felt like I was in a magazine shoot.
The kids gave me a bouquet of pretty pink flowers (which Martin had to go to SEVEN different florists to find!) and a gift certificate to a silver-making workshop in Copenhagen, which the three of us will book together. You can make one piece of any kind of silver jewelry. Fun!
We got home late and I stayed up even later catching up on some things, which meant that I actually slept “late” if you ignore the fact that I was up 4 times to go to the bathroom. I managed to get back to sleep each time so I call that a win. It’s clear that the effects of the high dosage of cortisone I was on several weeks ago are no longer in effect and I’m not spending half the night awake and unable to get back to sleep. Whew.
Even though we have no plans this weekend, and it’s my birthday tomorrow, my weekend to-do list had over 10 items on it, though more than half of them are already done. It’s a gorgeous warm day and breezy so I’m going to go sit on the deck under the umbrella now and read and play iPad games. Anders has finished trimming the hedge and it looks beautiful. The last load of laundry is spinning in the dryer and the rest can wait. Happy weekend!
Mood: happy
Music: SKAYA—Bottle Up This Feeling