adventsfika

I could not resist to follow up the last post with a story of how we have enjoyed our lussebullar, saffron bread. The second of Advent we climbed the mountain at the foot of which we live. Ever since we moved here I have been looking up at the mountain, wanting to stand on its top and look out over the city, the rice fields, the mountains, the sea and the horizon beyond. Every time my son and I go to the playground, I look at the mountain, every time we are walking home from grocery shopping, or coming home by bike from a morning outing, I stop and look at our little mountain. Only 314 meters high, but still high enough to be enshrouded by rain clouds from time to time, to be rewarded with not one or two but three hiking paths, to offer me an ever changing view of the world that shelters our little house from the southern winds.

My wife had taken us hiking up all the mountains she knew from being a child, so this weekend, with no known mountains left and my wife asking me what I would like us to do, I said let’s do fika at the top of our mountain. With the sun shining on a beautiful autumn’s day, we made our way up the mountain. Our son was enjoying watching the world from his elevated position on my back and I was happy that I finally had gotten myself a walking stick, helping my balance as well as reducing the stress on my knees. The climb was steep, and halfway up we took a little break after which our son himself took my walking stick and started up the little path all by himself, but when he wanted to turn around and go back down again, I managed to persuade him to ride on my back again.

When we came close to the top, the forest gave way to a beautiful scenery where we saw the nearby mountains all covered in shades of green red and orange, and soon afterwards we reached the top where there were a few benches and a table where we made ourselves at home. Coffee and saffron bread never tastes so good as outside, especially on a mountain top, and we spend well over an hour just enjoying the Swedish fika. When it became time to go back home, our son was almost already half asleep and it did not take long until he was sleeping soundly on my back, giving me the chance to take a few photos on the way down.

I am so happy that we finally climbed our little mountain; now I feel even closer to it and I cannot wait until the next time we stand on the top. Until then I will continue enjoying our friend every day from a distance.