BBQ By The Sea

A Saturday afternoon barbecue along the Baltic Sea?...don't mind if I do!  After searching for the perfect place to have our BBQ for quite some time, we settled on a concrete pad at the foot of a dock in the Royal National City Park.  It was the closest thing we could have gotten to cooking on the sea without the fear of catching anything on fire.  Was it legal?  Doubt it.  Was it an awkward place to cook?  You bet!  Were the surroundings breathtaking?  Absolutely!

Shafigh and his wife had prepared what seemed to be a few kilos of wonderfully marinated chicken and a large salad of lettuce, carrots, olives, and tomatoes.  Top that off with some freshly grilled pineapple rings whole tomatoes, and you have got yourself a fantastic meal. It was far from your average American BBQ with hotdogs, hamburgers, and sausages...but it was oh-so-delicious!

We received plenty of stares and glares from the average Swedish passerby, but I think they were jealous that they hadn't thought to have a BBQ there.  After chowing down, we made a pitstop at Ulriksadal Slott (Ulriksadal Palace) on our way back.  As we roamed the former country retreat for Swedish Royalty, the sun was shining high in the sky, and the grounds of the palace were lookin' good...real good.

It was nearly time for a fika and everyone was feeling a bit sluggish...and as luck would have it, there happened to be a nice little café right next the palace.  Ulriksadals slottscafé didn't disappoint.  Along with everyone else, I chose to get a café latte, but also slipped a Swedish almond cake in there for good measures.   Forgetting about the monster rainbow marshmallow log that was floating on top, everything was quite good.  Naveed saw them refilling the espresso beans and apparently the bag said everything from eco-friendly and fair-trade to organic and bio-friendly...no wonder it tasted so refreshing!

I almost took the Tunnelbana back home instead of walking along the Baltic coast...but thank god I changed my mind.

Sweden is a land of unpredictability, and you must pay particular attention to the 3 volatile W's:  Weather, Women, and ... ???  We couldn't remember of the last one, can you?