New Year in Särna
Despite obstacles like sickness, bad weather, and our car going to the garage for repair on Dec. 27, we managed to make our way up to Särna in Dalarna over New Year. I’m happy we made the effort. As always, it was great to be in the company of our good Danish friends Bo and Susan and their dogs (six Siberians and one Stabijhoun, Halley). They had been sick, too, and Bo hardly had any voice the first day, but nothing can apparently obstruct his cooking. We were treated with his excellent food as always. On the 1st of January, they took us for brunch at Turistgården in Särna, where a Dutch couple have moved in. The husband of the family is a former chef at Michelin restaurants in Stockholm, but to get a less stressful life, the decision was made to move to Dalarna. A bold move and one I really hope works out for them so we can enjoy his cooking for years to come. He had even baked Danish ‘tebirkes’ and really good ones. Otherwise, this New Year will probably be best remembered by Danes as the one where our Queen Margrethe II informed us of her abdication. To be honest, we were a bit in disbelief at first. It definitely took some time to digest this news, but of course changes aren’t always bad, you just have to get used to them. Dalarna and Särna were the perfect winter wonderlands with lots of snow. Susan and I took the two energetic younger dogs, Halley and Jörfi on a longer walk walking on the scooter trails. It was hilarious to see those young dogs playing in the deep snow. They got along well and Jörfi was as happy as ever. She loves throwing herself into the deep powdery snow time after time. I must admit that I get the same kind of energy kick from snow and cold weather. Thus, this trip to Särna managed to energise me and finally make me feel of almost normal health again.
