It's not every day you get long distance guests, all the way from New Zealand! Peter's son Robin is married to Alexandra, and her father lives in Sweden but is originally from New Zealand. Most of his relatives live on the other side of the world, but in the last few days three of them have been visiting here in Stockholm. On Saturday, they came to visit the houseboat and then Robin and Alexandra offered two real Swedish traditions: kubb and crayfish disc.
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ShareVisit to the houseboat
Tom and Chris lives in New Zealand, but has just spent several months in Europe. They are (at least!) as crazy and adventurous as we are, and we found each other immediately and had lots to talk about. Their son Nick lives in London where he goes to theatre school, but has now been visiting his parents for a few weeks before they went to Stockholm together.
Even before travelling to Europe, Tom and Chris reprioritised their lives, living in a camper van for several months and trying out working on a vineyard. Now they have completed a impressive walk across France. In fact, they had so many exciting stories to tell that I did an interview with them. It's coming soon here on the blog - so don't miss it!
Swedish tradition 1: Kubb
When you have foreign guests visiting, you want to show off some Swedish traditions. After a few hours in the houseboat, we walked home to Robin and Alexandra, who live at Fridhemsplan. They had planned a real Swedish crayfish disc, but before that we would do another Swedish thing: play kubb. No sooner said than done, there was a game of kubb in the courtyard!
Swedish tradition 2: Kräftskiva
Then it was finally time for Swedish crayfish disc! Our New Zealand guests learned how to say "kräftskiva", practised Swedish snap songs and - of course - tried both crayfish and Swedish nubbe. How did they do? Really well, we must say! It feels like there is a bit of Viking blood in New Zealand too. Many thanks to Robin and Alexandra for a really well organised crayfish party!
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åsa i åsele says:
Sounds like a fun evening 🙂
Do you eat crayfish in New Zealand, or was it a new acquaintance?
(So... eating crayfish like "we do in Sweden")
Answer Yes, I am satisfied that I have only received SEK 1 in residual tax, but I think it's crazy that I have to pay this fantastic sum... and just as crazy that if I don't pay, I have to pay interest....
Residual tax under 50 kr should be cancelled.
03 October 2017 - 7:57
Chris says:
It was a wonderful night. A thousand thank yous. We only eat lobster in New Zealand but we call it crayfish ?. How confusing!
03 October 2017 - 8:47
Helena says:
They don't eat this kind of crayfish and definitely not like we do (which is very Swedish). They have a shellfish similar to lobster (but without claws). They were surprised by the red colour, but ate it happily and seemed to like it 😉 I agree, by the way. I think everything under 100 SEK should be cancelled!
03 October 2017 - 9:13
Nils-Åke Hansson says:
What a great time you've had.
03 October 2017 - 8:38
Helena says:
Very nice! 🙂
03 October 2017 - 9:13
Ditte says:
What a great evening! I can imagine that it was appreciated by everyone and not least the long-distance guests.
And it's fun to offer something "Swedish". Crayfish are indeed eaten all over the world, but perhaps not with hats on, schnapps songs and the like...
03 October 2017 - 9:11
Helena says:
The crayfish disc and that tradition is of course the most special thing. But I wonder how common it is to eat these red freshwater crayfish? I know they do it in some places in the US. But in southern Europe it's more likely to be crayfish, right? In any case, our guests had not seen this exact type of crayfish.
03 October 2017 - 10:10
Steve says:
What a wonderful evening! No shortage of topics to talk about when such a group of adventurers get together. Looking forward to your interview.
03 October 2017 - 9:15
Helena says:
Chris and Tom had many exciting experiences to share!
03 October 2017 - 18:04
Ama de casa says:
How nice that they were introduced to the Swedish traditions 🙂 .
Sooo good with Swedish crayfish! Yes, cooked in the Swedish way then, the origin does not matter as much 🙂 .
03 October 2017 - 10:48
Helena says:
Yes, it is perhaps the Swedish cooking that gives the typical flavour, but they are good! 🙂
03 October 2017 - 18:05
Kattis says:
What an experience it must have been for them to try the crayfish disc, looks like you had a really nice time together :). Also fun that you had so much in common with them too.
03 October 2017 - 11:06
Helena says:
I hope and believe they appreciated it! In any case, we had a very nice time 🙂
03 October 2017 - 18:05
Anna i Dubai says:
Now I think you're being a bit of a wimp... let's see if they are real Vikings or just little hobbits from New Zealand.
03 October 2017 - 11:12
Helena says:
Haha! Too bad I'm from Skåne and think that surströmming is very exotic .... in the slightly more tricky way 😉.
03 October 2017 - 22:15
LinizTravel says:
Oh so nice 🙂 crayfish disc is always good 🙂 Hugs!
03 October 2017 - 11:29
Helena says:
Both pleasant and delicious 🙂
03 October 2017 - 22:15
Marina says:
What fun! It is always fun when you can make something "really Swedish" - like a crayfish disc and kubb 😉 - when you have foreign guests. We ourselves had a crayfish disc with "smuggled" Turkish frozen crayfish when we lived in England. And I don't think we've ever had a crayfish party with as many accessories as we had then, and boy was it appreciated!
03 October 2017 - 11:38
Helena says:
Haha, that sounds like a fun experience! I can imagine that traditions feel even more important and fun to hold on to when living abroad.
03 October 2017 - 22:16
BP says:
It's great to be able to showcase something really Swedish and so much fun to organise too. I am convinced that the guests will remember that day.
PS. You could also have introduced surströmming;-) DS.
03 October 2017 - 13:59
Helena says:
It was fun that Robin and Alexandra arranged this, because these are things that are difficult to experience as a tourist otherwise. But surströmming ... well, maybe I have to learn it myself first then, haha 😉.
03 October 2017 - 22:17
JoY says:
Haha I say a bit cocky and agree with those who mention Surströmming. But you probably want to meet them again and not scare them away. Then you have had fun and that is the best thing.
Hugs
03 October 2017 - 16:37
Helena says:
No but exactly, then they would never dare to come back to Sweden ...! 😉
03 October 2017 - 22:17
Christine - 29° says:
Ha, ha! What fun! 🙂
03 October 2017 - 18:30
Lennart says:
Good company!
03 October 2017 - 20:25
Britt-Marie Lundgren says:
What a wonderful evening! We had guests from Germany here in the midsummer week and they got to participate in children's dance around the midsummer pole, herring with accessories (which was not fully appreciated even though the nub was ok). Then there were both kubb and
Horseshoe throwing. It's the food and customs of the country you want to experience as a visitor!
03 October 2017 - 20:50
Helena says:
It was also really Swedish traditions that you managed to showcase! At least I appreciate such things when I travel to other countries 🙂.
03 October 2017 - 22:18
Lena - gott för själen says:
As much fun as it is to take part in other people's traditions, it is also fun to show our Swedish ones! It's always nice to get a long distance visit!
Hug Lena
03 October 2017 - 20:59
Helena says:
Yes of course it is! It can be quite fun to guide in your hometown too, because then you always see things with new eyes 🙂.
03 October 2017 - 22:19