Sweden: Umea

Cow Barn and Silo near Umea

A Typical Northern Swedish Farm House

My cell phone had died, and as official family photographer, I had borrowed Ann's. Then of course I set it down on the seat (black on black in the dark). When we left the car at the airport, I check my pockets, and of course had my phone, wallet, passport, etc. And of course Ann assumed I still had hers, as she should have. Well maybe 10 minutes before boarding, she went to use her phone. Uh Oh. Luckily it's a fairly small airport, so Roland and I bolted for the exit, and luckily for me, the car had not yet been moved or cleaned. We were able to retrieve ithe phone from the back seat, get through security (with a funny look from the security check folks when they recognized us from 30 minutes earlier), and back to the gate before boarding began. Phew.

We arrived in Umea (at 63 latitude the northernmost major city in Sweden) well after dark.  But the next morning, we got to explore the rural neighborhood around Roland's home. He lives right next to a substantial dairy farm. He noted that the new steel silo, and many other newer ones in the area, were imported from America - Harvestore, just like I see all over Ohio and Michigan. Funny the specialization of industry.

Beef, Beets, and Potatoes

The farmers were busy with manure spreading this season - the smell reminded me of visiting my grandparent's farm in southern Ohio as a child. Yet here it was surrounded by boreal forest. The rich, broad, flat valleys and clay soils are farmed extensively, even this far north, but the rocky ridges are covered in birches and spruce. Familiar and yet dissonant for me as it seemed a mashup of my childhood in Ohio and my adult life on Lake Superior.

It was raining on and off now, as it would throughout our stay in Umea, so we got to see yet another face of Sweden - cold, wet, and grey. We walked up the muddy lane marveling at the nearly identical red wood farmhouses with white trim. Almost every rural house around Umea seemed to follow this model, with only the rare exception of mustard yellow. Amazing.

Roland took us to a local country restaurant nearby, and we enjoyed a warm, cozy setting and Swedish comfort food on a rainy day. Beef stew, pickled beets, and boiled potatoes. Yum.

Grocery Shopping in Umea

It was great being again in an area not frequented by tourists, and with a local guide. We got to go grocery shopping in town. Not at all unfamiliar, with even many products the same as home. But not the tube food. It makes sense for many foods with a pasty consistency, and the Swedes are crazy for the toothpaste tube for everything. Racks of it. Ann had to try the Kalles Kaviar - a mix of fish eggs, salt, and starch. Very strong, salty-fishy. Commonly eat on crackers, we found that a good squeeze of lemon went a long way in making it good.

And milk products. We noticed this at the breakfast bar in Trollhattan, and again here. Yogurt in infinite variety - thin, thick, sour, varying fats. Curdled milk, almost cheese. In fact, straight milk seems mostly used in coffee. For breakfast, with musli, it's always yogurt or the like. I liked that, though I did in the end find myself missing something wetter on my breakfast. And soy milk like I use at home was less common than cow milk.

Umea's Main Square and Town Hall

Downtown Umea

Cheese. Lots of cheese. For breakfast with bread, in cooking, straight. And good cheese, none of the insipid string cheese or American slices you often face in the US. Didn't see any cheddar - not even the good stuff. Must be a British/American thing? But that didn't matter. We were introduced to Vasterbottensost. New love. Instantly one of our favorite cheeses. Made only in the region around Umea (Vasterbotten), it struck me as a cross between a really good cheddar and a super Parmesan. Swedish demand alone keeps prices up and exports down. Roland made us a wonderful Swedish cheese pie (quiche) with it. Fabulous.  And he's so sweet, he even sent us home with a kilo of it - sadly gone now. We'd been trading regional ingredients already, us introducing him to thimbleberry jam on his visit to Houghton two summers ago. Now we owe him again. Next: Nissu? Pasties?

The next day we returned to town after a long walk in the country visiting the sheep, the forests, seeing the cloud berry bushes and mosses under the forest canopy. We wanted to see more of town, and do some Christmas shopping. The rain made for a special experience - the streets reflecting lights, the shops all the warmer, and the cafes all the cozier. We found a wonderful craft shop where Ann picked out a hand woven scarf for herself, and several other gifts.

Ann Takes Her Tea Warm

Then to the local tea house. Upstairs from a decadent pastry shop, we were told that much of the political business of Umea takes place here over tea. It was very comfortable. We felt very at home in Umea. A city of 115,000, it is home to Umea University. Established in the 1960s, the university is largely responsible for the doubling of Umea's population since, making Umea the intellectual and cultural center of northern Sweden. The streets shops are prosperous, the streets clean and very pedestrian and bike friendly. It's sometimes called the City of Birches, after the streets were planted with silver birches after a particularly devastating fire in 1888 to prevent future spread.

Swedish Ski Museum 

Oldest Ski in the World

Next, Jeff went shopping. As soon as we had arrived in Sweden, I'd noticed that all the workers had very cool work pants with built in tool belts and many pockets. Not your usual Dickies or Carharts like in the States. I had to have some. Well, Rolland knew the store for me. On the outskirts was a place entirely devoted to work wear. It was quite large, and the selection was impressive. I was like a kid in a candy store. I tried on several and finally selected a totally cool pair with nylon knees and seat, lots of pockets, and grey-on-grey plaid fabric. Too stylish almost to work in, but very tough and practical. And expensive. Between the Swedish penchant for quality and the strength of the SEK (Swedish Crown), way more than I normally spend on pants, even for dress. But I bought them anyway. Every time I'll wear them, I'll remember the trip.

We also went to the municipal museum where the Swedish Ski Museum is located. Here we saw the oldest ski in the world (5,000 years), found in a peat bog near Umea. And the skis of the Olympic cross country ski champion, Per Elofsson, who was born and lives in Umea, and a remarkable collection of practical, historic, and decorated skis. An afternoon well spent.

Jannson's Temptation

That night we had a fine dinner at home with Roland, his wife Eva, and her American friend and colleague, Jean. Eva and Jean had just returned from a conference, and we had a wonderful time talking about their work and all manner of things with them. We even got to sample another traditional Swedish dish, similar to scalloped potatoes here, but with potato fingers and anchovies. Not like the nasty ones that come on American pizzas, but larger, and flavored with a hint of cloves. It's called Jannson's frestelse (Jannson's Temptation). Often a Christmas dish, we rushed the season a bit ourselves so we could try it. The cloves and anchovies were a surprise sensation.

What a great time in Umea. We were sad to leave after only 2 days, but Switzerland beckoned. We'll have to go back some day to ski or bike and pick cloud berries.