A day in Swedish Woods: Cottage Trip

Dear Friends,

First of all, sorry for this late post. As you can imagine it is hard to travel and write thesis at the same time. Finally I found some time to share the amazing time I had with 19 friends couple weeks ago, in a very traditional Swedish way I suppose. Well, I might have combined some of our Turkish traditions too, especially by preparing some Turkish food.

To start from the beginning, we have rented a car (kinda minibus), 3 cottages in the forest (for 20 people) and a sauna near by the lake. Until here everything was quite Swedish, but I decided to get involved with the food which can be really tricky especially if there are 20 people to feed in the evening. No wonder why they call me "mum". So the best and the cheapest solution, I though, could be making "Kumpir" (Baked potato). We can call this dish as a healthy Turkish fast food, that is OK for Vegetarians, and other non-beef/pork eating cultures.  It is a baked potato with various fillings. And it was a good choice since our group was quite international one, people from at least 8 different nationalities from all over the world. So a day before the trip, we shopped for the ingredients; potatoes, canned food (corn and mushroom) olives, sausages, cheese, butter and things for my special shrimp salad, and snacks of course. Also many people brought kilos of meat for BBQ. Sleeping bags are packed, booze is bought. Ready to go!

Since we had only one car, 20 people were gathered within 3 times of driving to the town and back to the cottage. The day we arrived to the cottage there was still some snow left on the ground, although it was quite warm for Sweden, 8-10 C degrees by the end of the March.  First thing to do was discovering the area and turning the sauna on for the evening! Afterwards, having a small boat tour on the lake. And at the end cleaning the walking paths covered with snow, and cut some wood for the fire place outside. After all the missions were completed, apparently next thing to do was having a snowball fight.

Here are some of the pictures;

The main cottage

The storage

The woods

The sauna near by the lake

 

The lake

sailing away!? not really

Pata, the Gladiator!? (this is for you Peppe)

Giuseppe the captain

The Gladiator #2

Having snacks around the fire place

Jinrui: the warrior Xena!

Snowball fight #1

Snowball fight #2

Snowball fight, Peppe is knocked out

Sunset, end of the snowball fight

In the evening some people started marshmallow bbq around the fire, as the rest were preparing the real BBQ and the Kumpir. Right now at least 5 people can make their own baked potato in Turkish way.

We were so hungry that no one actually thought of taking picture of  the amazing dinner. After the dinner it was time for sauna. Some crazy people decided to walk (run) to the sauna (~100 meters) bare food and half naked in the middle of the woods, plus it was completely dark! But this is not crazy at all comparing to the after sauna adventure. Well, after sauna to cool down there were three options; (1)spill a bucket of cold water on you, (2)go lie down on the snow, and here the best comes; (3) go jump to the freezing lake! Most of us, including me, choose the last option, the lake water was really cold that we could not stand it more than 10 seconds. Plus we had to step on the snow for 15 meters while going back and forth to the lake and sauna. Double cold! (Well I am from South, it is cold to me) After doing this procedure for 5-6 times, most of us were done with sauna. Going back to party! well and some to sleep.

 

"I am hungry can we eat please" look. Time to make the Kumpir!

BBQ marshmallows

Party Style #15646518...

P.S. The last picture is the most normal party photo I could find, out of hundred.

Thanks to the great people, "the party" never ends. But people seriously next time no shoes inside! Damn, the spirit of a mother in me talks again!

The following trip comes soon. I just need to finalize my Master thesis.
By then, be well!