The Smell of Sweden

Cinnamon, if you ask me.

I left France on Dec 27th for the much colder latitude of Östersund, and stayed long enough to observe the wonders of the white season there. We experienced record temperatures ranging from -25 down to -35° most days, which means the snow will not thaw for months.

I have always been fascinated with the atmosphere of northern regions, and this winter only made me want to go further North. If anyone hears of a journey to the pole, or is interested in going as well, please send me an email. Also, check out the Arctic Circle series by Phil Toledano.

A few tracks of the moment:

Beach House - Teen Dream (album)

Hot Chip - One Life Stand (album)

Caribou - The Milk of Human Kindness (album)

These New Puritans - We Want War

Yeasayer - Madder Red

Dawn in Kännåsen. Bare feet on the balcony snow and that magic light. Someone else was up.

-26°C. A walk to Önsjön and a full moon in broad daylight. Only that.

Beautiful lonely sight, that of a frozen lake.

Even more so from the snowed up diving board.

Guess it's time to go when the cold won't give you your fingers back...

Or fixes you some ice coffee without you asking -no, this is not a paper cup.

-26°C might be a bit too cold a weather to drink coke, though. Not that I ever do anyway.

The lady was probably buying something much warmer.

But New Year's Eve has this power to make you crave for colder drinks.

And I'm a sucker for Swedish ciders, that's for sure. Pretty chill NYE anyway.

Endurance has made me a much moderate drinker.

Gerd, she knows what's up. Looking forward to running a marathon with her in July.

In the meantime, training on the cross country slopes is priceless. Like Östersund's mothership water tower.

Cooking italian delicacies for the family: sicilian meatballs, vegetarian lasagna in consideration for Amanda's choices and my bias for veggies...

...and red fruit charlotte for everyone!

Sort of hard to maintain a strict diet when she's around, for some reason...I like the natural light filtering into this kitchen...

...and F's natural expressions, ie when she wakes up.

Feeling out the temperature in Åre Björnen, before hitting the slopes.

'The Bear' hangs over one of these gigantic lakes closer to inner seas...

...and offers an epic view on the summit, Åre Skutan.

How to build a sidewalk in a few hours.

Nor, sheer wilderness. The human imprint comes down to only a few pieces of wood cut and nailed together into cabins...

...where salmon, spinach and potatoes meal tastes like heaven. Walking from one fireplace to the other.

Ice-haired faces...

...and furry friends equally.

You could find around there the very essence of Scandinavian minimalism...

...or a bit of patriotism.

Wargentinskolan. The Wolf's Lair High School. They even have a pretty angry looking stuffed animal at the cafeteria.

Hans, 80. I met him at Friskis & Svettis, a fitness club. The old man is solid as a rock: runs 4k every day and goes to aerobics three times a week. That calls for respect.

Östersund is known to be a café town, with an insane number of cool places to hang out. Pause is one of them.

Shot in reverse from a couch. The whole place would burn down a couple of days later. Little fella looks suspicious, if you ask me.

Which brings us to the welcoming town of Hell. Norway. The Oslo-Trondheim night train stops there at midnight. Don't tell me it's a coincidence.