I just got home from spending the morning with my cousin, Philip. Sean and I went out to dinner with him last night at the italian restaurant in old town we went to with Sean's dad, Paul, and his brothers. Paul made a great impression on the owner of the restaurant, Romeo, so when I called to make the reservation, Romeo was thrilled to hear we were coming back. He gave us three gin and tonics as we walked into the restaurant. We politely accepted, but the drinks were not touched. I had the lamb and risotto, the same meal that the Prince of Sweden comes in to get twice a month, according to Romeo.
I met Philip at his hotel this morning. We walked through old town and then into new town. When we walked outside, the sun was sitting right above the horizon and by 12:00, it had not risen, but it had moved across the sky and was sitting on the other side of the city. It was about 10 degrees fahrenheit all morning. We walked to a little island called Skeppsholmen that sits in between new town and old town. There is a castle there with a lot of small fortresses. We had a great view of old town and the Royal Palace from there. There was sea smoke that was visible all morning. Sea smoke appears when the water is warmer than the air. We walked back into old town where we did some Christmas shopping. We grabbed lunch at O'Leary's as well. I said goodbye to him at his hotel. It was great to see someone from my family.
Last week, Sean had members of his family visit us. Sean's dad came on Sunday, November 21. Paul and I went to Sean's game that night. Erik Rosen's father, Tomas, drove us to the game. Erik is one of Sean's teammates and good friends. Unfortunately, Sean's team lost 9-2. Sean's uncles, Patrick and Steve, came on Wednesday. Paul and his brothers grew up in Boston. Patrick and Steve still live there. Patrick is 18 years younger than Paul as well. They bantered with each other all week, which was entertaining for me. We went out to lunch that day on the Gondolen, which looks like a big crane that sits above Slussen. There's a great view of the city from there. On Thursday night, we had Thanksgiving dinner at the Sheraton hotel. Before dinner, we all went to O'Leary's to watch the Patriots game. Sean and his family are all die hard Boston sports fans, so I kept my feelings to myself as I watched the game. We invited Logan Miller, Erik, and Erik's mother and father to dinner. It was much different than Thanksgiving in Philadelphia with the entire Walsh family. They served us a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, however, the stuffing was a little strange looking, so I stuck with the turkey and sweet potatoes. Tomas treated Paul and his brothers to some traditional Swedish liquor. The liquor had a strong smell and by the look of their faces, it had a strong taste too. Paul and Patrick are both big guys, but their brother Steve has a wiry build and weighs about 150 pounds. As the liquor kept coming, he said to Sean that he was going to be in trouble when he stood up. We went home at around 12:00. The whole night was a lot of fun.
On Friday night, we went to that italian restaurant for dinner. I got a huge kick out of some of the things that the brothers said to each other. At one point, Patrick offered Paul some of his lamb. He handed Paul his fork with a piece of it on it. Paul reached over with his fork, and tried to take the piece off. Patrick said, "Just take the fork, Paul." Paul refused to touch his fork and said, "I guess we're at a stalemate here." As we we were walking out of the restaurant, a drunk woman decked out in fur with dreadlocks coming out of her beaver hat walked up to Paul and started babbling Swedish to him. Paul engaged in a conversation with her for a few minutes even though she had no idea what he was saying. I had to go home because of my game the next day, while they went off to walk around the city. As the lady stood in the middle of the street deliriously, not knowing which way to go, Paul yelled at her to follow me.
Sean and I are all alone again for the next week or so until my dad comes on December 11th. He is coming for four nights. He'll be able to watch two of my games. My team is 7-5-2. My next game is Saturday.
No comments:
Post a Comment