To eat Semla in the forest, why not?
One of the advantages of studying in Stockholm is that you can easily reach nearby forest. From fancy picnic to challenging hiking, from sight-seeing with a pair of bare eyes to photo hunting with sophisticated sniper-like lenses. The forest is always fascinating to view and breath-taking to explore, literally, especially if one takes the longest hiking trail. Yes, it’s in the Tyresta National Park, just at the southeast of Stockholm. One thing that I did not expect before is that I can find Semla there! Considering that it’s the Fettisdag (Fat Tuesday) today, why don’t I tell you my experience of finding Semla while visiting the renowned forest in Stockholm.
Then, there were four of us, embracing the national park while the winter still last. It’s easily reached by bus or by any private land type of transportation which you owned. You want to make sure that you “empty your tank” at the toilet in the entrance before you embark on the journey and get anxiously looking for the nearby toilet which you won’t find anywhere within the middle of the forest.
Actually, the forest even provides strolling family trails, which I had considered before, among other trails that force your adrenal glands to produce more adrenaline. In the end, we took the medium-difficulty trail, as it was the first experience for some of us, at least for me.
Upon entering the forest, we got some signs that the forest here is kept to be in minimum of human intervention and that’s why it felt so natural as I roam further inside. The frequency of the forest vibrated my tympanic membranes and the particles of it stimulated my olfactory nerve (that’s the nerve for smelling sense). It surrounded me with its calmness and peace. But, on the other hand (or I should have said, feet), my feet got wet and cold by the melting snow, permeating through the pores of polyester of my shoes. Definitely the wrong shoes for going through the pile of snow! And then it started to rain. The drop of rain, ice, and snow, any forms of liquid and solid H2O hitting our face really raised the challenge. Now I understand why it’s called forest-bathing, but not this kind of wetness I was expecting =D. Luckily, I have dropped the idea of bringing my children and their prams here. I can’t imagine how. Maybe for another season.
Welcome to the virgin forest!
Everywhere, i saw only trees
The melting river dyed with mineral sedimentation
Frozen lake, dare to cross?
After around three hour of hiking, we reached just outside the forest. There we encounter the country side houses and farms, with actual horses, and sounds of rooster that kept crowing even though the sun had already risen a few hours before. And then, a traditional style building with a café sign in its front door drew our attention and drove us into getting inside.
There we found the Semlor (meaning, many Semla) and could not resist to try some. I have tasted Semla before, but this time maybe it was because of the ambience of the place, the after-effect of energy draining hiking trail, the opportunity to be surrounded by warmness, or the combination of them all, made the Semla tasted better. The bun, the soft icing sugar on top, the cream in the middle, and the milk beneath….
Look at all these tempting calories
Happy Fat Tuesday!
I think I will stop here and let you try it yourself for this year’s fettisdagen!
So, that’s my experience of tasting Semla in a not-so-mainstream way. How about you? Feel free share your interesting experience of tasting Semla in the comment section.
Click on the link below for more information:
The Semla – more than just a bun
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e-mail: winner.ng@stud.ki.se
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