Three little outings

I've never ever been allergic to anything - except a shampoo with apple scent when I was about 10, which gave me a rash. But that's it. Until probably now, the Toy Car-outing was not at all what I had expected. After about 15 minutes of driving I felt my eyes getting all runny and itchy.

Soon I could barely open my left eye. So when we arrived at the destination for this little trip - a prizewinning bakery on the other side of town for brunch - I sort of fumbled my way. And wasn't in a very good mood...

But the bakery/coffeeshop Kringelgården - translates something like Twistbiscuit homestall, which sounds really dorky... Just like their rather non-existing website with just a frontpage... - which has been around since 1902, was a really pleasant place. Situated just a short walk from the trainstation Neglinge, Saltsjöbaden.

Not that there was a lot of pastries and sandwiches to chose from, but the ones they had were scrumptious. I totally understand this sourdough bread won first prize in the Swedish Sandwich Championship last year! Chewy and crunchy and yummy...

The bread is of course sold in the bakery, in the shape of enormous loafs of bread! Half of that bread came home with us, I have no idea how I'd fit a whole one in the freezer, even if I'd sliced it...

Since I have this humungous backlog of blog-entries - and a backlog of a whole lot of things really... - I'll continue to write about two other nice little stops with coffeebreak you can make on that side of town.

Svindersvik, in Nacka, was built around 1740 as a summer house for the general manager of the East India Company (Ostindiska Kompaniet). It is situated overlooking the Stockholm inlet and even if the house with its immediate surroundings and garden still is beautiful, the modernization, the industrialization, the busy roads so close havn't exactly been cautiously constructed...

The house and gardens are now owned by Nordiska muséet and it's one of Sweden's best kept places from the rococo-era. Guided shows are available.

And of course, there's also a charming little café close to the water, Café Brygghuset (Washhouse) is open from early May and at least until August, Thursday-Sunday.

If you take the car - or the bus, but then it's a pretty long walk from the bus-stop... - a bit further out in the municipality of Nacka you'll find the small garden centre Boo Trädgård (= Garden) -

which doesn't only sell flowers, plants and some organic products but also have a little unpretentious café with an amazing view.

I wasn't exactly impressed with the sandwiches and cakes on offer though. And I'm not really sure I'd recommend a visit for the café's sake - but the view was truly relaxing and gorgeous. The not-so-good-impression-foodwise might - or might not- have something to do with some strange crunchy noises when I ate a sticky chocolate cake.

And Im really not sure if this little thing - and there were a few more of them... - is something that's suppose to be a part of the cake or not... Is it a beetle, is it a coffeebean, what can it be...? Anyone who has a clue?

Close to the garden centre is the Boo Herrgård/mansion, built in the early 18th century, now a listed building and a private home. All lushly embeded on the top of a hill and quite beautiful.

There's also a public bathing place and a boat club in the vicinity. Very rural and still not very far from the city. Picturesque!

My runny, itchy eyes became worse before we got home, then my nose made them company. So I just had to take it easy, slowly rocking in the hammock while rinsing my eyes and then cover them with a cooling masque. Feeling oh so sorry for myself.

Both my eyes and my red nose are feeling better now, a rainshower hit earlier and I think the air has sort of cleared. I do hope this allergy thing was just a one off and not something that wants to visit on a more regular basis *fingers crossed*.