I reported yesterday on the bathroom in this place we’re staying. Today I want to talk about the kitchen. More specifically, the hob. And, the need for instructions when you descend on an unfamiliar home with unusual equipment.
The hob looks normal if you ignore the push in dials. However, it seems pretty simple. You turn the dials corresponding to the hotplates and they should come on. Not so.
You turn the dial and a number flashes on the surface. This number indicates where on the dial you are. The hotplate, however, does not get hot. I figured they needed a pot on them. I’d prepared some cauliflower in a pot so I put the pot on top of the hotplate and tried again. It made no difference.
Mirinda messaged the owner while I just microwaved everything.
Fast forward to after dinner and relaxing in front of the TV watching Young Wallander and there came a rat tat tat at the front door. It was the owner come to show us how to use the hob.
I had been right about the pot having to be on top of the hotplate but I was using the wrong pot. Yes, there are right and wrong pots. Anyway, that was solved. And, of course, we met the owner. She said she’d ring the Internet provider tomorrow to hopefully fix it.
She asked if we were enjoying ourselves and we told her how we’d driven to Örebro for a lovely day out today. Not that the day had started particularly lovely. In fact, it didn’t stop raining until after lunch. Lunch which, incidentally, came earlier than expected. This was because I hadn’t realised that daylight saving had started this morning.
Eventually, though, the rain did stop and I realised what time it really was and we set off.
Everything I’ve seen regarding Örebro features the slott and we visited it, having parked Max and wandered the streets for a bit. The slott is an impressive landmark and Mirinda actually visited the turret at the left of the photograph. Dogs in hand, I visited the café which is in the right hand turret.
Mirinda spent a lovely half hour wandering up and down spiral staircases while I sat with a hazelnut latte and talked to a chap who spoke a combination of Swedish and English, both of which I found hard to understand. He was talking about his mixed breed cats. I think. I just nodded and laughed when I felt it was appropriate.
The rest of our visit to Örebro was spent walking around the park which edges the river and canal system. It was all lovely, the banks littered with public art. Like this centaur.
Bågspännande means archer and it’s a bow that the centaur is holding. This was one of the more recognisable artworks. There were a couple of big blocks with vaguely curved sides which Mirinda said her father would not consider art and a human/insect hybrid.
There was also this small penguin standing in a small niche by the town hall building.
Another reason we were wandering the streets was because we were looking for a restaurant which would let us eat with the dogs in tow. There are a number of dog friendly establishments in town however, because it was Sunday, they were either closed or not serving yet.
Actually, Mirinda found a lovely restaurant in a hotel which was happy to take the dogs but when she came and collected me and we wandered back inside, we were told that, while they were happy to have the dogs, food wouldn’t be served for another hour and a half. We wandered back out.
Which is why I cooked meatballs and cauli mash in the microwave back at the house.
Speaking of the house, there’s a beautiful old family bible sitting on a cabinet. It dates from 1917 and has the names of a couple who were given the bible on the occasion of their marriage. I have no idea if the couple is related to the house owners.
Idly flicking through (it’s all in Swedish, obviously) I came across an intriguing photograph. How could I resist including it?
The plate being held by the smiling chap features a horses head in the centre and round the outside is engraved “Segerrikaste körsven 1962”. Segerrikaste körsven means most victorious driver. I think it has something to do with harness racing. I don’t know about the other three but the guy holding the plate was, I guess, pretty handy in a gig.
