I don’t think it’s necessary for me to enjoy such a programme as Bridgerton. After all, I didn’t like Poldark. But, it seems, I should. Given I’m the only one in the house who enjoys zombie programmes, I think it unfair that I should have to enjoy things I don’t like, whereas it’s not the other way around.
Not that that’s very important. I wasn’t watching it anyway. Rather, I was thinking about how the Portuguese Embassy official said our marriage certificate was inadequate. It did make me wonder whether we are really married. Actually, while we were at the embassy, Mirinda suggested we popped down to the city hall for a six-minute wedding. The guy from the embassy thought this very funny and indicative of the efficiency of the Swedish system.
The end result of our visit to the Portuguese Embassy this morning, was our needing to plan a reorganization of our documentation before we do it all over again. Quite annoying. Still, the trip in (and out) of Stockholm was lovely.
Fi stayed at home with the girls while we went into Central Stockholm. And what a gorgeous day it was. Chilly but sunny: perfect. Almost as perfect as the upside-down tree on Drottninggatan.
The tree is a piece by Charlotte Gyllenhammar, whose work I saw back in January this year. She specializes in presenting things from unusual angles. This tree is her second upside-down tree in the same spot. She did the same 30 years ago with an oak tree and called it Dö för dig (Die for you).
“The oak hanging upside down looks like a bolt from the blue. So clear was my vision of the tree in 1993. It also resembles an hourglass or the eternal number 8. This cyclical figure calls for repetition and return. Now after 30 years, I am returning together with the original team to re-hang an oak tree from Roslagen at Sergels torg.” Charlotte Gyllenhammar
Available at: https://news.cision.com/se/statens-konstrad/r/do-for-dig—nu-ateruppfor-charlotte-gyllenhammar-den-upp-och-nedvanda-eken-i-ett-samarbete-mellan-s,c3775742
After the work has been hung and admired, the tree will pass onto the next phase of its life and be used in construction of various things.
We passed under the tree and headed further up the shopping precinct.
The Portuguese Embassy is above a pub called the Queen’s Head, which was a bit of a worry given we’d never been before and were wondering if the pub was actually called The Portuguese Embassy, and we were in the wrong part of town. After thinking about it for a while, I reckoned it would be an excellent idea to call a pub in a foreign city The British Embassy, for instance.
Anyway, the entrance to the embassy was next door to the pub and on the first floor.
There was an emergency situation going on at the front desk, so we were dealt with through an open door by a lovely embassy official. Though, he wasn’t very lovely when he told us the bad news that we would have to come back.
Being up near where Mirinda goes to her Swedish classes, we decided to pop into her favourite café for a brunch. The spicy tuna sandwich was worth the trip, if you ask me.
