I’ve know Bjorn on dVerse for six+ years and finally got to meet him in Stockholm last week during our Best of Scandinavia cruise. He and Lotta were indeed the best of Scandinavia! They showed us the city from an insider’s perspective. We especially enjoyed walking through quiet streets and neighborhoods and going to a small restaurant filled with locals, for a truly Swedish lunch!
My husband’s grandfather immigrated from Sweden so Swedish traditions literally run through his veins. I’ve embraced many of those traditions, especially those related to Christmas. I’ve also eaten many a Swedish meatball. One tradition I have not taken to? Herring! George and our children always ate soft boiled eggs and pickled herring on Christmas morning while I stayed in bed. When they finished eating, they woke me up by breathing heavily in my face. Yech! So you can imagine George’s great delight to see an appetizer with three kinds of herring, Vasterbotten cheese, sour cream, red onion, and dill potatoes on the menu! He also had Köttbullar (Swedish meatballs) for an entrée with potato puree, cream sauce, lingonberries and pickled cucumber. I had Souvas (smoked reindeer) as an appetizer with kohlrabi in horseradish crème, lingonberries and hazelnuts; and Kröppkakor (Swedish potato dumplings filled with pork) for my entrée. Everything was delicious! But even better, was the time to sit and relax and just get to know Bjorn and Lotta. They took us on a commuter ferry back to our ship which meant more time to talk and seeing more of the real Sweden. The last photo is Bjorn and Lotta waving goodbye from the ferry. What an amazing day! THANK YOU BJORN and LOTTA!
And an aphorism for the prompt?
One man’s herring may be reason enough for a woman to refuse his kiss!
Written for dVerse, the virtual pub for poets around the globe. Today Bjorn is hosting Thursday’s Meet the Bar and asks us to create an aphorism, and if we’d like, add some prose of explanation.
All photos are from our visit with Bjorn and Lotta last week in Stockholm! If you click on each photo, you can see them a bit larger.
Aphorism: a statement that presents a moral or philosophical idea and many times does so with a pithy statement. For example: “the grass is always greener on the other side”and “don’t count your chickens before they hatch.”
I do admit, I’ve taken a bit of liberty with my aphorism….but I really wanted to share these photos with all of you dVersers! And…..after all…..everyone should know when to use breath mints!
lillian the home poet 
Wow! This is lovely. 🙂
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Just catching up on comments and reading. We really had a wonderful time with Bjorn and Lotta!
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awesome beard and moustache! 🧔
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It is indeed…..inside story: it kind of got in the way when he was drinking beer 🙂
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Oh, I love this… we really had a great time… earlier this week we went for another traditional Swedish meal and I had pork knuckle with rutabaga mash (also very traditional)… I think that even if love herring it’s not a scent I would like to have with a kiss.
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Just catching up with comments, reading and writing….where does time fly to? TRULY had a WONDERFUL time with you and Lotta. A bazillion thanks again! 🙂
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Lill, you have made me smile on a very sad day. What a great aphorism!
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Thank you, Kim. I too was so very sad to learn of Queen Elizabeth’s death. We all knew she could not live forever….but we sort of expected her to? I am just now getting back to reading, writing, and commenting. I was glued to BBC every day, through the state funeral and the commital at Windsor. The world will never see another like her.
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You and Bjorn win the internet today with your pics and cool food, I need a cruise there‼️ 😍
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We did indeed have a spectacular time with Bjorn and Lotta!!! 🙂
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♥️♥️♥️
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What a glorious happifying post – great words and pictures, thank you so much Lillian. Lovely to meet Bjorn and Lotta “in the T-shirts” – and without herring fragrance.
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We did indeed have a wonderful time in Stockholm with Bjorn and Lotta!
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Nice aphorism😊
Much💛love
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Glad you enjoyed!
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It reminded me of our little reunion a few years ago in Yokohama. Always so good to meet with friends of many years.
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I’ve been remiss in commenting and writing lately. Queen Elizabeth’s death had me watching BBC all hours of the day and sometimes into the wee hours of the very early morning.
Oh yes…..meeting old friends is truly a wonderful thing! I shall never forget our meeting with you in Japan!
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Good to hear back from you and no worries, Lillian. We too watched the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth live on TV. We were glued to the TV as well. It was very solemn and authoritative.
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How wonderful!!!! Thank you for sharing this and the photos! Somedwy maybe I will meet one of you wonderful poets! I love Bjorn’s t-shirt! My sister-in-law is Swedish and I know most of their food is white. I love your aphorism!
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It was truly special to meet Bjorn after all this time! I’ve often said, I wish we could build a brick and mortar Poets’ Pub for the dVerse gang and have a grand party there! 🙂
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I love it! What a wonderful post and your aphorism is perfect! Really great photos.
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Glad you enjoyed. It was truly wonderful to be with Bjorn and Lotta in Stockholm!!! The pub came alive for a day! 🙂
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:>)
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This is so wonderful Lil, so cool that you met with Bjorn! Sounds like an excellent time. 👍🏼 Some fantastic pictures my friend. Thank you for sharing this. 🙂✌🏼❤️
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We had such a good time with Bjorn and Lotta!!! I am just now catching up with comments and reading and writing….our wonderful travel abroad and then home for not too long and the news of the Queen’s death. I was glued to BBC for many hours a day and then up at 4 AM Boston time to see everything live the day of her funeral. So — just recovering and getting back to dVerse.
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This was so fun to read. Thanks for sharing your day. It’s nice to put faces to names!!!!
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Yes! And it was wonderful to actually meet and be with Bjorn (and Lotta too)! You should drop in on a Thursday OLN LIVE session sometime…evern if you don’t choose to read a poem…it’s really fun to see everyone and chat too!
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What time is it held? I have a massage appt. from 1 to 2:30 every Thursday.
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Love the food pics more than the aphorism 🙂
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Me too!
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😀😀
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Oh this is absolutely fantastic, Lillian! I soo loved the photographs 😍 and the details you shared with us. Perfect aphorism too! ❤️❤️❤️
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It was truly amazing to be with Bjorn and Lotta in Stockholm. Just now catching up with commenting and reading…
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Thanks for sharing!
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You’re welcome! We had a wonderful day with Bjorn and Lotta!
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Very true indeed! However, pickled herring is often less offensive.
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hmmmm….no kind of herring is best for me 🙂
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Great post, Lilian! And like the herring aphorism! JIM
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Glad you enjoyed!
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Thanks so much for sharing this, Lillian! Love Bjorn’s T-shirt.
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His T-shirt made me laugh! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed …. it truly was a wonderful day!
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