First Walk of the New Year - and some Information about a State Monopoly

I hope you all have had a good start to the new year. For me, it's been way better than I expected. Maybe my expectations weren't so high, haha. But so far I have really felt a shift. I have also made some commitments to change a lot of my habits, I know, it's only been a few days, everything will probably come crashing down at some point, haha. But at least I'm enjoying this change now. (I know it's a more successful strategy to create tiny habits and from there build more and more. But I just find that SO boring). I guess I'm more of a person who likes to go all in. I guess that's one way of bringing excitement to my life.

Anyway, on New Year's Day, I went out for a walk. It was sunny and a lot of people outside. I was happy to see that not too much destruction had taken place (at least not where I was walking). As some of you know, I used to live in Berlin, and there it kind of looks like a war zone after New Year's Eve. Not that I have actually seen an actual war zone, but you get the idea. It's complete mayhem in Berlin.

I decided to do a 3-day juice fast to transition into 2023, starting on the 30th of December, so I was still fasting this day. I felt fine though, this fast was actually very powerful for me. I could probably write a whole post about it.

For those of you who read my blog regularly, you'll recognize my surroundings. There are only so many different walks available in my close surroundings, haha. Hopefully, you'll enjoy these pictures anyway.

This was around noon and you could see the moon. The temperature had actually been warmer lately so it was a change to see that the water was frozen (again). I don't remember exactly but I think it was just below freezing point.

The red is a nice contrast to all the blue.

In the picture below you can see a shopping cart from Systembolaget (I think), that's the only place where you can buy alcohol in Sweden and it's a state monopoly. That also means that you can't really be too spontaneous about your purchases. It's always closed on Sundays and public holidays. It also used to be closed on Saturdays but they changed that in 2001. It was a widely debated question back then. Opening hours vary from store to store but at most, they are allowed to be open from 10 am to 8 pm on weekdays and from 10 am to 3 pm on Saturdays.

I know this might sound very strange to you, and I'm not defending a state monopoly, but most people here are used to it. You do get great service there, you can always ask for help and advice from the staff and the selection is rather good. Since it's a state monopoly they are also required to import anything you would like just for you.

Of course, alcohol is available in a bar or pub, just like in other countries. But like most things, that's really expensive here in Sweden. People here tend to have something that we Swedes call a pre-party, like a party at home before going to the pub or a bar.

But I don't know why I'm talking so much about this, I don't even drink alcohol anymore. I gave that up some years ago. I'm not very rigid about it though. But it just feels like poison to my body. I don't miss it. Even though beer used to be my favorite drink (probably still is) and I also used to party a lot when I was younger. My lifestyle has really changed a lot. Anyway, moving on.

Do you see the bird between the towers?

Under this bridge, homeless people usually sleep. It must be so hard during winter.

This is a nice building that I like. Some activity was going on inside.

And in the chapel as well. At least I think so, the lights were on.

Ok, that's it for this Wednesday Walk. Many more to come in 2023 🙂

Thanks for reading 🌸

Love and blessings to you all 💚