Stockholm sweden

 Yes — this photograph is from Stockholm, Sweden, and I can now identify the unusual sculpture more confidently.

The colourful cow is part of CowParade Stockholm 2004, an international public-art exhibition in which life-sized fibreglass cows were painted by different artists and displayed around the city. Stockholm hosted the event in 2004, with dozens of decorated cows placed in public locations. 

The particular cow in the

photograph appears to be “Flower Lover Cow,” by Swedish artist Jeanette Karsten. It is a very colourful design with flowers and figures covering the body, and the official CowParade catalogue confirms that Flower Lover Cow was created for Stockholm 2004. 

So this is another lovely memory from the Sweden trip. The cobbled street, historic buildings and the enormous painted cow make the photograph particularly characteristic of old Stockholm.

Dancing and Singing in the Rain — World Music Day in Sweden 

World Music Day, celebrated every year on 21 June, began in France in 1982 as the Fête de la Musique—the Festival of Music. What started as a French celebration soon spread across the world. On this day, music leaves the concert halls and comes out into the streets. Professional musicians, amateurs, singers, bands and ordinary people all become part of the celebration.

One such day, we happened to be in Sweden.

My friend Roopa and I suddenly found ourselves becoming part of the celebrations. We did not know anyone there, and certainly nobody knew us. But music has a wonderful way of making strangers feel like friends. We joined the crowd, cheering, singing and enjoying ourselves as though we had been part of the celebration all along.

And then came the rain!

We were carrying two huge umbrellas bearing the name of the company where our husbands had been undergoing training. We had been given these umbrellas just before leaving the factory. Little did we know that they would make us the most noticeable people in the gathering.

We danced and sang in the rain, completely forgetting about shopping or sightseeing. We were simply enjoying the moment.

Our rather unusual umbrellas caught the attention of two Americans, who came up to us and began talking to us. For a while, the four of us shared the same infectious spirit of the celebration.

Looking back, it is one of those travel memories that has remained fresh in our minds—not because we visited a famous monument or bought something special, ( here I must add that I did buy a woolen cap for my husband, the shops were all in a posh area so we did not get anything useful and fitting our budget)but because, for a few wonderful hours, we became part of Sweden's celebration of music.

Instead of shopping, we were dancing and singing in the rain.

What fun times they were!

Ice hotel in Sweden. We were both walking along with 15 others from our group and one young very handsome boy approaches us and asks are you from India. We say yes. Do you know sharuk Khan will you introduce me to him. We tell him you are yourself more handsome than sharukkhan young man go enjoy your life. 

At the hotel we are treated to a drink red and yellow separated by white in ice glases. What an experience it was. 

Roopa in the back ground Narsim and me.