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Embracing autumn in northern Europe


Many choices on an autumn day in Stockholm, Sweden.

Since leaving the Netherlands on September 25th I have been in 5 other countries and during that time autumn has been increasingly in evidence, with gradual changing of leaves and lowering of temperatures. Some days have been decidedly nippy. As well as leaves, acorns and chestnuts have been falling from the appropriate trees.

Oak leaves in Riga, Latvia.

Canadians note: many of the falling leaves are maple.

There are still plenty of visitors to the sites of interest in the various cities but fewer are opting to eat outdoors and there is less street entertainment than in summer.

Pumpkin soup al fresco at the Berlin Botanical Garden.

Restaurants offer blankets to outdoor diners whose numbers are diminishing.

Street musicians in Warsaw dressed warmly.

From a bus window in Riga, Latvia I saw a women on the street with a bouquet of asters and had a memory flash of taking similar bouquets to school in the fall during my childhood. I later saw such bouquets in the market. I have visited several markets, the most fascinating being in Riga. The flower area of the huge outdoor/indoor market there was wonderful and I wanted to buy some flowers, a very impractical idea when I planned to be out for hours yet.

Asters are a familiar fall flower - these ones in Riga, Latvia market.

Pumpkins, gourds and autumn wreaths in Stockholm flower market.

Freshly harvested fruit and vegetables were in abundance in the Riga market. I saw cranberries and loved the smell of dill and of the various pickled vegetables for sale. While I was buying a small bag of freshly picked and shelled walnuts, which were delicious, a man delivered to the stall a huge sack of them still in shells. My hosts in Vilnius gave me the best apple juice I have ever tasted which they had made from local apples. In Gdansk, Poland I enjoyed grapes from the garden of my hosts.

Cranberries for sale in Riga market.

Apples on the tree in Riga.

As is my usual practice in a new city, I am doing plenty of walking to explore. Shop windows and outdoor markets are displaying cold weather clothing while I am keeping warm dressing in layers with a rain coat over two fleece jackets. My umbrella has been handy on the few rainy days while my pashmina has given me a warm head covering on the most recent days. I did buy a cheap pair of gloves in a supermarket. This is turning out to be a most rewarding autumn.

Walking in a city park in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Warm knitwear for sale in Gdansk, Poland and Vilnius.

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