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Taking time to live well
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Halloween | Alla Helgons Dag

Lottie Storey October 19, 2017

In Sweden, instead of celebrating All Hallow’s Eve, they commemorate Alla Helgons Dag - All Saints’ Day - an altogether more gentle, thoughtful affair

How to do Alla Helgons Dag at home

  • If you’re not comfortable walking through a cemetery at night, take a walk through your nearest graveyard before it gets dark and contemplate the people you’ve lost as well as those you still have around you. Come home to a cosy fire and light a candle in honour of each person you want to remember.
  • Create a miniature shrine to your lost loved ones including a photograph, a candle and perhaps a couple of mementoes. Use the evening as an opportunity to share happy memories about that person.
  • Share a candle-lit meal with the loved ones you still have around you – Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes and lingonberry jam would be just the thing. Raise a glass to those you’ve loved and lost.

Turn to page 60 of October's The Simple Things for more on Alla Helgons Dag.

  Buy ,  download  or  subscribe   See the sample of our latest issue  here   Buy a copy of our latest anthology:  A Year of Celebrations   Buy a copy of  Flourish 2 , our wellbeing bookazine  Listen to  our podcast  - Small Ways to Live Well

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here

 

More from the October issue:

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Recipe | Lamb hotpot and mustardy greens
Nov 14, 2020
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Oct 31, 2020
Halloween | Simple spells
Oct 31, 2020
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Nov 29, 2017
Christmas | Giftwrapped subscriptions to The Simple Things
Nov 29, 2017
Nov 29, 2017

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In Think Tags issue 64, october, halloween, sweden, traditions
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My City: Stockholm botels

Lottie Storey May 18, 2016

Enjoy a spell of midsummer magic as the sun shines in Sweden's cool capital city. Turn to page 62 of June's The Simple Things for a tour around Stockholm with Lola Akinmade Åkerstrom.

Nigerian-born Lola (lolaakinmade.com) is an award-winning writer and photographer whose work appears in National Geographic Traveler, The Guardian and many more. She is the editor of Slow Travel Stockholm (slowtravelstockholm.com). 

Lola says:

Stockholm has some fantastic boat hotels called botels, which are refurbished remnants of the city’s nautical past, now used as modern-day lodgings. 

A list of some botels in Stockholm worth checking out - http://www.slowtravelstockholm.com/historical-stockholm/staying-afloat-stockholms-botels/

Read more from the June issue:

Featured
Jun 19, 2016
Don't mind that roses have thorns, be glad that thorns have roses
Jun 19, 2016
Jun 19, 2016
Jun 13, 2016
Recipe: Lavender lemonade
Jun 13, 2016
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Jun 8, 2016
Gardening: Make your own organic fertiliser
Jun 8, 2016
Jun 8, 2016
  Buy ,  download  or  subscribe   See the sample of our latest issue  here   Buy a copy of our latest anthology:  A Year of Celebrations   Buy a copy of  Flourish 2 , our wellbeing bookazine  Listen to  our podcast  - Small Ways to Live Well

Get hold of your copy of this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

View the sampler here

In Escape Tags issue 48, june, My City, stockholm, sweden
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Win! A week exploring Sweden's West Coast (ended 15 April 2016)

Lottie Storey February 17, 2016

This month’s winner will travel along West Sweden’s sublime Bohuslän coast, courtesy of Inntravel

The Bohuslän coastline in West Sweden is an eye-pleasing confection of bright-blue sea and more than 8,000 granite islands, many of them dotted with traditional red wooden fishermen’s cottages. Inland, cocoa-coloured cliffs shelter mysterious Bronze Age rock carvings, while the ports of Fjällbacka and Fiskebäckskil are ideal jumping points for a number of exciting island-hopping adventures.

We have teamed up with Inntravel to offer one lucky reader and a companion the chance to explore this sublime coast by car, with opportunities to visit remote islands by boat, savour possibly the best seafood in Europe, enjoy memorable views, and learn about the region’s rich sea-faring past. You will stay in two atmospheric waterfront hotels, and in the city of Gothenburg.

You start with three nights in the pretty coastal town of Fjällbacka, from where you can discover the craggily beautiful Koster Islands on foot or by bike, or explore the Kosterhavet Marine National Park by sea kayak. Leaving Fjällbacka, you drive south to reach the bustling harbour of Fiskebäckskil for the next three nights. Here, you have time to relax on golden sands, perhaps, or to embark upon a seafood safari with local fishermen, before dining on succulent seafood at a waterfront restaurant. Your final two nights are spent in vibrant Gothenburg, where your 24-hour City Card entitles you to free use of local transport and entry into many museums. Discover the city’s thriving café culture, its historic treasures and its growing gastronomic reputation.


HOW TO ENTER

The prize is for two people and includes flights, car hire, eight nights B&B, six dinners and a 24-hour City Card in Gothenburg. Departures from 1 June to 30 September.

Enter now!

 

Closing date 15 April 2016. For full T&Cs, see icebergpress.co.uk/comprules

 

Read more:

From the March issue

More competitions!

Sign up to our fortnightly newsletter for more competitions and offers

 

Read more in the March issue of The Simple Things, out 24 February.

Meanwhile, get hold of the February issue - buy, download or subscribe. 

In Competition Tags competition, issue 45, march, inntravel, sweden
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Featured
  Buy ,  download  or  subscribe   See the sample of our latest issue  here   Buy a copy of our latest anthology:  A Year of Celebrations   Buy a copy of  Flourish 2 , our wellbeing bookazine  Listen to  our podcast  - Small Ways to Live Well
Feb 27, 2025
Feb 27, 2025

Buy, download or subscribe

See the sample of our latest issue here

Buy a copy of our latest anthology: A Year of Celebrations

Buy a copy of Flourish 2, our wellbeing bookazine

Listen to our podcast - Small Ways to Live Well

Feb 27, 2025
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The Simple Things is published by Iceberg Press

The Simple Things

Taking time to live well

We celebrate slowing down, enjoying what you have, making the most of where you live, enjoying the company of of friends and family, and feeding them well. We like to grow some of our own vegetables, visit local markets, rummage for vintage finds, and decorate our home with the plunder. We love being outdoors and enjoy the satisfaction that comes with a job well done.

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