Pugsworth in Sweden

Another little bonus addition to my trip. This was something I was hoping to do to visit friends I met in Japan earlier this year and when someone mentioned that Ryan Air had some 2 pound flights to Stockholm, I was on it like a shot. The tickets cost me fifty pounds return, cause I only got a 2 pound ticket one way plus tax but that’s still a great deal. So I’ve just had a marvelous week in Sweden.

A short interlude though just to say that I had five nights in London between the GA and going to Sweden, this was to find the best time to fit in with my Swedish friends. this was a nice relaxed time to have some space and a few days to do some last things in London, mostly museums (and a bit of catching up on the internet and with my journal which was two weeks behind). I finished off Tate Modern and the Science Museum, did the Museum of London which was quite interesting and started on the Museum of Natural History which looks fascinating. I also saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace and the Guildhall. Then I spent my last day suddenly realising I needed to get ready for Sweden, including finding accommodation close to Stansted (for my early flight) and also preferably close to a bike shop as I planned to put my bike for a service, which would also solve the problem of storing it for a week. After taking ages trying to decide what would be best, I rang two hostels who had no free beds. I ended up with a bed n Cambridge half an hour by train from Stansted and could arrive there by 4:30 with half an hour to find a bikeshop somewhere! When I arrived I left the train station and headed for town, within 2 minutes I saw a sign to the youth hostel I had booked so went there and asked where the nearest bikeshop was – next door!!! It couldn’t have worked better, a hostel next to a bikeshop five minutes walk from the station, half an hour from the airport. And the guy at the bikeshop even let me leave some excess baggage within him instead of paying seven pounds to leave it at the hostel. With that all organised I then I had a beautiful evening walking around Cambridge. I had a real feeling of excitement of being in this historic place and then flying to Stockholm in the morning, I love Europe.

And I really love Stockholm! a beautiful city with lots of water and fantastic architecture. After all of England’s impressive but grey and boring churches and gothic buildings Sweden’s red, orange, yellow and even pink buildings are a delight to the eye, so much colour! And the spires are all interesting and unique, with all sorts of curved onion type tops and other features (imagine a bit of Russian influence I think – or maybe the other way around as apparently St Petersburg was originally built by the Swedes, or something). Stephan is studying to be a history teacher and was full of interesting bits of information like this and made a great guide for a couple of days.

Mostly though I spent time with my friends, we had a great time catching up and reliving and deepening our experiences from Japan which all felt noone else could really understand without having been there with us. This was the first time they had all seen each other too as they were all from different parts of Sweden, Pernilla from Stockholm, who I stayed with, Stephan from Uppsala, Josefine from Orebro and Kristina from Borlange in Darlana. We really only had one lunchtime with all five of us as that was all we could get everyone’s calendars to align for but it was amazing to all be together again.

I spent most of my time in Stockholm seeing different things and just hanging out with the others but managed to have a day in Uppsala with Stephan, and a day in Darlana, the heart of Sweden with Kristina as well as a day in the Archipeligos of Sweden. Five out of seven days were absolutely perfect weather, blue sky, sunshine about mid to high 20s with a cool breeze, fairly typical for Stockholm this time of year apparently and perfect for sitting in the park, exploring the islands of the Archipeligos or the lakes and forests of Darlana. There was a lot to see and this became my focus after Stephan and Josefine had gone for their holidays in Germany and Denmark respectively. I could easily spend a couple of weeks exploring Darlana and at least a month enjoying the summer in the islands of the archipeligos.

I also enjoyed some snapshots of the local music scene. For maybe the first time ever I bought a CD completely impromptually off some buskers on the street. Four guys, Double bass, violin, guitar and vocals playing some funky jazz stuff, dressed very bohemian and just oozing fun. We couldn’t stop and listen but I knew instantly it would sound great on CD as well as live. Then on Saturday night Pernilla and I went out to see one of her friends playing trombone as a guest with a group who played what they called African Jazz. the gig was at an outdoor restaurant on a waterfront where you bought the food and then BBQ’d it yourself. It was a feast of the senses, a fantastic view of the sun shining on forest over water, great BBQ smells, great tasting food, great service and best of all – the music. A 9 piece group, vocals, sax (alto and baritone alternated), trombone, guitar, keyboard, bass, bongos x2 and kit. They were all very talented individuals, unique personalities but worked so well together. We heard solos from everyone except the bass player and they were al capable of playing strong supporting roles as well. At times the music bordered on the edge of complete chaos but still held together, so many different sounds in one. I always love brass to the trombone was my favourite and also was great when mixed with the Baritone Sax, but the keyboardist and guitarist were also notable. I could not stop moving all night, lost in the music and was exhausted by the end of it just from riding this long buzz or emotional high, definitely the best night of my trip so far and one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to.

There was so much to see. I felt on the go nonstop for the whole week, continually having a great time but I couldn’t do everything this trip and will clearly have to come back for another visit and a longer stay.

Thanks Sweden!