fraser noted our troubles getting

fraser noted our troubles getting to sweden via discount airline ryanair so i won't take that any further. it wasn't really that bad, and we had no worries getting back. i'd give 'em another go. i could point out that i had more difficulty getting from chicago to philadelphia yesterday on american, who seemed to have adopted the line from thomas wolfe "you can't go home again" as their new company policy.

but on to nicer things. stockholm was lovely. everything was surrounded by water, surely fraser has regaled you all with his facts - the city is made up of thousands of islands, etc and so on... we stayed on a boat, so each day the view from our little porthole window over to the gamla stan "old town" waterfront was as beautiful as any postcard.

we visited skansen on saturday. call us victims of hype, but we saw an ad on the t-bana that quoted national geographic traveler as follows: "if you only have one day in stockholm, spend it at skansen." well, hell. with that recommendation, we hardly felt ready to pass it up when we had the better part of *four* days on our hands. it was pretty cool. we saw baby wild boars.

we fed an apple to an enormous swan that was sleeping on the edge of a lake. it wasn't afraid even when we stood just a few feet away from it. some white faced ducks ate right from fraser's hands. we walked around a park for quite a long time and i think might have been lost for a while although neither of us would admit it.

most of the best things we saw and did were at kulturhuset, which was just an incredibly beautiful building housing some thoughtful and creative endeavors. it is located right in the center of stockholm above the t-centraal train/bus station - there is a large courtyard and fountain below it. there are a couple of cafe and restaurant areas inside with city views to die for, we also saw a very funky exhibit on organizing shoes, if you happen to have 250 identical pairs of black doc marten boots. fraser lost his wallet and then claimed English heritage all on the same day. the thrills, i though they'd never end.

the first days we were there a huge NHL exhibition was taking place, which was a bit surreal. my first day in stockholm i got to see the dallas stars take on the tampa bay lightning in a friendly game of roller hockey as frenzied global teens drank coke and tried out EA's NHL 2001.

similarly, our every attempt to find swedish meatballs was thwarted by another round of burger king, mcdonalds, or pizza hut. we couldn't find traditional swedish food to save our life. anytime we did the place was closed. thankfully we had hearty and delicious breakfasts each morning or i think we might have gone insane. almost every other meal found us sitting on a curb munching something bought from 7-11 or a cafe that was closing as we bought our food. did i mention the rain falling on our heads as we ate?

discounting food issues, however, stockholm was brilliant and would have been great fun had it stopped raining long enough for us to enjoy walking around a bit more. definitely a destination for later, when we have more time.

Tuesday 14-Aug-01