Stockholm Guides

“The Lord is having little joke with me”, I thought to myself as I walked past the travel shop on Crown Street last night. I was on my way to dinner with friends, and was walking past a shop not far from Oxford Street which sells “travel goods”. The shop is full of “passport covers”, “toiletry bags” and so on; the kind of things you think you would need for travel, but don’t actually. As a result, I’ve never actually bought anything from the shop, though I do enjoy window shopping. As I looked in the shop window last night, the first thing that caught my eye were a number of travel books for, you guessed it, Stockholm.

In some ways it was a lovely reminder of, and book-end to my travel experiences of the last few months. A way to draw a line in the sand and return to my “normal life”. But as much as I love my job, I’ll admit it was a little difficult returning to work today.

After weeks of waking up WITHOUT the alarm clock, there was a slight shock to my system when it was the alarm which woke me up this morning. In the lead-up to it, I had my first work-related dream in a couple of months. In the dream, I was back and working as a rural radio reporter and struggling to find some interesting people to chat to.

By about eight o’clock, having consumed breakfast, I was really starting to feel anxious about returning to work. It was like that first day back at school after the long summer holidays I used to enjoy as a child. I knew I had to go, but didn’t really want to.

Everyone was very kind at work today. They’d all “been there, done that”. They knew returning to work after a 10-week break would be hard. “You should take an early mark”, a colleague suggested. In the end it wasn’t so bad after all. I really love my job, and I genuinely like most of the people I work with. Back to life, back to reality isn’t so bad after all.

Petra Mede hosts Eurovision

“So do you think all the Eurovision Parties in Sydney will always be shit, or do you think they’ll ever get better?”, a friend of mine asked me as we shared a drink last night. She’s from England, she’s attended Eurovision, and for the last few years she’s been living in Sydney. That’s how we met, actually.

“I think the problem is that in Australia we’ve fallen for the UK-mindset about Eurovision. That it’s camp, it’s trashy, it’s tragic, and it’s terrible”, I told her. In many respects, I think the media coverage of Eurovision treats the contest as a bit of a joke. It’s ABBA. It’s Disco Balls. It’s Mardi Gras. It’s all of that “stuff” you laugh at if you want to re-inforce an insular world-view.

Having been to a few of the bigger parties in Sydney over the last few years, I’ve yet to find one that takes the contest seriously. A contest where they don’t rely on the usual cliches about tacky costumes, bad English, and so-called “voting blocks”. The reality of this year’s contest is that Eurovision is generally speaking very slick, sophisticated, and definitely not the “amateur hour” that’s it’s often portrayed to be.

This is particularly the case with this year’s contest hosted by Petra Mede, who I think should be made the permanent host of Eurovision. She’s such a class act. She delivers the script beautifully, but then she can also deliver a wonderful dead-pan remark right off the cuff. For example, when one of the country officials was delivering the votes and was gushing about how good the contest was, she simply said “Oh that’s nice”. And when it was clear next year’s contest would be held in Denmark, she simply said “That’s twenty minutes down the road”.

One of the great highlights of this year’s concert was the interval act. Through a song and dance number, Petra sought to explain Sweden to the rest of the world. Of course, there were lots of jokes about ABBA, IKEA, Vikings, The Muppet Chef (and so on), but there were also some very funny jokes which probably made little sense outside of Scandinavia. The recycling, the queues, not talking on public transport, meatballs “seasoned with a bit of horse”. The bit about milk? It’s because something like 60% of the Swedish population is lactose intolerant, the highest level in the world, apparently. I’ve watched the clip several times now, and every time I watch it, I pick up a new line. Fantastic stuff, which showed the Swedes could laugh at themselves with sophistication.

The last time I really enjoyed an interval act was when Norway hosted the contest and they staged an international flash mob. In stark contrast to the humour of Petra’s half-time act, this was a beautifully touching moment about Europe coming together in song.

I eschewed the ritual of watching the SBS delayed Sunday night telecast of the Eurovision Song Contest this year and instead got up early to watch the contest live. As the votes from the different countries coming through were beginning to indicate Denmark was probably going to win I faced the dilemma: I couldn’t actually remember the song. In contrast, there were lovely sweet songs like “Tomorrow” by Gianluca Bezzina from Malta and “Love Kills” by Roberto Bellarosa from Belgium; the vocally amazing performance of “It’s My Life” by Romanian counter-tenor, Cezar; and the pop protest, “Marry Me” by Krista Sigfrieds from Finland. Despite the earlier memory-loss, I finally remembered the winning song. It’s quite good, though I doubt it will go down in history as one of the great moments of Eurovision.

Having watched it earlier in the morning, I was able to spend my Sunday in a fairly normal way. I didn’t have to avoid the media all day for spoilers and I didn’t have to sit up until nearly mid-night to find out the results. Personally, I would love to see SBS do what they’ve done with the Academy Awards, The Grammys and so on, and run it live, and then replay it later at night. The media world has changed, and the idea of people having to wait twelve hours to know the results is all a bit silly. They could run the version without commentary at 5am, and then have Sam and Julia on, as per usual on Sunday night. I doubt it would have much of an impact on night-time viewing figures.

Robin Stjernberg, Martin Rolinski, Shirley Clamp and others at the opening of The ABBA Museum in Stockholm

It’s no wonder Sweden won last year. Loreen had a great song in “Euphoria” which she performed very, very well. In ten or twenty years time, I’m pretty sure it will be regarded as one of the “great moments” of Eurovision.

Even though “You” by Robin Stjernberg isn’t in the same league, of course I’ll be supporting Sweden in this year’s contest. I figure following Eurovision is like following a footy team – you choose your team and you stick with them through good and bad.

It’s not that “You” is bad, it’s just that it’s not as good as “Euphoria”. I quite like the song actually. I think it’s very catchy, had a terrific “yodel” piece in the middle, and I think Robin has a good voice. I hope he does well, especially as I have fond memories of being in the audience when he emerged as the winner in the nail-biting Swedish final. The last time I attended a Melodifestivalen final was the year Sweden failed to quality for the first time ever for the Eurovision final. I hope I haven’t jinxed him.

In contrast with previous years I have no great plans for watching the contest as it’s replayed on Australian television on Sunday night. Instead, I’ve decided to get up early and watch it live via Swedish TV. I can understand how important it is for countries where English isn’t widely spoken to have a local translation. But since the contest is almost completely delivered in English (with occasional bits of French), I don’t feel the need (personally) for having an additional English-language commentary.

And besides, I’m sick of spending all those Sundays avoiding the news with our delayed telecast. I think it would be great if SBS offered a live feed (without commentary) on the Sunday morning for those freaks (like me) willing to get up early to watch it. The hard-core audience is small enough so that it wouldn’t have much of an impact (if any) on the Sunday night screening.

Lycka till Sverige!

Sydney Opera House

“It’s all too easy to take a nice photograph in Sydney”, I thought to myself as I walked around Circular Quay yesterday. A minute or so earlier I’d been stopped by a tourist who asked if I’d take a photograph of him with the Opera House in the background. Too easy. And as I made my way towards the Sydney Harbour Bridge, I looked over at the Opera House, and there it was, with a stunning cloudy sky in the background, and a woman wearing a head-scarf, sitting by herself, chatting on a mobile phone. “The photograph could have taken it itself”, I thought.

I was in the area, having enjoyed a bite to eat to earlier, and was looking forward to a wander around the Museum of Contemporary Art. There’s a major photographic exhibition there at the moment of works by Jeff Wall. Unfortunately, I wasn’t all that excited by his photographs. They were interesting, but not stunning.

Guan Wei installation at MCA

I was more interested to see they’re currently installing a mural/wall-painting by the artist, Guan Wei. As a lot of Guan Wei’s art-works deal with issues of national identity and migration, the MCA (located at the so-called “birthplace” of “Modern Australia”) will be a good place to see his work highlighted.

For me, it’s been a lovely week of visiting galleries, going out for lunch and dinner with friends, and generally settling back into life in Sydney. After a couple of months of travel, you would have thought it might have been a quite difficult, but the weather in Sydney has been spectacular. I’ve also been developing a nice little routine which revolves around waking up reasonably early and making as much of the day as possible.

A long the way I’ve made a couple of interesting discoveries this week have included the new $5 lunch menu at the Bat & Ball Hotel. I recognised one of the barman there as having previously worked at Surry Hill’s “Trinity Hotel”, and when I got home and had a look at their website I discovered they were now owned by the same people. That’s good to see, as the people at the Trinity Hotel having been running a good operation there for over a decade. “Do you still go to the Elephant’s Foot” (as it was previously called), a friend asked me last weekend. It was then I realised it’s been The Trinity since at least 2000, I’m sure. Anyway, the $5 lunch at The Bat & Ball is quite good value.

Sydney as viewed from Westfield Bondi Junction

I also had lunch the other day with a friend at Kelly’s Hotel on the top floor of the Westfield Shopping Centre in Bondi Junction. With only a handful of people there for lunch, we enjoyed wonderful views over the city, warm sunshine from a window seat, and an excellent caesar salad.

I also re-visited Xage, a terrific Vietnamese restaurant on Crown Street. We then had a drink at one of the new bars, the appropriately named Gay Bar on Oxford Street. “It’s just like Spray and Wipe”, I told my friend… “With a name like Gay Bar you know exactly what it’s about…”

Agnetha Fältskog

Three songs have emerged as favourites for me, as I’ve listened “properly” to the new album by Agnetha Fältskog over the last couple of weeks.

The first single, “When you really loved someone” is one of those great pop ballads about love gone wrong. The video tells the story of an older, wiser woman offering advice to a younger woman who is going through the traumas of a relationship break-up. As the video features a 70′s/Swedish looking couple, you can’t help but think it’s a song for Agnetha’s younger-self who perhaps spent a lot of her life regretting her own relationship break-ups over the years. As I travelled over the last few weeks, it was a song that came into my head many times. The chorus, in particular, is very catchy.

I’m hoping “Dance your pain away” will be the new song to be released as a single. There’s a 70′s feel to this one also, in the disco beat and in the strings. There’s also a musical flourish half way through which reminds you of ABBA”s “Does your mother know”. There’s not a lot to the lyrics, describing someone who discovers their partner “in the restroom with another one”. Rather than walk out and cause a scene, the person is advised to dance their pain away. Even though the lyrics a little “weird” (no one would actually say what she says in real life, and the d-d-d-dance bit is a little forced), it has a killer chorus. I also genuinely “believe” the performance, in the same way you can hear the desperation in her performance in “Gimme, Gimme, Gimme”. It’s very catchy and great fun, and it’s a song I’ve been playing over and over.

I’ve also been playing the following track on the album, “Bubble” over and over again. Even though both tracks are quite different they follow nicely. I love the way “Bubble” goes from a very simple stripped back lyric and musical presentation to something very big and bold all within a pop song that’s only a few minutes long.

Were it not for the fact it’s Agnetha, there are some songs on the album I wouldn’t normally like. Although tracks like “The One Who Loves You Now”, “Past Forever” and “I Should Have Followed You Home” (the duet with Gary Barlow) have nice melodies, they’re a little “wimpy”, a little “sacharine” for my tastes these days. Nice songs, but not really “me”. I love the whistling (very Peter John and Bjorn-esque) in “Perfume in the breeze”.

As I’ve listened to “A”, two other albums have sprung to mind: Agnetha’s 1975 solo album, “Elva kvinnor i ett hus” (Eleven women in a house), and Frida’s 1996 “comeback album”, “Djupa andetag” (Deep breaths).

“Elva kvinnor i ett hus” is one of my all time favourite ABBA-releated releases. The album contains a good variety of pop songs, which are sung well, and which are held together by the idea the album is about the lives and experiences of eleven women who live in a house. Remarkably, since it’s almost forty years later, Agnetha’s voice doesn’t sound all that different now than from when she recorded this album.

“Djupa andetag” is another of my all time favourite ABBA-releated releases. In common with “A”, “Djupa andetag” was very much a come back album for Frida. Also in common, the lyrics were often about being older, wiser, and stronger. Both albums have been written and produced by the same team. This gives the album a “consistency” which is perhaps lacking from some of both of their 1980s which were tended to be a “grab bag” of good songs from a range of song-writers, although they were usually produced and recorded by the same team.

The bottom line is this a wonderfully consistently good album, and one which I’m really enjoying listening to very much, even if I do skip a couple of tracks from time to time.

The thing which has amazed me about this whole experience is how Agnetha has gone from the so-called “recluse” who avoids appearances in public and who fears flying, to someone able to re-engage fairly strongly with the promotional experience. “I want the name of the therapist she’s been seeing”, a friend joked the other day. It’s nice to have her “back”.

As we count down to this weekend’s Eurovision Song Contest, I’m still a little disappointed Sweden didn’t have the guts to choose Army Of Lovers as their entrant. The song is only three minutes long, but so much happens in that time: blatant lip-syncing, lewd gestures, overly padded crotches, Lion King costumes, a same-sex kiss, a bizarre bit of spoken word lyric, and more. The song is also very catchy. Now the contest is dominated by “Idol” and “X-Factor” winners, Eurovision needs a little more “whacky”, I think.

Ron Mueck – untitled (old woman in bed) 2000-2002 at AGNSW

As I walked around the city today, I thought about the ways in which my life could be “different” as I return to work next week.

In some ways, these last few months away from work have been similar to the feelings I had about travelling for a lengthy period during 2008. My big “resolution” from that trip was to make sure I went out for lunch every day. To actually leave the building, rather than sit at my desk and continue to work as I ate my food. I kept it up for quite a long period of time, until I finally ended up back where I started from. I suspect that’s why I became so exhausted/grumpy in the weeks and months leading to this latest trip.

Juan Munoz – piggy back right 1996 at AGNSW

My “resolution” from this trip is to make sure I do that again. I’ve also “resolved” to sitting down and enjoying my morning coffee, rather than picking up some take-away which I consumed while my computer “booted up” every morning. I’ve also “resolved” to spend a little of every day in some “green space”. As a country boy who’s now spent a lot of his life in a concrete space, there’s still something deep inside me which yearns for, and enjoys the outdoors. I’ve “resolved” this time around to do more “walks” in green areas around Sydney, and to go away more on the weekends. On a day to day basis, I think I want to spend more time sitting in, lying down, and walking in parks.

As the weather was so good, I noticed there were lots of people sitting, enjoying the sunshine in Hyde Park today. “I need to do that more”, I thought to myself, as I watched them sitting down, enjoying picnic lunches, having a nap, and going on their lunchtime power walks. I even did a bit of it myself, as I made my way to the Art Gallery of NSW.

I figured with a week off to “do my thing” before I return to walk, it would be a good idea to visit a few galleries, as well as the planned catch ups I have for lunch and dinner with friends.

Shen Shaomin opening at Sydney’s 4A Gallery

I’m not sure why but I spent a lot of the visit concentrating on sculptures in the gallery. Although the photographs and paintings command a lot of attention, and while some people see the sculptures as little more than “decoration”, I really enjoyed my time concentrating on them. There’s a couple of very beautiful works in the downstairs gallery, including the compelling Ron Mueck work of the older woman (dying?) covered in a blanket. I was also really pleased to see they’ve purchased the Shen Shaomin work, also of an older woman near death, which I saw in the exhibition at 4A a couple of years ago.

Having enjoyed a wonderful afternoon at the gallery, I settled down in the outside cafe for a lovely coffee. Here’s to more of that, I say…

Lunch at Pasteur

“Which one is Pasteur?”, I heard one workmate ask another, as we headed towards George Street. “Oh, you know, it’s the Vietnamese place next to the sex shop…” As I looked up and saw the sign for the Pleasure Chest or whatever it’s called, a voice inside my laughed. She was right.

As we sat down and ate some very delicious food, I was reminded of the blog post I wrote before leaving for Europe. I knew then what I know now: that we are blessed for good food in Sydney. As I travelled around Europe, I really missed the great food from Asia we enjoy in Sydney. Tasty, fresh, and with a bit of a spice to it. And it’s cheap. Lunch today was just $12. How good is that?

That said, there are some foods which I enjoyed in Europe which I’ll miss. In particular, there’s a wonderful creamy cheese in Sweden called Carolineost, which I absolutely adored. And when I went looking to re-stock my kitchen last night, I was very sad to see nothing in the way of those wonderful heavy European breads which I enjoyed eating most days while I was away.

“Cucumber is my favourite food”, I told people over lunch today. In the same way lemon and lime are used to flavour water in Australia, I noticed Lebanese-style cucumber was used to flavour tap water in a number of cafes and restaurants I visited in Sweden. It’s a nice food-thing I picked up which I’m happy to bring back though…

Food is important, eh?

Central Station, Sydney

“It’s such a long way to Australia”, people kept telling me as I travelled around Europe over the last two months. “It’s only twenty-four hours in the plane, and I made it”, I kept telling them. Having now arrived back in Sydney after what seems like days of travelling, I’m beginning to see their point.

After the excitement of the ABBA Museum Opening on Monday night, the morning after headlines were very much about the non-appearance of Agnetha Fältskog. On the red/pink carpet, Frida took a swipe at Agnetha’s record company, Universal Music. As reported in Expressen, Frida says she thinks they (Universal) missed a real opportunity in organising Agnetha’s schedule. She could have been in Sweden with the others, but instead she’s in London promoting her new album, appearing on radio, television, and in newspapers. There was even a nightclub appearance (though she didn’t sing) at legendary nightclub, G-A-Y.

ABBA Museum Headline

– Jag tycker Universal har gjort en miss som inte såg till att hennes schema blev så att hon kunde vara här. Men det är ju som det är, det är inte så mycket att göra.
Universal är Agnetha Fältskogs skivbolag och hon släpper om en dryg vecka sitt nya album “A” genom dem och är i London för att marknadsföra albumet. Anni-Frid Lyngstad önskar dock sin före detta bandkollega lycka till innan hon avslutar intervjun. Jag bara önskar att allt går bra för henne i England och att hon har en stor succé.

Despite her sadness Agnetha wasn’t there, Frida wishes her all the best in England, and hope that it will be a big success. A spokesperson for Universal Music says the promotional tour was organised before details of the museum opening were confirmed.

Det är synd att hon inte är här så klart. Vi skulle vilja att hon var här, men Agnethas promotion var bestämt långt innan det här datumet var bestämt, säger Mia Segolsson, marknadschef på Polar music till Expressen.se.

I actually don’t buy that argument at all. The May 7 opening was confirmed in November last year. It’s about three hours between London and Stockholm. It could have been twenty-four hours of travelling at most, with a few extra hours of travel either side. If I was one of the media people who’d organised an interview with her, I would have gladly agreed to a trip to Stockholm instead. The bottom line is, that aside from their appearance together at the Swedish opening of the “Mamma Mia” movie, there seems to be an agreement all four of them will never appear in public again. It’s only ever two or three at a time.

I spent my final hours in Stockholm hanging out with Gustav. I joked with him about my idea all four members of ABBA have a Grindr-like app on their phones which tell them whenever an ABBA fan is close-by. Profiles of well-known fans appear on the screen and it tells them exactly where they are, so they can be avoided. Gustav laughed and added, the same app also probably prevents them from being in the same spot at the same time.

Hanging with Gustav in Stockholm

Hanging out with Gustav was a really lovely way to spend my last few hours. We enjoyed a bite to eat at Cafe Sirap, which is just across the road from where I first stayed when I moved to Stockholm. It’s a really terrific cafe, with good food, and lovely company. After a lengthy walk and a chat, we had a drink together in Gamla Stan. After picking up my luggage, we bid each other farewell.

The final day’s weather in Stockholm was absolutely gorgeous. Even though I’d started the day wearing a hoodie, I’d pretty much ditched it by lunchtime. As I made my way to airport, I was both happy to be returning home (my own house, my own bed) but also a little sad.

It’s been a really wonderful trip. I loved travelling with my friend Sue. Although we’ve known each other for over thirty years, she lives in Melbourne and I live in Sydney. I felt this trip brought us closer together again in many ways. I also felt I made a really genuine friendship with Sandra and Robert on this trip. Even though we’ve met before, and have maintained an internet friendship, I’ve had a period of time where I’ve got to hang out with them, and to get to know them better also. And guess what? I really like them. Sandra sent me a farewell text, as I waited in line at Arlanda Airport.

These sleeping chairs at Beijing Airport are awesome.

The next thirty-six hours were a combination of flying and travel time. Nine hours from Stockholm to Beijing. Six hours in Beijing. Eleven hours back from Beijng to Sydney. As always, I slept pretty much all the way. When I arrived back in Sydney this morning, I felt pretty good. The house was left in a beautiful condition by Sarah (thankyou sincerely), and I even popped down to the supermarket tonight to get some food.

I couldn’t wait, though, to ditch the clothes I’ve been wearing far too regularly over the last few months. Nonetheless I’ve had a couple of hours of napping throughout the day, and so I’m feeling quite normal in terms of my body’s timezone and travel adjustment.

I don’t have to go back to work until May 20, and so I’m looking forward to hanging out around Sydney over the next week or so.

I’ve had a wonderful time travelling. The big challenge I’ve set myself, which I wrote down on the note-taker on my phone is this: “Can I take the enthusiasm and excitement I feel about my life when I travel, and bring it back to the way I live my life when I’m in Sydney?”. Here’s hoping.

Fireworks for the ABBA Museum Opening

It’s late Monday night, my final night in Sweden (sadly), and I’ve just arrived home from the music, fireworks and celebrity-spotting of the official opening of the long-awaited ABBA Museum.

The idea for a permanent ABBA Museum in Stockholm has been around since the end of 2006. The original idea was for the museum to inhabit the space now occupied by the city’s Fotografiska Museet. When that didn’t prove to be economically viable, the organisers launched a number of short-term exhibition spaces in a number of countries including two quite different exhibitions in both Melbourne and Sydney.

In Melbourne the exhibition was very much about the global story of ABBA (with a lot of Swedish language material); while in Sydney it was very much about the story of ABBA in Australia. Here in Stockholm, it’s very much the global story once again, though probably not as comprehensive as it was in Melbourne. In Melbourne, for example, there was a fair bit of material covering their individual careers after ABBA.

Owe Sandström, costume designer, chatted with fans about his work with ABBA.

Naturally, there’s a fair bit of Australia in the exhibition here, due to the amazing success ABBA enjoyed, and because “ABBA – The Movie” was filmed mostly in Australia. There’s quite a good quote attributed to Bjorn in the exhibition. Reflecting on the record-breaking 14-weeks “Fernando” spent at number one on the Australia charts, Bjorn is quoted as saying something along the lines of how they have been forever grateful for the Australian “kick-start” to their career at a time when there wasn’t much interest in the group outside Sweden.

Of course you see the costumes, the gold records, the photographs and so on. You also get to see some of the recreated spaces from the story of ABBA, including the offices of Polar Music and the famous island shack in the Stockholm Archipelago where Bjorn and Benny composed many of their songs. These are lovely spaces, indeed.

There’s also some lovely intimate touches in the new museum. A few weeks ago, speaking at the International ABBA Day, curator Ingmarie Halling mentioned two of them. “If you’re in the ABBA Museum and you’re standing near the Ring Ring exhibit, you should answer the phone, as it’s probably going to be Frida. And if you see the piano suddenly playing, it’s gonna be Benny doing it remotely”, she told us.

The Arrival Helicopter

The telephone call from Frida (or indeed any member of ABBA, as “they all have the number”, we were told) was inspired by a John Lennon exhibition in New York. When Frida heard that Yoko Ono would sometimes call the telephone there and speak randomly to people visiting the exhibition, she replied instantly that she would love to do that also.

“You want to start a riot?”, I said to a friend, as we stood near the telephone during the fan club preview on Friday. “I have an old fashioned ring tone on my phone. You go over there, stand next to the phone, and when I play the ring tone you answer it”, I joked with him. Of course we didn’t do that, as that would be cruel, but it gave us quite a laugh.

Ingmarie mentioned how all four members of ABBA had been interviewed for the exhibition, and how she was constantly checking facts to make sure everything was just right. She told us, for example, the lengths she went to trying to find out the real story about the transformation of the famous white piano from its previous brown colouring which has featured in the “archipelago room” of “ABBA World”. “Oh I can’t remember. There were so many pianos”, Frida reportedly told her with a laugh. All four members of ABBA have recorded parts of the audio commentary to accompany the tour.

Much of the interactivity from the previous ABBAWorld incarnations is there also, including a sixty-second electronic ABBA Quiz (I got 12 out of 12 correct), and the ability to sing along with holographic images of ABBA, and later download a video of your performance.

ABBA Soap

When she spoke about it a few weeks ago, I wondered how Ingmarie had maintained her enthusiasm for the project. You could imagine having spent several years of your life working on this project (and before that many years working with ABBA when they were an active group), Ingmarie would be a little bored with the project. However, she spoke with such passion that it was fairly evident that wasn’t the case. She spoke, for example, about exercising her own personal creativity in the design of some couches which will feature in the exhibition, and how she approached some young designers in Sweden to further develop that idea. “When you visit the exhibition you’ll able to sit and listen to ABBA on couches which look like a stack of vinyl”, she told us. Along the way, Ingmarie also mentioned she has been writing a book that will go with the museum. “It’s the one book about ABBA I might be willing to read”, Benny reportedly said to her.

When you know so much about something before actually experiencing it, there’s always the risk you will be disappointed. I wasn’t. The museum has been clearly put together with care and an eye for detail. I liked it very much and would recommend it to anyone visiting Stockholm.

You can sing-a-long with ABBA holograms.

And then of course tonight, we had the big opening event. As has become the “norm” for these big ABBA events, only three out of four ABBA members attended. Agnetha was a no-show. The only time all four have been seen together in decades was for the Swedish premiere of the “Mamma Mia” movie in 2008. I actually arrived in Stockholm the day after that appearance. I was determined not to miss this one, so I booked my flights only after the date for gala opening was confirmed.

Rather than concentrate solely on ABBA, the museum will have a longer-term focus on the success of Swedish music more generally. Apparently, that’s something all members of the band were keen to see when agreeing to support (and invest money) in the initiative. As such, the musical opening tonight featured a range of musicians performing a collection of ABBA songs, but also classics from Monica Zetterlund to Swedish House Mafia. As the museum also houses a hotel, our “stage” for the night was actually the hotel rooms. Windows and curtains opened and closed, and coloured lights focussed our eyes to the performers. It was spectacular, and of course ended with fireworks and a performance of “Thank You For The Music”

If you want to hear a little more from the opening, here’s the interviews I did with Chris Coleman in NSW, Tim Cox in Queensland, and with Trevor Chappell nationally on ABC Local Radio back home…

Stockholm Sunrise

I’d like to say I was “up early” to see the sunrise over Stockholm, but actually I was “out late”.

It all started early-ish on Sunday evening when I thought it might be fun to end the weekend with a dance at the Stockholm nightclub, Patricia. Patricia, by the way, is boat moored near Slussen. They have a restaurant, several bars, and a few dance floors. Every Sunday night they have a “gay night” where they play lots of terrific dance tunes. I’ve been several times before, and have always enjoyed it very much.

The other times I’ve been, though, have been in the summer when it’s often standing room only. In contrast, when I arrived, it was reasonably quiet. On the upstairs bar, there were maybe twenty or thirty people, while downstairs it was even quieter.

Sunday night err Monday morning at Patricia

A couple of people recognised me from the preview of the ABBA Museum the other day and from the ABBA Day in Roosendaal a few weeks earlier. I ended up spending the night chatting, dancing, and drinking with a couple of guys. One was English; the other was French. We spent most of the night in one of the smaller bars.

In stark contrast to the “main” dance bar where there was, for a while, literally no one on the dance floor, in the smaller bar we were packed in like sardines. The attraction? For quite some time the bar was only playing ABBA. As I listened around, the crowd was fairly international. Predominantly it was Swedish, but there were also quite a few Brits, a few French speakers, and a large number of Americans.

As I made my way back home I shot this great photograph of a guy standing in the middle of the road with a guitar. I have no idea what was going on.

The Americans loved ABBA. But when the winner of last year’s Eurovision Song Content came on, Sweden’s Loreen, the blank look on their faces became evident. Aside from ABBA, European pop music remains a bit of a mystery for many Americans, it seems.

For one of the English guys I chatted to, it was his first visit to Stockholm, and so I offered him a few visitor tips. “Quick, let’s go outside”, he said at one point. “It’s pretty spectacular”, I said, as we watched the sun start to rise over the city. Having set only a few hours earlier, it was terrific to watch the sun come back up again.

Best of all? I’m staying in Medborgarplatsen at the moment, so it was only one stop on the subway and a brief walk to get home.

Systembolaget Södermalm

If I was back in Sydney, it would have been easy. In Surry Hills, I’m surrounded by bottle shops which are open every day (except Good Friday and Christmas Day) and which trade right up until midnight. If I was home and going to a dinner party, I would have simply picked up a bottle of something on the way there. But in Sweden, you don’t have that option.

In Sweden, there’s a government-owned monopoly bottle shop chain called Systembolaget, which operates with restricted hours. On weekdays, it’s normal trading hours; shorter hours on Saturday; and they’re closed Sunday. At night, bars also have limited trading hours with many closing at one, others at three.

And as much as I like to think of myself as a bit of a libertarian, I’m beginning to conclude these restrictions might actually be a good thing. By putting a limit on the hours in which you can purchase and consume alcohol, I think there’s more of a chance that people will go home to bed, as opposed to the all-night temptation offered in Sydney.

Although Systembolaget now operates like a supermarket chain, it wasn’t so long ago that you had to go in, make an order for what you wanted, and then wait for someone to bring your order out to you. There’s a few of these older style shops still around, apparently.

As it’s been explained to me, Swedes like a drink as much as Australians do (maybe moreso), and this is how they’ve reacted to their problem with alcohol.

Still it was a little unexpected for me to walk into Systembolaget in the hour before it was due to close (ahead of being closed all day Sunday) and see the lengthy queues. “Is this the Swedish version of the six o’clock swill?”, I thought to myself.

All of that said, I still like the way it operates in Sydney, being able to pick up a bottle of wine on my way to the dinner party, and not having to think about it.

Saturday night in Medborgarplatsen

Dinner was with Sandra and Robert, and their friends Roger and Nikki. Roger has commented on my blog on a number of occasions, and so it was really lovely to meet him in real life. They’re a really lovely couple, and although I knew they were both passionate about music (based on comments Roger had made), that passion really became evident over dinner.

Both Sandra and I made the comment later in the evening that it’s beginning to feel like I “live” here. Although I’ve done a lot of touristy things on this trip, my time in Stockholm hasn’t been focussed so much on trips, museums, and the like. I’ve been leading a fairly “normal” kind of life, getting up, reading the paper, going out for coffee and so on. Funny, I should be feeling this way with just a few days left.

As I made my way home to where I’m staying in Medborgarplatsen, there were more queues. This time, it was people lining up for a bit of late night sustenance.

Caroline af Ugglas at Swedish Radio

“Hello, my name is Caroline”, she said with a smile when I introduced myself as a visitor from Australia. She was genuinely surprised when I told her my friends and I watch Melodifestivalen and that’s how I knew her work, and that I have her CD which features Swedish language cover versions of songs by Janis Joplin. I made my usual joke about speaking Swedish like a five year old, and she told me that’s how she would also sum up her English language skills.

It was such an unexpected pleasure to meet Caroline af Ugglas, as I was shown around Sveriges Radio by Anders Held, their manager of International Relations. I first met Anders a few years ago, as he’s one of the organisers of the Radio Days Conference I’ve now attended twice. Even though I have visited Stockholm on several occasions, I’ve never actually visited Sveriges Radio before. Of course radio stations tend to be very similar all over the world. But you always pick up an idea or two from a visit. So I wrote to Anders last week, asking if a visit was possible, and he said yes, and showed me around the studios for P3 and P4, and told me a little about some of the other activities being undertaken by SR. It was a really terrific way to spend the morning, and Anders was a very kind, thoughtful host.

“You’re going to the ABBA Museum while you’re here, I hope?”, the morning presenter for P4 said to me when I paid a brief visit to their studio. I think I blushed with honesty in response.

Attending the fan club preview of the ABBA Museum

Visiting the ABBA Museum was indeed how I was planning to spend the rest of the afternoon. Although it doesn’t open until Monday, the International ABBA Fan Club had organised a preview afternoon. Having been to the opening nights of ABBAWORLD in both Melbourne and Sydney, I knew a fair bit of what to expect. Of course you see the costumes, the gold records, the photographs and so on. Much of the interactivity from the previous incarnations is there also, including the ability to sing along with holographic images of ABBA.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, there’s also a phone (in the Ring Ring exhibit) which each of the members of ABBA has the phone number for. At least one of them, Frida has said she would ring the phone from time to time. “You want to start a riot?”, I said to a friend. “I have an old fashioned ring tone on my phone. You go over there, stand next to the phone, and when I play the ring tone you answer it”, I joked with him. Of course we didn’t do that, as that would be cruel, but it gave us quite a laugh. I’ll write more about the museum in another post.

Taco Truck pop up restaurant in Stockholm

Later in the afternoon, I went back to the hostel for a moment of peace and quiet, ahead of the evening’s entertainment.

For the evening, Sandra had invited me to a pop-up restaurant. She is a great fan of food from Mexico and had recently blogged about Stockholm’s Taco Truck. I’m also a fan of Mexican food, and so was quick to accept her invitation to join her for an evening where the Taco Truck became an actual restaurant for the night.

The crowd attending was “Very Söder”, I quickly concluded. There was a woman with Joan Baez qualities wearing a dressing gown, we noticed. There were also lots of blokes with beards and nerdy glasses. Hey, it’s me! If I was to make a comparison with home, I’d say Södermalm was very much like the Surry Hills/Darlinghurst part of Sydney. The area where I’m staying (Medborgarplatsen) is very much like Surry Hills. It has homeless people, it has people on low incomes, but it also has yuppies and hipsters. For the first time yesterday, I also noticed the heroin problem in the area, as I saw a couple of people who were quite out of it.

But back to the hipsters. The crowd attending the pop-up weren’t all that dissimilar to those I would see at a similar event in Sydney. Except maybe taller. Sandra and I were not only the oldest people attending the launch, but also the shortest. We had a great time chatting and enjoying the buzz, and I met a lovely friend of hers who is also a professional photographer. She took my photograph.

A drink or two later and a change of venue (including a meeting with another couple which consisted of a Swedish man and a South African womn), and it was time for bed.

But not before we attempted to enter a bar, but were refused entry. Oddly enough, it wasn’t because we’d had too much to drink. “It’s regulars only tonight”, the bouncer told us. As we noticed other people also turned away, but some people allowed entry, we quickly realised “regulars only” was actually code for “no old people allowed”.

Diva Exhibition at Finnish Institute in Stockholm

In the midst of all the posters on Götgatan (the main street of Södermalm) promoting concerts, festivals, comedy nights, and dance clubs, there was one I saw the other week which really stood out. In contrast to the all the other posters which were very “busy”, this poster portrayed a single image of twenty-something woman (a woman living with a disability) dressed beautifully and holding flowers.

As I was heading off to Turkey in a day or two, I didn’t have the time or attention to find out more, and so I snapped and image and made a mental note to re-visit this.

In my post-Turkey days back in Stockholm, I was determined to find out more about the exhibition. A bit of Google-ing revealed the poster was there to promote an exhibition of photographs by Stefan Bremer currently showing at the Finnish Institute in Stockholm.

Duva/Diva is a photographic collection created by DuvTeatern in co-operation with photographer Stefan Bremer, Blue Flamenco School of Dance, costume designer Paula Varis and graphic designer Maria Appelgren. The photographs are inspired by the beauty and glamour of the world of the opera, the proud and sensual flamenco dance, the dramatic story of Carmen and the roles developed by the performers in Carmen, Bird of Prey – a variation of Bizet’s opera Carmen. Carmen, Bird of Prey premiered in January 2011 and was a co-production between DuvTeatern, Finnish National Opera and Blue Flamenco School of Dance.

Ever since its establishment DuvTeatern has challenged common conventions and conceptions of theatre by raising such questions as who has the right to be on stage and who is a real actor. The encounter with the world of the opera and its professional singers further highlighted these themes and enabled both performers and spectators to reconsider our notions of professionalism, self-esteem and beauty. For what is beauty? Who is worthy of admiration? And, finally, who is the true Diva?

The realisation of this series of photographs was made possible thanks to the sincere commitment of the eight actors of DuvTeatern and the four dancers of the Blue Flamenco School of Dance. This publication is a tribute to them: to their dedicated, creative and ambitious approach towards their work as actors and dancers.

Diva Exhibition at Finnish Institute in Stockholm

There’s about twenty or thirty photographs in the exhibition, and they’re all absolutely compelling. In some exhibitions where there’s a lot of similarity in the style of imagery, you can find yourself browsing the works, walking quickly from one to the next. That wasn’t the case with this exhibition. As the works were all very personal, I felt compelled to spend time with each of them, and to look closely into the eyes of the people portrayed.

There’s also a video of the actual theatrical production, and so you get a sense of what that was like also.

If you’re in Stockholm over the next few weeks, I’d highly recommend this beautiful exhibition.

Swedish TV interviews local police about the crowd attending the birthday celebration for the King of Sweden

As I made my way to the Royal Palace in Stockholm yesterday for the regular “changing of the guard”, I knew something was different about this time. The crowds were much larger than the last time I’d been here, which I simply put down to the much warmer weather.

As I looked around, I noticed there were also a number of television crews. As well as SVT, there were also crews from Norway and Germany. The Queen of Sweden has German heritage, so I thought it might have something to do with her. And then I noticed a roped off area, with a sign saying it was “for press only”. The possibility of a little bit of “press exclusivity” always excites me, and so I wandered over and asked the bloke behind the media counter what was going on. “It’s the King’s birthday. He’s 67 years old”, he told me with a large beaming smile.

Though I’m sure there were quite a few Swedes in the crowd, my ears told me the crowd consisted mostly of Germans, Russians and Italians. I’m not sure how many of them knew it was the birthday of the king. Although I didn’t actually see it myself, I heard the cheers when the royal couple came out on the balcony and waved to everyone.

May Day speeches in the centre of Stockholm

As I watched the speeches briefly at Sergel’s Torg today, I noticed the involvement of good old fashioned Communists. The Communist Party was, until fairly recently, a minor but significant force in Swedish politics. Even though the current government is a “centre-right” coalition, the Social Democrats have been in power for most of the last century. And when I say “centre-right coalition”, I suspect few if any of the Swedish government could find a home in the modern day Australian Liberal Party. “They’re all lefties in Sweden”, I recall once telling someone, “except when they’re Neo-Nazis”. But that’s another story…

QX Magazine profile on Newtown in Sydney

As I sat and waited to meet Sandra and Robert ahead of the Valborg celebration last night in Stockholm, I picked up a copy of the Swedish gay newspaper, QX. It’s a magazine I read from time to time, as it usually has a fair bit of Swedish music news. For example, this month’s edition features a track by track review of the new album by ABBA’s Agnetha Fältskog. But what excited me most was noticing the big article on Newtown. Yes, Newtown in Sydney. Sydney, Australia to be absolutely clear.

Magazines, of course, do regular features on different countries and different cities on a regular basis. Occasionally you might even see a feature on somewhere smaller like Bondi or Byron Bay. But Newtown? Wow, what’s that about.

The article goes on to explain Newtown is a little alternative, a little hippie, and that if you’re visiting Sydney, and you want to “go gay”, you should head off to Oxford Street. The article explains, though, that gays are welcome in Newtown, and that many gays prefer it over Oxford Street.

The article mentions a number of people who have chosen to call Newtown home, including a bloke called Mark Reid who used to live in Canberra, and a couple Nick Roth (and his girlfriend) who operate “Claire’s Crepes”. I’d never heard of “Claire’s Crepes” (to be honest), but I’ll be sure to look them up when I return to Sydney. In particular, I’ll be interested to see if young Swede, Jonatan Duregård is still working there, though the article does note… “Jonatan är hetero…”

One of the people interviewed, Aaron Petriddi describes Newtown as the “new” Gay Sydney, with more and more couples moving to the area for the simple life. “It’s a good mixture of people and business”, he says.

…”det nya gay-Sydney” – allt fler par flyttar hit tack vare den ”sköna livsstilen” i området. – Det är en bra mix av människor och affärsverksamheter. Det känns som att allas blickar är på Newtown nu, alla man pratar med kan tänka sig att flytta hit…

The article paints such a glowing image of Newtown that I find myself thinking “Why am I in Stockholm? I should be in Sydney instead”. The other man’s grass is always greener, I guess.

Download The Magazine

P.S. Swedes are welcome in Surry Hills too.

Valborg bonfire in Stockholm

“I’m sorry, I’m a tourist, I can’t understand you…”, I said to a young bloke coming back on the train from Saltsjöbaden. As I recall, he’d gotten on the train about half way back to Slussen with a backpack over one shoulder, and a beer in his hand. On a couple of occasions he’d held up his beer, smiled over at me and mumbled something. When it came time to disembark, he said something again, and that’s when I decided there was absolutely no way I would attempt a conversation in Swedish. In some ways, it was the perfect stalemate: he was too drunk to speak English and I was too sober to speak Swedish.

As he got off the train, he put his beer down, and that’s when I noticed it was 7.8% alcohol. At four o’clock in the afternoon, he wasn’t the only one on the train who had been drinking though. In fact, seeing groups of very young drunk people walking around the streets of Stockholm is, I’m told, a good early indicator of Valborg. The other good early indicator is seeing groups of young people wearing sailor hats. For them, Valborg is a big night. They’re all about to graduate from university, and if you look closely at their hats, you’ll see their first name and the year of graduation. Valborg is, apparently, the first of many occasions you’ll see them on the streets of Stockholm, as they end their university careers and as summer commences.

Photo by Robert Corkery

Despite this contemporary reference, Valborg has its origins in pagan times. It has something to do with witches, apparently. Burning them. Though in modern times, this means a group of people starting off in Gamla Stan with Olympic-style flames making their way to Riddaholmen where, in the front of the city hall, they set fire to a giant bonfire.

It’s something I’d only read about in Swedish class. So when I knew I was going to be here for it, I was determined to attend. Robert and Sandra came along for the ride, even though they’ve been here for Valborg on several occasions before. “Keep an eye out for the karaoke at the end of the night”, Sandra told me. Or perhaps “Warned” would be a better word.

What I truly didn’t expect was how hot things would actually get. We got close enough at times so that it actually felt like my skin was starting to burn. Once we made our way in, there weren’t many options for escape. There were times when we came perilously close to falling in to Lake Mälaren.

Robert and Sandra

“This could never happen in Sydney”, I told them both. The combination of a giant bonfire, lots of alcohol, and children in an enclosed space would never get approval due to Australian occupational health and safety laws. I guess it’s the fact they’ve been doing this for a thousand years (or maybe longer) that means it can still happen today.

I’ll admit we played up our accents a little to make our way through the crowd to get as close as we possibly could to the bonfire. The use of “Excuse me” with an Australian accent, as opposed to “Ursäkta mig” with an odd accent worked wonders. Already on this trip I’ve realised there are times when you should try to speak Swedish and times when you shouldn’t. Sometimes it’s better to ham up the Australian accent a little and sound more like a tourist (with no Swedish language skills) than appear to be an immigrant (with poor Swedish language skills).

My ears were burning…

I felt like a young kid as I enjoyed the excitement of it all. I think I’ve said here previously I’m sure my mum was a borderline pyromaniac, and I felt as though I’d inherited some of that. As the heat warmed my face, there was a wonderful tension emerging from within my soul as I agonised over what was too close, and what wasn’t close enough.

I was also sorely tempted to join the karaoke. “Go on, you know you want to”, Sandra said to me at one point. Indeed I did. The potential breakthrough moment was when a group of French tourists got on stage and sang. In the end I decided the crowd of a couple of thousand people were probably more happy seeing a bunch of cute kids sing Swedish classics, than in seeing a middle-aged bloke from Australia mangle the same classics.

Sandra’s account of the night…

Sunset over Långholmen

“You speak Swedish with a slight American accent”, my friend Kim told me with a chuckle. At first I was a little taken aback. He then went on to demonstrate how I drag out my vowel sounds. “Honey that’s not an American accent, it’s Swedish with an Australian accent”, I told him. I guess it’s an improvement on the stock phrase I use to describe my language skills, “Jag talar svenska som en fem år gammalt barn” (which means “I speak Swedish like a five year old child”.

When he introduced me to a couple of his friends they were, of course, curious to find out why I spoke any Swedish at all. “It’s complicated and complex”, I told them, adding they shouldn’t worry if they spoke in Swedish as I was understanding about fifty percent of what they were saying. One of his friends apologised, saying he found it difficult to speak in English when he was tired. “I have the same problem”, I told him.

So with one week to go before I have to return home (sigh) I’m back in Stockholm. I’m spending my last few days on the picturesque island, Långholmen and bunking out in hotel/hostel that was once a prison. All of the reviews I read said that it was interesting and clean, and they had a really good breakfast (all of that is true). A common complaint I’ve read was that it was a fair way from public transport and not near the centre of town. Dur! The advice I’ve read says to get off at Hornstull, whereas I found it was better to get off at an earlier stop and catch a bus right up to the bridge. The #4 to Radiohuset, for example. From there, the walk isn’t so bad.

Långholmen Prison Museum

“Great”, I thought to myself, realising the chance of sharing a room with a bunch of eighteen year olds out for a night on the turps would be lessened. In fact, I’m sharing a room with just two others. With his “bikie looks”, I couldn’t help but feel one of the two others may have stayed here in previous years. It’s not so bad sharing with others to save a few dollars here and there, even if the two blokes were in competition for who could snow the loudest. They were synchronised, at least, even if the noise they made wasn’t necessarily harmonious.

The island is stunning. Although I’ve never on the island during winter/spring I have been here in the midst of summer when the island is a popular swimming and recreation spot, as the people of Stockholm enjoy the long-hours right up until sunset closer to midnight. Even now, it still looks pretty good, though most of the people you see walking around are, like me, wearing heavier coats and beanies.

I’m feeling a little sad that my holiday is soon coming to an end. But in some ways I’m looking forward to coming home, sleeping in my own bed, having a regular choice of clothing etc. Oh yeah, and seeing friends of course.

There’s a public holiday on Wednesday (and apparently a half-day public holiday on Tuesday as people leave early for the public holiday). On top of that, there’s the “klamdag” (the days between public holidays and weekends which people usually take of also). From what I’ve heard, Stockholm might be empty from Wednesday right through until next Monday.

In contrast, I have a couple of “work things” happening, as well as the stuff associated with the opening of the ABBA Museum. It’s gonna be a busy last few days, so staying in a former prison on an island might be just the right way to spend it.

Already I can anticipate some friends who’ll be honest enough to tell me it looks shabby and uneven. They’ll be the ones who’ll help me reality check against the comments of others who’ve told me it looks good and really suits me. The reality, of course, is somewhere in between.

When I began to grow this beard at the end of December, it was a matter of necessity. I’d flown home from Sydney to Lismore and had left my razor blades at home. Feeling lazy, I couldn’t be bothered buying new ones, and just didn’t shave for a few days. After a couple of weeks later, I made a more conscious decision to grow a beard. Even though I’m not the most hirsuite person in the world, I read that (with patience), for most men with my genetic background, the beard would eventually fill-in and not look so bad.

Five months down the track I still don’t have anything approaching the facial hair of George Michael, Sean Connery, or George Clooney. On top of that, it’s patchy in parts and the colour varies from reddish-brown to grey-white. I also think it makes me look older, and fear that I’ve become one of those men who has grown a beard to compensate for the lack of follicles on the top. I’m also slightly worried I’m making the progression into “bear” territory.

And yet despite all that, I really quite like it. In particular, I like not having to shave every day. Although I’ve thought about clippers, I really couldn’t be bothered, and suspect my efforts would make it look even worse. So instead every few weeks when I go to the hairdresser for a trim on top, I’ve been asking them to tidy my beard as well. By and large, it’s working out okay.

Yeah, it’s scruffy. Yeah, I look older. But I like it, and so, for the time being (things may change), it’s here and it’s gonna stay.

Spring is here in Stockholm

“Spring is definitely here”, I thought to myself as I walked around Djurgården this afternoon.

When I arrived in Stockholm almost two months ago the lake in the middle of the city was still frozen over in many parts, and the grounds of Djurgården were still covered in snow. In contrast, the lake is now flowing and the white of the snow has been replaced by the green of the grass. A light dusting of snow on a tree trunk has been replaced (or revealed) by moss.

Temperatures are now solidly above zero. And yet it’s still a little chilly. Minutes after leaving the hotel earlier today, I was back in my room to grab a second layer. A polo-shirt and hoodie still weren’t enough for the daytime I concluded. Even though there were lots of people in the nearby playground playing soccer and running around wearing shorts, it’s still not summer yet.

Kaknästornet

The one “tourist thing” I did today, which I thought I’d share was a visit to the television tower, Kaknästornet. Even though it’s listed in all of the brochures as somewhere tourists should visit, I’ve never been. I was told several years ago by some Swedes it wasn’t worth it. They told me, it was too far away from the main city to get a really good view. Instead, I’ve preferred regular visits to Katarinahissen (which I love), and a couple of years ago, I did the rooftop tour of Stockholm (which was amazing).

But today, as I saw the bus which I knew would take me there approach, I hopped on anyway. “There’s nothing to lose except the 50KR (7 dollar) entry fee”, I thought to myself.

Guess what? The Swedes I spoke to were absolutely right. The view from the top is pretty shit. You’re too far away to see the detail of Stockholm. On top of that, there’s a wire cage all around, so the 360 degree view you have is also not that good. You have to squeeze your camera between the grid. All of the photographs I took were mostly of the sky, and from a rather uninteresting angle. For me (and others I noticed), it was only a couple of minutes on the outside viewing platform before we were back inside, sitting in confort downstairs and sipping a glass of wine. The restaurant/cafe below was actually quite good. You could sit there, look out, enjoy the view, and relax.

But if you really want to see a really good view of Stockholm, my advice is to visit places like Katarinahissen, the Modernamuseet, the Fotografiska Museet, and other places closer to the centre of the city.

Anzac Cup

“Damn, damn, damn”, I said to Sandra and Robert as I came back from the bar. “I knew exactly what I wanted to say. I knew every variation of what he might ask by way of qualifying statements. I felt good about my Swedish. And yet I was served by the English speaking barman”, I told them. Sandra understood my pain.

In an odd bit of synchronicity, she and I sent each other emails at almost exactly the same time suggesting a catch-up. Within fifteen minutes, we were having a drink together at bar near where they live on Södermalm. The Southside is an Irish pub where, it seems, most of the customers are Swedish, and most of the staff are a combination of English-speakers. The musical soundtrack to our beers and wine included a couple of Australian classics, as well as some great sing-a-long numbers. Located in the men’s toilet was a poster for the annual “Anzac Day Race Meeting” held in Stockholm. Yes, it was a pub for expats, I guess.

For a while we were joined at our table by a Swedish bloke who’d had a few drinks. As I was trying to show Sandra and Robert my photographs from Iceland, he was intent on showing me why his Nokia smart phone was better than my Android Nexus 4. We compared apps, we compared cameras. We compared penis.. (No, I’m just being silly, though the conversation did have a certain penis comparison feel about it. Guys, it’s just a mobile phone.)

It was great to see them again, having concluded we hadn’t seen each other since before I went to Iceland. Since then, I’ve been in Turkey. And now I’m back in Stockholm for just ten days before I head back home. Although I’ve toyed with the idea of extending my trip, I’ve concluded a combination of time and money, means I’ll be heading back home as planned.

Although I have secured media accreditation for the Eurovision Song Contest (and would love to go), I’ve decided it’s time to head home for a while to relax and to regroup. The possibility of apartment sitting in Stockholm became an option for a while. On top of that, there’s the possibility (likelihood) of further mid-year overseas travel.

Also, I’m starting to feel a little travel-weary. Although I’ve done some AMAZING things over the last couple of months, the day to day travel, and having to think about where I’m going to stay, what I’m going to do, how I’m going to wash my clothes etc, means I’m looking forward to going home for a little while. I’m not ANXIOUS to go home, but I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again.

Swedish Parliament

Over the next ten days I’m looking forward to really enjoying my time in Stockholm. Having
visited the city on a number of occasions, I no longer feel the pressure of being a tourist and having to squeeze lots of things into a small amount of time. Instead, I’m looking forward to just hanging out in a wonderful city.

Even in the last few days that I’ve been away in Turkey, the weather has changed again. All of the snow in the centre of Stockholm has completely gone. As you walk around, you notice the colour of the grass has gone from brown to almost green.

You can also feel the change in the people. The silence of the travel on the subway, the T-bana, has been replaced by chatter and sheer joy. As you walk around, people have their heads help up high, rather than facing down. No longer do they need to watch carefully about where they walk.

The change may also be that it’s “pay week” in Sweden. Swedes are paid on a monthly basis (usually around the third week of the month). When they get paid, I’ve been told, they tend to go out, have a few drinks, and enjoy life to the full. Ain’t that the truth.