Back in Sydney

May 9, 2013 By 5 Comments
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 … [Read more...]

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ABBA Museum Opening

May 7, 2013 By 7 Comments
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 … [Read more...]

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Stockholm Sunrise

May 6, 2013 By Leave a Comment
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 … [Read more...]

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Systembolaget Saturday

May 5, 2013 By 5 Comments
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, … [Read more...]

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Busy Day Indeed

May 4, 2013 By 1 Comment
Taco Truck pop up restaurant in Stockholm

"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 … [Read more...]

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Divas

May 3, 2013 By 2 Comments
IMG_20130502_161814

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 … [Read more...]

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