“You want it in WHAT currency?”, asked the woman behind the counter. And then, “Sorry, we only have hundreds”, when I asked for a variety of denominations. Although it looks impressive, this 100 SEK note is worth only about $20 AUD. Thanks to a strong AUD, I asked for 10, but got 11 of these little beauties for just over $200 (including the handling fee) today, in anticipation of my first twenty-four to forty-eight hours in Stockholm. Juding by what I’ve read about the price of food and alcohol in Stockholm, they’ll disappear pretty quickly.

It was good advice from Damo, who suggested that if I had Swedish currency in my wallet when I arrived in Stockholm it would be one less thing to worry about. I’ve booked my accommodation and I’ve bought my Stockholm Card (which covers transport and museum access for 72 hours). And now I have some currency to pay for the train trip from the airport into town as well. Getting the currency takes away the “drama” of using a new ATM at the end of a long flight. It also makes “the big trip” a little more “real”, if you know what I mean.

That, and the fact that I finished work today.

I normally wake about five and get into work at about 6, but this morning I slept in until 8, and strolled in about ten past nine. Slack eh? Rather than chimes of “why are you late?” and “did you sleep in?” I was greeted with really terrific surprise when I arrived at work this morning. One of my colleagues, Melissa had decorated my office with streamers, a map of Sweden, and bon voyage messages. I was totally chuffed.

I had a couple of hours in “hand over” with my replacement, providing her with THE MOST comprehensive set of “handover notes” EVER. “I’ve never been this organised in my whole life”, I told her, when I presented her with something equating a small novel. “Look there’s probably things I’ve forgotten, and you’ll probably curse me about some things”, I told her, “but I think this covers everything”. That was code for “don’t call me on vacation unless it’s absolutely necessary”.

And from there, it was off to lunch with Damo at Quay. A three-hat restaurant, they have an excellent lunchtime deal. Two courses, a bottle of wine, great company and conversation. And stunning views of both the bridge and the house. Does life get any better? I’ll leave it up to you Damo to write a review, as you’re much better at these than I am.

An afternoon nap followed. What a perfect day! The only sour note was the slack-arse 303 buses from Castlereagh Street. Nothing for forty five minutes and then two arrived at once. The first stopped, the second just drove straight past. Not happy Jan…