We left Stockholm early in the morning on Monday April 13th, and made it home without too much trouble. At Arlanda Airport in Sweden, they claimed we didn't pay to have Reese go with us on the plane, but the Woman eventually said "We'll let her go, but next time you'll need proof of payment". Very nice. We got back into the U.S. into Chicago, I collected all of our bags, while Kristy went and got Reese. Everyone and everything made it back to the good old USA intact. Phew. So we take Reese to a designated area where the TSA agent would take a look at her, and take a look at her kennel. He takes her out of the kennel, and we ask if there is anywhere to take her so she can go to the bathroom. He points me through some doors, and outside. He even tells me where I can get some water for her out there. So I take Reese outside while Kristy stays with the TSA agent and the kennel. Reese takes a whiz, and we go back into the airport. That's when I notice all of the DO NOT ENTER signs on all of the doors. I see a podium off to the side where there is an agent sitting. I go over to her and ask her how I get back inside. "Once you leave, you cannot re-enter" she says with her gold teeth gleaming in the light. I have Reese on the leash, and I explain to her that I was instructed by the TSA agent to come out with Reese, and he never said I would not be able to get back in. This woman, with smarts equal to that of a Nerf ball, grins and says again "Once you leave, you cannot re-enter". At this point I'm not sure what to do, and I'm annoyed. I tell "Nerfie" that Reese's kennel is inside, that she needs to get to her next flight, and that they are waiting for us to return.  "Once you leave, you cannot re-enter" is all she can say. She also tells me that I have to go to Terminal 1 and ask them how I get Reese to where she needs to go. We are in Terminal 5, and Terminal 1 is at the opposite end of O'Hare. I would have to take Reese on the tram to get there, it would probably take us a minimum of 20 minutes, and who knows what they're going to tell me when I get there. I repeatedly plead my case, but I'm met with a stupid grin. Obviously the only prerequisite for this job is the ability to sit, and a loose grasp of the english language. I'm looking through the glass hoping I can get Kristy's attention, or that of the TSA agent, but I can't even see them. At this point, Nerf informs me from behind her little podium that I'll have to go wait behind the ropes with the rest of the people waiting for passengers to arrive. At this point I'm pissed. But I go behind the ropes with Reese, and make sure I'm right next to this woman, so I can bitch in her ear. She's made no effort to try and help me out, and almost seems to get some enjoyment from my anger. As I'm standing there, here comes a guy telling Nerfie that he wants to speak to a supervisor. Since nothing can be easy with her, she asks "why he wants to speak to a Supervisor". This aggrivates him, and he responds "because I want to speak to a Supervisor". She explains that she needs a reason to call a Supervisor, and he says "um, how about customer complaint". After she calls for a Supervisor, I mention that I'd like to talk to the Supervisor when he or she gets there too. At this point, I think something clicks inside, and she realizes that maybe she should have done something to try and help me out. She starts making a call. About that time, I see Kristy go walking across inside, and I try to get her attention. She doesn't see me. She goes back in the other direction as I try and get her attention again. One of the TSA agents inside the door sees me, and tells Kristy that she thinks I'm trying to get her attention. As she see's me and starts coming towards the doors, I start waving her to stay inside the doors. As soon as the doors open I repeatedly yell to her not to come outside the doors. She continues to walk towards me, and the doors close behind her. Nerf finds this amusing, and laughs a little. I tell Kristy that I can't get back in, and now she probably can't. Nerf tells her  "Once you leave, you cannot re-enter", and Kristy starts to argue her case. Fortunately, the TSA agent that sent Kristy out sees what's going on, and goes to get her Supervisor. Shortly after, a woman comes through the doors and almost scolds Nerfie for not letting us back in, explaining that we had to get our dog back to her Kennel. Nerfie's just doing her job, but Nerfie also needs to learn about being a little more proactive. After that, every little thing annoys me. We've been traveling all day after sleeping on a couch cushion bed the night before, so it's no wonder I'm irritable. But the stupidity and rudeness of others certainly doesn't help my mood. We send Reese off, which is really hard, and head towards our Terminal. We run into a very friendly United employee, who improves my mood. But all of that quickly changes when we get to our gate and find out our flight has been delayed a couple of hours. As we sit around waiting, it gradually gets delayed a little bit more. We finally start to board, and of course you have to deal with the idiots making a wall around the gate, carrying three pieces of baggage to take up all of the overhead space, etc.  And then, of course, you get to your seat, and watch others board just praying that you don't get stuck next to some wreck of a human being. I felt fortunate that I think I ended up as the only person with an empty seat between me and the dude sitting on the aisle. That feeling of good fortune gradually changes as I realize I have annoying people around me anyway. Some guy that continually cleared his nose and throat. And the guy next to me that repeatedly tried to suck every last drop of moisture out of his can of tomato juice. Finally we get back to Minneapolis, and my sister Debbie is there with my nephew Mekiah, and they already have Reese. It kind of bothered me that they were able to just take Reese, but at the same time, Reese was safe and happy to be with Debbie and Mekiah. I realized that Reese was giving Kristy and I the cold shoulder, probably because we made her ride in the airplane. She eventually got over it. It felt good to get home, get a majority of our stuff unpacked, and get some clothes in the wash. As soon as I sat down to sort some of the smaller stuff, I lost my mojo, and it was time to go to bed. Needless to say, after three months (and six months in Kristy's case) on a thin mattress on a cement floor, our king size sleep number bed was a little slice of heaven. It feels good to be home, and I think Reese is happier than anyone. Kristy and I still wish we were in Stockholm, but we are happy to have the comforts of home, and look forward to seeing our family and friends. The next day we would do our taxes, pick up the boxes that we had shipped home, and settle in a bit more. The day after that, it was back to work for both of us. I'm looking forward to getting back into the routine of work, and settling back in again. Not working for three months should have been a slice of heaven for me, but I really did get a little bored near the end. Due to some circumstances out of my control, I was not able to accomplish some of the little projects I had planned, but that's OK. A couple of weeks after we get home, we're off to Puerto Vallarta to see Kristy's family.  That will be nice.

OK, Maybe One More

I thought I was done, and thought 25 blogs was a good number to leave off on. But I got something to say about it, and it goes somethin' like this....

Only a few days left, and while Kristy continues to work, I now spend most of my time cleaning, doing laundry, doing dishes, and taking care of Reese. I guess that's what I've been doing for the last three months, now that I think about it. We spend the rest of our time lately packing, and trying to get some last minute things wrapped up. We got back from our trip on Monday morning, and started going through our stuff. We had given most of the borrowed items back to Miska & Camilla, so the apartment is sort of barren. But we still had a lot of junk to deal with. Some of it will go in the garbage, some of it goes in bags to give away, and our non essential belongings went into boxes to mail back to the U.S.  

On Tuesday morning, I took Reese for a walk, and happened to stumble on a historic site, which we must have walked past two dozen times before. This particular day I happened to notice a little sign just off the sidewalk that had a Swedish and English translation. It said that this was the site of the Russian Walls, which legend has it were built by Russian prisoners of war back in the 1830's. Looking up the hill and through some trees were what looked like walls built out of huge stones. Reese and I explored the area, and found a wall, and also ruins of parts of the wall where they had toppled over. There were small trees growing out of the toppled rock, so it was fairly well hidden from view. The site is not maintained apparently. Kind of strange, but a cool discovery I thought. On Tuesday night, our good friend Jeanette was kind enough to come over and pick us up to take us out to Arlanda Airport in order to drop off boxes at SAS Cargo. Arlanda is kind of a long drive, so we were pretty annoyed when we got there and the place was closed. We found out that their hours were 10-3, with a one hour lunch at noon. When Kristy had called to ask when they were open, the girl had told her that she could come anytime, even on our way to catch our plane. Well, not so much, honey! We were none too happy, but tried to look at the positive. We got to spend more time with Jeanette, and even had dinner with her at her home. Jeanette makes some mean spaghetti! 

The next day, we tried it again, but this time with our friend Robert, dogsitter extraordinaire. Robert has a work van, so he picked us up and took us out there. We got there, and it took a ridiculously long time to process the shipping of the boxes. One good thing that happened though, was I happened to be wearing my AIK hooded sweatshirt, and the guy who was helping us noticed. He's a huge AIK fan apparently, and when Robert mentioned that Kristy played for the AIK Women's Bandy Team, the guy gave us a discount on the shipping. We finally finished, and headed home. Later that evening, we met Robert and his girlfriend Elin for dinner. Elin is also one of Kristy's bandy teammates, and the reason we know Robert so well. We wanted to take them out to dinner as a thank you for everything they had done for us. We had given Robert a number of gifts (Beer, Music CD's, etc.) to thank him for watching Reese whenever the girls had an away game, but we wanted to thank them both for being so good to us. Elin had been really good to Kristy, and helped her with translation most of the season. We had a nice dinner at the Texas Longhorn, and hopefully convinced them to come visit us some time. This was supposed to be the last time we saw Elin & Robert, but we made plans to see them Sunday evening before we leave.

Thursday, we headed down to Gamla Stan to pick up some last minute gifts, and explore the area one last time. I'm so glad we did, because I saw a few things I had never seen before. We saw the changing of the guards at the Royal Palace, and I saw one of the better views in Stockholm that I had seen, which was from around the side of the palace, and down across the Stockholm Harbor. We walked up some streets I hadn't seen, and saw some very cool area's. We came home, and decided that we were going to take Reese for a little walk. Our little walk turned into a two hour jaunt as we discovered new neighborhoods that led to a really cool area along what looks like a river. It's basically more like a very long canal between two larger bodies of water. You could take this waterway and eventually get to the Baltic Sea. Anyway, there looked like a military instillation of some kind down near the water, like maybe a military school, or training facility. There were cannons out front, as well as a large anchor. In front of the buildings was a gravel covered yard, which I thought looked like the kind of place you'd see a lot of marching and drilling going on. Down along the waterway, there were also historic old homes and cottages, and a ton of runners and walkers using the paths on either side. We jumped up and across a bridge, and back into the neighborhoods leading back to our place. On the way, we decided to get pizza at our favorite pizza joint. We love this place, and we also don't have a lot left to eat in our apartment. Good way to wrap up Thursday.

Yesterday we got up early and went down to get our hair cut at Lena's work. We took Reese with us, so Lena & Linda could see her one last time. Lena has been cutting Kristy and my hair while we've been in Stockholm, and we really like the way she does it. The funny thing is, she works at a place called L&L. The L&L are Lena and Lena. But she is not one of the owners. There are three women that cut hair at this place, and they are all named Lena. Go figure. Anyhoo, we got to L&L and let Reese go ahead of us and look in the door. According to Lena, Reese had come to work with her one day while we were on our trip, because they couldn't stand the thought of leaving Reese in her Kennel for the 6 or so hours they would be gone. So Reese recognized the place. She immediately started squealing with delight, and she hadn't even seen Lena yet. We went inside and she ran over and jumped on Lena when she saw her. Linda was not there yet, but when she showed up, it was much the same. Reese' tail didn't stop wagging the entire time we were there. Reese loves these two, and they love Reese. It almost makes you feel guilty for taking Reese away from them. The funny thing is, we made plans to see Linda & Lena again on Sunday when they get back to town. This will be third "last time" we see them. Sound familiar? After we left L&L, we headed down to find some historic cottages in Sodermalm that we had been meaning to see. We got down there and found the cottages, as well as some great parks, and some incredible views of Stockholm Harbor. We walked and eventually found a Bar/Restaurant called Mosebacke, which Elin & Robert had recommended. We finally found it, and this place was so cool. It's up on top of the hill overlooking Stockholm Harbor, and has a ton of outdoor seating. Perfect day for it too, as it was sunny and just warm enough. Lot's of people out there enjoying the view, the weather, drinks, and lunch. We had lunch, and then headed back home. Cleaned the apartment for the last time (I HOPE) when we got home, while Reese slept, and Kristy went for a long run. 

Today we went down to Djurgarden one last time, and also finally made it to the Gondolan. The Gondolan is a restaurant that Kristy really wanted to go to from day one. It's high above Stockholm harbor in Slussen. It's shaped like a crane high above the ground. We finally decided that we would just go down there and have a drink at the bar instead of having dinner. We looked through the drink menu, and settled on a Colorado Bulldog. Best Colorado Bulldog we've ever had. And yes, we challenge anyone to top them! We enjoyed our drink and enjoyed the view. As we sat there, we debated what we wanted to do next, and another Colorado Bulldog was definitely an option. Neither of us were really hungry, but we didn't want to go home yet. I suggested that maybe we go back to Mosebacke, which was about a block away. If we went there, we could have a glass of wine or beer out on the patio, and that idea was a winner. It was such a beautiful day, we thought it was stupid to be sitting in a stuffy restaurant. So we went over, and grabbed a table at Mosebacke. As we expected, the patio was pretty packed. Fortunately, the patio is huge. The funniest thing was the fact that it looked like someone had picked up the patio and shook everyone to one end. The sun was going down, and everyone was trying to stay in the sun for as long as possible, so the place was tilted to one side. We found a table, and enjoyed the view, and the people watching. We were especially amused by a dog that was digging a hole in the ground and throwing dirt and gravel everywhere. The patio of this place is made of dirt and gravel, by the way. We also enjoyed seeing how everyone dressed. So many in Stockholm looked like they just grabbed the first thing they found to wear, and somehow, it worked. Nobody seems to care how anyone else is dressed, although I'm sure they look at me and laugh. Hell, I do, so why shouldn't they?? We wrapped it up at Mosebacke and came back to the apartment to hang with Reese. She's got us wrapped around her paw after all. Watching another gorgeous sunset out the window, and Reese is sleeping with LELO Bear next to me. 

Tomorrow we'll bring the rest of our borrowed stuff back to Miska & Camilla, and then spend a little time with Robert & Elin before heading over to Linda & Lena's place to drop off some more stuff and say our goodbye's. Monday morning, we are catching a ride to the airport with Kristy's coach Oscar for our flight back to the U.S.  I've said it before, but I'll say it again. We're ready to get home, but at the same time, we're not ready to leave Stockholm. As we road the bus today, it finally hit Kristy emotionally that we were leaving. We were both on the verge of tears as we rode the bus from Slussen to our apartment in Solna. We realize that it might be the last time we take the bus past all of these familiar sites. Kristy commented that she is going to miss the recorded voice announcing the various stops. Believe it or not, I will miss this too. I'll also miss the voice on the tube, with the english translation guy that always follows the woman's Swedish announcement...."Next stop, Fridhemsplan...Mind the gap when exiting the train". We have truly come to love it here, and have made many very good friends. It seems like everyone we know has asked us what we will miss most, and it's hard for us to narrow it down to one thing. We will miss our new friends, the public transportation, the healthy lifestyle, the cleanliness of the city and the comfort level we feel here. Stockholm is a beautiful city in a beautiful country, and we hope it stays that way. It's not perfect, but it's pretty damn close in our opinion. Toodles.

Thanks for watching!  Not sure if there will be any further blogs. We'll see how I feel when I get home. I appreciate you two reading my blog though! :D

The Blog To End All Blogs IV

Previously on Kristy and Thom.... The pair had just climbed on board their boat in Riga Latvia. On the next leg of the Stockholm to Helsinki Finland>Helsinki to Tallinn Estonia>Tallinn to Riga Latvia>Riga to Stockholm journey, they would be leaving Riga for holm....Stockholm that is. 

Kristy and I were glad to be on board the Silja Festival, and headed back to Stockholm. We had a good trip, but we were ready to be back in our beloved Stockholm. Maybe more than that, we were ready to get back to Reese Bonkers. We miss her so much and worry about her whenever we go away. We have some GREAT dog sitters both here in Sweden, and back home in Minnesota. But no matter who is watching her, I always get visions in my head of her darting out the door when it's opened, or getting off her leash somehow, or something like that. Before we could see Reese though, we had to endure another overnight boat trip. This one was not quite as good an experience as our first boat trip. The first trip between Stockholm and Helsinki couldn't really have been any better. This trip had a lot more kids on board running around, and a lot more Adidas Sweatsuit wearers. It was also a different ship, with a different layout. I personally liked our cabin better on this ship, but the rest of the boat was pretty lame. We found a comfortable table and made ourselves at home there. Eventually, we got a drink, and a little while after that we got dinner. Went simple. Also wandered through the shops on board, but more of the same old souvenir crap. Eventually made it back to our cabin to relax, get our things organized, and get a much needed good nights sleep....or so we thought. Unfortunately, the Russians hosting the party across the hall from us thought it would be a good idea to have all of their loud ass friends over until all hours of the night. Once we did finally get to sleep, we were woken up by what felt like huge waves hitting the boat, and the occasional crashing noise. I thought about going up on deck to see what was going on, but just couldn't drag myself out of bed. I may not have liked what I saw anyway. I figured that if there were any major problems, we'd hear screaming, and the alarms would sound. I really just wanted to go up on deck to see how big the waves were. We could see that we were heading into a pretty big storm before we went down to our cabin, so it was not a real surpise. Morning finally came and we showered and gathered our belongings. We went upstairs for breakfast, and were happy to see that we were once again in the Swedish Archapelagos. It was a sunny morning, and felt like spring. We docked, and ran to the bus just before it took off. We showed up at Lena and Linda's place to pick up Reese, and learned that she had gained a new toy, a little stuffed bear with a Sverige (Sweden) t-shirt on. We named it LOLE Bear, using the initials of the two girls. It was apparently her favorite toy whenever she went to Lena & Linda's place to stay, so they wanted her to have it. We talked with Lena a while, and then dragged our butts back across town to the apartment. Getting back to the apartment felt good, but at the same time, it felt strange because there is almost nothing left in it. We have given a majority of our borrowed things back to the people who loaned it to us, and everything else we had thinned out for packing in boxes, or giving away to friends.

All in all, our trip to Helsinki, Tallinn, and Riga left us with many great memories. Kristy and I both agreed that we probably wouldn't choose to go back to any of the cities we visited, because one day was enough to see everything we'd wanted to see. The one place we felt like we would direct people to go if they happened to be visiting the region would be Tallinn. We really liked it there, and think others would too. So if you're ever in the neighborhood, drop on by and say "hey" to the fine folks in Tallinn. Some of them might even know what you're trying to say.

Ta Ta

The Blog To End All Blogs III

When we last left Kristy and Thom, they were in Tallinn Estonia, and had taken a cab from their hotel to the central Bus Station where they jumped on a bus to Riga Latvia on the next leg of the Stockholm to Helsinki Finland>Helsinki to Tallinn Estonia>Tallinn to Riga Latvia>Riga to Stockholm journey. 

As mentioned above, we took a cab from our hotel to the central bus terminal. As we drove along, we were really glad we hadn't tried to walk to the bus terminal, as we had originally planned. It would have been a minimum of a 45 minute walk or more, and we would have missed our bus and dickhead bus driver. We got to the station, checked in, and went outside to find our bus. We waited patiently in line to hand our bags to the driver, who was loading them in the bus. While we waited, we got the chance to second hand smoke thanks to everyone around us. We waited patiently while people cut the line in front of us. We finally got to the front, and Kristy held out her ticket. The driver pushed it aside and made some gesture towards the bus as he spoke in a language we did not recognize. After giving him our bags, we climbed on the bus. At least our seats were right in the front, and not near the bathroom. We've heard horror stories. We left Tallinn on our way to Riga Latvia and Kristy's friend Sarma Pone from the US Women's National Bandy Team. Sarma has lived most of her life in the United States, but has dual citizenship in Latvia where she plays on the Latvian Women's National Hockey Team. Her family also owns an apartment in Riga, where they regularly visit. The bus trip from Tallinn to Riga was nothing too exciting, other than the passing techniques utilized in this area. Most of the way we were on a two lane highway, with shoulders on either side. When someone wants to pass, the person to be passed pulls over to the right hand shoulder, which doesn't quite give the passer enough room to pass, so they cross the center line in order to do that. People coming in the other direction are expected to move to their right as well, to give the passer enough room to pass. Well, when you have people trying to pass in both directions, this can be kind of tricky and nerve-racking, even when you're riding in a large passenger bus. Other than that, the view looked pretty much like the scenery you'd find in Minnesota or Wisconsin. Farm fields, pine trees, snowmobile/dirt bike trails along the side of the highway, etc.  And if the view outside wasn't enough, you had the constant music videos playing on the monitors of the bus. It was kind of fun to see all of those videos I couldn't get enough of back in the 80's again. Besides fighting PETA over their name, the Pet Shop Boys are alive and well on the buses of Estonia. We got to the Estonian-Latvian border, and it was quite the fortified post, like something straight out of the movies. I fully expected to see tanks and soldiers on either side of the border, but surprisingly, we never even stopped. It was pretty much completely abandoned. Entering Latvia you gradually noticed a change in the landscape. It started to feel like you were driving along the North Shore in Minnesota. You caught glimpses of the Sea off to your right every once in a while, and even saw quite a few camping areas and resorts along the way. Even a long stretch of sandy beach at one point, and the occasional grouping of what I would guess would be high dollar second homes in gated communities. When I say gated communities, I mean opulent homes with high walls around them, security cameras, and gates. Then after four hours on the bus, we finally made the turn for Riga. As we started coming into the outskirts of town, we saw crumbling buildings, graffiti, and garbage everywhere. At one point we passed over a river where there were people ice fishing on the grey ice, with garbage strewn about. Even with all this, we reassured each other that the visit would be good. We wound through the streets of Riga until we finally arrived at the central Bus Station. And this time it WAS right next to the central Train Station. We got our bags and started following Sarma's directions. She had a game at the main arena, and we were going straight there to see the game and meet her. We were to jump on a tram near the bus station, and take that most of the way. As instructed, we went to the little kiosk next to the tram stop, and after patiently waiting while people cut the line in front of us, we got to the window. Kristy asked the woman in the kiosk for two tram tickets. The woman said something in Russian or Latvian, and pointed to the side of the kiosk, like there was a magic ticket machine there or something. There was nothing. Since the tram was getting ready to leave, we jumped on. Kristy went to the front of this outdated contraption, and asked the driver if we could buy tickets. The driver showed Kristy something that looked like a token, as she spoke in Latvian. Kristy had Latvian money out and everything, but we could not get a ticket apparently. We decided to take our chances and stay on the tram until we found another kiosk at one of the stops. We didn't want to get in trouble for not having a ticket for the tram, but we figured that if we were confronted, we could claim ignorance....or at least I could. We got off, and the guy at this kiosk was very nice. He sold us two tickets, and we jumped on the next tram. Right after we got on, a couple of transportation cops got on and started checking everyone for tickets. Phew! Glad we had tickets. So we're chugging along on this noisy, outdated tram, and I'm just hoping it stays on the tracks, as I happened to notice some pretty chewed up rails as we walked to the first tram stop, and wondered how safe these things were. They looked like they had been in continual use since the 1940's, and may have had their last safety inspection around the same time. So we're moving down the street, and come to stop at an intersection. All of a sudden, we see a young guy come flying around the corner of a building, coming towards the tram with a guy behind him in hot pursuit. Then we see what looked like a guy jumping off our train, and heading straight for the guy running in the direction of the train. He takes this young guy out, and he and the guy that was pursuing him struggle to get control of the young guy. The guy who was chasing got control of the kid, and roughed him up a little as he moved him towards a wall. Meanwhile, the guy who looked like he had jumped off of our train went running off in another direction. He eventually came back with another young guy, and they held the two there while talking on the phone. Pretty soon we heard sirens, and a paddy wagon showed up to snag the two "perps" (I watch too much COPS). From what we could figure, the two guys who corralled these young dudes were undercover cops, or something like that. Anyway, pretty exciting, but not something we necessarily wanted to see our first hour in Riga. Our visit was not off to a good start, but we still had high hopes. We went a couple more stops and got off as directed. We walked a few blocks, and eventually the hockey arena came into view. We walked around the entire arena, but couldn't find a way in. We eventually went into the Staff Entrance, and were let in by a couple of security guards, who frisked us and looked through our bags. Security was tight because the Latvian National Hockey Team was taking on Germany later that day. It was a nice arena, and apparently built specifically to host the World Championships of Hockey, which was what was going on when we visited. After the game, Sarma took us back to her apartment, which was nice. It was an older building, but they had done a very nice job of remodeling. Kristy and I even had our own room. After we dumped our stuff off, we started walking towards the Old Town section of Riga, which Sarma indicated rivaled the Old Town in Tallinn. Along the way we passed the Freedom Monument, which she indicated is constantly guarded by two soldiers, similar to how we guard the tomb of the unknown soldier at Arlington Cemetery in Washington D.C.  

We went into Old Town, and it was pretty cool. Very much like Tallinn. We did the usual walking around taking pictures, and went to St. Peter's Cathedral, which had been destroyed once by fire and once during World War II, but rebuilt each time. It was now a tourist attraction where you could take the lift to the top of the steeple, where it gave you a great view of Riga. I even saw the SAS Radisson across the river, where I had spent two and a half hours or so back in 2007, when traveling with the U.S. Bandy Team. On that occasion, we were on our way from Moscow to Copenhagen, but got diverted to Riga at 2:00 in the morning because our pilots were past their time limit. We were bussed to this hotel in the middle of the night, where we checked into rooms for a couple of hours before we were herded back on the bus, and back to the airport. Since it was dark when we were there in 2007, I really had no idea where we were at the time, and had no clue that there was this huge city on the other side of the river with all of these historic buildings. After the Cathedral, we went for a traditional Latvian meal of "smashed pork chops", and some other stuff. I don't know what it was, but it was pretty good. We also had a Latvian beer, which was very good. After lunch, we went back to the apartment, and got the car. Sarma drove us out to where there was a zoo, some big old beautiful houses, and a forest preserve. The houses we saw were interesting. The area looked like it was at one time where the very wealthy in Riga may have had summer homes, but the city had grown and expanded out to where these homes were. Some of the houses looked as though they had been abandoned for many years, overgrown with weeds and shrubs, and in desperate need of repair. Others were well maintained and obviously lived in. We drove back to the apartment and hung out for a while. Then we walked down the street to a Bar/Restaurant called Stabuclos, or something like that. I made sure to make fun of the name, and ask if it was safe to go in. There we got some big ass beers in mugs the size of pitchers. Really good beer too. After that, we picked up a couple bottles of beer on the way home, and hung out at Sarma's apartment. Next morning, we were up and out the door, and headed to the giant indoor/outdoor marketplace. Before that though, we found a cafe where we had a traditional Latvian breakfast. The marketplace was huge. Pretty much anything you would ever want, including Meat, Fish, Vegetables, Fruit, Clothing, Shoes, and everything in between. We were not really in need of anything, including the nice cow tongue they had on display, or the fish so fresh that you could still see the poor little guys gasping for air. After the market, we jumped on the tram, but carefully, so as not to break it. We were headed to the other side of the river. There we saw Victory Park, which was built by the Soviets, and has huge statues and a monument. We also strolled through a cemetery that has apparently been abandoned. You could tell that there were a few people trying to keep the place up, but most of the headstones and monuments were crumbling, the fencing around some plots was decaying and bent, and the weeds and bushes were overgrown in most of it. We proceeded to walk around the surrounding neighborhood too, which was hard to see. So much decay, and so many abandoned buildings. Sarma explained to us that when the Soviets occupied Latvia, they threw up these large factories and apartment complexes to house the workers. They forced the Latvian people into these factories and apartment buildings. So if a family had lived their entire life farming, they were forced to abandon the farm, and work in the factory. Then when the Soviets left, they abandoned everything, and destroyed what they could on their way out. That left the country in quite a mess. They continue to try and rebuild, but with the recession, things only seem to be getting worse. It's sad to see, because it would probably be a very beautiful city if they were able to restore it. After our little walking tour, it was back on the tram and across the river to Sarma's apartment. Kristy and I got our stuff together, and Sarma dropped us off near Old Town before heading off for another hockey game. We walked through Old Town on our way to the boat terminal. We got on the boat and found our cabin. We had a good trip through Helsinki, Tallinn, and Riga, but we were glad to be going back to Stockholm. At the same time, we were a little bummed, because we knew our time in Stockholm was limited, as we were leaving for the U.S. in a week. Maybe even more tragic, on the boat I decided to say goodbye to one of the two pairs of jeans I had brought to Sweden with me. I had managed to get a lot of use out of these jeans in the past three months, wearing them about half the time we were here. It was hard to say goodbye, but i knew it was time to toss em. They were worn out, and had an ever growing hole in the crotch which probably could have probably been patched, but not really worth the effort. I definitely got my money's worth out of these jeans over the years, and especially here in Scandinavia. I figured that it would be one less thing to have to carry back to the states, so we did a burial at sea....meaning I tossed em in a garbage during our voyage across the Baltic. I didn't actually throw them in the sea. If I'd have thrown them in the sea, Green Peace might have sunk our ship in protest. Or maybe more of a concern to me was that some of our fellow passengers may have gone overboard in an attempt to retrieve the pants. I'm sure they must get tired of those Adidas sweatsuits. 

The Blog To End All Blogs II

When we last left Kristy and Thom, they were in Helsinki Finland digesting Reindeer, while Reese Bonkers was back in Stockholm hangin' with Linda & Lena. On the next leg of the Stockholm to Helsinki Finland>Helsinki to Tallinn Estonia>Tallinn to Riga Latvia>Riga to Stockholm journey, they would be leaving Helsinki for Tallin. 

We woke early, had a quick breakfast, and started walking towards the Helsinki boat terminal. Took us about half an hour to get there and find our boat. This boat would be different than the first, because it was only a 2 1/2 hour trip to Tallinn, and we wouldn't have a cabin of our own. So when we got on board, it was like musical chairs when they stop the music. Everyone was scrambling to find a place to sit down. We went to the front of the ship, and after rejecting a couple of seats due to a strong B.O. smell in the area, we found a comfy little booth to make our home. Other than a Cliff Claven lookalike staring at Kristy most of the trip, it was a relaxing time to get our stuff organized. Looking at most of the people on board, I was already creating an image of what Tallinn was going to look like. The first term that came to mind when I looked at most of the clientele on this boat was "vodka dipped". A lot of sketchy looking dudes on board that I would picture as typical for this region, with their Adidas sweatsuits, "Lloyd Christmas" haircuts, and cold hard stare. The kind of guys I would glance at, but wouldn't make eye contact with for too long. Something about them spooks me a little bit. I wonder to myself if that might have a little bit to do with growing up during the Cold War. You know, think of every movie with the evil Soviets in it. Either they were invading small towns in Idaho, or they were genetically engineered to beat Rocky Balboa. I had already decided that Estonia would not be my first choice of places to go, but I will also go just about anywhere once, so I tried to keep an open mind. When we got to Estonia, we started walking in the direction of our hotel. And the further we went, the more I realized that it was a pretty normal place, with pretty normal looking people. Nothing like the people we saw on the boat. I didn't see even one donkey pulling an old wooden cart, or any stocky women with scarves around their heads hiding toothless faces, which I fully expected to see. It was a pretty modern looking city, except for maybe the street cars. We got to our hotel, dropped off our bags, and decided to play it safe for lunch by doing the buffet in the hotel restaurant. We figured that this was a great way to taste the local cuisine. We could take as little or as much as we wanted of a wide variety of things. After lunch, we were headed to what's referred to as Old Town Tallinn. We had heard so much about it, and were looking forward to seeing it. We were not disappointed at what we found. Cobblestone streets, well preserved old buildings, and people in front of the businesses in medieval costume. We grabbed our cameras and turned into Japanese tourists as we explored the streets with their historic buildings, restaurants, bars, shops, churches, business, and even a few Embassy's mixed in. 

After we felt like we had seen everything we wanted to see, we made it back to the main square, found a table at a cafe, and had a beer while we enjoyed the sunshine. It was a little chilly, but the sun felt good. As we're sitting their enjoying the view, here comes eight to ten guys across the square. While that was not unusual, what drew our attention to this particular group was one of the guys dressed in a giant white afro wig, sunglasses designed in the shape of money signs, sandals, and a big white robe. We noticed, but we didn't really think a whole lot about it. About fifteen minutes later, the same group came over and grabbed a couple of tables next to us. As we're sitting there, I just happened to say to Kristy "I wonder what he's got on underneath the robe". He was blocked from my vision for the most part, but Kristy could see him. She said "he's got a Borat swimsuit on". Just about that time, he got up from the table to reveal that he indeed had on the very revealing bright green thong swimsuit that was worn by Borat in the movie of the same name. Other than losing the robe, he now had a fistful of flowers. He started going from table to table trying to sell the flowers to anyone who would buy them, explaining that he was trying to get enough money together to buy a beer. As he was doing this, his friends are all laughing and taking pictures/video. I leaned over and asked one of the guys if he had lost a bet. The dude explained that this was the bachelor party of their underdressed friend, and his wife-to-be had come up with this idea. All I could think is, he must really love this woman to make such an ass of himself.... pun intended. I asked the guy where they were from, and he said Norway. That explained a lot. Anytime Norwegians were mentioned around Swedes, the constant comment was "Norwegians are crazy". We finished our beer, and headed off to see if we could find the bus station, since we would need to be their early the next morning. According to the map, it was not too far from where we were, and was located along with the central train station. We walked quite a way before we finally found what we were looking for. Unfortunately, this was not the bus station we were looking for after all, but a depot for the local bus. Looking at the map again, we noticed that the bus station we were looking for was on the exact opposite side of town. Oh well, this gave us the opportunity to see the seedy side of Tallinn that I expected to see, including a couple of Vodka swilling gentleman pissing on the side of a building next to a busy street in broad daylight. In all fairness to Tallinn, you seem to get the same kind of clientele hanging around bus stations in any city you visit across the planet. We stopped at a grocery store on the way back to our hotel to pick up some stuff for the bus ride the next day, and then off to dinner at an Italian restaurant recommended by the woman at the front desk of our hotel. We had some pretty good pizza and some Chianti, but nothing like the pizza place up the street from us here in Stockholm. I'll miss that place. Second time I ever went in there on my way home from Bandy, the guy somehow remembered what kind of Pizza both Kristy and I had ordered when we were in their the first time. Should I be worried that he remembered?? But we don't need to talk about that right now, because we're in Tallinn. On our way back to the hotel after dinner, we walked past a strip club complete with a TV monitor in the window showing you what you're missing inside. Very educational for anyone walking by. Back to the hotel for a shower, some relaxing and organizing, and then to bed. Early the next morning we woke, showered, and caught a cab in front of the hotel to the Bus station....the right bus station. This signaled the beginning to the next part of the trip that I was not looking forward to due to preconceived notions, the bus trip from Tallinn to Riga. I have never really wanted to ride the bus anywhere, except when it comes to riding a team bus, like the trips with the Bandy team, or something along those lines. I have heard too many nightmare stories about bus travel, so I was once again expecting the worse. Other than the bus driver being a little rude, it was not bad. One oddity I did see wile on the bus was a destroyed car in the middle of the street on the other side of the road as we drove out of town. It looked like the driver had hit a post in the median, and thrashed his/her car, as well as the median. There was debris everywhere, but nobody in sight. Looked like it had happened maybe a couple of hours earlier, but they apparently forgot to drag what was left of the car away, and clean up the mess. Strange. Anyway, we were on the road to Riga with our Diet Coke, bananas, and digestive crackers. We should be OK. 

The Blog To End All Blogs...Part 1

I'm sorry to say it's our last week in Sweden. Kristy and I are really sad to leave, but at the same time, we are ready. But before we left, we had to take a "road trip". Our itinerary looked like this... Stockholm to Helsinki Finland>Helsinki to Tallinn Estonia>Tallinn to Riga Latvia>Riga to Stockholm. 

So it started early Wednesday afternoon when we brought Reese over to stay with two of our favorite dog sitters, Linda & Lena, and then took the tube down to catch our boat. We got on board our boat, the Silja Serenade, a couple of hours before it was scheduled to leave Stockholm. We wanted to get there, settle into our cabin, and then just relax. It was my first boat trip, so I didn't really know what to expect. When we first got on the boat, we took our stuff to our cabin, and I immediately had some chlostrophobic and sea-sick feelings. Nothing too terrible, but just didn't feel right. This is a big boat. It ferries cars and people, and also has bars, restaurants, play areas for kids, a pool, sauna, shopping, gambling, etc.  We went exploring a little, and checked out the stores on board. We ended up at the back of the boat in the Port Pub. We got a couple of beers, and sat at the window. Eventually we got under way and discovered that we apparently had some highly sought after seats, as an older couple came and sat down at our table with us without saying a word. We didn't mind really, just a little weird.  The only bad thing about being in the back of the boat, is that it shakes and rattles like crazy when the ship goes in reverse. Tolerable though. So once we were under way, we went and found a place to eat. We ended up having a very nice quiet dinner with a bottle of wine. l was still having a little bit of the weird feelings as I looked out the windows on either side of the boat and saw us moving up and down. After dinner, we took our bottle and glasses, and went out on deck to enjoy the scenery. It was a little breezy and cold, but a beautiful sunny evening nonetheless. The view was incredible. We were passing through what is known as the Swedish Archipelagos, and the best way I can describe it is to tell you that it feels like you're on a giant cruise ship floating through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area of northern Minnesota. For those who are not familiar with that part of Minnesota, it's miles and miles of pristine water and woods in the wilderness, where no motors of any kind are allowed. You have canoes and backpacks, and that's it. I cannot do justice to the view from the ship, but it was hundreds and maybe thousands of little islands made up of pine trees and dotted with little cabins. We couldn't take enough pictures. It's such a strange feeling to be on this eight story high ship cruising through these islands, which at times felt like you were running down a river with very little room on either side. But at the same time, we were moving pretty fast. Another interesting thing about the trip was that a handful of these cruise ships left Stockholm at the same time, which I'm sure is for safety reasons. Once you get out on the Baltic Sea, if anything happens to your boat, you have boats in the vicinity to help out. So we had these giant boats in front and behind us. It was also a little crazy to see nothing but pine forests in every direction, and then see the top of a cruise ship moving above the trees in the distance as a boat goes off to another destination. It was a little too cold to be outside for long, and the sun was setting anyways. So since we had nothing left to look at outside, we went and found hockey and soccer games on in the pub. We found a comfy little booth and made ourselves at home. Later that night, we went back out on deck as we docked to pick up more passengers along the way. It felt like a very remote location, but there were big ships everywhere, both moving, and docked. One thing I determined on this trip was that I would never want to pilot one of these ships. They are just a little too big, and have to squeeze into some fairly tight spaces. I wouldn't have the nuts to do it. Eventually we went back to our cabin and got some sleep. 

We woke the next morning and went out on deck just as we were approaching the coast of Finland. It was much colder here, and there was still some snow on the islands dotting the approach to Helsinki harbor. But it was sunny, and nothing too terrible, so we were pretty happy about that. We docked, and were off walking through Helsinki towards our hotel. We walked up a boulevard lined with all of the high end stores on either side of a greenway/park. Our hotel was centrally located in the middle of shopping, dining, theaters, etc.  We checked into our hotel, where we got a nice big room on the first floor overlooking the sidewalk and street below. We were going to meet up with a friend of Kristy's named Jarmo, who was a Finnish exchange student back in the early 90's in her hometown of Saginaw Michigan, but we had some time to kill. So we went next door and found a place where we could get coffee and a scone. Then we went wandering near our hotel. Eventually we made it back to the hotel in time to meet Jarmo. He picked us up and took us on a tour of Helsinki in his car. He took us down to the harbor, along the coastline to see the island fortification they refer to as Suomenlinna Sea Fortress, and over to a park where they had a sculpture created for a famous Finnish composer. Then we went down to the sports complex area, where he pointed out the hockey arena where some famous Finnish hockey players used to skateboard on the roof when they were kids. Or, he added, at least that's what the rumor is. Also in this complex was Finnair Stadium, where the professional soccer team plays. He has a friend that works for the club, so he called him. Next thing you know, we were in the stadium getting a tour. We went out on the field where the team was practicing. Then we went upstairs and checked out one of the executive suites, which had everything you'd see in a suite of this kind, with the addition of a sauna, where you can watch the game! Pretty sweet. It was complete with showers too, so pretty much everything you'd ever need. Looked like it would be a lot of fun. After that, we went over to the Olympic Stadium, which was built for the 1952 Summer Olympics. We went to the top of the tower. There we had a great view of Helsinki. You could see the Olympic Pool, and also the sports hall where they held the indoor sports. In addition to the sports venues, there were a number of statues on the grounds.

After that, it was off to what is known as The Rock Church. This is one of their biggest tourist attractions according to Jarmo. It's basically a church that they carved out of the rock in the middle of town, and threw a glass roof over it. It was pretty cool looking. After that, we drove back to the hotel, where it was time for Jarmo to drop us off. We said our goodbyes and looked for a place to have some lunch. Grabbed a coffee and some lunch at Bakers Pub, which had a great view of the street below. After lunch we went walking again, and ducked into a mall to look around. Came out and went towards the main mall a block or so down. Went in and started wandering. Eventually we came to one end of the complex, and were left with no alternative but to walk out a door. We emerged having no idea where we were. We just kept walking though, and eventually got our bearings, ending up back near our hotel. Jarmo insisted that we go to dinner at one of his favorite restaurants, Lappi, and order the Reindeer. He even made us reservations. So 7:00 rolled around, and we shuffled over a couple of blocks from our hotel for dinner at Lappi. Great choice on restaurants. This place was made to look like a rustic log cabin inside, and had a certain warmth about it. We ordered a glass of wine, and the Reindeer. Came with potatoes and lingonberries, like pretty much everything else you order in Scandinavia. At one point, I looked at our dinner and the easy joke came to mind. I told Kristy that she should set a lingonberry in the middle of the meat, and call it Rudolph. Of course she did. After dinner, we took a stroll through the city one last time before going back to the hotel. Overall, the city was much smaller than we imagined it would be, and a little drab, but we still enjoyed our time there. Jarmo gave us a great tour and recommendation as far as restaurants, and was a great guy on top of that. Next morning, we would get up early and catch our boat to Tallinn, Estonia. 

The Final

It dumped more snow here again Sunday night. Just when you think it's finally spring, Mother Nature drops another round of snow on us. It's almost like we never left Minnesota! Reese loves the snow, so that makes it alright. And I guess I really don't mind it either. I just wish it would decide if it was Spring, or still Winter. It's easier back in Minnesota. You can usually count on one last snowstorm to hit right around the High School hockey tournament, and then everything melts, and starts to bloom. Stockholm is more like living back in Breckenridge, Colorado again. There it would warm up, and everything would melt. And then just as you were putting away the winter clothing, and taking out the summer stuff, you'd get two feet of snow. It seemed like we repeated the same cycle for about three months. 

So, anyway, things didn't turn out the way they were supposed to at the Bandy final Saturday in Uppsala. Kristy's team lost the final 2-1 to the team they beat twice during the regular season. And what made it harder to swallow was that it was kind of a fluke goal, scored in about the last minute of play. When they scored, it just gave me this sick feeling. Everyone involved with the team was very disappointed, and it really put a damper on the entire weekend. But all in all, we still managed to have a really good time on Saturday night. Also, a good friend of ours, Pelle, is a coach for Nassjo. So we are happy for him. The real bummer is that Kristy was initially supposed to play in Nassjo this year before she figured out that her work location was in Stockholm. Nassjo is about 4-5 hours south of Stockholm, so the commute would have been a little much. It's hard to say what the experience would have been like had we lived in Nassjo, but I get the feeling Stockholm was a better location for us. I think if we had lived in Nassjo, we would have felt like we missed a lot of the sights of Stockholm. And we have no complaints at all, other than a championship would have been icing on the cake, as they say. I'm sure we would have made a lot of very good friends in Nassjo, but the friendships we've made with the people involved with AIK, we would not trade for anything. We've also made some very good friends here in our apartment building, so..... Everything happens for a reason, I always say. 

On the way home from Uppsala on Sunday, I drove for the first time since the middle of December. I drove because the owner of the car still felt as though she was not quite sober from the night before, and Sweden has a zero tolerance drinking and driving policy. Meaning, if you have one of those little chocolates with the liquor in it, you can get a DUI. And the police here don't need an excuse for pulling you over, like speeding, or swerving. They can pull a car over simply to check for alcohol in the drivers system. And from what I was told, they pull over a lot of cars outside of Uppsala, because they know there were a lot of people there doing a lot of drinking on Saturday and Saturday night. I was fine to drive, because I had quit drinking early, to keep an eye on some of the girls who were making a big dent in the alcohol supply in Uppsala on Saturday. But after being at the games Saturday, and the banquet Saturday night, I can vouch for the fact that there is a lot of drinking involved with this event. Standing outside the entrances to the stands, I saw a lot of people who could barely walk they were so drunk. But, never really saw any problems. Never saw any fights, or anything like that. The police seem to have a lot less attitude than the guys you might see in the United States. I think a lot of that has to do with the amount of guns and violence they see though. Most Police that we have seen in action have been really easy going, and seem to get along really well with the public. Very friendly. They didn't mind on Saturday that there were 10 guys peeing in the woods just off the sidewalk and street next to the stadium. And there were literally officers 20 feet from where these dudes were peeing. Oh, which reminds me. If these guys had used the toilets inside the stadium, the Satellite mobile event toilets that they would have used were made in Minneapolis! So proud. Anyway, driving a car felt really weird. Actually, it just felt weird to be in a car, which had not happened since mid-December. It's going to be an adjustment going home to the car, and not having to walk or take public transportation everywhere. Convenient, yes. But I don't miss the stress of driving places, and dealing with idiot drivers. I really wish the Twin Cities had a subway/train/bus system similar to the one they have here. It's really nice. Safe, clean, frequent, and prompt. 

So now I'm in a bit of a funk again. I think I'm bummed that the bandy season is officially over, and that we'll be going home in a couple of weeks. I became so used to the routine of going to training 3-4 nights a week, and a game every weekend. It's a strange feeling when it's done. During our last practice at Bergshamra, I was out on the ice about an hour before the girls came out, and it gave me a chance to just sit there and take it all in. The sun had set, but it wasn't quite dark yet. The little bit of light in the sky to the west made a nice backdrop to the towering pines that surround the field. The lights had not been turned on yet, and the team was still in the locker room "snacking", which means talking in english. It was so quiet. Then, after practice, Kristy and I were the last one's off the ice. She just sat there taking shots at me. I think both of us knew without having to mention it that we were trying to squeeze every last second in before we had to leave. After practice, a shower, and then cleaning out my locker to take everything back to the apartment with me. But between now and the time we leave, Kristy and I will be busy, which will be nice. She still has to work this week before leaving this Thursday for a weekend ski trip with her teammates and coaches. It's kind of a last fling for the team to get together to close out the season. I wish I was going, but I'll stay here with Reese, which isn't such a bad gig. I've also got plans to get together with our friend Robert, and maybe a couple of other guys from the AIK Men's team. Kind of one last get together with those guys before we leave too. As I've probably mentioned a number of times, everyone involved with the AIK organization has been so good to Kristy, Reese, and me. We'll never be able to thank them enough. 

And now that I look outside, I see it's once again snowing. It was sunny and warm most of the day, but then you saw this heavy line of gray moving across the sky. I said something to Kristy to the effect of "I wonder if it's going to snow". I looked up two minutes later, and it was almost a white out. Now, five minutes later, it has stopped, and the sun is shining again. I see blue skies are starting to dominate again. Weird. I set Reese on top of her kennel in the kitchen, which allows her to look out the window, and she's still sitting there taking in the sights below. I think she'll be happy to be home again. That makes one of us! ;)

Beer, Bandy, and Beds

I've been in a funk the last few days, and I think it's because I'm finally getting a little stir crazy in this apartment. It's really bare bones here, and we have one couch where we spend all of our working and relaxing time. It's a nice apartment, in a nice building, in a nice area, with a nice view, and very nice neighbors. Our apartment is just a little too bare bones. There's nothing on the walls except holes where someone had once hung pictures or shelves. There is also no carpeting or rugs in the place, except the little mat rugs in the bathroom, kitchen, and by the front door. The flooring everywhere in the place, except for the bathroom, is this weird tan colored flooring that makes it feel more like a cafeteria at an elementary school than living space. And the furniture, very kindly loaned to us by friends, is adequate, but nothing special. A couch being thrown out by someone's grandma, and some other furniture from someone else' summer home. Long story short, the place lacks warmth....and a doggy door that Reese can let herself in and out of to do her "business"! And we're not going to invest money in fixing up a place that we'll only live in for a couple of months. So we've made do. At least we have the TV, although there is not a lot on to watch normally. We look forward to the occasional Bandy game on TV, but that is about the only sport on TV that we've seen, other than skiing. Every once in a while I'll find a good documentary on, but usually they are either in Swedish, or in some other foreign language with Swedish subtitles. On the other hand, I guess we have also been pleasantly surprised at some of the other shows they have on weekly. Entourage is on every Wednesday night, followed by the Sarah Silverman Show. Kristy and I like to come home from Bandy training on Wednesday night, have dinner, a beer, and watch those shows. 

And speaking of beer, I love the selection we get here. They have so many different kinds of beer from all over Sweden and Europe, and when you go to the System Bologet (liquor store) they have the beer displayed with little signs that tell you how much they are for a can, what country they're made in, and what the alcohol content is. The more alcohol content, the more they cost. But it's cool, because you don't have to buy them by the 6 pack, 12 pack, or case. You can buy them individually, and they come in the 16 ounce cans. So Kristy and I usually go and pick out 5 or 6 cans each, and we're good for a while. And the cans all have really cool designs, although one of our favorites is generic silver with black lettering. But all the other designs make me want to start a beer can collection. 

And while we have variety in our beer selection, we don't have much when it comes to our food choices. Now I think I know how Reese feels, eating the same flippin thing twice a day, every day. Part of the problem is that we don't exactly have the utensils, ingredients, and cooking facilities that invite a lot of creativity in our cooking. And when we go grocery shopping, it's by walking to the grocery store, and carrying it back. So we don't exactly go big when we go shopping. Some things are easy to figure out at the grocery store, and other things are very difficult. Rice and Baking Soda are hard to figure out. You wouldn't think they would be, but there are many varieties of rice. We go with our standards, and that's about it. Again, we're only here for a few months, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to stock up on things we'll never use up, and won't take with us. 

I can't wait to have Chipotle and sleep in my own bed on the evening of April 13th!

Dreams & Nightmares

I went hunting with four friends in the woods. I've never been a hunter, except for when I did a little bird hunting with friends back in my college days. I had a rifle, as did two others. The guy I was hunting next to, Eric, had a crossbow. It was a very hilly area we were hunting in, and we came into a valley area that was sparsely wooded. We were up the hill on one side of the valley when we saw a big deer across the way, and so did our two others in our hunting party 100 yards down the hill to our left. Everyone was encouraging Eric to shoot his crossbow at the deer. He took aim and fired, but missed. This got the attention of the deer, who at first took off in the other direction, but then turned and came toward us. It was charging right at us, and I could see out of the corner of my eye that Eric was aiming his crossbow at the deer. I pointed my gun at it anyway, just in case. I was telling Eric to hurry up and shoot, but he didn't. It finally got close enough that I didn't wait anymore, and I pulled the trigger. Unfortunately, the safety was on. But fortunately for us, the deer ran right by us on our left. It stopped, turned around, and ran past us and back in the direction it came from. Then it turned, and charged again. Same thing happened. Eric didn't shoot, and I squeezed the trigger, but the safety was still on. This happened two more times where the deer ran by us without either of us getting off a shot, turned around, went back up the other way, and then turned and charged us again. The fifth time was the charm, as I was finally able to shoot and took the deer down. Almost immediately, I could see half a dozen other angry deer charging through the woods at us and our friends below. There was even a grizzly bear going after our friends. All of us were trying to figure out a way to get back to our truck now, as we dodged animals coming after us. It was quite a sight, and really nerve racking. As we were making our way down towards where our friends were, I noticed a large mountain man wearing furs down below us. 

Anyway, that was my dream last night. I didn't really have anything else to write about except the damn Melodiefestival songs stuck in my head. I heard another one of the songs when I went to the mall yesterday, and now I can't get it out of my head. The song is an attempt at pop music, but sung by an Opera singer, as best as I can figure. If you go to Google video, and look up "Melodiefestival" and "La Voie" (spelling??), I'm sure you'll find the video. The woman who sings it has white hair. Give that a listen to. You can also look up Star Pilots "Higher" while you're there, and also BWO, if you want to see what I'm talking about. I just realized that, unknowingly, I have written here about my dreams and also about the music that I had referred to previously as " a nightmare". Interesting, and at the same time boring as hell I'm sure, sorry. But nobody is forcing you to read this....are they??

Kaknästornet

So as Kristy and I are getting down to our last few weeks in Stockholm, we're struggling a little bit to figure out new places to go, and interesting things to see. Personally, I just like being here. I like riding the bus and the tube, and just walking around. It's interesting for me just to people watch, and there is so much to look at as far as buildings, and monuments, and statues, etc. But, Kristy told me to do some research, and figure out some things I wanted to do. So, I did a little research, and found the Kaknästornet TV & Radio tower. It's the tallest building in Stockholm, although it's not really a building. It's a cement pillar with a gift shop at the base, and a restaurant, cafe/bar, and observation deck at the top. So Friday afternoon we set out for this place, not exactly sure where to find it. We (OK, Kristy) knew the general area that it was in, but we were playing it by ear in finding it. We got off at the tube stop we suspected it would be near, and just started walking. We found the Swedish Television and Swedish Radio buildings, so we knew we were close. But the buildings around there were just tall enough that you couldn't see the tower. We finally came around a corner and saw it in the distance. We decided we would just walk it, and started across this vast open park which separated us from the tower. The park was covered with ice and little ponds created by melting snow, which made the walk kind of treacherous. More of a pain in the arss than anything else. We got close to the tower, and had to cut through the woods to get there. We finally arrived, and there was almost no cars in the parking lot. We entered by walking down a corridor and into the gift shop where you pay to take the elevator to the top. We got to the top, and the view was great, even though the sky was overcast. It was evening, and the sun hadn't set. So I told Kristy that if we went and got a drink and/or something to eat, it would probably allow the sun enough time to set, giving us a nice view of the lights of Stockholm in every direction. So we continued around the interior viewing area taking pictures, and made our way out onto the outdoor observation deck for a few more pictures. It was a great view, and I was surprised at how many cruise ships we could see coming and going from up there. We had seen the cruise ship that docks in the area they call Slussen on a couple of occasions, including New Years. But we must have seen 5 or 6 other ships coming and going from other ports. So after that, Kristy and I walked down a couple of floors and found the restaurant. We were seated at a table next to the window, and were immediately happy we decided to have dinner. We got a beer, and each ordered the Swedish Steak, which is a steak with an egg on top. I had thought about going with the ever safe meatballs, because I've been burned before by taking a chance on something unfamiliar. But I decided to take a chance, and I was glad I did. Everything was great. The company was great, which goes without saying, and on top of that, the beer was ice cold, and the food was awesome. And, in a crazy twist, the people at the table next to us had just gotten engaged either moments before we got there, or moments after we arrived. After dinner, we climbed back up to the observation deck for more pictures. When we decided that we had had enough, we caught the bus into downtown Stockholm to catch the tube. Even the bus ride from the tower to the tube was cool. It was one of those rides that really helped us make a connection as far as where we were in Stockholm. We came to a spot I recognized, and it helped to complete a part of the mental map in my head. All in all, Kristy and I both agreed that this was a great adventure. We experienced a lot of very different things, without venturing very far. It was fun exploring a new area with my new watch on. My other watch stayed home. 

Buh bye.

Bleeding Ears

I have a complaint. They have a music competition on TV here called Melodiefestivalen, which is sort of an American Idol type competition. But it's different, and they already have Swedish Idol here. I don't know how long this thing goes on, and I still don't quite understand how it works, but here's the general idea. They televise the competition every Sunday, which is a really big deal with the people around here, and especially the girls on Kristy's team. You see the performers being interviewed on news shows, see them featured in newspaper and magazine articles, and and see pictures around town in various places. The competition is open to everyone from bands, vocal groups, solo artists, etc, and the performers range from teenagers to people who look like they're in their 50's, and every kind of genre. And from what I have learned, a lot of these performers are already music stars in Sweden with music contracts and CD's. Each week there are 8 or so different artists/groups that perform. After everyone performs, they put numbers on the screen, and the viewers call in to vote. They have brackets, and narrow it down to the top 2 every week. But, just because an artist gets eliminated doesn't mean they're done. I don't really get it. But they somehow narrow it down week by week until they determine the winner. The winner then competes in a similar Europe-wide competition. 

Now, I believe everyone is entitled to their own opinion when it comes to music. But it doesn't mean I can't complain about it. THIS SHOW IS PISSING ME OFF. There are a few things about it that piss me off. First of all, there are some talented people on the show, with very good voices, and decent songs. The problem is, the one's I think are really good always lose to what I would consider some very bad artists, singing some very bad songs. It's usually the bands/groups that are terrible, in my opinion. The one's that, when you see them take the stage, you have to ask yourself if they're really serious. The song lyrics are horrible, and their outfits are worse. The people I like NEVER win. It baffles me. I don't know what people are thinking when they vote for some of these clowns. There's a band called BWO that features a lead singer, and two people on keyboards. They are all wearing matching outfits that look like these silky futuristic silver jumpsuits. The one dude on keyboards resembles a 50 year old Devo reject who wears horse riding gear with his outfit, including the helmet, boots, and riding crop. The other keyboardist is a 50 something woman, and the lead singer is this young pretty boy. A really weird combination, even before they started into their cheesy ballad. Then there are the Star Pilots, who sing a song called "Higher". It's four guys who look like 90's boy band rejects. One guy that sings, and three backup singers/dancers. They all dress like they're going as Tom Cruise from Top Gun for Halloween. And one of the guys is kind of dumpy, and has a receding hairline, which makes it even more comical to see him dance and sing like he's in the Backstreet Boys. And if their look wasn't annoying enough, there are the song lyrics. The lyrics for the Star Pilots song sound like they took familiar lines from a half dozen old songs, and threw them together. It sounds familiar, but you can't quite place where you've heard them before. And then when you put them together, it's a nightmare. Here are a few of the lyrics that I was able to make out....

Take a chance on the edge of life, Keep trading passion for glory (Eye Of The Tiger??)

You're coming on like a hurricane, with no surrender in sight.

Play the game moving straight ahead, it'll cut you like a knife.

Just take my hand, run away with me, we can dance the night away 

I would give you the sky, baby it's now or never.

(Chorus) Tonight I'm gonna take you higher, can you feel the heat is on. Yeah tonight I'm gonna take you higher, till the end of time. 

And if you get a chill up and down your spine when you hear a song, you're in luck, because it seems like they play each song a half dozen times during the show. That's what made it so easy to remember the lyrics. When they pound this crap into your head over and over, it's bound to stick. And if that's not enough, this artist who makes you cringe will be back next week so you can hear the song repeated numerous times once again. And, if that still wasn't enough, you hear the songs everywhere you go, including one in the grocery store today. But I haven't even reached the best part. I heard one of the girls on Kristy's team singing one of the songs that I can't stand at Bandy practice. I told her I detested that song. Big mistake. I think she might be the male version of me, so naturally, she sings it every time she's around me because she knows I hate it. Then she went and recruited the other girls on the team to do the same thing. And before I could talk the coach into being on my side by punishing anyone caught singing the song with laps, I hear him singing it in their little team huddle as the girls are all looking over at me and laughing. They got to him first!  >:(  She had half a dozen of the girls in on her evil little plan, and they each kept singing the song as they skated past. And of course, she made a CD, brought it in, and cranked it up at top volume in the locker room. I am in the locker room next door, fortunately, but it was loud enough where I could hear it loud and clear from where I was. In the end though, I can't really complain. This is a classic case of what comes around goes around. They are doing to me, what I usually do to others. When I was in Vasteras with the U.S. men's bandy team, I would walk by people or groups of people singing Pump Up The Jam by Technotronic, in an attempt to get a somewhat annoying song stuck in people's heads.

And I know what you're thinking, why doesn't he just watch something else? There really is nothing else. And it's the old car wreck scenario, you can't look away. Well, if there is a silver lining to this whole thing, I'll save a lot of money on music here in Sweden.

I Miss Super Target

OK, as much as I love Sweden, I must finally admit that I am starting to miss some of the conveniences of home. There are many advantages to living in this country, and many things I will miss very much when we leave. But Kristy has been sick the last week or so, and it's really made me realize how much I miss the conveniences of home. Now, if we had lived here all of our lives, we probably wouldn't know any better, and it wouldn't be a convenience. But we have lived in the U.S. our entire life, so we get spoiled with the convenience. 

I miss Super Target. There is nothing like it here. Not even close. Here, you go to the grocery store for groceries, and that's it. If you need medicine of any kind, even something as simple as aspirin, you have to go to the Apoteket (Pharmacy), which are always in a separate location. And along the same lines, I miss stores that are open later than 6:00. Most places close around 5:00 or 6:00, which is great for the employees here, but suck if you are a consumer and you need anything desperately. And I'm not talking about a frozen pizza. I'm talking medicine, food, and needs that might arise at any moment, like adult diapers. I don't think anything in this country is open 24 hours. 

The System Bologet (Liquor Store) is another source of frustration. It's open from about 10:00 AM until 5 or 6:00 PM most days. But on Saturday, it's open from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM. SATURDAY! And of course, it's closed on Sunday, which we're used to. But, say for instance you get invited to a party, and want to bring a bottle of wine for the host, and maybe some wine or beer for yourself. If the System Bologet is closed, you're screwed. 

The other thing we've noticed is that, just because you plan ahead and look online to make sure that your destination will be open, doesn't make it so. Kristy verified online that the Post Office all the way across town would be open when we went to pick up a package that was waiting for us, only to get there and see that they were closed. The hours on the door said they should be open, but the locked door and lights turned out said something else. Again, must be nice if you're an employee, but if you're a consumer? We've had that happen to us on a couple of occasions. 

And back to the Apoteket, you can't just go in and buy Nyquil, slug some down, and wake up 22 hours later wondering what happened. You can't buy anything that will treat multiple symptoms. So if you have the flu, and are suffering from body aches, fever, sore throat, headache, and congestion, you have to buy a different medicine for each symptom. There is no Tylenol Cold & Flu on the shelves here. You have to buy Ibuprofen for the aches, you have to buy a nasal spray if your head is congested, you have to buy cough medicine if you have a cough. And when you go in the store, everything is generic, and nothing seems to be in English on the boxes. This is by no means the fault of the Swedish. I could have put more of an effort into learning the language before I came, but, I'm a lazy American! It's also not there fault that they don't understand the word "congestion", it's just frustrating. In an "if I knew then what I know now" scenario, I would have brought more meds. I want chewable Tums, not some crap that I have to dissolve in water!!

And not that I've done a lot of shopping for clothes here, but one thing I have noticed is that the sizes (S, M, L, XL) are smaller here....HEY! WHO JUST SAID "lose some weight"??!!  A lot of the dudes here are as big or bigger than me, so I'm not sure where they shop. I bought an XXL hooded sweatshirt here, and it fits like a Large would back home. I've tried on shirts when we've been out that are an XL or XXL, and they fit me like a Large. You know, super tight through the chest, shoulders, and biceps, but really really loose around the waist. 

We love Sweden, and love the people here. But at the same time, Kristy and I have both talked about how nice it will be to get back to the states, see our family and friends, and enjoy some of the comforts of home again. We've lived pretty simply here, and neither of us has a problem with that. We've also had no problem using public transportation, and walking more places. Unfortunately, it's just not the same back home. But we really miss things like the doggie door for Reese (so we don't have to get up 2-3 times a night), a real bed to sleep in (and not three thin cushions pushed together, and held in place by bed sheets wrapped around them that get separated every night so that I'm half on the bed, half on the hard floor), Chipotle of course, and the aforementioned Super Target. 

The Watch Watch Continues

So, Kristy has been really sick the last week or so, and we've been spending a lot of time at home. So that means more time in front of the TV, writing, and surfing the net when available. I'd have to go back and check my notes, but I believe we had a new record yesterday. 6 channels, 3 were televising skiing events. Today it's the Vasaloppet, the huge cross country ski race here in Sweden. It's on 2 different channels this morning, and people get so excited about it round these here parts. It is quite a spectacle, as they get thousands and thousands of participants (they were interviewing contestant number 18310 just a second ago) and spectators at this thing. And did I mention it's televised on 2 different channels?? I just watched someone running alongside the skiers bite it hard in the snowbank on the side of the course as they were trying to hand them water as they go by. Good stuff. I'd compare the whole thing to a Boston or NYC Marathon. 

So in between watching skiing on TV yesterday and today, Kristy, Reese, and I went for a nice long walk down around Haga park, to find what is supposedly the oldest wooden building in Stockholm. We saw where it was on the map, and looked like it would be pretty easy to find. And since it was billed as a pretty big tourist attraction, we figured it wouldn't be a problem. It was. We finally found it during our walk, but didn't even realize it at the time, because it was not well marked, or even well kept. It was actually the residence of one of the Queens at one point too, or a summer home, or a getaway cabin, or something like that. The other unusual part about it was that, for a supposedly big tourist attraction, we could find little to no information about it on the internet.

So I guess there's no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it....I have a new watch. The old new watch was hanging by a thread, and when I looked at it most of the time, it was about 8 hours off. So when Kristy and I were out wandering around the other day, we stopped into Stadium, a local sporting goods store. Actually, it's a chain store along the lines of The Sports Authority. Anyway, I'm hanging with Kristy in the Women's Running section, and I see these watches. I took a closer look, and they were on sale for 110 Kroner (about $10). But they were Women's. So I asked the guy if they had any Men's. He said no. But as I'm looking around, I see that the same watch is marked 74 Kroner (about $10). I decided that since the watch was white with gray, and was full size, I could pass that off as a unisex watch. Done deal. Now I have to decide what to do with the old new watch. I can't just get rid of it. 

Bandy is on TV, Hammarby vs. Sandviken...what a country!! 

Gotta go.