Kristy treated me like a King all day today. Asking me what I wanted to do, where I wanted to go, and what I wanted to eat. We took the train out to the only hockey shop we've been able to find in the area so I could get parts for my goalie mask. This place was about the size of a standard bedroom, and you had to be careful how you maneuvered around in there, because if you have a big arss, you might knock something over and create a domino effect. Why are you looking at me like that? Do you think I have a big butt?? Anyway, the joint was jam packed from floor to ceiling with hockey stuff, and even some bandy stuff. It looked like this place had been there a very long time, and it had a lot of character. I met the owner, Johan, and we talked a bit. He had a Soviet hockey jersey from the late 60's hanging above the counter, with the old CCCP on it, which I would have killed for. He said he was a Packard (as in the car) enthusiast, and through that hobby he had met a lot of influential people in Russia, including some old hockey stars. One of those players had given him the jersey, which was worn in the Olympics. He also used an old American cash register from the 1920's, and indicated that it was because he didn't trust modern equipment. He just smiled at Kristy when she asked if he took Visa. Anyway, it was nice talking to Johan and listening to his stories. I'm sure we'll get back to his shop eventually. After a couple of other stops, we wandered up to a nearby pub called The Bishop's Arms, which we had passed on one of our walks, and thought looked interesting. We were starving, so we went there for a late lunch. Long story short, good beer, expensive, and if there's a next time, I'll just get a burger. I wanted to try something new, being in a foreign country, and that turned out to be a mistake in this case. Kristy had Deer, and it was good, but mine was horrible. But not knowing if my food was disgusting, or if that is how it was supposed to be served, was something we could not figure out, and the last thing I wanted to ask the Bartender/Waitress. "Excuse me, I'm an American, if you can't tell already by my backpack and loose fitting jeans, and I don't think my dog would even eat this....and she's been known to eat her own poop! Do you have anything edible here that doesn't have a white gelatin fat-like consistency to it? Maybe a Chalupa or something?". You see, we're trying to be good Americans while we're here, so I just ate what I could, and then Kristy shared some of hers with me. She's giving like that.
Afterwards we wandered back to the apartment to hang out with Reese, and map out where we wanted to go later. We had some Glögg to warm up after our long cold walk, and then a couple of drinks. We turned off the lights and lit a couple of candles so we could watch all of the fireworks going off all over the city. They have been shooting off the heavy duty fireworks since about 4:00 here. Now we look out our window, and see fireworks going off everywhere we look. They are not those panzy fireworks you buy in Wisconsin, they are big time fireworks. Kinda cool, but poor Reese seems a little concerned. We finally ventured out around 10:30, and headed down to the Södermalm area of Stockholm on the tube to catch the fireworks. We got down there and there were thousands of people listening to a band, shooting off fireworks, taking pictures, and just having a good time. They had checkpoints coming into this area that everyone had to pass through, and they were checking people really carefully for booze, but it seemed as though everyone inside the barriers was wandering around with their own bottle of wine or champagne. I will not be able to do justice to how beautiful the setting was, but we were basically next to a large harbor, with big ships anchored in it. Ships from a huge cruise ship, to an old schooner. And they were all lit up. It was cold, but comfortable. We wandered around quite a bit taking pictures, and just enjoying being there, before we wandered up a sidewalk that went up the side of a hill. People had already begun to gather along the railings of this sidewalk that zig zagged up the side of the hill, but Kristy and I grabbed a good spot. We got there about a minute before midnight. We could here people counting down from about ten in Swedish, and at midnight, all of the ships in the harbor blew their horns, and the fireworks began. Well, the official fireworks started, and all of the amateur fireworks picked up. From the time it got dark we had seen a non-stop fireworks show around the city. It is hard to do justice to what we saw with words. Any night this would have been a gorgeous setting. Throw in fireworks going off in every direction as far as the eye can see, and it was spectacular. This went on for a good 15 minutes at least. Once they were done, a wave of people started for the tube to catch the train home. We knew we were never getting home in less than 2 hours if we went towards one of the tube stations, so we started walking home. Fortunately, Kristy knew where she was going, and we had a nice walk along the water over a few bridges, and found a bus stop. The bus came, and we were 2 of 6 people on this bus. We were home 15 minutes later.
Great day. One of the best New Years I can remember, and hard to outdo.
Later.
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